Book 844: An Unexpected Kind of Love – Hayden Stone

I grabbed a copy of this from NetGalley when I was looking for books to fill in between other upcoming deadlines.* It had a cute premise and reminded me a lot of Notting Hill so of course I was going to want to read it!

Aubrey has taken over his family’s bookstore and is struggling to keep it afloat after he was unceremoniously dumped by his first (and only long term) boyfriend for their mutual friend, when he meets Blake, an up-and-coming American movie star who’s filming a movie up the street and encourages the film to approach Aubrey about using his store as a set.

Honestly, from the first paragraph or two I thought I was going to absolutely adore this book. It kicks off with both Jane Austen and Wuthering Heights references! I mean that’s basically written for me, right?

Unfortunately, I didn’t fall madly in love with it, but I did very much enjoy parts of it and can’t wait to see where Stone goes from here. I’m pretty sure this is the start of a series and I REALLY hope Aubrey’s friend, Ryan, is the lead of the next book because I’ve never read a MM Romance book with a wheel-chair user! And there was this wonderful interaction that just gives me hope that he’ll be next since he came to the shop after the relationship with Aubrey’s ex ended:

He chuckles. ‘Don’t worry if you can’t find the book right away, either.’
‘What’re you after?’
‘Something hopeful.’
‘Hopeful . . . What sort of hopeful?’
‘Something to restore my faith in humanity.’ Ryan grins, a familiar sight, ‘Surprise me.’
I purse my lips looking at him thoughtfully, ‘How do you feel about queer romance? I’ve been reading some interesting stuff lately.’
‘Go on.’ Ryan perks up. ‘That’s outside my usual. Exactly what I need. And they’re good?’
‘They’re fab,’ I assure Ryan with a smile that comes from I don’t know where. ‘How about Red, White & Royal Blue and Boyfriend Material?  A couple of recent queer romances.’ (Chapter 22)

I love the Red, White & Royal Blue and Boyfriend Material shout outs, both of which I can see this being compared to, which is doing a disservice to this one because it’s just not quite as high up there as those two, but Stone has the potential!

The highlight of the book for me was Gemma, Aubrey’s young polyamorous shop assistant. She just had a spark about her and was the perfect foil to Aubrey’s curmudgeonly attitude and she KNEW about Aubrey and Blake, but totally kept it mum and did what she could to spur them on. And then this entire passage early on in the book KILLED ME.

‘You know, cross-marketing? Maybe sell gifts, too? Or even dildos? I don’t know. I mean, this is Soho, right? People expect that. The dildos could be all literary or something. Match books with sex toys. You won’t be able to keep the crows at bay.’
It’s all horrifying talk. I’m not a prude but it’s quite something to be getting this kind of cross-marketing advice from my shop assistant. Chapter 2)

Depending on the time of my life I could absolutely see myself being on either side of that conversation and being thrilled or totally mortified, but really when you think about it, it’s kind of genius depending on where your store is located.

Where the book really let me down, however was in one of the sex scenes. If you’ve followed me for a while, you know I’m a stickler about them either having to be serious and passionate or fun and humorous and DON’T change it up mid scene. I’m not sure why but they just work better for me that way. And all but one in this book were well written and I enjoyed them, but this one line totally pulled me out of the scene and I was like WTF:

He slaps my arse and rides me like the apocalypse is at our door and the last thing he wants to do is have me. And I’m his, all his, desperately his. His urgency only makes me more wild for him. (Chapter 19)

Like it would be totally different if the entire scene had been rushed and there were other references to the speed and desperation, but they weren’t quite like this one and the simile just broke me out of the moment which was not a good thing.

The big crisis of the novel was a combination of Aubrey’s ex (yawn), Aubrey and Blake not talking to each other, and Blake being forced out of the closet by a gossip site. None of them were really harrowing and honestly if they would just be open to each other without being scared there would’ve been less drama and angst.

The only real critique I have is that for the first time in quite a while I actually felt the characters were moving too fast. I’m not sure if it’s because they kept focusing on the deadline of Blake heading back to America in two weeks or what, but it really was like whoa whoa whoa, slow down. I’m reading a book with a similar deadline, but it’s a little longer and it doesn’t seem to bother me as much. I’d just put that down as a note to think about as Stone writes the next one, sure have the deadline, just don’t spend so much of the characters time focusing on it.

Recommendation: Well worth the read. It’s a debut novel that is a fun and engaging read. It very much came across to me as a queer version of Notting Hill (from what I remember at least) and there’s nothing wrong with that. There were quite a few memorable minor characters, which is always a plus for me, and the crises of the novel were pretty low angst even if they did include a crazy double trans-Atlantic flight basically back-to-back days that I couldn’t help but freak out at how expensive it would be, but that’s love right!?

*I received a copy of An Unexpected Kind of Love from the publisher via NetGalley in return for my honest opinion. No goods or money were exchanged.

Opening Line: “There are two kinds of people in the world: people who put things away as they should, and arseholes who shelve books with no respect for the alphabet.”

Closing Line: “Together, we’ll forge our own kind of heat, of heart and home.” (Whited out to avoid spoilers, highlight to read.)

Additional Quotes from An Unexpected Kind of Love
“God, Aubrey, you’re one sucker for impossible scenarios.
Too many fantasy books as a teenager  has left me running full tilt to unreality, some secret romantic part of me. And that secret part of me seems to be all about the rom-coms, because I can’t stop reading them lately.” (Chapter 16)

“I just stare at him. ‘Are you . . . embarrassed by me?’ I ask at last, my voice barely audible as the room spins.
‘I’m—People don’t know I’m attracted to men.’ Blake just stares at me. ‘Well, I’m attracted to women, too, for the record. I guess that makes me bisexual.’
‘Or pansexual, if you’re attracted to all genders. Or just plain old queer.’ Tears prick my eyes. I grip the edges of the bed to steady me, struggling to make sense of what Blake’s telling me. ‘So you are embarrassed by me, then. Like, I’m not good enough for you.’
‘It’s not that. I just . . . I just can’t be gay.'” (Chapter 19)

“But I’m already in so deep, I need to take the risk of telling him how I feel about him, about how much I want him, about how important he is to me. Because if there’s a chance that he feels the same way, there might be hope for a future together. If I don’t take that chance, there’s no hope.” (Chapter 22)