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Love Unexpected #1

The Blind Date

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One night changes everything . . . again.
Years ago, when Ryan Stewart saw Shawna Ferguson, it was love at first sight. Unfortunately, he wasn’t a free man, and his deception caused him to lose her after a weekend that changed his life.
When Shawna’s sister and brother-in-law set her up on a blind date, she has no idea it’s with Ryan, with whom she’d spent a weekend she wishes she could forget. She reluctantly agrees to finish the date with him, but doing so leaves her vulnerable to his charms and the heat he ignited in her that very first night.

106 pages, ebook

First published September 18, 2013

253 people are currently reading
1639 people want to read

About the author

Delaney Diamond

103 books9,768 followers
Delaney Diamond is the USA Today Bestselling Author of more than 60 contemporary romance and romantic suspense novels, and dozens of romance short stories. She reads romance novels, mysteries, thrillers, and a fair amount of nonfiction. When she’s not spinning tales of romantic fiction, she’s in the kitchen trying out new recipes, dining at one of her favorite restaurants, or traveling to an interesting locale.
She enjoys learning about time management and ways to increase productivity and shares her recommendations on her For Authors page at delaneydiamond.com. She also offers self-publishing consultations, leveraging her extensive experience to guide and support authors through the publishing process.



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5 stars
553 (29%)
4 stars
580 (31%)
3 stars
526 (28%)
2 stars
150 (8%)
1 star
52 (2%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 190 reviews
Profile Image for Christine Wallflower & Dark Romance Junkie .
495 reviews3,666 followers
December 9, 2013
Short and sweet! A bit boring at times but the sex scenes made up for it, although I did find them a bit abbreviated at times. I prefer longer sex scenes, none of that "they made love the whole night" crap and then skipping over to the next day. That just makes me angry!

It was good could have been better.
Profile Image for AKA.
559 reviews1 follower
June 2, 2025
2.5 stars...
Short, but sweet. TBD is technically well written and fast paced. The male lead is a bit one note, but charming. The plot was trite, but fairly entertaining. That's the good...

The bad? This is my third Delaney Diamond book and in every one of them she's used sex to paper over her couples complete lack of depth. Add to that, her female leads seem to have the will and emotional maturity of potted plants. And it's never about emotion, it's always a woman who cannot resist the sexual pull of her love interest. Still, this was so much better than Second Chances that I gave it an extra half star.
Profile Image for Teresa (Reads_Romance).
293 reviews287 followers
March 29, 2022
I don’t usually rate books I DNF, but, honestly, this hero is toxic and I wouldn’t recommend this book at all. The heroine is wonderful - strong, independent, and she gives the hero the business. But if you told me this was an extended prologue about an abusive relationship the heroine has to endure before she gets her HEA, I would believe you.

I’ll give examples, the hero had a girlfriend when he slept with the heroine in an “Insta-love gone wrong” moment. Then, when confronted with his lies, the heroine understandably leaves and the hero says because he couldn’t catch her at the hotel he thought it was over so why try harder than that - he also insinuates it’s the heroines fault for leaving (mind you, this man had her number and didn’t even send a text)

So it’s six years later, the hero lies about his past relationship with the heroine to coerce the heroine’s sister into setting them up on a blind date. They seem to reconcile-ish after the hero explains that he kept sleeping with the girlfriend he was with even after sleeping with the heroine and getting caught - YUCK. She gives him a hard time but she’s really attracted to him and he’s pushy so they sleep together.

This is when things got weird. They have now known each other for about 80 hours total over 6 years. The heroine tells the hero she wants to take it slow. That goes over like a lead balloon. He starts to love bomb her with gifts, sulks when she doesn’t fall into his arms immediately for a few bouquets of flowers, and comes to her work unexpectedly - because it’s all about how he’s feeling.

Where I DNF’d was when the heroine’s neighbor, who she dated a few times, comes over and starts being stupid and a little jealous. The hero LOSES IT. He commands he not to go to the neighbor’s open house the next weekend, although she committed to it months ago and told him it’s completely platonic. They get in a huge fight, the heroine tells him to take her home, at first he refuses but she tells him she’ll just leave as soon as he stops the car, so he does a crazy u-turn, puts both of them in danger, and berates the heroine for her choices. The anger was extremely triggering to me an I tapped out.

Listen, I like alpha males, they’re fun and protective and over the top. This hero was not an alpha. He was a needy narcissist who became obsessed with the heroine and it was a creepy.

I really liked the writing, that’s what kept me going this long, so I am going to chalk it up to, this hero definitely didn’t work for me but maybe another book by this author would? I’m not sure but please read this particular book with caution!
Profile Image for TinaNoir.
1,890 reviews337 followers
September 29, 2013
I really enjoyed this one. This was a very well written short book that felt longer than it actually was. Mainly because the author did a great job of making the reader feel the two protagonists fall in love. There was a depth to the relationship that you don't often get in books of this length.

I liked the convention of the flashbacks. They were well incorporated with the present day and did a good job of explaining the genesis of the relationship and where each of the two characters were coming from. I also liked that they were both appealing and realistically flawed. You liked them, and yet they both make mistakes. Also, he isn't some super alpha you see ad nauseum and she isn't an irritating -- which also sadly seems to be a staple in some IR romances.

The love scenes were sensual without being explicit.

Highly recommended.
Profile Image for Trishh.
204 reviews6 followers
October 4, 2017
I'm sorry. DNF: 50%.
The main guy is my problem, the cheating and idealizing of another woman is my problem, the main woman not loving herself enough to send him packing, is my problem.

I saw where this was going. She said no, the guy keeps going. She said its not gonna happen, the guy makes her remember all the good things that happened in a two day span. He talks like he has known her forever. They tried to make Holly into a bad person, at least they didnt make her into a bad-promiscuous-bimbo, thats a good thing.

But no, the guy is just so manipulative.
Profile Image for Ashley.
180 reviews55 followers
January 17, 2019
Nah, definitely couldn't finish.

Imagine being bored enough to watch a D film on Netflix with a cast that isn't engaging, a story that is loose and flimsy, and a super boring script. That essentially is this book. I was really excited to read it as I thought it would be really steamy with a good plot but it was super predictable and just dragged ON.
Profile Image for Connie.
590 reviews47 followers
September 30, 2013
I was a given a copy of this book in exchange for a review.

This is Ryan and Shawna's story. When I first started to read the book, I was like, oh no, young people and their woes. I paused there for a moment, then thought, let me keep going to see where this is leading. The book actually flips back and forth between present day and the past. Ryan and Shawna are older and wiser than their first meeting 6 years ago. Ryan was not decisive or self assured when he met Shawna the first time. He was still coming into his own. He saw Shawna in the store and decided he had to make his move because it was a now or never moment. Ryan convinced Shawna to go out with him and they ended up spending a glorious weekend together until she found out that Ryan had a girlfriend. I thought it was going to be a wife the way Shawna reacted. I was actually a little relieved because a wife would have been a point of no redemption in my eyes. Anyway, Shawna disappeared from Ryan's life. Six years later, he's talking to a friend of his and finds out that his sister in law and Shawna is one in the same woman! He begs his friend to set up a date, but he never divulged their history. Shawna agrees to a blind date because her sister won't leave her alone otherwise. She sees Ryan and wants to tuck her tail and run. Ryan convinces her to stay and they discussed what happened all those years ago and try to recreate those same feelings in present time. I liked how Ms. Delaney wove the past with the present without confusion. That's not an easy task. I liked how she told us of their relationship in how they got started while not neglecting the the present. The only thing I didn't like is that I didn't feel there was enough interaction outside of sex that helps me remember why these two are so good for one another now. What are their commonalities? They had a good start on their first weekend together, but their present was filled with a lot of mistrust and talking about getting back on track to recapture the magic. Shawna was angry (which she had every right to be) and a typical fickle woman, who said one thing but meant another. It could have been great had it been more of the getting to know you aspect in their present relationship. I still enjoyed the story and read it in one sitting, so it's a solid 3.5 stars for me.
Profile Image for Nia Forrester.
Author 67 books951 followers
November 17, 2013
I love Delaney Diamond. Have I said this before? Certain writers have a way of expressing themselves that just speaks to something in you that you can't identify, and for me, she is one of them. Her stories always have just that perfect balance of sweet and sour -- love and loss, pain and euphoria, that I love in romance. Not cloyingly sweet or overly sentimental, but also not in-your-face gritty realism either. Just right.

In The Blind Date, she gives us characters that are somewhat unlike her usual fare. They are younger than her usual H and h, and are building something rather than at the pinnacle of a hard-fought career or the beneficiaries of family wealth, and when we first meet them Ryan and Shawna are meeting again after a six-year separation. To help us understand Shawna's rather explosive reaction when Shawna and Ryan meet on a blind date, the writer goes back in time so we can get the history. The old flashback routine can be tedious sometimes, but not here. In fact, the love story of their past is as engaging as the one in the present, which might explain why you feel like you get twice as much story in one fairly short read.

Ryan is a bad-ass who wants to claim his woman right away, and Shawna is the perfect reticent heroine who wants to keep her head about her while her heart has other ideas. The conflicts--Ryan's past deception and Shawna's current would-be suitor--are just enough to keep you turning the page. Well, that and the super-sexy love scenes, of course.

I've read some reviews where readers wish there was more of this, that or the other, but y'know, I didn't experience that and never do with this writer. Her work is like a perfect amuse-bouche. Just enough to make you want more, never so much that you wish you hadn't eaten the meal. This book left me entirely satisfied.
Profile Image for Rellim.
1,676 reviews44 followers
April 23, 2022
This is the first book in Delaney Diamond’s Love Unexpectedly series.

Content Warning (contains spoilers):


I finished but this was terribly problematic.

Additionally, their entire relationship is sex. They have no meaningful discussions. Anytime Shawna initiated one, Ryan just redirected. The only positive things they say about each other are physical or sexual related. There wasn’t any romance for me, nor did I believe they’d last

Narration:
Michael Pauley was easy to listen to.
Profile Image for Ginny Rose.
556 reviews30 followers
October 10, 2013
This story is about Ryan and Shawna, two people who cross paths after six years.

Just like someone else reviewed, I was afraid of reading a book in which went back and forth between the past and the present. I don't mind those stories, but I'm afraid that once the past is explained the present becomes rushed to end and you don't see why they are at the point in which the story originated. Thank goodness, this story was not that case.

Ryan and Shawna meet and there is instant chemistry. They're funny, they're sexy, and you can't help but relate to them immediately. Ryan is a an everyday man, hard worker,portrayed as an alpha male, in which I love. Shawna is no push over and I appreciate stories in which women are independent, successful and are not afraid to speak their minds.

The story itself is about second chances. Can you trust someone who broke your heart? Will you find someone who will make you feel what you felt for that person? Their story has a bit of everything: romance, humor, angst, and best of all a conclusion that does not leave you guessing.

This is a definite must read.
Profile Image for Paulette L. Jones.
Author 12 books59 followers
June 3, 2017
Really good read. Expect the unexpected and don't fight it.
Profile Image for C.
383 reviews11 followers
October 3, 2013
Blind date was a cute love story between shawna and Ryan who had a fling six years ago but things didn't go as plan. Six years later they reunited in a blind date set up by shawna brother in law and sister because Ryan wants to rekindle that spark from six years ago. They chemistry was strong it didn't seem like they have spent six years apart. The story was short but sweet.
Profile Image for Deloris.
970 reviews42 followers
October 22, 2013
I really enjoyed the characters in this book my only complaint is I wanted more ,these characters have a beautiful story . I liked their passion for each other but I wanted more of the story , more of their story.
Profile Image for Layeshia.
379 reviews
January 24, 2015
Cute love story! Nicely told. This was the first time I read a book by this author. In the beginning there was a little bit of suspense. As to what happened to them six years ago when they met. Overall a five star read. And I would recommend it.
Profile Image for SassyMama.
1,016 reviews4 followers
February 12, 2017
A QUICK read...with some SPICY encounters...I was CAUGHT UP Ryan and Shauna's journey to LOVE...I must say both their past and rekindle connection was way too fast considering they slept together the first night they met and after 6 years and the heartbreak Shauna endured at Ryan's betrayal...I thought they re-ignited the FIRE too quickly...he would've had to work a little hard for me...IJS...lol...overall still a cute and SEXY romance.
Profile Image for Tea.
302 reviews11 followers
August 13, 2017
A well-written and well-crafted story – surprisingly short, considering how much story Diamond packed into the tale and surprisingly sweet, considering the amped up sensuality – that left me rethinking a few of my "hell naws" for romance novels.

I started the book, expecting to scowl at Ryan, and I eagerly anticipated watching how the author was going to get him out of having been the bad guy. And for about five seconds after his "dastardly deeds" were revealed, I did. But Diamond let readers deep enough into the character's head that what in many novels would have made me write the man off (and possibly toss the book aside) only left me shaking my head at the stupid choices we make when we're too immature to make better ones.

This book isn't fantasy; the characters and the world they live in came off as very real. It was refreshing to read about real, fallible people ... especially in this genre.

That isn't to say that there weren't a few things I didn't love, but almost all fell into the context of real world annoyances rather than the overly contrived difficulties we so often see in romance or situations that are simply the symptom of poor plotting/poor characterisation. Nope! Diamond wrote a book that felt like real life, only slightly amplified by soul-deep chemistry and lasting emotion.
Profile Image for D.
89 reviews5 followers
October 21, 2013
Shawna Ferguson is set up on a blind date by her sister, Yvonne, but doesn't realize she's about to meet a man from her past. She's stunned when she realizes her date is Ryan Stewart, the man who broke her heart six years ago, and surprise quickly turns into anger, hurt and yearning for Shawna as Ryan tries to convince her that he loves her.

The story is told from the third person perspective so the reader can explore Shawna and Ryan's feelings. I really enjoyed knowing what each of them felt as their conversations and interactions progressed. The story was solid; the characters felt realistic and the circumstances surrounding their breakdown and reunion are believable. The chemistry between the characters was palpable which is a much in a romance story.

Overall, I loved Ms. Diamond's writing style and organization of story. My only criticism was the storyline surrounding Jerome. It felt forced and didn't seem necessary. Shawna and Ryan did enough to capture and keep the readers attention and interest.

Profile Image for Nana Prah.
Author 24 books273 followers
November 3, 2014
This is the second book I have read by Ms. Diamond. The first one was sweet. Now I know she can also get downright hot with her romances.

One thing I didn’t appreciate when I started reading the book was the mistake Ryan made years ago when they first met. My jaw dropped at one point because I was so shocked. When they met again at the restaurant, I wanted to punch him in the face. It didn’t take long for Ms. Diamond to switch me over me from being angry with him to rooting for him. Now that’s some great writing.

Shawna was strong, fiercely determined, and just plain awesome. Just the way I like my heroines.

From the moment they meet to the moment the book ends the heat and attraction is almost palpable. This was one of the reasons I ended up wanting the relationship to work.
Profile Image for Charmer (+ Vibes Only).
598 reviews18 followers
May 31, 2017
"He controlled her with each thrust, damn near stamping his name on her privates-in all caps, bolded, so she'd never forget who it belonged to".

I really liked it. Ryan was my kind of guy, except he wasn't country. I like guys who work with their hands. Before I ever read this book, I told my husband that, my next husband will be a Carpenter and country. Shawna and Ryan seemed good together.
Profile Image for Selina Durio.
2,523 reviews12 followers
January 21, 2015
The Blind Date is the first book in the Love Unexpected Series. I enjoyed the story about Ryan and Shawna. The premise behind the book was an interesting one and at first a little unbelievable. While I do believe in fate, this one was a little bit much. After getting over that fact I did enjoy the book and look forward to reading the next installments. What was most enjoyable to me was that while this was a MC book, the characters were colorless to me and I enjoyed that.
Profile Image for Tony.
1,668 reviews
March 5, 2015
The story is cute but the characters who had so much potential lacked depth. The restroom scene was just tacky, it was the perfect place for him to give the speech that changed everything between them and made the women who heard it swoon, instead we a tacky out of control sex scene. I make no apology, the thought of sex in a public restroom stall is disgusting. There's a lot of potential for so much more.
Profile Image for Cheryl.
257 reviews1 follower
May 17, 2018
Not really sure what to say about this story. I liked it fairly well. It had great passion, attraction and sex . Normally I would complain about how deep the relationship in a short period of time but I do understand when you don't have a lot of pages some things have to move quickly. There was some drama but it was not crazy over the top drama and it made sense to the story it was not just drama for drama sake. So overall I would say this was decent.
Profile Image for Lexie Miller.
938 reviews4 followers
October 29, 2014
Can you forgive and forget those who lie to you? In this good first book of the series you want to kick him in the shin but get all steamy with him at the same time. A true story of heartbreak, the will to try again and steamy romance. Fun read that kept things interesting and will most likely read the next book in this series.
Profile Image for Laura.
370 reviews10 followers
October 6, 2013
The Blind date is a good book I enjoyed it from the beginning to end I just couldn't stop reading it I would recommend this book because it will keep you wanting more but I do think it could have ended a little differently but all in all it was a great book!!!!!!
Profile Image for Sophie Sealy.
379 reviews21 followers
January 4, 2014
My poor unforgiving heart. I have read 44% and I am ready to put this book down for good, AGAIN. Uggh.

Ok I completed the book. I am a fan of Delaney Diamond and I usually buy her books sight unseen, synopis unread. I gave this book two stars only because it a D Diamond.

Profile Image for Mspraise50.
1,597 reviews66 followers
November 14, 2013
I love Ms Delaney, I like the way she writes. I have enjoyed every single book that I have read of hers. I am desperately waiting for Wrong Man to come and then I will be in heaven.

Definitely recommend this books.
Profile Image for Tawnya.
678 reviews28 followers
June 14, 2014
Ryan did not start out in The Blind Date winning any points with me. In fact it took me most of the book to start to like him, Shawna was a more forgiving lady than I could be. They did have some hot chemistry between them though, and he won me over with his persistence.
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