An Unexpected Turn

by Meka James

Some detours can lead you to unexpected places…

May Benjamin takes her role as Maid-of-Honor very seriously and wants to ensure her best friend’s dream wedding goes off without a hitch. Getting the wedding dress from Georgia to New York without incident is her top priority and she’s up for the challenge until she finds out she won’t be making her planned two day trip alone. Now she has to figure out how to spend hours alone, in confined quarters with a woman she can barely make eye contact with.

Best Woman Cicely Thompson hasn’t had a lot of time for family due to her job as a freelance photographer, but she’s committed to being present and involved in her brother’s upcoming nuptials. When asked to accompany the somewhat standoffish Maid-of-Honor on a short road trip, she’s happy to do her part. It doesn’t hurt that she finds the other woman intriguing and attractive.

Fourteen hours in a car, plus a hotel hiccup just might send them veering off course and taking an unexpected turn.

Genres: Romance, Novella, Lesbian, Contemporary

142 pages, Paperback

Published January 5, 2024

About the author

I'm a stay at home mom of 4 kids and have been happily married to my husband for 11 years and counting. I lead a pretty basic and straightforward life and use writing and reading as my escape.

Best places to find me:

Blog:
http://mekasmusings.blogspot.com/

Twitter:
https://twitter.com/AuthorMekaJames

Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/author_meka...

Reviews

[Etinni · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 stars rounded up

[BlackSpec Circuit · Rating 5 out of 5]

Angsty, awkward and very cute. These scenes of them getting to know each other and the adventures they went on along the way! The boob incident was hilarious! The wedding scene when they re slow dancing with each other had me in my feelings. This was such an unexpected release! I enjoyed every bit of it.

[Bek (MoonyReadsByStarlight) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cute little novella. Two very different personalities but they come that come together in a realistic way. There is a lot about autonomy and trust that I really appreciate (I picked this up bc that's what I saw in the other novella that I've read by this author as well).

[Rena · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars. Adorably adorable Black sapphic love story featuring an eye-opening road trip - and only one bed. 🥰

[Tabs · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars. Cute sapphic novella. Finished it with a big smile on my face.

[justinejustreads · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short and mostly enjoyable. I was having a hard time figuring out exactly why Cicely liked May since she was kind of mean like the entire book? But maybe it's her kink, who am I to judge? The spice was nice and these two ate. May, go to therapy for your trauma so you won't eventually push Cicely away with your shitty attitude.

[Jamie (TheRebelliousReader) · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars. I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve read by Meka James so far but this easily my favorite! The series is called ‘That’s a Trope’ and this had some fun ones in it. Opposites attract, road trip, only one bed and they are all done so well. This was low angst, romantic, and so much fun.

May’s sister is getting married to Cicely’s brother and the two women take a road trip to New York to deliver the bride her wedding dress. May is extremely shy and anxiety riddled. She’s not very good with people plus with her being attracted to Cicely she’s not sure how she’s going to get through the trip without embarrassing herself. Cicely is fascinated with May and all of her awkwardness and she’s also attracted to her. Cicely is laid back but knows how to go after what she wants but she knows that May needs to set the pace so that she feels comfortable. The road trip was great because I loved watching them bond and open up to each other. They have a great chemistry and really balanced each other out really well. They were perfect for each other. I liked watching May grow more confident in herself and how patient and caring Cicely was.

This is such a lovely read. It’s only a little over 100 pages but James did a great job at making the characters feel fully developed and you really buy into their love story. I adored this and I cannot wait for more in the series to come out.

[Leslie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I met Meka at Q and Q and bought this book from her. I opened it and devoured it. Now I want to read everything she’s ever written. She’s a terrific writer, which was obvious immediately, and I fell in love with May and Cicely. I love road trip stories and only one bed. But I also loved all the photos C took of M and how they had to take care of a wedding dress too. The awkward moments (with May being a little prickly) to gorgeous Cicely were so good.

Emotional, sweet, sexy, and lovely. A perfect novella.

[Jodi · Rating 4 out of 5]

New author to me and I enjoyed this short story, It is cute, awkward, and a few flirty missteps. May and Carly are taking a road trip to a wedding and along the way they Carly takes pictures of the wedding dress. Everything about this trip, including Carly, is May's first of many new adventures. It has an adorable epilogue.

[Nii · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.75 stars

[Lafcadio · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cute little road trip story