Unexpected : A Novel

by Ashlynn Rager

In the midst of a painful divorce and years of infertility, Lillian returns to her quiet hometown, seeking healing and a fresh start. The last thing she expects is a one-night stand with Grayson Bennett, a successful, emotionally guarded man still reeling from the loss of his wife. Their passionate encounter is a fleeting escape, but the morning after leaves Lillian shocked unsure of what to do next.

When Lillian discovers she's pregnant, the truth is undeniable— the last person she wants to face is Grayson. Torn between motherhood and her fears, she reaches out to him, and the reunion sparks an unexpected connection neither of them saw coming. As they navigate their pasts and face their deepest fears, they must ask Can love, in all its imperfect forms, overcome the weight of their histories?

Unexpected; is an age-gap, small-town romance about healing from the past and embracing unexpected love. Will Lillian and Grayson be able to trust in their hearts—or will the fear of failure keep them apart?

Healing, love, and new beginnings await...

Genres: Romance

171 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 12, 2025

Reviews

[Dusti Cook]

Childish adults

There’s a lot to unpack here. Lillian is 30, but acts like she’s 16 and pregnant. Grayson is 50 something and acts like hes 22 and he’s gotten a 16 year old pregnant. This was a really quick read, and even quicker because i started skimming. What’s with the weird reaction from the niece? Why does she care? Odd. Not for me tbh
Also why did he act like Lillian cursed his dead wife for asking him if he was married? That was so odd

[Jennifer C.]

I usually don’t read any books or novellas under 200 pages because they always feel rushed or missing plot but when I saw this book had the surprise pregnancy trope (which is my favorite), I knew I had to read it. This book was good.
Overall FMC and MMC had chemistry, only two spicy scenes; which were written great.
The only thing that I was confused on was Lillian’s friendship with Sam (MMC’s niece). I think it was mentioned they hung out 2-3times so I felt like they didn’t really have a strong friendship for Sam to get upset. But again usually when books are under 200 pages some things are left out or up to the reader to infer.

This book was a good short and easy read, definitely recommend reading it.

[Angel Webster]

Sawyer is lillians ex husband
Mfc is lillian
Mmc grayson

They meet in a bar

Being in my thirtites i love all the little references to stuff from the past. I love how real it feels when they talk about how the divorce is going.

The way everything flows feels unnatural.( meeting new people and there conversations But i kinda just pinned that on being an extreme introvert.


When it comes to graysons shirt its got me a tad confused cause she said it didnt smell like him so she washed it. But a few chapters later it faintly smells of him.


There's a lot of conflicts and it seems a tad but short. I wish it was longer to explain more
But it was good

[Brandi]

I received this book as an ARC. I wanted to enjoy this book. I feel like the ideas for the book are good but it felt rushed like it needs more development. There is also critical spelling and grammar mistakes that need to be fixed. For example, Jake, Kate and Lena are not characters in the book but their names get mixed up with the main characters.

[Birren450]

I love the idea of this story so much. Rated 3 because I feel it has more potential. The drama with the friend felt like she needed to put something to tear fmc and mmc apart but IMO that was way over exaggerated, and wish she would’ve used something else to drive them apart. I do look forward to seeing what else this author puts out though because she did write a decent love story.

[LaTashea Thomas]

I’m an arc reader for this book when I came across the authors, TikTok video talking about the book I was really interested. I love a good aged gap book. I love the whole storyline. The only thing that I didn’t like about the book that it is a very short read and it feels really rushed about 3/4 into the book.

[Shannon Parker]

Decent book

I thought this was a pretty decent book. It has good banter. The FMC and the MMC both have had some bad luck and in their journey they find each other. They have trouble communicating properly to express their feelings and emotions towards each other. It was a good quick read.

[Jackie]

3.5 Stars rounded up to 4 stars. Really loved the story line. It seemed very rushed for me. I needed more tension between the MMC and FMC. I needed more of them sneaking around but over all I did enjoy the book.

[Jensyne Mason]

Heartfelt Beautiful Story

This is a new author to me, but I can’t wait for the next book. I love the characters, the writing and story. I appreciate the emotional writing and it felt so real and heartfelt. Great story and wish it was longer.

[brittany peoples]

Arc review!! I read this and overall it’s pretty good. Some minor typos but it’s a good read.

[Ravan Miller]

storyline was great! I love a good age gap and pregnancy trope!

[Ash Dawson]

Story line had potential. This wasn’t it unfortunately. Felt way rushed and skipped many details.

[Thehobbylibrarian]

ARC copy!!

This book has so much potential, and seeing I didn't receive the final copy i'm so eager to see what it will be!!

Ty Ashlynn for sharing this with me

[Carly Anders]

This book had great potential and overall it was really cute! It’s definitely an easy read but it felt very rushed and could have included more details etc.

[Elizabeth]

Good concept of a book but so many grammatical errors. Also, the MMC’s niece’s reaction was a little too dramatic for the small period of time for her friendship with the MFC.

[Shannon Seafish Lucy]

Needs better editing. Decent storyline and pacing. But it's just a typical will they/won't they romance.

[Steffany]

The story was pretty cute. A good little read.
Would definitely benefits from another round of editing first. Maybe spelling mistakes. Almost stopped reading at the spelling “car heart” instead of Carhartt. 😅
Lovable characters, easy read.

[Jamie Lawson]

Updated POST-RELEASE

Changing rating to 1 star, just some edits made, no additing to the plot or character development. Not a single added page.

ARC review:

I want to start this review off with acknowledging that the idea of this book is GREAT. I love that the FMC is older, going through divorce, has had fertility issues...it makes for such a realistic character that is easy to connect with. The MC is also great, and I was really excited to watch their relationship develop....however the plot idea, the tropes, and the characters themselves was all that I liked, as it is written right now.

This was extremely rushed. This is more like a novella or a I guess a extremely short novel. The beginning is great, well thought-out out with details, however right after she finds out she's pregnant it's like everything is lightning speed and completely rushed through which makes a lot of the drama and conflict that occurs come off as a little ridiculous. The friendship between Lillian and Sam was basically nonexistent, they were friends for 0.2 seconds with little-to-no emotional connection or development, so when the whole thing goes down that Sam catches Lillian and Grayson, Lillian's reaction and leaving Grayson over it seemed completely immature and ridiculous. The entire conflict seemed unnecessary because Sam and Lillian were hardly friends! I felt like the scenes of Lillian and Tabitha getting ready to go to the bar was more thought-out than the friendship with Sam. The entire time she was upset about losing Sam's friendship and ignoring Grayson I was rolling my eyes and thinking she was an absolute idiot, and I HATED feeling that way.

Then we hardly see the second half of the pregnancy? No birth scene? Just explain the divorce, meet Grayson, quickly meet Sam, Sam catches them, Lillian overreacts and leaves Grayson, Grayson grovels her into forgiveness, and then bam, epilogue.

Also it was difficult to read it due to the large number of grammatical errors. Multiple times I am guessing old character names that were changed were left as well, like Jake, Lena, and Kate? Sooooo many errors, and I totally understand this being advanced readers copy and it's not the final, i've read many ARC's and have never seen one with this many errors where it was multiple on every page. I am no english major or editor myself, and it was hard to push through. I almost couldn't get past it.

This needs MAJOR edits. Needs more character and relationship growth for Sam and Lillian to make the conflict even slightly reasonable. Needs more filler at the end. It just needs MORE.

Great plot, great idea, great characters...this has major potential and I was so excited to read. I hope the author takes this and does more with this prior to release. Giving 3 stars because I KNOW this can be a great novel.

[Janelle]

The plot had sooo much potential with the fmc, Lillian, being 30, going through a divorce and struggles with infertility. Genuinely really loved the idea of the book but the delivery was not the best. There was a part where we had the fmc saying the mmc’s name before he introduced himself, what’s going on with that????? There was little to no growth between the main characters relationship, the struggles the faced with for the most part made sense but was dealt with in a way that does not reflect their age and length of their relationships.

There is a lot of room for improvement, as I said before genuinely live the idea of the book but it’s needs a lot of work.

[jillian]

This is the first ARC I have received!!

Overall the book was a good read. It's a shorter novel which makes it ideal for a quick 'pick me up' read! The plot is solid, I loved the fact that the FMC isn't freshly 18/19. It makes it feel more relatabile and realistic to me. The reason I went with a 3 star rating is because I wish there was some of the MMC point of view, I feel like that would have added a great touch. But even without it the book is solid.

There were a few errors in the copy I received that I spoke with the author about, she informed me that the ARC I received isn't the final copy and she was very kind about my criticism. She also assured me that she would be fixing those before it's released.

I think if you're looking for something short, sweet, and easy to read. This would be great for you.