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His Unexpected Joy: An Uplifting Inspirational Romance
208 pages, Mass Market Paperback
Published May 26, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
July 11, 2026
2.5 stars. This was mostly fine, if a bit simplistic.
As the back blurb says, Grant Edison, a high-powered family law attorney, is burned out at his job and decides to take a month respite in Silver Sound, GA, a small coastal town where he grew up. He's going there to clear his head, but also to help clear storm debris. He's contacted his BFF Ike, who has put him in touch with the local pastor Harry Hughes. Hughes's church is leading the town clean up effort. They are also planning a Labor Day festival, and Hughes takes the extremely presumptous step of putting Grant on the festival committee without bothering to inform anyone - not even Grant himself.
That's the first side-swipe - the second is the leader of the festival planning committee, Pier Parker. Grant and Pier had a short romance six years before the start of the novel. Grant ended up dumping Pier (even though their romance was so intense that not only had they been sleeping together, but also talking marriage at the 3-month mark) because he didn't think he could balance a romance and law school. Did he explain this to her? No, of course not, so their breakup was extremely painful and neither has really gotten over it.
Pier faced some other consequences from their romance - namely, she was pregnant. She ended up leaving Georgia altogether to have her child where nobody knew her, and when she eventually returned to Silver Sound, she only confided the truth of her daughter's paternity to her Aunt Riona. By this time, Grant is a rising star at his brother's firm, and is something of a celebrity for winning custody battles. Pier is terrified that if she tells Grant he has a child, that he will fight her tooth and nail for custody - and win, because he is also wealthy.
Now that he's shown up in town, Pier's fears continually rise to the surface. Every time she sees him, all she can think about is how he'd win custody from her because he has the money to fight a protracted court battle. Working with him on the festival committee is extremely uncomfortable, especially after Grant and Olive meet. Olive is instantly taken with him, and begins to act out when she can't have her way. Pier just *knows* Grant is going to figure out that he is Olive's father, and she's really going to be in the soup.
Grant has his suspicions, especially when Olive shows an aptitude for pitching, and ends up having a terrible reaction to eating a strawberry - much the same as he did, as a kid. But he's certain that Pier would *never* keep such a secret from him as the existence of a child, so he is at turns curious and jealous at the idea that she moved on from him so soon after their parting that she became pregnant and had another man's child.
I think we all know where this is going.
I don't have a problem with this, so much as the fact that the book acts like saying the words is all it takes, instead of doing the heavy lifting of actually making it up to someone. Apologies flow like water in the end, and seem to band-aid over everyone's issues with the snap of a finger. I did not find this believable at all, and it took away from my enjoyment of the story.
I'm also torn about the cover. It is really cute, but also, it's depicting a scene in the book that will shortly be followed by a scary anaphalayctic episode where the little girl ends up in the hospital. That's a bit much for me, and I certainly can't enjoy the cover as I did before I read the book.
So - yes, it was worth taking a blind punt on a new author when I was making my monthly selection of HQNs, but I also think it will end up on the PBS pile.
As the back blurb says, Grant Edison, a high-powered family law attorney, is burned out at his job and decides to take a month respite in Silver Sound, GA, a small coastal town where he grew up. He's going there to clear his head, but also to help clear storm debris. He's contacted his BFF Ike, who has put him in touch with the local pastor Harry Hughes. Hughes's church is leading the town clean up effort. They are also planning a Labor Day festival, and Hughes takes the extremely presumptous step of putting Grant on the festival committee without bothering to inform anyone - not even Grant himself.
That's the first side-swipe - the second is the leader of the festival planning committee, Pier Parker. Grant and Pier had a short romance six years before the start of the novel. Grant ended up dumping Pier (even though their romance was so intense that not only had they been sleeping together, but also talking marriage at the 3-month mark) because he didn't think he could balance a romance and law school. Did he explain this to her? No, of course not, so their breakup was extremely painful and neither has really gotten over it.
Pier faced some other consequences from their romance - namely, she was pregnant. She ended up leaving Georgia altogether to have her child where nobody knew her, and when she eventually returned to Silver Sound, she only confided the truth of her daughter's paternity to her Aunt Riona. By this time, Grant is a rising star at his brother's firm, and is something of a celebrity for winning custody battles. Pier is terrified that if she tells Grant he has a child, that he will fight her tooth and nail for custody - and win, because he is also wealthy.
Now that he's shown up in town, Pier's fears continually rise to the surface. Every time she sees him, all she can think about is how he'd win custody from her because he has the money to fight a protracted court battle. Working with him on the festival committee is extremely uncomfortable, especially after Grant and Olive meet. Olive is instantly taken with him, and begins to act out when she can't have her way. Pier just *knows* Grant is going to figure out that he is Olive's father, and she's really going to be in the soup.
Grant has his suspicions, especially when Olive shows an aptitude for pitching, and ends up having a terrible reaction to eating a strawberry - much the same as he did, as a kid. But he's certain that Pier would *never* keep such a secret from him as the existence of a child, so he is at turns curious and jealous at the idea that she moved on from him so soon after their parting that she became pregnant and had another man's child.
I think we all know where this is going.
I don't have a problem with this, so much as the fact that the book acts like saying the words is all it takes, instead of doing the heavy lifting of actually making it up to someone. Apologies flow like water in the end, and seem to band-aid over everyone's issues with the snap of a finger. I did not find this believable at all, and it took away from my enjoyment of the story.
I'm also torn about the cover. It is really cute, but also, it's depicting a scene in the book that will shortly be followed by a scary anaphalayctic episode where the little girl ends up in the hospital. That's a bit much for me, and I certainly can't enjoy the cover as I did before I read the book.
So - yes, it was worth taking a blind punt on a new author when I was making my monthly selection of HQNs, but I also think it will end up on the PBS pile.
June 16, 2026
Since moving to the Atlanta metro area almost six years ago, any book set here immediately piques my interest. Couple that with the cutie-cute girl on this cover and I definitely had to read His Unexpected Joy by Elaine M. Hunter!
Right away, I liked the story’s hero Grant Edison – a high profile Atlanta divorce attorney who has become disillusioned with tearing families apart and is considering a career change. He immediately seemed to have a good heart willing to help people, so this need for a job with different priorities made perfect sense and formed a solid foundation for the rest of the plot. Also making perfect sense? Grant’s spending his do-I-want-to-keep-doing-this sabbatical from work in his south Georgia hometown to help them cleanup after a bad storm. However, he’s not counting on the new pastor who sets out to match Grant up in more than one way (I adored this pastor, his gentle wisdom, and the twinkle in his eye) or the blast from his past named Pier – the girl who got away. More specifically, the girl he dumped six years ago in a moment of stupidity when overwhelmed by the pressures of law school and his family.
Pier Parker (and isn’t that a wonderful name??) is also caught off guard at seeing Grant again – and at being paired with him to organize the town’s Labor Day Festival. While I got frustrated at some of Pier’s decisions, I understood why she made them and I also really did like her personality. As a single mom, she has to balance all the things – and I thought Hunter presented Pier’s struggle and her strength authentically without letting her become a caricature. On the contrary, Pier feels real and relatable, and I would definitely want to be her friend if we knew each other in real life. The author also does a great job capturing the sweetness and the drama (oh the drama) of a five-year-old little girl with Pier’s adorable daughter Olivia, who forms an immediate connection with Grant much to Pier’s dismay and terror. (You’ll have to read the book to find out why.) The happily-ever-after felt maybe a smidge rushed but it made my heart – and my face – smile nonetheless.
Bottom Line: His Unexpected Joy by Elaine M. Hunter contains a story that’s just as cute and sweet as its cover but also wrestles relatably with the complexities of relationships, regrets, and second chances. I found myself rooting for Grant to figure out his future the way I hoped he would, for Pier to find peace (and do the brave thing), and for both of them to hurry up and realize that they’d never stopped loving each other. Throw in a pastor with a knack for nudging people in the right direction, a supportive aunt with a steady supply of yummy food, and an adorable little girl who makes your heart melt (those tantrums though lol), and you’ve got a sweet Southern romance that left me happy I’d spent time with these people. His Unexpected Joy would be a good next read for fans of small towns, Hallmark endings, and books by Ciara Knight or Zoey Marie Jackson.
(I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book which I purchased for my own collection.)
first reviewed at Reading Is My SuperPower
Right away, I liked the story’s hero Grant Edison – a high profile Atlanta divorce attorney who has become disillusioned with tearing families apart and is considering a career change. He immediately seemed to have a good heart willing to help people, so this need for a job with different priorities made perfect sense and formed a solid foundation for the rest of the plot. Also making perfect sense? Grant’s spending his do-I-want-to-keep-doing-this sabbatical from work in his south Georgia hometown to help them cleanup after a bad storm. However, he’s not counting on the new pastor who sets out to match Grant up in more than one way (I adored this pastor, his gentle wisdom, and the twinkle in his eye) or the blast from his past named Pier – the girl who got away. More specifically, the girl he dumped six years ago in a moment of stupidity when overwhelmed by the pressures of law school and his family.
Pier Parker (and isn’t that a wonderful name??) is also caught off guard at seeing Grant again – and at being paired with him to organize the town’s Labor Day Festival. While I got frustrated at some of Pier’s decisions, I understood why she made them and I also really did like her personality. As a single mom, she has to balance all the things – and I thought Hunter presented Pier’s struggle and her strength authentically without letting her become a caricature. On the contrary, Pier feels real and relatable, and I would definitely want to be her friend if we knew each other in real life. The author also does a great job capturing the sweetness and the drama (oh the drama) of a five-year-old little girl with Pier’s adorable daughter Olivia, who forms an immediate connection with Grant much to Pier’s dismay and terror. (You’ll have to read the book to find out why.) The happily-ever-after felt maybe a smidge rushed but it made my heart – and my face – smile nonetheless.
Bottom Line: His Unexpected Joy by Elaine M. Hunter contains a story that’s just as cute and sweet as its cover but also wrestles relatably with the complexities of relationships, regrets, and second chances. I found myself rooting for Grant to figure out his future the way I hoped he would, for Pier to find peace (and do the brave thing), and for both of them to hurry up and realize that they’d never stopped loving each other. Throw in a pastor with a knack for nudging people in the right direction, a supportive aunt with a steady supply of yummy food, and an adorable little girl who makes your heart melt (those tantrums though lol), and you’ve got a sweet Southern romance that left me happy I’d spent time with these people. His Unexpected Joy would be a good next read for fans of small towns, Hallmark endings, and books by Ciara Knight or Zoey Marie Jackson.
(I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book which I purchased for my own collection.)
first reviewed at Reading Is My SuperPower
August 18, 2026
Sometimes the unexpected situations are the greatest blessings . Grant and Pier have a past together. They meet up again not expecting to meet again! This is such a sweet , caring, heartfelt story. Choices that have put them both in decisions that they have to make , that could change everything. Very good!!!
June 3, 2026
I wanted to love this book. Isn't that the cutest cover??? While I liked it, I was disappointed that the author does more telling then showing. But do give it a read. It's a good story.
June 19, 2026
I loved everything about this book. I could relate to all of the characters’ dilemmas.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews