An Unexpected Kind of Love

When Snow Falls #1

by Hayden Stone, Gary Furlong (Narrator)

Bookstore owner Aubrey Barnes likes his quiet, orderly London life, thank you very much. His shop may be struggling, his only employee is a menace, and his plumbing is one creaky pipe away from disaster, but he can handle it. Maybe. He cannot, however, handle the film company that’s thrown his Soho street into chaos.

And he definitely can’t handle the charismatic American actor Blake Sinclair.

Which is why he’s extremely reluctant to lease out his shop as a set for Blake’s film, but it’s his one opportunity to save his business. Now he can’t get away from the distractingly hot actor.

Then Aubrey finds himself alone with Blake in a trailer, and what happens next turns London’s heat wave into an inferno that leaves him breathless.

Aubrey is not cut out for the high-profile life of dating a celebrity, especially an American actor who’s not even out yet. Good thing their tryst is absolutely not going anywhere.

Of course, when you expect nothing, that’s exactly when it starts to mean everything.

Genres: Romance, LGBT, Audiobook, Contemporary, Queer, M M Romance, Fiction

Audible Audio

First published August 9, 2021

About the author

More animal than mineral, Hayden Stone is a writer of queer fiction, especially with kissing. He currently lives in Victoria, Canada, and has previously lived in Vancouver, Canada and London, UK. Hayden likes strong coffee and is owned by two cats.

Pronouns: he/him

Reviews

[Chelsea · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have to say, I’ve finally realised my GREATEST TRIGGER in books is when the WRONG MC apologises and the other mc accepts it like they deserved a fucking apology?
R u actually fkn kidding me?
GETS ME FOOOOOMING 😡


I need a tw to advise me: ”this book contains traces of dumb cunt. The MC may or may not have been in contact with a peanut gallery, DO NOT advise to consume this book if you’re allergic to absolute peanut brains who accept apologies they don’t deserve” 🥜


Also:
1. 2 almost break ups in less than 2 weeks is a red flag my dudes 🚩🚩🚩🚩 you’re gonna be those ferals who break up every minor inconvenience 🤡🤡🤡🤡


2. Can you please explain to me how IN THE FUCKING GIRL MATH THE MC IS SO BROKE (and has a failing business), to the point that he stresses about a weekend away… but can afford to book a last minute return flight to go confess your love to a man in a FOREIGN country, WHO LITERALLY TURNED YOU AWAY BECAUSE HE FAILED TO HIDE HIS SEXUALITY FROM THE MEDIA AND THEN FREAKED OUT ON YOUR ASS….?


You need to have money in your account to be
🌈financially irresponsible🌈


These men were dumb. The book is well written. Predictable and pretty close to the whole “well, this was a book”.

[☆ Todd · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun and entertaining story, which started out very strong, but waned slightly after the half-way mark for me.



As the story began, book shop owner Aubrey was a bit of a complainer, not super-likeable, and came off as snobby, but I still liked him and his snarky take on things.

Then we met American actor Blake, who had a thing for gruff, opinionated book sellers, or at least one of them. He seemed nice and sweet and the fact that he was hotter than the London heat wave didn't hurt, either.

I thoroughly enjoyed their meeting and getting to know you phase; however, as the book progressed, I never truly felt as though the reader was provided with an over-abundance of *in-depth* detail in regard to what made each MC tick.

Instead, we got way too much bean trivia, leaving me with the feeling that the MC's were only really getting to know one another on a very shallow surface level, while being *told* what felt like a bare minimum what their motivations and dreams in life might entail.

The one discussion-which-was-never-had that made me beyond mental was the fact that, even when their relationship started taking a more serious turn, Aubrey never asked Blake if he was gay, bi, out, closeted, deathly fearful of the public finding out, etc.

SAY WHAT??? Right?

They also never addressed the fact that Blake would be leaving England in a few weeks. Never. Not once. Olympic-level avoidance there.

Don't get me wrong, though. The story had a decent bit of humor and was well on its way to being the book that I hoped it might be, but with Aubrey turning (too?) needy, Blake at times being almost aloof, and the *two* break ups, I found myself much less compelled by the last half of the story.

I'd rate this story at around 3.5 stars and recommend it to readers who don't really *need* to have the MC's living out of one another's pockets before saying their ILY's.

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My ARC copy of the book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for a fair, unbiased review.

See All My Latest Reads (Review Quick-Links)

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[Larry H · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hayden Stone's An Unexpected Kind of Love is a sweet, romantic, steamy love story that kind of undid me.

Most of Aubrey’s life is focused on running his small London bookshop. The stresses of keeping his family’s struggling business alive are overwhelming, but it gives him less time to dwell on his loneliness since his long-term relationship with his boyfriend ended.

When Blake, an American actor filming in London, comes into the shop, Aubrey is flustered, both by his handsomeness and Blake’s desire to return a poetry book because of the poet’s antics online. Their next unexpected encounter, in a trailer on the film set, ignites a fire in both of them.

When the film crew asks to use Aubrey’s shop as a location for the film, at first he wants nothing to do with it. But when it means he'll be paid money he so desperately needs, and give him the chance to be around Blake, he reluctantly agrees. The two begin falling hard for each other, even though they know ultimately, Blake will need to return to America.

Despite their obvious connection, Aubrey can’t seem to believe he’s worthy of Blake, and Blake isn’t quite ready to be publicly out, due to how it might affect his career and his relationship with his family. Will they have a chance at happiness or will obstacles doom it?

This reminded me a tiny bit of Notting Hill (I may have uttered Julia Roberts’ “I’m just a girl…” speech a few times) but it has a charm and a spark all its own. I loved the chemistry between Blake and Aubrey, I loved the banter with the supporting characters, and I was there for all of the steam!!

An Unexpected Kind of Love was my monthly buddy read with my friend Louis, and we both loved it—and it made both of us cry!!

Check out my list of the best books I read in 2020 at https://itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blogspot.com/2021/01/the-best-books-i-read-in-2020.html.

See all of my reviews at itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blogspot.com.

Follow me on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/the.bookishworld.of.yrralh/.

[Carolina · Rating 2 out of 5]

This review may contain mild spoilers.

Hum. What to say? An Unexpected Kind of Love was definitely not what I was expecting. This book had potential, but that’s just it.

I didn’t enjoy the writing. At all. I know this is the first book by the author, but I swear I couldn’t read one more sentence about Aubrey being undone by Blake. Or how the clouds reflected the city lights two pages in a row. Everything was very repetitive and underdeveloped.

Aubrey was insufferable and for the most part very unlikeable. He seemed to complain about everything. People buying books because they want books with a green cover, people buying books written by a ghost writer, all this while his shop is struggling to make ends meet. He’s always judging everyone and everything, when he should be judging his life choices. Not to mention he treated Gemma like an inconvenience when all she did was be there for him and help.

Blake seems like a nice person, but we don’t know a lot about him until about two thirds of the book other than he has a nice body and Aubrey seems to lose all sense of togetherness when he’s around, which made me not really care about him as a character or a love interest. Even when we got to know a little more about his background, I felt it was poorly explored and delivered.

We also don’t get to see why Aubrey and Blake fell in love. What did they like about the other, other than the sex, that made them realize they actually had feelings for one another? Was it the bean knowledge? The fact that Blake seemed to always be smiling, grinning or squeezing his hand? They barely talked about their interests, and every time they learned something about each other, it had to be common ground. We spent more time reading about Aubrey feeling miserable than they did getting to know each other. Even Eli’s storyline with Aubrey was more interesting.

One thing I did like was the trigger warning at the beginning of the book. Again, this book has potential and I’m sure Hayden Stone’s writing will only get better from here.

I received an e-Arc in exchange for an honest review. Thank you Entangled Publishing and Netgalley!

[Marieke (mariekes_mesmerizing_books) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love it, love it, love it! A skeptical British bookstore owner. A charismatic American actor. Cute moments. Witty banter. A heartwarming queer rom-com.

I just wanted to read one or two pages to see what this story looked like. I wasn’t planning on devouring the book immediately. But in the end I did because I loved Aubrey from the moment I read the first sentences. I immediately grinned about his annoyance because arseholes shelved books in the wrong section (The song for Achilles in Romance instead of General Fiction) and with no respect for the alphabet.

Most people have some passing familiarity with the alphabet before they start school. And A is the first letter they should learn if they pay any attention at all as a four-year-old.

Aubrey is grumpy and cynical, self-conscious as hell and only living for work since his break-up with Eli. Until he meets Blake, who’s such a bright light and makes Aubrey live again. I loved their banter about beans, and I swooned over the Crossfire moment! I even put the song on while reading 😂.

Although the instant attraction was a little too fast for my liking, I adored the story. This is a book to read on a lazy Sunday afternoon or on holiday, laying on the beach or by the swimming pool, or just sitting on a quiet veranda. The writing is simple but effective. Blunt but charming. So fitting to Aubrey’s grumpy and sweet character. It made me soft and smile and long for more. I’ll definitely read the next book of this series! Hayden Stone, thanks for this cute debut! Just what I needed after a stressful week!

I received an ARC from Entangled Embrace and NetGalley. I voluntarily read and reviewed this ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

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[Anita Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

This queer romance has so many of my favorite things! A grumpy, messy MC! A hot, charming LI! A crumbling bookstore!! 😍 I really FELT like I was in Soho for the duration of this book, rooting for Aubrey & Blake the whole time. Honestly sad I can’t actually visit Barnes Books.

Note: Hayden and I are friends.

[Andreas · Rating 2 out of 5]

A grumpy London bookstore owner meets a cheerful American actor. Sounds like a really funny rom-com. Sadly, it is not half the fun you’d expect it to be.

The book is written in first person, but we hardly ever get any inside view of what’s going on inside Aubrey’s head. It’s always like: “I do this. I do that. It’s hot as the sun. I do this. I do that.” We also don’t get any backstory in the first half of the book. Characters are introduced in a “I met X at Y and we became friends” way and that’s all we get. So everything that happens feels completely erratic and weird. Aubrey runs briefly into Blake three times and suddenly goes down on him. What? That’s so random. Also suddenly so explicit. The tone of the book shifts randomly between emotional, serious and explicit, sometimes within the same paragraph.

We finally get some backstories in the second half of the book, which gives the characters at least a little bit of the much-needed depth. But then again it still always feels slightly off. Blake is shown to have some hidden talents, but it is specifically what Aubrey needs right at that very moment and it feels more like he is some sort of swiss army knife. So it doesn’t give him depth, it just makes him useful. Also the backstories are still lacking depth. For example in the first half of the book we learn that Aubrey has a rather excessive tattoo and also some piercings, nose and nipple. This is rather unusual for a reclusive bookstore owner like Aubrey, who is even uncomfortable wearing short trousers in even the biggest summer heat. The tattoo is only mentioned in passing and we have to wait half of the book to eventually get the backstory. But then it goes like “I liked dragons as a kid. So did my dad. We got matching tattoos.” Wait? What? That’s it? Yes, that’s it. It is all so sparse and shallow, it is frustrating.

There is some fun, a lot of banter. But without any character development, this is just hanging in the air. It doesn’t make up for the rest of the story. All the characters remain pretty distant and unrelatable. It feels like listening to a neighbor telling you stories about people you don’t know.

I’m tempted to give this book only one star, because it was so frustrating to read. But then again, I’ve read far worse books, so it is two stars.

[Drusilla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just the first sentence hooked me on this one, and it only got better after that.

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.

And that's Aubrey, a British bookstore owner. He is definitely not happy about how people treat his books, and there is little else that makes him happy and rather more things that annoy him. Like his ex or the film crew, who first take over his bookstore and then leave it in a desolate state.

Ideas are the worst. God knows what they might lead to.

Fortunately for him, Blake is more of an optimist and is always there with a helping hand.
Well, they are just perfect together, I'm still a little giddy after reading this. And it is so well written!
This is going on the awesome-shelf and I'm sure it will be re-read soon. 😍😍😍

[Andrew · Rating 1 out of 5]

In an attitude of reminiscence, our narrator remarks: '[It is] a glum reminder. . . of the passage of time, which at twenty-three years old I'm still getting used to.' Are you fucking kidding me? A valid--nay, a good--reason to hate a protagonist (and/or their author): behaving as if one's twenties were middle age. Let's get real: I'd willingly take human life to be twenty three again. Give me a god damned break.

And for those of us who actually are middle-aged, we saw Notting Hill at the theater in high school--and are singularly unimpressed with this novel's lack of originality.

[Charlotte · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and Entangled for providing me with the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

To be frank, An Unexpected Kind of Love just isn't for me. I didn't care for either Aubrey or Blake as characters, their relationship never convinced me, and I expected a lot more from the setting. This novel has the tropes; it goes through the motions; but I'm left wishing for more animation. While the above is a matter of personal preference, the novel would have been greatly improved by much tighter editing, especially when it comes to redundant and overused words and sentences, bland and vague language, clunky exposition and dialogue, and at least one continuity error.

Elaboration of my thoughts below:

Aubrey Barnes is described both in the marketing copy and by his friends as grumpy, which here means awkward, insecure, and pretentious. Aubrey is the owner of an independent bookstore in Soho, London, and it's immediately clear that he doesn't just read books; he is a Book Reader. And he is a distillation of everything I hate about that category of person. He is so unbearably morally superior, disdainful of customers and friends alike for contravening his very Book Twitter-y opinions. He judges a customer for buying a ghost-written bestseller (I hate to break it to you, Aubrey, but you're the one selling it). He is disgusted by a set designer who buys several dozen (!!!) books as props for a film because... she wants them all to be green. He thinks setting an open book face-down is a crime. He is horrified when his employee shows more interest in the film adaptation of a book than in the book itself. There is, naturally, an obligatory rant against electronic books. He probably thinks that dog-earing and marginalia are vandalism.

But for all that he is a book purist, he doesn’t seem to care that much about books. Stories. Aubrey reads books for clout and treasures them as material artifacts, and is incidentally (or not) not very good at selling them. If unkempt glowering could kill, none of his customers would survive a transaction with him.

Being in Aubrey's head is boring. He thinks almost exclusively in simple sentences, which I generally quite like as a style, because when done well it can produce a really piercing, incisive narration. Aubrey's narrative voice is rather more monotonous. He has a limited, prosaic vocabulary, little immersion in the world around him, and infrequent depth to his thoughts. He's painfully self-involved and disinterested in other human beings: he doesn't even notice that Blake is more than a life-sized Ken doll until almost halfway through the book, and that's not hyperbole. He actually has a Realization that Blake has a past, a rich inner life, hopes and plans. It underscores the shallowness of his attraction to Blake and undermines the author's earlier attempts to generate intimacy between them. It doesn't help that at this point in the novel, Aubrey and Blake have only just finished having their first real conversation, in which they finally connect over something more tangible than legumes and photography: wanting their dads to be proud of them. Almost all of their earlier interactions I found to be bafflingly awkward and, though (inexplicably) sexually charged, devoid of tension.

What to say about Blake Sinclair? He's a self-described triple-threat performer. He's nice. He's just very blandly nice and sweet. Not really objectionable at all. It doesn’t help his lack of depth that Aubrey objectifies him to the exclusion of anything else for almost half of the book. And Blake is not even unaware of this! Even now I do not know what he finds compelling about Aubrey; he says "you're intriguing," or "you matter to me," but the why is missing, or at least subsumed by their weirdly urgent mutual lust. This goes for Aubrey, too: what exactly it is about Blake that makes him the first person after Eli that Aubrey actually wants to get close to? I actually found the conflict with Eli to be much more interesting than the rest of the romance plot, because his and Aubrey's established relationship and dynamic seemed to read more smoothly.

So this book is ostensibly set in Soho, and we know this because we are reminded of it every time Aubrey goes outside. It could totally be set in Soho, but it could also be literally any other district in London or another city entirely. What Aubrey shows us of Soho, other than the intense heat, the crowds of tourists, and the traffic always at a standstill—and we know all this too because Aubrey rattles off this list every time he goes out—is the post office, a new vegan restaurant, and various shops (photography, ice cream, coffee, ramen), all with a bare minimum of description. None of this is peculiar to Soho! It could be literally anywhere! What is the atmosphere, the energy of Soho? What does the air smell like? Who are the locals? What differentiates it from a blank piece of paper? If Soho is as central to the book as Aubrey's frequent invocations of it suggest, it needs to be more than a one-dimensional backdrop.

Because everything is described in the exact same way and called back to ad nauseam—from the first, Soho is hot and full of tourists; everything Blake does is devastating; Aubrey is always undone by him; everything they learn about each other becomes "new common ground"—there’s no sense of movement, no dynamism in the setting. The author gives a basic establishing shot but never follows through to deepen or complicate it. The heat in London is insisted upon often more than once per page, but rather than contributing to setting or atmosphere, giving events the impression of a fragile bubble outside of time, a tenuous barrier to reality, it makes the story flow like molasses. Sweat, flushed faces, shirts sticking to skin, the anodyne hint of a breeze—we don’t need to be told every time that there is a heatwave. And Blake devastates and undoes Aubrey with his looks and grins literally every time they are in a scene together. It is unclear why, other than Blake's generic hotness and willingness to be in Aubrey's proximity. But the sameness with which these recycled adjectives paint their interactions inhibits the development of romantic tension and any kind of momentum in their relationship.

There are hints of a good book throughout, especially in those moments when Aubrey's desperation for meaningful connection with another human being comes through.

[gracie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Refer to this if you ever need to see how a person with low self esteem easily falls prey to love bombing and manipulative bastards.

Let me preface this by saying the entire book happens in the span of two weeks...TWO WEEKS. So we have Aubrey, a lowly bookshop owner in London, and Blake, a C-list actor who's in London for a movie he's starring in. They have a sweet meet-cute only for Aubrey to give Blake a blowjob the very next day, crazy! Aubrey then runs away, Blake sends him flowers and thus their romance begins or so I thought.

Aubrey was so insecure about the fact that Blake liked him and felt the need to remind us every 2 pages that there's no way someone like Blake would be into someone like him, like bro please stand up?? Blake would reassure him and they went on the cutest, spontaneous dates and I liked Blake up until he got mad at Aubrey for not telling the people in his life that he was seeing Blake. They were about a week into the relationship at this point mind you!!! A FREAKING WEEK AND YOU WANT HIM TO TELL THE WORLD ABOUT YOU?? WHAT AN ENTITLED PRICK!! It got even worse when the hypocritical ass admitted that he hadn't told anyone in HIS life about Aubrey either!!! Blake then went on to tell Aubrey that he was falling for him as a way to make the poor guy feel guilty for being COMPLETELY REASONABLE!!

I know you're thinking that it couldn't possibly get any worse than that but oh it did. So they sorted that issue out after they break up for a couple hours, only to have another fight and break up again a few days after. This time it's because Blake got outed to the media (not like he particularly tried to hide it in the first place nor did he explain to Aubrey that he was closeted) and decided to lose his shit and blame Aubrey for everything!! It was at this point I chose to switch from the audiobook to the ebook just so I could skim it and get it over with.

What's even stupider is that Aubrey fully thought it WAS his fault and decided to go find Blake in New York, a city that Aubrey's never been to before btw, and go apologize to him. I was sick to my stomach. Aubrey, for the better half of the book, kept complaining about how broke he is and how the bookshop is going under blah blah blah so imagine my shock when this absolute dunce of a man pulls money from God knows where and books a round trip flight to New York to chase after Blake!! He wanders round until he checks Blake's Instagram and finds out he's back in London and so he boots it back to London, finds Blake and then grovels. NOTHING PISSES ME OFF MORE THAN WHEN THE WRONG PERSON APOLOGIZES FOR A FIGHT!! And Blake with his coconut ass head accepted the apology and didn't even apologize for the shit HE did!!!!

I was so done with this book my goodness. I honestly give them two months tops cause having 2 breakups in 2 weeks is not a good precedent for the rest of the relationship lol. I honestly did feel bad for Aubrey, he deserves way better than what he's getting with Blake.

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25 stars ...

Cute with likable MCs ...
but easily forgettable.
I expect, in a few months,
I won't remember anything
other than what the blurb says.

[Kirsten · Rating 2 out of 5]

So implausible--
no money, prep, work, motives, sense.
Bad reviews were right.

I can almost get behind flying across the ocean for surprise grand gesture effect (despite looming bankruptcy) and not wanting to have important conversations on the phone or via text. But once you're in a city of 8mil with no address or any other contacts, slide the fuck into the DMs at the very least to get a location rather than crashing casting calls (can't happen anyway) and wondering around popular actor hangouts (and what would those be?).

Also, he has a cat?!??! That has no name?!!? and no needs?!!?!!

More fool me, though--I read it, and I'm starting the next.

[Nadia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yes! I loved this book. In my opinion this was a different take on Notting Hill (film) with a few important changes such as this was a m/m love story.. And yes, I totally recommend the film too. Aubrey, bookshop owner, and Blake, a C listed actor, had a meet cute several times in one day. Over the next two weeks they fell for each other as the movie used Aubreys bookstore for some of their scenes. All we know as a reader was that film was a rom com and they needed a bookstore in London. The side characters were okay but I especially loved Ryan and Lily. I want a story about Ryan since he was such an interesting character. The relationship between Aubrey and Blake’s was center stage for the story and eventual conflict. I didn’t understand the conflict but it was a minor inconvenience that was resolved by the end. I liked Aubrey and Blake and thought they were cute together. The epilogue was adorable and wrapped up the story very nicely. Overall, I loved the story, if you love a cute rom com m/m love story you will enjoy this.

I received this ARC from the publisher and Netgalley for my honest review and opinion. Thank you!

[Ami]

Unfortunately, my interest plummeted to zero after less than 10% into my Kindle, Aubrey gave Blake a BJ on his trailer when Blake was still practically a stranger to him.

It came out of nowhere and didn't match the character. I'm sorry, not the kind of warm fuzzy bubbly romance that I expected with the early Notting Hill vibe. I don't want to continue after that because my mood is totally ruined. MY issue most definitely, not yours

PS: I won this on a giveaway from Book Reviews and More by Kathy

[Mihaela · Rating 5 out of 5]

OMG! This book was such a masterpiece of queer romance 😍
I loved the characters so much, Aubrey and Blake stoled my heart! They were such true and realistic characters. The book had also the perfect ammount of angst, not too much and not too insignifficant.
Fully recommend it to the fans of the genre!

5+ sweet stars

~ I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own ~

[Jodie | GeauxGetLit · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yowsers! If you are looking for a February Valentines romance full of hot queer steam, pick up this book! An actor and a librarian equals HOT! The author did a great job with character development. This is a love at first sight genre, if that’s your go to you will be all over this one!
Overall, if the above is what you are looking for in a romance book…this is sure to please.
4.5 stars for well written romance

[ivy]

DNF @ 29% - I’m just on a roll

[Kaitlyn Hill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a cozy, hot, delightful romance! Fans of Alexis Hall’s Boyfriend Material will love this one. Hayden Stone’s writing is so warm and witty and I loved watching both of these characters work through issues that felt real and honest to be with each other.

[Lila · Rating 5 out of 5]

Big thank you to NetGalley for providing this free e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!

An endearing achillean story. Taciturn and sarcastic London bookseller Aubrey meets Blake, a charming actor from the American South. But Blake is only in London for two weeks while filming a movie. Will they make it work?

I don't know what to say. I am speechless. This charming story between two adult men at times seemed like a first crush, adolescent kind of story. Not that it would be a bad thing, either. The writing was lovely and descriptive. I love especially how the sex scenes weren't too explicit. Instead, we got to see Aubrey's emotional side, which was wonderful. This was truly An Unexpected Kind of Love.

I especially liked Aubrey. He's not the perky, optimistic kind nor does he have to be. Far too many main characters seem outwardly friendly while having deep emotional scars. I found Aubrey to be the opposite. While he is still affected by his break-up and subsequent betrayal by Eli, there is only light inside him. Blake is perfectly suited to extract that part of him to the surface.

Eli, on the other hand, seems like a manipulative arsehole. He dumps Aubrey to be with their friend and seems perfectly happy while Aubrey is miserably still pining for him. The very second Aubrey starts to recover and move on, he tries as hard as he can to keep him.

The beginning of the book has trigger warnings, which I've come to realize recently, some people need. All in all, this beautiful queer love story deserves 4.5 out of 5 stars. I just realized all three of my first NetGalley reads have 5 star ratings. I'll chalk it up to my good taste and luck, to have picked out such good reads.

Merged review:

Big thank you to NetGalley for providing this free e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!

An endearing achillean story. Taciturn and sarcastic London bookseller Aubrey meets Blake, a charming actor from the American South. But Blake is only in London for two weeks while filming a movie. Will they make it work?

I don't know what to say. I am speechless. This charming story between two adult men at times seemed like a first crush, adolescent kind of story. Not that it would be a bad thing, either. The writing was lovely and descriptive. I love especially how the sex scenes weren't too explicit. Instead, we got to see Aubrey's emotional side, which was wonderful. This was truly An Unexpected Kind of Love.

I especially liked Aubrey. He's not the perky, optimistic kind nor does he have to be. Far too many main characters seem outwardly friendly while having deep emotional scars. I found Aubrey to be the opposite. While he is still affected by his break-up and subsequent betrayal by Eli, there is only light inside him. Blake is perfectly suited to extract that part of him to the surface.

Eli, on the other hand, seems like a manipulative arsehole. He dumps Aubrey to be with their friend and seems perfectly happy while Aubrey is miserably still pining for him. The very second Aubrey starts to recover and move on, he tries as hard as he can to keep him.

The beginning of the book has trigger warnings, which I've come to realize recently, some people need. All in all, this beautiful queer love story deserves 4.5 out of 5 stars. I just realized all three of my first NetGalley reads have 5 star ratings. I'll chalk it up to my good taste and luck, to have picked out such good reads.

[Bookwormlipa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. I have received an ARC of this book by NetGalley, and Entangled Publishing and I am voluntarily leaving an honest review. The Pub date of the book is August 9th. This review will be posted on my Goodreads, Facebook page and Instagram.
In overall, I liked the story, but I confess that everything happened to fast from the beginning and without coherent explanations to reinforce this speed between the characters romance.
The potential is all in the story, but it was not well built by the author. The characters are wonderful and with unique and distinct personalities - including the secondary ones. But the potential presented lacked a bit of development. I like clichés so it's not because it exists, it's because it's hard to understand where the characters' feelings are going.
Aubrey is peculiar, but as expressive as he is, he does not express what is necessary for us to understand his side, and Blake, he is very absent. It's hard to understand a character who doesn't have much perspective on the story and makes us feel a lack of explanations or points of view. We know more about what his body looks like than what Blake is - and when we know more, it's in the end and a little rushed.
Big problems were explained very quickly towards the end of the book, and they didn't seem to be that big anymore, like the debt and store situation. Loose ends.
Personally, I thought Aubrey was wonderful going to America, but I felt that the trip was a bit...unnecessary, considering that it didn't make sense to me that they didn't meet up there. His debts didn't seem so big on travel expenses. And I mention this because it's a constant problem in Aubrey's life. As is Eli - which I really didn't like and didn't feel any kind of emotion in the past story between Eli and Aubrey. Very confused and poorly explained.
I liked the story, but I felt it was under-developed.
I'm sure that in future stories the author will evolve and show all this growth in new stories.

[MaDoReader · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5
Muy mono este Notting Hill versión MM

[sapphia · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF @ 34%
Big bummer. I just can't read this anymore. The writing is incredibly cheesy, dramatic and over the top. I just wanted a light romantic read but this writing really is atrocious.

[Keith · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am in complete awe of just how much I loved this story. It was swoon-worthy. It was one of those romantic love stories where they say the corny romantic things to each other because they are head over heels for each other and you laugh a little and think it's corny but then in the same breath wish someone would say those exact things to you. 🥰 I thought it was just the right mix of modern day romance and maybe a little old fashioned"sweep you off your feet." I've always said I would meet the love of my life at a bookstore. And now, Hayden Stone went and wrote this fantastic story. I can't wait to see what he writes next.

[Caz · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've given this an A for narration and a C- for content at AudioGals. Technically the narration should bump it up into the 4 star bracket, but I'm leaving it at 3 because the story is so disappointing.

When I mentioned Hayden Stone’s début novel, An Unexpected Kind of Love, in our February Picks, I wrote that the romance plotline bears a similarity to that of the movie Notting Hill – a film star and London bookseller fall in love. That much is true – but the situation is a little different here; it’s not a travel bookshop (and it’s in Soho rather than Notting Hill) and the actor is an up-and-comer rather than an established star. It’s a light-hearted listen that benefits considerably from a fantastic performance by Gary Furlong, but the single PoV doesn’t do the story any favours, and the eleventh-hour conflict is not only unconvincing, it doesn’t really go anywhere. I liked the overall tone of the story; the author’s bio says he’s lived in the UK and it shows, because there’s a distinctly British feel to much of the dialogue, but in the end, the book was a disappointment.

Twenty-three-year-old Aubrey Barnes has taken over the running of the small Soho bookshop owned by his mother after ill-health forced her into early retirement. He loves her dearly and is desperate not to let her down, but the place is struggling and the prospect of failure is a continual looming presence. So he’s not too pleased when a guy comes into the shop in order to return a book of poetry he bought a few days ago because, he says, the author’s social media activity has revealed him to be a total dick. The fact that said guy is hotter than the July heatwave – and that Aubrey is strongly attracted to him – just adds to Aubrey’s frustration.

When someone from the film crew working just down the road approaches him about the possibility of using the bookshop for filming, he’s resistant and worried about possible damage and loss of earnings. But the decision is taken out of his hands by his no-nonsense friend and assistant Gemma, who tells them yes; and when Aubrey finds out what they’re offering to pay, he reluctantly agrees to the deal. He goes to the set to hand over the signed contracts, which is where he again meets hot-book-return-guy, Blake Sinclair, one of the actors in the movie. They seem to keep bumping into each other; a literal bump into each other on a coffee run, the returned book and now this… Aubrey for once allows his impulses to gain the upper hand, one thing leads to another, and suddenly he and Blake are on unexpectedly intimate terms. *wink*.

The plot from here on in is pretty much what one would expect, with Blake and Aubrey chatting via text, going on dates, hanging out, making out etc. so I won’t re-hash it. But I did have a number of problems with the book, including a third-act break-up which could easily have been avoided, a ridiculous Grand Gesture near the end and, most damningly, the lack of character development or any real exploration of exactly why Aubrey and Blake fall for each other in the first place.

I liked the first two meet-cutes (the third one is bizarre – a blowjob at 10% in? Really??) and the getting-to-know you phase of their relationship is sweet, but while Aubrey’s personality comes across fairly strongly, we don’t really get to know all that much about him, and Blake is woefully underdeveloped. Aubrey is grumpy, prickly, cynical and sometimes a bit of a complainer, but I liked his snarky attitude and his voice is very authentic. (Although I can’t tell how much of that is down to Gary Furlong, who brings Aubrey to life so perfectly). He’s a bit self-conscious and finds it difficult to accept that someone as gorgeous as Blake could possibly be interested in him, but Blake’s obvious interest and persistence slowly win him round. Blake is sweet (and hot) and clearly cares for Aubrey, but the story really needs his PoV to round out the romance and provide some emotional depth. Some authors are skilled at writing single-PoV stories that flesh out the love interest so we feel we get to know them despite never getting into their heads, but that’s not the case here unfortunately, and as a result, Blake is rather two-dimensional and remains rather distant.

I was also very bothered by the fact that they fail to have one – no, two – very important conversations early on. Not once does Aubrey ask Blake if he’s queer or even if he’s out (and nor does Blake volunteer the information), and not once do they discuss the fact that Blake will be going back home after the filming is wrapped. It’s on Aubrey’s mind for sure, but they never actually talk about what it means for them as a couple. And Aubrey seems to be yet another in a long line of contemporary romance small business owners who has no idea what he’s doing – no business plan, doesn’t have a decent website or do online sales; all he really has going for him is a love of books! Yes, this is fiction, but it’s a common trope in contemporary romances (just think of all those cupcake shops!) when characters somehow run businesses but never seem to do anything vaguely “business-y” or have any business sense.

Finally, I’m getting into spoiler territory so:

After the third act break-up – in which Blake is outed (see above re. the Talk Not Had) – and things fall apart, Blake goes back to the US and Aubrey mopes for a bit. Then he has the great idea of making a last minute dash to New York to find him and tell him how he feels. I know it’s meant to be a Grand Gesture, but in practice, it’s just a very dumb one. For one thing, Aubrey has absolutely NO IDEA where to find Blake (and doesn’t want to text him because he wants his visit to be a surprise) and for another, Aubrey’s money worries are mentioned constantly, so how come he could afford to just jet off to NY at the last minute and THEN afford to buy another flight home at the last minute?

Then, in the epilogue, we discover that Aubrey and Blake have bought a small house in Soho not far from the shop. Um – WHAT??? While writing this review, I did a quick Google search that revealed the average price of a two bedroom house in Soho as around £2.3 million. See above re: Aubrey’s financial problems – and Blake isn’t an A-lister, so I can’t see how they were able to afford it. Small thing, maybe, but as a born and bred Londoner, it threw me completely out of the story.

It will come as no surprise, then, when I say that the very best thing about An Unexpected Kind of Love is, hands down, the narration. Gary Furlong gets Aubrey’s waspishness to a T and he sounds so natural – and not at all like a character in a book – that I could have imagined having a conversation with him and how his responses would sound. It’s all those little touches – the sighs, splutters and giggles, not all of which are in the text, but which he adds at appropriate points and times perfectly – that go into making a performance that helps paper over some of the cracks in the story and storytelling, and which make it such a treat to listen to. I think it’s also down to him that I liked Blake as much as I did; on paper, he’s bland, but in Mr. Furlong’s expert ‘hands’, he’s warm and funny, confident and attractive. It’s a wonderfully animated and accomplished performance all round and yet more proof, should it be needed, that he’s one of the best romance narrators around.

An Unexpected Kind of Love had a lot of potential, but ultimately failed to deliver. If you’re looking for something light-hearted and the issues I’ve mentioned aren’t ones that worry you, Gary Furlong’s performance alone is worth the price of admission. But even he couldn’t fix the poor characterisation or disguise the stodginess of the middle section and the silliness of the ending.

This review originally appeared at AudioGals .

[Charlotte · Rating 5 out of 5]

I know author, Hayden Stone and I am delighted and proud to be able to provide an unbiased review of his debut queer romance novel. This is the kind of book that fans of the genre are going to love.

I loved bookstore owner Aubrey Barnes from the moment he first appeared in this book:

“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.”

As someone who spends my days working in a public library – I fell in love with Aubrey the moment I realized how grumpy and hilarious he was going to be. In addition to being beyond particular about where items in his bookstore are shelved, Aubrey is intelligent, funny and quirky. I immediately loved the banter between him and his assistant/ friend Gemma.

A chance encounter in the bookstore, a coffee accident down the road… Aubrey just keeps running into the same handsome man – even though he doesn’t want to. What Aubrey doesn’t know at first, because he’s not the least bit interested in something as trite as Hollywood, is that the handsome young man, he keeps running into is actor, Blake Sinclair.

Blake’s got a supporting role in a new flick that is filming down the street from Aubrey’s bookstore. When the crew discover what a great location the bookstore is, they want to film there! Naturally, adorably grumpy Aubrey isn’t interested… until he is. After all, running a bookstore these days is difficult and Aubrey has never really known much about marketing.

What I really enjoyed about this book was the way that the relationship between Aubrey and Blake progressed. Okay, they were clearly attracted to one another from the moment that they met but I genuinely felt as though I was getting to know them as they got to know one another.

This book isn’t all sunshine and puppies; Hayden Stone touches on some modern issues: being outed by the media, long distance relationships, financial woes, and homophobic family members. The story doesn’t get way from Stone and the plot never gets bogged down in the issues which I appreciate.

I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this book!

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

I read the blurb of this and thought “oh this sounds like Notting Hill with boys, I’ll request it on NetGalley and try my luck” AND LUCKY I WAS! 1) I got approved - my first approval on NetGalley (thank you to the publisher!) and 2) This *was* Notting Hill! But queer Notting Hill with the best grump/sunshine dynamic. I loved it.

And here’s the thing. If it were an ordinary book I would have been all “no one falls in love this quick, more build up needed etc etc.” but because I’m a Notting Hill enthusiast I knew exactly what was happening and honestly didn’t care haha.

Aubrey runs a struggling bookstore in London. The shop is used as a location for a movie. Blake is an up and coming star working on the movie. Aubrey and Blake have multiple meet-cutes before quite a steamy interaction, and then they have to work out what it all means. Distance, publicity etc.

Things I liked:
- Aubrey’s voice as our grumpy narrator. I love him
- Blake as the optimist - he is just so happy and brings out the best in Aubrey
- The Notting Hill nods - Horse and Hound!
- The diversity in the secondary characters - pan, poly, character in a wheelchair
- The take on the complication from the original NH story
- The way the steam was done. It was pretty hot guy on guy without being porny descriptive
- Male romance author!!!

Things I didn’t like:
- As above, it was a little insta-love and all too fast, but I won’t complain for this one
- Eli (Aubrey’s ex) - you scumbag
- I wanted more of the secondary characters. Please have spin offs!

In short: if you’re a Notting Hill fan, and love queer love, then this will knock your socks off. It’ll probably knock your socks off anyway. So fun.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am mostly just frustrated by this book. It had so much potential and I actually really enjoyed the characters, but it was woefully underdeveloped. It's about Aubrey, who is most definitely a Virgo, he owns a book shop in London and is grumpy and cynical and gets frustrated when people shelve books out of order or by people who buy books purely for aesthetic reasons with no plan to read them. I felt for Aubrey. He had Virgo vibes all day. Anyway, his bookshop is struggling and he is trying to work through the aftermath of a bad breakup and in the aftermath of his dad's death. Now I say this, but we get absolutely no details about any of this. It it's referenced a few times and mentioned in a way that we're just supposed to know, but there's never any deep dive into what actually happened.

Then there's Blake who is an American actor in London working on a film and the only real information we get about Blake is that he's hot. About 2/3 of the way through the book he gets a little bit of a personality, but what you're essentially left with about him is that he's an American actor who is really good at sex.

The romance for this was way too rushed for me and I'm so angry about it because there were pieces of the story that were wonderful and could have been great. But it was just lackluster for me and I am so sad to say that. When I first saw this as an available arc on that galley, I jumped head first because I am a sucker for grumpy book sellers. But I just wanted more from this book.

If you are looking for something that is fairly light and fluffy, a surface level romance, this book is for you. It is a great beach read or a lazy Sunday afternoon book, but if you're looking for complexity and depth this one doesn't quite deliver.

Rep: white English gay MC, white American bisexual/pansexual/queer love interest (unlabeled but discussed), queer side characters, mentions of poly rep, disabled secondary character

CW: brief mention of death of a parent, mention of cheating, mention of familial disapproval, mention of car accident (I say mention because all of these are tiny spots in this book and none are actually delved into)

[atlas ♡ · Rating 2 out of 5]

In this romance novel we follow Aubrey, a British bookshop owner and Blake, an American actor. These aren't the most likeable characters but they were enjoyable, if not lacking in some areas.

I picked this up because of the interesting description and that it seemed like it had a lot of potential. Though I quickly realized this wasn't what I had expected.

The writing also wasn't my favorite. I can see there being more potential in the author's next works seeing as this is a debut book but this one just wasn't it. I wasn't a fan of the way the relationship was portrayed and I think the writing style played a good part in this.

This novel is also insta love which isn't one of my favorite tropes. There was also pop culture references as well which isn't my cup of tea in books usually.

Take my review with a grain of salt seeing as this wasn't quite made for my demographic at all. Of course, this did make the book less enjoyable for me.

Overall don't get me wrong, there were a few positive aspects as well, the humor wasn't bad, and might be something to pick up if you want a sweet mlm instalove romance. Everyone has different tastes!

Thank you to Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Kera’s Always Reading · Rating 3 out of 5]

I hate to be that person who starts a review off with "This book had so much potential." but I am... This had great potential but that is pretty much it. This is told solely from the perspective of Aubrey, a surly, grumpy British man who owns a failing bookstore in London. He meets an American actor named Blake who is filming in the area. Blake is a very one dimensional character for most of the book as his character isn't much delved into. He is attractive and good in bed and that is about the level of information we know about him. I wanted more.

When the production company working on the film Blake is in comes to the bookstore asking for permission to use it for filming, the two end up getting to know each other more. That was pretty much the whole book. Aubrey is very curmudgeon-y throughout the whole book. He is struggling with the failing bookstore and his never ending of shortfalls that he sees in himself.

I didn't much care for on of the two major conflicts between Aubrey and Blake. The first conflict was very one-sided. Blake gets upset with Aubrey for something that Blake, in the same conversation, reveals that he is kind of doing as well all revolving around others knowing (or not knowing in this case) about the relationship. The second major conflict was much more valid and understandable.

I will say that the big ending scene was adorable and just what I needed to end the story. This had all the makings of a really great book. If the characters had been better developed and the story-line more polished this could have been a five star read for me. It just wasn't there for me.