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)

I don't know what to say. When I read this book's synopsis I was super excited cause it seemed to fit right up my street. This book had a lot of potential but it just wasn't it. The book and the romance between the main characters felt extremely rushed. A lot of sentences were repeated every two pages or so and the characters felt really plain to me.

I know this is the author's first book and I truly wish I liked this one and could leave a good review.

I received a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.75 stars!

I loved this book so much! Despite the fact that the romance felt very abrupt and rushed, I had so much fun with the characters! And I loved that the author incorporated a bookstore element into the story! gahhh and the last scene was so cute!!

This is a cute British rom com about a bookseller who finds love again with an American celebrity. It’s funny and adorable. A quick, cozy, feel good read for the Summer/ Fall. I’d recommend to fans of Boyfriend Material, and Red White and Royal Blue.

I was sold when I started to get Notting Hills vibes, and more even when it started to have Notting Hill references!!! Aubrey is a delightful character and overall a ball of anxiety that will make you root for him to have freedom of his worries, afterall he is only 23 years old and have so many worries that no one in his age should have. And having a break from all the heartbreaking things happening to his love life, shop and life in general was refreshing to his mind, so much that it makes him do surprising things spontaneously with Blake, things that he never would allowed himself to do. Blake gave him the courage to be free and that was beautiful to see.
The writing style was emotional and funny, I sometimes lost myself in it feeling like I was Aubrey! I felt like my heart was breaking as I put myself on his shoes!
Like all rom coms, this one had angst and a really sweet happy ending!

this was SO ADORABLE and sweet, some angst and ache that balance the sweetness. i didn't want to put it down!

i love this pov from Aubrey, reading his insecurities, his thoughts, his troubles, his indecisiveness, was really enjoyable. the way he hurts and love, keeping people close and happy.

i love how Blake helps Aubrey out with his confidence, love and even the shop. (pshhh was it love at first sight, Blake?) enough to overlap with my unhappiness of Blake at the end, because.. he had to know what he was getting into before right? he even picked a fight before over that very same problem that occured at the end. (ps everytime Blake offers to help with marketing for the shop, I'm honestly scared because a fight is coming up.)

their make up was a bit dramatic, <spoiler> (wow Aubrey, did you reconsider financially?) also a bit stalkerish, and creepy i would not recommend. maybe hit up a text beforehand or something? </spoiler> but i'm so glad for how it ended. how they both try to find each other. they are both so connected, and meant to be.

Eli's spoiler;
<spoiler> what i don't understand is, why only Eli was in the wrong and not "Eli and Ryan", it takes two hands to clap. Ryan entering a relationship with his bestfriend's ex, that's (not) ok?? but, i like how Eli was always there for Aubrey even though it hurts Aubs (sorry Aubs) </spoiler>

also can't wait to buy the physical copy of this!

The plot had the chance of becoming food but the writing and pace are really not my styles. The book just jumps from one to another and the book needs some diting with the style of writing.

Thank you, NetGalley for providing me with the ARC.

This was a great read. Bookstore owner + actor is a cute premise, and it worked really well here.
For me, the first-person POV was a bit choppy at the beginning, but quickly softened out into easy reading.
I loved the characterisation in this book, with the mc being easy to emotionally invest in and the side characters all being interesting in their own rights, creating a wide range of relationship dynamics. The mc was really well written in my opinion, and whilst I understand he might be a bit too in his own head for some readers, I thought it made him more realistic, and I loved the fact that he wasn't a typical perky protagonist. Instead he was judgemental, and had a host of very human flaws. By contrast, Blake was slightly underdeveloped, but I don't think that it impacted the overall enjoyment of the book.
This book was perfect as a fairly lighthearted romance novel, a quick read that I would definitely recommend!
(I also really appreciate the inclusion of content warnings at the beginning of the book - definitely something all authors/publishers should be looking to do!)

I got an early copy of this book from Netgalley for a review, and while I don't think this was a bad book it just wasn't for me, the insta love type of books never do much for me but it was a quick read

Aubrey Barnes is still trying to get over his ex Eli, who found his best friend a better prospect, its not helping that they are all trying to remain friends. He can't move on so spends all his time trying to make his bookshop profitable. His world is turned upside-down when a movie starts filming in his neighbourhood, he finds himself bumping into a gorgeous co-star, Blake Sinclair and gets close up and personal with him. A very Notting Hill vibe going on in this rom-com which I found very enjoyable.

I really enjoyed this book. The characters are amazing and its full of funny banter. It was a grumpy and romcatic tale. The writing was so interesting and i was hooked on from page one. I really liked Aubrey. This book is such a masterpiece of queer romance

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.

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.

An Unexpected Kind of Love, 3/5 stars.

Hmm. I really wanted to like this book. It wasn't bad, per se, and I could see the potential, but it felt more like a second draft than a completed manuscript. Pretty much none of the characters were fleshed out– Aubrey's supposedly very sickly and dependent mother wasn't even /in/ the story, which was weird– and there were many times I wanted Aubrey to get back with his ex, Eli, because I didn't buy the insta-love connection between Aubrey and Blake. I'm really not a fan of the insta-love trope in general, so maybe I'm a bit biased, but sue me for not believing that two emotionally stunted and very different men could fall so passionately and irrevocably in love with one another in a matter of DAYS that they upend their entire lives.

The writing was pretty good, though– this author has definitely found his genre. It was a very quick read, and there really weren't any parts that dragged on. Disregarding the first ~steamy~ scene (because WHAT was that), I actually enjoyed the intimacy between Blake and Aubrey because not only was it fun to read, but it also deepened the plot/characters in meaningful ways.

Overall, this was a frustrating read because I could feel the author's (and the story's) potential practically dripping off the pages, but it just wasn't fully realized. Although it was definitely a fun, quick, and comforting book, I can't help wishing we had been given just a little bit more.

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

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.

This was adorable! I loved the romance between the grumpy British bookstore owner & the charming American actor. Seeing Aubrey gain more confidence through the story was wonderful & I liked how Blake supported him with this. This is a very easy to read romcom with the right of angst & steam.

Thank you so much NetGalley for a copy of this!

I feel like I'm not usually hard on books, but, I just didn't like this one that much. The writing was good, so it's not like that was my issue with it. It was the characters and the plot.

I really felt like the characters lacked depth and consistency. And maybe worst than that is the fact that the plot seemed to be super rushed. I'm actually really sad I didn't like it because I was looking forward to it.

That being said it did have the adorkable rom-com quality of an easy read, so if you don't mind the aforementioned, go for it.

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. A comforting, tender read, with a great new of side characters as well.

MY RATING 3,25/5 STARS

Thank you to NetGalley and Entangled Publishing for providing me with an eARC of this book in exchange of an honest review. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This was a pretty fun and fast paced romance, and I think it was a great book to read during the summer.
One of the first things that I noticed about this book was that it contained content warnings, which I thought was really awesome, and I love the fact that more books are starting to have them.

I really enjoyed the writing in this one. It was very easy to read, and it made for a pretty fast and enjoyable read. Another thing I absolutely loved was all of the queerness in the book! Almost every single one of the characters was part of the LGBTQ+ community, and I thought that was really awesome.

The beginning of the book was very fast paced, and I felt like the romance happened a bit to quickly for my liking. However, I really liked the relationship between Aubrey and Blake when I got further into the story. I thought they were really cute together, and I liked seeing them progress as a couple.

I have a few mixed feelings on the ending. Like with the romance I felt like the ending was a bit rushed and it seemed a bit unrealistic, when you think about how long they have actually known each other. Because of this I feel like it would have been better if the story was fleshed out for just a little bit longer.

This is a terrific book. The main character, Aubrey, owns a bookstore in London, lives above the store, and rarely ventures far beyond his neighborhood. His quiet life is soon disturbed when a major American movie starts filming on location on the street where Aubrey's bookstore is located. The movie wants to rent out Aubrey's store to film some scenes. And one of the movie's American stars, Blake, takes a shine to Aubrey.

Although it does not seem like they can have much of a future given that Aubrey is rooted in London and Blake will return to the U.S. to pursue his promising career once the movie wraps. But as they spend more time together, both start to wonder (although not always at the same time!) whether they might actually have a future together -- and what that might mean for each of their lives.

This is a great premise, and the author does a wonderful job of executing it. I loved these characters and spending some time living in their world.

Very strongly recommended!