An Unexpected Kind of Love by Hayden Stone

When I read the blurb for An Unexpected Kind of Love I was immediately intrigued and thought it sounded like a gay Notting Hill. But sadly it was a bit of a letdown. I really wanted to love this book, but there were just too many things that were off, both with the characters and the plot. The characters were either non-likable or too bland, and the plot just didn’t make sense, nor did the romance part. It was just impossible to understand why the two main characters would ever be attracted to each other.

The story follows bookstore owner Aubrey Barnes, who is struggling to keep his business going, when a film company throws his quiet, ordinary Soho street into chaos. Not to mention bringing the hot American actor Blake Sinclair into his life…
I loved the bookstore setting, all pop culture references and how devoted Aubrey was to his books, and I really appreciated the representation both in terms of sexuality and disability. With all this, and on top of that the perfect romcom Soho setting, there was so much potential to this story! If only the main character had been a little more likable and the romance more believable…

I usually love quirky and broody characters, but Aubrey was just too grumpy and whiny, always complaining about everything. He also felt very judgmental and unpleasant with everyone. Like how he scoffed customers buying books for their covers, or the way he treated his friend Gemma like an inconvenience, when all she did was be there for him and help him out with all his petty troubles.

Blake in the other hand was almost too likable. He didn’t have a single flaw and didn’t feel like a real person. I loved the way he tried to get Aubrey’s attention by moving books in the store, and the cute Notting Hill references, but other than that it felt like we never really got to know Blake beneath his looks and charm.

But the main problem was that the romance felt completely rushed and unbelievable. Especially a thing that happened at the beginning of the book that was completely unexpected and made instalove feel slow in comparison… The romance definitely would have needed a little (a lot!) more build up to make me root for it, especially as it never made sense why the characters would even be attracted to each other in the first place. All along the book, it was never clear what actually made them realise that they had deeper feelings than just the physical attraction for each other. There was much more focus on Aubrey feeling misery for various reasons, than on him falling in love with Blake. And what Blake could ever see in grumpy Aubrey is beyond me. It was also so weird that Blake was completely fine with being seen with Aubrey in the beginning, but then it was a major deal that their photo was in the tabloid since he wasn’t out. Until that moment, there had been no mention about whether Blake was out or if he was even gay or bi or whatever, which made it all just feel like a manufactured plot drama.

So, I’m very sorry to say that, even though this book had so much potential and so many ingredients that I love, it sadly wasn’t for me.

Rating:
​2 stars

Get your own copy:
Amazon

​Author info:
Hayden Stone