Unexpected

By: Laylah Abrams

Narrated by: Nikole Berry

A celebrity heiress and a waiter—er, artist—discover their tabloid story might really be a fairytale.

Celebutante Claire Morgan is an expert at playing the air-headed-heiress gossip sites expect. Sure, she’s got degrees in business and computer science, but people are much more interested in the designer of her last gown or who she’s dating (for the next minute). Besides, posing for the paparazzi is safer than letting anyone get too close.

Waiter and struggling artist Nick Holden probably should have majored in engineering instead of following his dream. It’s a little late now, but with his grad school scholarship in jeopardy from a creative slump and only so many times he can deflect his doubts with dumb jokes, the last thing he needs is Claire and her friends breezing into the restaurant at closing time. Even if she is more beautiful than a Monet.

When one of Nick’s wisecracks turns Claire’s spokesmodel smile sincere, it’s clear the pair has more in common than they thought. Staying on opposite sides of the velvet rope, they begin a fling that is far from meaningless... though neither of them will admit it. Will they drop their acts and live happily ever after, or will they let their storybook ending slip away?

©2023 Laylah Abrams (P)2025 Laylah Abrams

Really Great Bantery, Angsty Read

Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

I have the pleasure of being a part of the Nikole Berry Listener Team. This was the second book I was able to listen to as part of the team and I have to say I was really impressed with the narration. The range she had surprised me. Sometimes when there are "annoying voices" like that of the best friend, it can start to bleed into the "normal" voices like that of the MMC and FMC but I didn't find that to be the case here.

As for the story, I really enjoyed this book quite a bit. I felt like there was the right amount of tension and angst, the yearning was top notch and the banter was perfect. I really loved the way both leads were trying to achieve goals that they didn't necessarily have full support from their families on, but that they supported in each other... even if they didn't know it. The final HEA in this was worth the wait and journey.