Reviews with content warning for Outing - An Unexpected Kind of Love

Reviews tagging 'Outing'

An Unexpected Kind of Love by Hayden Stone

10 reviews

stacy837's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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galleytrot's review

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Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

READ: Jun 2023

FORMAT: Audio

BRIEF SUMMARY:

In this contemporary romance set in London, a film production has the location surrounding Aubrey’s bookstore in disarray, and when interest in his charming shop catches the crew’s attention, he wants little to do with their attempts at securing it for the film. When a number of chance encounters lead to Aubrey bumbling his way into Blake’s trailer, the handsome American actor’s blatant interest leads to a bold and out-of-character decision on Aubrey’s part. When he’d much rather keep his head down, he sets into motion a complicated fling that’s destined to leave him hurt the moment the production is wrapped up.

ENTERTAINMENT VALUE: 2.5 / 5⭐

I experienced a disconnect with this book. Trying to boil down where that disconnect stemmed from hasn’t yielded much answers, but I can say a part of it comes from the characters not having much going on for them.

Aubrey is ornery, guarded, standoffish, rude, and just comes across as someone people would rather avoid being round. Blake is... well, at least in my mind, the best way to describe his personality is: attracted to Aubrey. He’s a fun-loving man of endless talents, but more than anything, all he wants is Aubrey’s undivided attention. Even though the characters are mutually attracted to each other, I never caught any sense of chemistry, and for that reason a lot of their relationship development felt either boring or, when conflict would come about, unreasonable.

I was honestly baffled by Blake’s responses to the two separate conflicts that occur in this book. After Aubrey

takes a call from his ex that Blake overhears, two points of contention come up: a) that he didn’t tell Blake about the call, and b) that he didn’t tell his ex that he was spending the weekend out of town with Blake.

This was such an unnecessary reaction to me; the entire time, I couldn’t help thinking about how little Blake and Aubrey even knew about each other at that point. It felt like everyone involved was confused about just how far along their relationship actually was. The second, larger conflict made the first one all the more confusing, because Blake is revealed to be

closeted and unwilling to be out for Aubrey

anyway.

TECHNICAL / PRODUCTION: 3.5 / 5⭐

Questionable and boring relationship development aside, I didn’t think this story was badly written. I thought the bedroom scenes were wonderfully reverent and well done, though they didn’t match the more mundane tone of the rest of the story. It really was like sex was the only time the two would emotionally connect, despite sharing countless hobbies and passions that they could have been shown bonding over.

I also think Aubrey’s connection with his parents was meant to be emotionally significant, and yet we were never given any time for them. The mother he wants to support and care for never gets so much as an on-page phone call appearance> I don’t know, just felt like a wasted opportunity for motivation and world-building.

Also, there was a cat in this book until there just wasn't.

FINAL THOUGHTS - OVERALL: 3 / 5⭐

This story had something to it; the flat characters are its downfall. I can’t really think of more to say than that.

This book has representation for gays, bisexuals, and polyamorous. There is a wheelchair-bound side-character. There is not much else in the way of diversity.

The following elaborates on my content warnings. These may be interpreted as spoilers, but I do not go into deep detail.

This book contains: alcohol use; past death of parent; past bicycle accident resulting in wheelchair confinement; character's disability getting thrown in their face in an argument; homophobia; and, outing (media scoop).

Content Warnings

lim's review against another edition

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medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

0.25

Content Warnings

kj468's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

A very fun read! I loved the actor x bookseller dynamic. At times, the love interest (Blake) didn’t feel like the most fleshed out character — I didn’t always have a good grasp on who he was outside of his relationship with Aubrey (the MC). But they had good chemistry and he was a great LI to the MC. Sometimes, the writing conflicted itself a bit, like the MC would express one worry, and the. Two paragraphs later state that the worry was impossible because of xyz reason. It wasn’t so common or glaring that it detracted from my enjoyment of the book, though. Also, as a note, this book definitely falls into the "insta-love" category -- within a few weeks of meeting, they are declaring their love for each other and changing their lives to be together. This doesn't bother me, but if you're not a fan of insta love, this probably isn't the book for you.

I enjoyed it a lot, overall. I recommend it to anyone wanting a fun, a bit spicy rom-com that follows the familiar beats of the genre. I liked the ending and epilogue, and also how the author ended the storylines for side characters (particularly Eli, the MC's best friend)

Rep: mlm, gay mc, disabled side character, poly side character, bisexual LI, vegetarian (vegan?) LI

narration style: first person, single POV

tw explanations:
- Homophobia:

Blake's (LI) dad is homophobic. We never meet the dad on page, but we do read about Blake's concerns about his dad's reaction to him being bisexual & hear about his dad's tepid reaction to his coming out

- Outing:

About ¾ of the way through the book, the media reports on Blake's and Aubrey's relationship, without either of their consent, and this outs blake publicly.

- Car accident:

Eli, a side character, was hit on his bike by a car before the start of the book. As a result, he now uses a wheelchair. The accident is not described in detail, but it is referenced several times & Aubrey expresses some guilt because Eli was on the way to visit Aubrey when he got in the accident.

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piperclover's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

This is exactly what you think it is. Its not revolutionary but honestly thats why its good. Its just a sweet, fun, silly romcom with a happy ending and no cringe (i hate cringe). Id give it 5 stars except the 3rd act miscommunication is never explained properly and the apology given is not given to the person who deserves it and it bothered me. Overall. I highly enjoyed and highly recommend

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unwise_samwise's review against another edition

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emotional fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

One of the side characters is poly!

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bguyre's review

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Content Warnings

cattails's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

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regal_leaves's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted fast-paced

4.0

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allisonwonderlandreads's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted medium-paced

3.0

In this queer rom-com, grumpy bookseller Aubrey is out of sorts about filming on his street. He is indignant when they want to film in his shop but finds himself drawn to actor Blake Sinclair and to the money that could prop up his struggling business. I especially loved Aubrey's pessimism and dry humor, which also happen to be some of my finer qualities. I was less attached to Blake because, without his own POV, he almost came across as too-perfect wish fulfillment. I liked him, but I didn't feel connected to him in the same way.

The actual romance went at an alarming pace for my poor demi-aroace sensibilities, with the physical intimacy kicking off on the first day of meeting with minimal conversation, and the feels crash-landing not long after. I think their heart-eyes infatuation was adorable, it just came upon me so fast that I adjusted much slower than the characters to the new development. And that's my own identity rearing up, not a problem with the characters or their choices. Of their romantic moments, a public serenade after a fight sucker-punched me with its cuteness.

This is a lovely, fluffy whirlwind with a high steam factor and a lot of bean facts (a niche genre, to be sure). If you're looking for your next contemporary mlm fix, look no further. Thanks to Entangled and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this advanced copy, out 8/9.

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