When You Least Expect It

by Haley Cass

[Berls]

This is one of those books that I requested for review and then so much time passed between the request and when I actually read it, that I forgot what it was about. So I was pleasantly surprised as the story slowly revealed itself as a LGTBQ+ friends-to-lovers story. This is definitely making my top books of 2021 list.

As with most friends-to-lovers stories, this is a deliciously slow burn. Caroline and Hannah become friends as Caroline represents Hannah in her divorce. They already knew each other peripherally because Caroline used to work with him and has always hated him, so handling the divorce pro bono is icing on the cake really. And while she’s always found Hannah attractive, she didn’t expect to fall for her. For one, while Caroline is a lesbian, Hannah has only ever been in heterosexual relationships. Secondly, Hannah is fiercely trying to be independent – so dating ANYONE is out of the picture.

But a friendship blooms, facilitated in large part by Hannah’s daughter Abby and Caroline’s stepping in to help Hannah as a frequent babysitter. I loved watching this friendship develop – the way Caroline grew close not just to Hannah but to Abby. Haley Cass did a great job writing Abby – I love when authors write kids well, as full characters with complete but age appropriate personalities. They really become a family long before romantic feelings are broached. It is just a really heartwarming story of friendship turned to love. And there’s a bit of the holidays sprinkled in, for all those who (like me) love Christmas.

The narration was also really great. Lori Prince is a narrator I’ve listened to a couple other times over the past year and I always enjoy her voices and the way she brings characters to life. I think she did a particularly good job of voicing Abby, just furthering the way Haley Cass wrote such a good child character.