Review: Unexpected by Sommer Marsden

By rights I shouldn't have liked this book. It contains themes which I usually avoid and which often don't work for me. However, for some reason I did like this book, so much so that I would happily recommend it.

The story follows Charlie who after agreeing to donate his sperm to his best friend so she can have a baby (by 'donate' I mean they got drunk and had sex in an attempt to create a baby) finds himself left with baby Annabel when her mother cannot cope. Six months of new fatherhood has left Charlie with little in the way of opportunities to date but when he meets Giovanni by chance, both men are struck by how quickly they connect with each other.

Let's get the first surprise out of the way. This book is essentially an insta-love story. Usually I hate these, but in this case it really worked. The author had done a good job in showing how utterly baffled both men are over their instant connection. For most of the story they are trying to fight the love because they know it's too soon. Charlie especially feels almost frightened at how quickly he falls for Giovanni and worries that it could be due to his long dry spell and lust rather than anything more concrete. Charlie is a very likeable man and also emotionally articulate. This made it easier for me to accept the insta-love story line. It also helped that the men were very good at being open about their feelings with each other. I also liked Giovanni, finding his generally optimistic outlook rather charming and a good foil for Charlie's more downbeat personality.

Another part which worked for me was in the sympathetic way it dealt with the themes for partner abuse and postpartum depression. Giovanni has just left an abusive relationship which leaves him with some feelings of shame but it's how the knowledge of that relationship affects the way that Charlie behaves which was the most interesting aspect of that theme. Mariah, Charlie's friend and Annabel's mother, suffers from postpartum depression and I liked how Mariah was never shown to be the villain of the story. It would have so easy to fall into the 'bad mother for abandoning her child' characterisation for Mariah but instead her guilt and confusion, as well as the panic and helplessness she feels about Annabel was sensitively shown.

I often don't like romance stories containing children but in this case Annabel is just a baby and so managed not to be over-cute or nauseating, so again that theme worked for me here. In fact, I felt Charlie's feelings over unexpectedly being a father and the difficulties in raising a six month child on your own were accurately shown.

The final thing about this book which usually doesn't work for me is that it contains an awful lot of sex scenes. Admittedly some of these scenes could have been cut without harming the plot, but a number of them were used to show a change in the relationship between Giovanni and Charlie. Some of the scenes are a little bit kinky but never stray into BDSM territory.  So, again, this aspect of the book wasn't off-putting either.

Overall, this book surprised me because I really shouldn't have liked it very much. However, the characters of Charlie and Giovanni, the honesty of the themes and the good solid writing made it an enjoyable experience. I've not read anything by this author before but the blurb appealed and I was glad to have read it. I'm giving this book a grade of 'Very Good' and will be sure to check out further Sommer Marsden books in the future.

Buy this book HERE.