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A review by geminienergy
Beautifully Unexpected by Lily Morton
5.0
I'm literally in love with Mags, such a brilliant character. I love how self assured he is, competency kink overload, but even though he's a no strings attached person, he is still friendly to his friends and coworkers.
Laurie is another loveable character, he is enigmatic, and the prototypical example of someone who carries a sunny disposition to hide their inner turmoil. The way he throws Magnus who is so used to being sure of himself off balance is great.
This book extremely excels at writing banter. Their banter is very funny. I'm not even someone who really likes friends to lovers stories because you think that without the lack of tension the story fizzles out.
But this story is an absolute exception to that. Even though they become quite friendly very quickly, they are both so afraid of commitment and getting close and so good at CONTROLLING themselves that things progress very slowly for them. It's almost frustrating how well they constrain themselves but it makes the inevitable release so much better.
I loved the pacing of the story. I like how whimsical Laurie is and how he drags Magnus out of his comfort zone again and again. This story also does a great job of writing middle aged, mature MCs. They've both been single of their own volition, so they have no commitments, just their work and casual flings.
The tension of the story in Laurie's secret was rather interesting. I found the confrontation to be quite emotional though I wasn't fond of some of the dialogue in that scene.
Overall, I am not someone who gives a lot of 5 stars but I was always rushing to continue where I left off with this story and absolutely loved each individual character and also their dynamics with each other. It avoided a lot of pitfalls that I expected of a friends to lovers story.
Summary:
Despite being a friends to lovers story, it does not drag at all.
Legitimately funny witty banter
Well written characters who work independent of each other and also work even better together
Side characters are used sparingly but not in a way that feels contrived to drive the MMCs to certain plot points
Cons:
Although the jokes are funny, there is quite a bit of repetition particularly with the twink jokes and ribbon jokes.
Because these two have such amazing chemistry together, there is a lot of laughter. But the word choice becomes quite repetitive, and you start noticing a lot of phrases being recycled. Laughing, excessive winking, "rich and warm". It's a minor quip but it was noticeable to me
I wasn't fond of Lauries dialogue during the confrontation. It felt out of character. In fact, there were a few points where I felt the dialogue/characterization suffered towards the end in their HEA moments. I still think the novel as a whole ended strong with a satisfying conclusion, but I somehow believe the ending was the weaker writing of the story.
Laurie is another loveable character, he is enigmatic, and the prototypical example of someone who carries a sunny disposition to hide their inner turmoil. The way he throws Magnus who is so used to being sure of himself off balance is great.
This book extremely excels at writing banter. Their banter is very funny. I'm not even someone who really likes friends to lovers stories because you think that without the lack of tension the story fizzles out.
But this story is an absolute exception to that. Even though they become quite friendly very quickly, they are both so afraid of commitment and getting close and so good at CONTROLLING themselves that things progress very slowly for them. It's almost frustrating how well they constrain themselves but it makes the inevitable release so much better.
I loved the pacing of the story. I like how whimsical Laurie is and how he drags Magnus out of his comfort zone again and again. This story also does a great job of writing middle aged, mature MCs. They've both been single of their own volition, so they have no commitments, just their work and casual flings.
The tension of the story in Laurie's secret was rather interesting. I found the confrontation to be quite emotional though I wasn't fond of some of the dialogue in that scene.
Overall, I am not someone who gives a lot of 5 stars but I was always rushing to continue where I left off with this story and absolutely loved each individual character and also their dynamics with each other. It avoided a lot of pitfalls that I expected of a friends to lovers story.
Summary:
Despite being a friends to lovers story, it does not drag at all.
Legitimately funny witty banter
Well written characters who work independent of each other and also work even better together
Side characters are used sparingly but not in a way that feels contrived to drive the MMCs to certain plot points
Cons:
Although the jokes are funny, there is quite a bit of repetition particularly with the twink jokes and ribbon jokes.
Because these two have such amazing chemistry together, there is a lot of laughter. But the word choice becomes quite repetitive, and you start noticing a lot of phrases being recycled. Laughing, excessive winking, "rich and warm". It's a minor quip but it was noticeable to me
I wasn't fond of Lauries dialogue during the confrontation. It felt out of character. In fact, there were a few points where I felt the dialogue/characterization suffered towards the end in their HEA moments. I still think the novel as a whole ended strong with a satisfying conclusion, but I somehow believe the ending was the weaker writing of the story.