Review of Unintended

Blurb: He’s too young. She’s too damaged. But since when has love played by the rules?

Evie

From the outside, it looks like I’ve got my life together. A place to live and a successful business sure can hide a lot, namely the scars that remain from everything I’ve lost.

The truth? I’m a shattered heart bundled up in a walking shell of anxiety.

Until him.

Ash

Abuse comes in many forms, but who would believe me if I told them I was suffering at the hands of the woman I love? I know I need to get out, but I just don’t have the strength.

Until her.

When two broken souls collide, can they help heal each other, or will their jagged edges only serve to make their wounds deeper? When all they’ve ever known is pain, will they finally find peace in a love so unintended?

Review: Evie is trying to take back her life after a horrible loss and a divorce. She meets Ash outside a rock concert she had to get away from due to a panic attack, and even though he's a stranger, he calms her. The two of them form a hesitant friendship, reaching out for a sympathetic hand to help heal from their trauma. Yet even as their hearts heal, something more grows, but will they let themselves love again?

This is a wonderfully written contemporary romance. It doesn't shy away from the trauma, grief, and dark places Evie and Ash have experienced, and I love that it's so realistically explored. (So beware there are trigger warnings.) There is also a flip on the trauma. Ash has the abusive girlfriend and low self-esteem, and Evie is recently divorced after the loss of a baby. It's not all doom and gloom. There are funny moments and plenty of warm fuzzy ones too.

One of the things I've always loved from Kyra is the fantastic characterization. The characters drive this story, and I feel I know them so well by the end of it. There is an age gap between the protagonists. Evie is older than Ash, and I appreciate that not a single cougar joke was made! Yet while they do wonder if the age gap is a problem, it isn't the central issue of the plot.

You can find Kyra Lennon on her site and buy the book here.