TBR Pile Review: Unexpected Reality by Kaylee Ryan

 

Expect the unexpected. That's what they say, but it's easier said than done.

How do you expect a change so huge it rocks you to your core?

How do you prepare yourself for an event that will alter your life forever?

One breath
One second
One minute
One hour
One day at a time, you learn to live with your unexpected reality.

Oh, my heart!

I’ll admit with a little play on words that I really didn’t have any expectations going into this book. I’ve read single day novels before and honestly, they just fell flat. Maybe it was the execution or the realistic nature, but I just didn’t like them. That being said, I definitely took a risk when I picked up Unexpected Reality, and what I found was definitely unexpected.

Ridge is definitely the kind of guy you expected him to be. He’s the boss, definitely alpha male, and doesn’t have any problems picking up a lady for the night. Yet, he’s changed after a one night stand and hits a dry patch. Just from the cover, you can guess that this one night stand is going to end up with more than just hangover and guilt. He knew that his partner for the evening had something emotionally going on, and I’ll admit that in my back of my head I thought he was using that for his advantage. Boy was I wrong. She is the one that bolted in the middle of the night, never to be heard from again, until a tragic accident not only changes her life, but Ridge’s as well.

Kendall may not have been his one night stand, but she proves from the very beginning of her introduction that she is truly the leading lady of this story. She is by far one of the sweetest heroines I have every read. I usually gravitate more toward the strong, independent type of heroine, but the way Ms. Ryan wrote Kendall’s character; I had no choice, but to fall in love with her. She’s so truly genuine that I honestly could picture her as any real woman in a similar situation. She cautious about her attraction to new father Ridge, and doesn’t want to overstep into the shadows of the baby’s mother. Kendall is truly the kind of woman you want to be friends with and love all at the same time.

I think my favorite parts of this story were just how awkwardly sweet that Ridge is with his son. Finding out so quickly before his birth that he was going to be a father, you’d also think an alpha male of his stature would back up instead of man up to instant fatherhood. He doesn’t and I think that’s why this book worked so well for me. Unexpected pregnancy novels tend to overuse the runaway mantra with the fathers, and Ms. Ryan broke away from the norm and gave us a real man. He took his time with building a friendship with Kendall and his son before jumping in head first into a new relationship. The pace of this story really wraps up the plot and characters into a neatly, packaged book.

This may have been my first Kaylee Ryan book, but it will not be the last.