“The perfect blend of soul-crushing angst, laugh out loud wit, and heart-melting romance.” – Helena Hunting, New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author.From #1 Amazon Bestseller L.J. Shen comes a new, star-crossed lovers romance about loss, love, and meeting The One when you are too young to know how to keep them.Sometimes you meet people who are out of this world, so you make them a part of … this world, so you make them a part of yours.
A one-night stand born from vengeance in a foreign land.
An explosive chemistry neither of us could deny.
We signed a contract on the back of a Boar’s Head Pub napkin that said if we ever met again, we would drop everything and be together.
Eight years and thousands of miles later, he’s here.
In New York.
And he’s America’s music obsession.
The intangible Irish poet who brings record executives to their knees.
The blizzard in my perfect, unshaken snow globe.
Last time we spoke, he was a beggar with no intention of becoming a king.
But a king he became, and now I’m his servant.
I’m not the same broken princess Malachy Doherty put back together with his callused hands.
I have a career I love.
A boyfriend I adore.
An apartment, a roommate, a life.
I changed. He changed, too.
But Mal kept the napkin.
Question is, will I keep my word?
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I’m so sad about this rating, I was so excited to read this book, my expectations were high, the blurb was promising but at some point the story lost me. And it pains me because I was glad that the author tried something new with this story, leave her comfort zone and I’m sorry this wasn’t for me.
I don’t know how to explain this without spoil the story, I couldn’t connect with the main characters and I get to a point where I hate all the secondary characters, they were all deceiving with Rory and she was (me included) clueless like 70% of the book, Mal kept hiding things from her and at the last 30% it just feels like the author tried hard to make up for the other characters and it felt so wrong and frustrated.
What I struggled the most was the miscommunication, it was A LOT of it and I just kept rolling my eyes until the end(it was hurtful), Rory and Mal ended up together because “according to them” it was fate but for me Rory should have run away from him as soon as she knew all the things he kept from her. It’s the first time that the characters, the main ones, disappointed me so much.
As I said, this story didn’t work for me, I’m the minority, so if you love LJ Shen books you have to give it a try.
How can I explain my emotions reading L.J. Shen’s new release In The Unlikely Event? It took me a minute to figure out how to write out my review because I was on a drug of emotions after reading this book. One minute I was pacing a room questioning the author in a not so polite way and the next I have to lift my jaw off of the floor due to all of the twist in the story.
I have to admit that there are a few surprising and unexpected characters, it kind of threw me off for a moment. Mal and Rory’s story is not Shen’s regular cup of tea when it comes to her writing so I had to open my mind, smile, and keep getting lost in this couple’s world of heated passion, secrets, regrets, and letting go of the past.
ITUE is perfectly written. I got lost in the scenery, the drama, and the characters who uniquely weave themselves into Mal and Rory’s lives. This is another L.J. Shen read that I could not put down.
5 Stars for emotionally wrecking me and loss of sleep.
This story totally blew me away! From the plot to how beautifully it’s written I’m entranced by this heartbreakingly beautiful love story!
With each chapter I didn’t know what to expect or what was going to happen but I knew it was going to be epic and oh goodness was it! The intricacies of love are always out of this world but Shen proves just how strong of a bond love is! Even when you fight it, it’s always there!
ITUE is one of those stories that stays with you long after the last page is read!
This was a really good book! It was quite different from for example Pretty Reckless or Broken Knight, but it was interesting to read. All the characters are very fresh and new so getting to discover them throughout the book was quite the journey. Interesting writing style – Leigh incorporated new elements, e.g. character notes, to the book which made it easy to understand the motivation behind characters’ actions and get some insight into what they were thinking. It also made it difficult to hate the ‘villains’.
When it comes to the characters, I have to say I really enjoyed them, but for some reason I didn’t fall in love with them over the course of the book. Rory (or Aurora) is an American with Irish blood who went to Ireland to discover her roots as if. Now, her story was captivating, but what bugged me throughout the book was her selfishness – I felt like lot of her action was self-centred. Mal, the male character, is the classic portrait of a dark artist who is set in his way, but towards the end of the book he pulled some quite shocking cards out of his sleeves and it was a pleasant surprise. What I didn’t like about Mal was his almost bullying behaviour towards Rory at certain times. I don’t mind bully like Vicious lets say, but Mal’s felt out of place, as if taken out of context?
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Writing this review is very difficult for me because first of all, I love all of Leigh’s work. Second of all, as I have mentioned previously – this is a really good book overall, don’t get me wrong. But some things felt off and it took me a while to try to identify at least some of them and even that I’m not sure if I have done correctly. I’m the kind of person who falls in love with stories and characters very easily and maybe my main issue is that, for the first time ever, Leigh has not made me fall in love with the story nor get emotionally invested in/attached to the characters. The story lacked a natural flow like her previous books have, it felt like the chapters were as if cut too short and there was something missing between them. This is simply one of the books which you have to read (and I definitely do recommend that you read it) and see for yourself.
Still, this book is charged with various emotions, there are nail-bitting situations that will leave you on the edge of your seat, there’s lot of laugh-through-tears moments. Mal and Rory have chemistry and the sex scenes were…wau! Made me blush on couple of occasion.
So to sum it up – I totally recommend reading this book. It’s a great story which I will rate with four stars. It had its ups and downs, but every reader perceives them differently so I truly look forward to reading other reviews and getting their take on ITUE. Happy reading!
This book is a rockstar romance, one of my top favorite tropes to read, to say I was so looking forward is an understatement, but I was surprised on how different this book was to her previous work. Mal and Rory story has it all, chemistry, banter, romance, angst, but this time the raw emotions where so deep that had me in an angst turmoil throughout the story, the steam thermometer was off charts. Another 5 star for one of my top favorite authors.
3.5 Stars
In the Unlikely Event is an emotional second chance romance. With miscommunications, deceit, angst, heart break and twists and turns I was captivated by this story.
It’s a unique tale told from multiple points of view, some are quite unexpected. Whilst I was fascinated and enjoyed Malachy and Rory’s story I didn’t love it anywhere near as much as some of L.J Shen’s previous titles.
I will be eager to see what she comes up with next.
In the Unlikely Event was a refreshing enemies-to-lovers second chance romance. I would classified this book as dramedy. It had all the angst and gave all the feels but at the same time offered lots of laughs and humor.
Mal and Rory were interesting characters. When they first met, it was insta-love. They were a young couple who was in an innocent swoon-worthy whirlwind relationship. When they met again as adults eight years later, they had become jaded due to their experience and life. What was utterly romantic was that they were still drawn to each other.
I had so much fun and enjoyed this uniquely different second chance romance. It was truly an unexpected story.
I voluntarily reviewed an advance complimentary copy of this book. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
In the Unlikely Event by L.J. Shen is a unique and beautiful second chance romance. It’s full of emotions, humor, angst, secrets, and lies. It was utterly captative from the beginning, and I couldn’t put it down until the end.
Aurora Belle Jenkins(Rory) was eighteen when she makes a trip to Ireland to visit her father’s grave. She was desperate to find a way to connect with the man she never met but would have loved to know. Instead, she meets Malachy Doherty(Mal), a songwriter who enjoys busking on Drury Street in Dublin. Their connection was instant, and they spent twenty-four hours together, that was purely magical. They signed a contract on a napkin stating that if they ever crossed paths again in the future, they would drop everything and be together.
Eight years later, Mal is back in Rory’s life, but they’ve both changed. Rory works as a photographer and seems to have it all. She’s not sure she wants to give up her current life to honor a contract from years ago. New Mal is nothing like the one she left behind. He’s cold and arrogant. He hates her now, and she’s no idea why.
Overall, it was a great read. Rory and Mal are such an amazing couple, and together they’re explosive. I loved their intense chemistry and witty banter. And those Notes were the added bonus. Some of them were so hilarious, and I really enjoyed reading them!
L.J. Shen is one of my favorite authors, and she never ceases to amaze me with her work. Whenever she releases a new book, I know that I’m in for a wild ride!
How does this happen??? This is an author that I absolutely flove and never can wait to get my hands on her next book….BUT…..this book just was nothing like I am used to or even have come to expect from my favorite of favorite author. I am so torn as to have to give this low of a rating. Yes, I want to give 5 stars just because she is my favorite, but then I wouldn’t be honest with my review, it would be such a disservice to not only the author, but to anyone that follows my reviews. Now there was some chapters of this book that I liked so I didn’t just hate it. This book started out really good and I was so drawn into it at first, but I think that it was all the different unneeded POV’s that was included with this story that lost me and disconnected me from story. I know that we are all not going to like the same stories and just because it wasn’t my cup a tea doesn’t mean it won’t be yours, so I hope that you still give this book a chance and decided for yourself.
L.J. Shen is still and will always be on of my favorite authors. Through good and bad I will still be one of her dedicated readers.
Happy Reading Everyone!!!
Rory’s in Ireland to get some closure about her father. What she gets is a hot night with a gorgeous, swaggeringly confident busker named Malachy. She leaves Ireland knowing she’ll never see him again, even if they did sign a napkin stating if she and Mal ever saw each other again, they’d marry each other. So imagine her surprise when 8 years later she comes face to face with him. Only he looks ice cold, so unlike the warmth she remembered him having back when they were young and madly in love after their fling.
After Rory left Ireland, Mal went through a lot, and it’s made him angry. Angry at the woman he thinks ruined his life. So he plans on ruining her life the way she ruined his. Except he’s still in love with her and he doesn’t really want to ruin her. He can’t tell her the truth though, so there you go. So it starts a vicious cycle that will only end when Rory finds out the whole ugly truth. And let me tell you, the truth is really ugly!
And it’s that truth that is the sole reason for the 3 stars I’m giving this. Well, that and the fact that I didn’t like Mal or Rory all that much. Mal because he’s a class a douche. Yes I felt bad for him for what Rory’s horrible sister put him through, but it doesn’t change the fact that he’s a complete and total jackass douchewad. And Rory is just eh. Yeah I said eh. I felt bad for her, too, considering her mom manipulated her, her best friend sucked, and her dad turned out not to be the man she had thought, but she just was not my kind of heroine. Summer was right about her when she said she was naive and self-absorbed. She isn’t totally terrible, just not particularly likable for my tastes.
But, the story itself was entertaining, and the chemistry between the two is undeniable, so 3 stars seems fair. It’s by far not my favorite L.J. story, but it’s well-written of course and like I said, entertaining.
“Mal,” I breathe. He slowly looks up. I see bad things have already slipped into his broken interior. “Have you ever been in love?”I ask.
A huge smile breaks on his face. It is true and big and real, and it can keep me burning forever. I know as long as I see this smile every day, I will never be cold. “Funny you should ask. Yes, yes, I have been. I still am. It started eight years ago, in the most unlikely event, and it has no expiration date.”
Oh boy, how to rate this book. I know I am in the minority here and I know that there are people that loved this book, but I also know (after reading others reviews) that I had similar struggles with this book as others did. I want to start by saying I DID enjoy parts of this book. Even though I hate insta-love and typically avoid it, if possible, Leigh did make the insta-love work between these two characters. This book had that certain intrigue right out of the gate. Leigh brought in this mysterious element that had me continuing to read because I was curious to see what exactly that mystery was. EVERYONE in the book seemed to know what was going on BUT the reader and the heroine, Rory. Unfortunately, my enjoyment shifted to *insert Tom Hanks REALLY? gif* and *insert any EYE ROLLING gif* around 70%. That’s where Leigh started to loose me, unfortunately. (If I’m being honest, my intrigue was up and down with this book). At around 70%, all the mystery was coming to light . The BIG reveal was finally happening! But it was reveal, after reveal, after reveal after reveal… Some of the reveals were OH MY GAWD *insert I DID NOT SEE THAT COMING gif* moments, I can admit that, so I can applaud Leigh for those moments, but on the same token, some of those reveals were, like I said above *insert any EYE ROLL gif*. I just didn’t care for how everything was tied up at the end in a nice little bow. It seemed to me, there were some relationships that got mended, that to me, just wouldn’t be possible. *insert WTF gif*. And then there was the fact that nearly everyone in this book was either a liar, a cheater, a drunk or a combination of all three. NO JOKE. And Malachy…I really wanted to love him, but man, he made it difficult! He had some good qualities, but more not so good qualities. And there was SO MANY lies, deceit and SO MUCH miscommunication in this book it about killed me! EVERYONE was lying to everyone about EVERYTHING! *insert RUBS FOREHEAD gif*
And then this book was told in MULTIPLE POV’s. Like we get a POV from a napkin, a cow, a chocolate bar, dead people, a best friend, a mom, etc etc. I still don’t know how I feel about all of those POV’s. Yes, they added an interesting layer to the story and brought in MORE drama, but were they necessary? Some yes, some not at all. The chapters went back and forth from past to present, which worked in the beginning of the book, but made the book drag to me as the story went on. The past chapters just added more drama as the book went on.
“I loved you when you hated me, I loved you when I thought you were indifferent me, and I loved you when you were on the fence about me. But when I realized you loved me back? All bets were off. The world kept spinning. Days went by. Things changed–other than one thing, my love for you.”
This book was SO promising, but unfortunately, it didn’t gel with me. (You’ll understand that reference if you read this book.) I really tried to love it. But it eventually got to the “point of no return” for me. *insert SAD gif* It might work for you, like it did others, so if you want to give it a try, go ahead. If you want a second chance, serendipity/kismet, insta-love type of story, then this one might be for you.
2.5 stars
Oh my-lanta, what did I just read?! In the Unlikely Event was a read that I wasn’t expecting at all. I’m a huge fan of Leigh’s work AND she did warn us that this was completely different than anything she’s ever written before.
Note to self, don’t take Leigh’s warning lightly.
There was just so much craziness going on that I wasn’t even sure if I was rooting for anyone by the end. Even though this book wasn’t quite for me, I was completely engaged the whole time, which is something that ALWAYS happens when I read one of her books. There’s angst for days and a bunch of sh**ty things going on, all across the board. It was drama-rama for days and I’ll be honest, there weren’t many likable qualities in any of these characters, unfortunately.
Everything was definitely all over the place. There’s a lot of characters being mentioned and in some shape or form, they were all connected to Rory or Mal.
I actually didn’t mind the unique narrative style, some moments of it was a little bit weird, so I took it as it was.
Without a doubt, you can definitely feel the chemistry between Mal and Rory. Mal … I had high hopes for the guy, but some of his idiotic actions did not calculate with the type of life he grew up in. I definitely expected him to know better when it came to a lot of things.
I wished I loved this one, but the endless bouts of miscommunication was one of my main issues. Without a doubt, I’m still looking for Leigh’s next epic read.
trigger warnings: rape scene, cheating/betrayal
**I RECEIVED A COMPLIMENTARY READER’S COPY FROM SOCIAL BUTTERFLY PR FOR AN HONEST REVIEW. THIS DOES NOT AFFECT MY OPINION OF THE BOOK OR CONTENT OF MY REVIEW**
In The Unlikely Event is the latest stand-alone by LJ Shen. I was really looking forward to reading it since it’s been hyped up for months. To be honest, I’m not sure if I love it as much as I did her other books. This is a second-chance romance with lots of miscommunications, misunderstandings, and angst, an LJ Shen’s signature! It has many surprised twists and unexpected elements as the story unfolds toward the end that would guarantee nonstop page turning!
Malachy and Aurora met 8 years ago when she visited her father’s grave in Ireland. Fate had it that they met and spent a passionate day together, falling fast in love as young kids with hopeful promises and without any worries for the lives ahead of them. Fast forward to present time, they met again and were put together in a project that they’d need to spend time under the same roof. Those 8 years apart were filled with misunderstandings that had led Mal’s life down another path that he never would have imagined, one with tragedies, anguish, regrets, scarred heart… And now he was back for revenge, but when he slowly realized Aurora had been kept in the dark the entire time, he would do everything to have her back in his life.
The chemistry between Malachy and Aurora is off-the-charts , the same burning intensity and instant attraction then and now. However, I feel both Malachy and Aurora’s characters are fairly weak and underdeveloped . To me, they were somehow always manipulated by others, lacking the strong fighting spirits I’ve always seen in LJ’s other beloved characters. There was a lot of cheating here, as well as many actions taken by Malachy that I couldn’t comprehend ! Secondary characters were also falling short, some even unforgivable! This book is written in a different style than her usual, with multiple POVs, even from animal and objects, which I wasn’t a big fan of! I feel they were a bit distracting from the main storyline and didn’t really add much values to it, unless you consider them humors.
Perhaps if it hadn’t been too hyped up and my expectations much lower, I would have enjoyed it. I’ve always loved LJ’s witty humor, her writing is always solid! But this book is quite disappointing to me in comparison to her other stellar works! It’s 3.5 for me!
3.5 stars
I’ve sat here and tried to think what to say in this review. First I have to say that I absolutely love this author. She writes it I’m gonna read it. No question. And usually I’m head over heels in love, but this one…. not so much. There were parts that I liked but nothing that I loved. I’m sorry and hate to say it but it just wasn’t my cup of tea. The story is a great story but all the different views thrown in just well, threw me off. Now Leigh is a wonderful writer and hopefully it’s just me so please read it for yourself, you could totally fall in love.
* Review by Michelle
Well, Ms Shen wasn’t lying when she said she was writing one crazy, out of character book. In the Unlikely Event is certainly different and rather odd and to be honest, it wasn’t really my cup of tea.
There were certain parts I really enjoyed, the first chapters from the past especially. I loved the intensity of Rory and Mal’s first meeting, the humor and their banter, as well as the first hint that things were not quite what they seemed to be. I also really liked the many points of view, even though most of them were quirky and somewhat silly, nevertheless they did make me laugh.
The lack of communication, or miscommunication, is where the story lost me I’m afraid. It’s one of the things I find particularly frustrating in a book and it made it difficult for me to connect to this couple. Unfortunately, this, together with some rather manipulative behaviour, drove the plot for the majority of the book and created angst where, for me, it really wasn’t necessary. There was too much going on and, in my opinion, too many pointless secrets kept and lies told, lies which were believed based on rather flimsy evidence. We got so close to a reveal on a number of occasions before a deliberate distraction had us veering off in another direction, and it made me want to scream. Although I felt as though the story settled down towards the end, sadly for me it was too late as by that point, I really didn’t care for any of the characters.
Each to their own as they say and although this book was not for me, I do hope that many other readers will enjoy In the Unlikely Event.
ITUE was hands down one of my favorite reads this year. I loved the quirkiness. I loved the perfection of your Irish slang. I loved the snowflakes and the rain and promises made and broken. I feckin’ loved this book! I could gush and go on more and more and write my own book on this book but I’ll stop. IT IS JUST SO GOOD!!!! If you haven’t read In the Unlikely Event yet, do it! *sigh* I didn’t want it to end… Book hangover of major proportions in effect.
Ah this is such a hard review for me to write I love Leigh and her books are amazing – I wanted to love this book I really did and yet I didn’t. Leigh is special to me so it’s difficult also I’m really clearly in the minority on this one.
Let me start with what I liked :
1- The story was original and getting gout of the normality with all the ‘notes’ I really liked that I found myself chuckling more than once
2- The almost poetic feels of Leigh writing, the description was almost Shakespearean and you felt as if you were there it was good.
3- The story was nicely pacing, the dual POVs were good too.
What I liked less:
1- I can’t really go into details as it will spoil it but I hate lies and secrets and I’m okay with them up to a point – but here it dragged too long and were too life altering to be kept hiding because you try to ‘trap’ someone in it I don’t see that as being love, I see that as being utterly selfish and because of this I started to feel really quite detached of one of the character and in retrospect it doesn’t fee like love to me. I had a very hard time with this and it took the rating down.
2- Another event happened to Mal in the book that, at first, I was really pleased Leigh approached as it is so uncommon in books and yet very real in life. The idea was great but I didn’t agree with the execution – It was pretty much swept under the rug like it wasn’t a big deal at all. I also quite disagreed with that.
3- Leigh story are also usually very plot heavy and very well round with both main and side characters somehow this story felt like it lacked a little on the plot and the side characters were much more unidimensional (except for Ashton) than Leigh usually does.
In conclusion it was not a bad book at all and my problem with it were few but too major to enjoy the story fully.
This book put me through a lot of conflicting emotions, and I’m still a little unsure of how to put all my thoughts into words, but let’s try. I’m giving this 3 out of 5 stars. This review is for an ARC, and reflects my honest opinion.
I would only recommend this book if you’re okay with cheating, death, substance abuse, rape, lying, instalove, and also some weird stuff. Right away, I was invested in the story. I loved the past parts, and watching Aurora (Rory) and Malachy’s (Mal) love story blossom was a treat. However, once we got to the present time, I was less in love. I won’t spoil anything, but I will say that there were way too many secrets. There was also way too much miscommunication, or no communication in most cases. While I liked both Rory and Mal by the end of the book, I kind of loathed both of them at times, because of what wasn’t being said. We were in the dark for almost the entire novel, and then it all blew up in our faces at sonic speed towards the end before being quickly forgotten/forgiven, which seemed unbelievable to me.
This book was definitely different from any others I’ve read by this author; I wouldn’t say Mal was an alpha a-hole like the other anti-heroes in books I’ve read from her. He was definitely flawed, and could be a MAJOR jerk, but he was also an amazing songwriter who wore his heart on his sleeve. He was jaded, but also soft in ways. When he wasn’t miserable, he loved beautifully. If we forget the deceit, he sounded pretty amazing. I loved his sass, heart, and looks. As for Rory, I loved how she was unapologetically herself. I also liked how they were both creative souls, just in different ways. I laughed quite a bit while reading (mostly from stuff Mal said/thought), but I also cried, and was angry too. The different POVs (i.e. not the main characters) were bizarre, although one made me chuckle.
One of my favorite things was the different settings: Ireland, Greece, and New York. Especially Ireland, because it sounded gorgeous. Overall, this was an interesting read. It wasn’t my favorite, but I liked it enough to finish it.
Ugh I really wanted this to be a good story. I like the idea of meeting and having an instant connection but I’m sorry this fell short. I did feel their connection that first night but not enough to warrant all this afterwards. For both of them to be that upset about it after was a little much. Also, I like to get some POV of the H but Mal was ridiculous! For him to have such anger towards Rory because he talked to Kathleen and Rory’s mom was ridiculous. Even if Kathleen who cares if what she said was true? I’m not sure how he could react this way over that comment. He was ridiculous and I had a hard time reading the rest of the story because of it.
I wrote this review based on an advance reading copy that the publisher sent me.
I love L.J. Shen, she is one of my favorite authors. I will read anything she writes without even reading the description. That being said, this book missed the mark for me. The story was captivating, and I read it in less than a day, but some of the wackiness of the varying POVs wasn’t really my style. I was also frustrated because a lot of the conflict came from intentional miscommunication, which can be a pet peeve for me in books. The story had twists and turns and definitely kept me engaged, but I had to push through a few sections in order to get to the content i wanted to read more (if that makes sense). L.J. Shen was correct in saying that this is different than anything she has written previously, and I encourage you to read it if you like her. My opinion is my own and the hang ups that I have will not be the same for all readers. Mal was still dreamy and Rory spunky, if you like L.J Shen please read this book, and let me know what you think. I received an ARC of this book and voluntarily give my review.