Review: Love, Unexpectedly by Susan Fox

Love, Unexpectedly by Susan Fox
Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Brava; 1 edition (March 30, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0758238266
ISBN-13: 978-0758238269

The Blurb:

At thirty-one, Kat Fallon's luck with men shows no sign of improving. But when she asks her best friend Nav Bharani to be her date at her younger sister's wedding in Vancouver, she has no idea that she's about to get on board the most surprising ride of her life...Nav has been secretly in love with Kat ever since he moved in next door. When she reveals that she loves taking train rides, especially the meeting-strangers part, Nav devises a plan to win Kat's heart. On every leg of her trip to Vancouver, he shows up disguised as a different sexy stranger. Stunned by Nav's daring, Kat finds herself succumbing to his inventive transformations. But what starts out as an innocent adventure soon becomes much more for Kat as she is forced to choose between her long-held fantasies of the perfect mate - and the prospect of something far more real...

The above information is obtained from Amazon.com.

This is a book I received from Night Owl Romance for a review.

I do not judge short stories on the rush of their relationships, because they are just that - short stories. So, yes the relationships always could have been drawn out more, yea it seems like they fall in love to fast and of course the story could have been made longer... but it is a short story. So with that said....

Let me say that is the second book in the Wild Ride series, but you do not have to read them in order. The sisters integrate themselves in all of the book and Ms. Susan does it in a way that you are never lost, which is refreshing.

Now on to the story... Kat Fallon is the second to eldest of the Fallon daughters, she is known as Ms. Socialite. When I first encounter Kat, my thoughts of her ran along the lines of her being shallow and superficial. It went from her choice in wine (the best of the best), to her clothes (the top brand labels) to her men (they had to have it all ~ on the surface). She has a very successful job and she is very good at what she does. She is a PR for a well known hotel; she takes pride in that. Living in the shadows of her older sister was never easy, but Kat manged it. Her parents were of academic standing and well known in their community. They wanted the same for all their daughters. She had the same genes her parents had, they were happily married for however many years. Why could she not find love?

Naveen Bharani is new to Canada, but determined to make it own his own as a photographer. His passion, until he meets Kat. He moves into her apartment building and from first sight, he is smitten with her. But... and that is a big but... Kat puts a label on him as she does with everything in her life... his label - her best friend. The person she gets cozy with on the couch to watch old movies, the person she runs to when her heart gets handed back to her after loser #x. He is the person who knows her insides and out and still loves her. He has lived this way for two very long years and he has had enough. What was so unexpectedly about him trying to change Kat's view of him?

By being best friends, Kat felt safe in asking Nav to her sister's Merilee's wedding. No complications, no romantic entanglements but most of all... no jabbing or pity remarks from her family for the guy she brought with her. She knew they would love and accept Nav. Of course Nav says yes; because not long ago, she was dumped by loser #whatever and it was time to change up the playing field. Nav had earned the title Best Friend but he wanted more. So he created a plan. He heard Kat mention that on train rides a she imagines the world is a different place, loses inhibitions and lets her guard down. So, Nav hatched up a plan... he was going to be a stranger on the train for Kat and slowly, seductively seduce her to win her heart.

Kat got on my nerves. Not in a bad way, although there were times when I wanted to take her by her shoulders and shake the crap out of her. She got on my nerves because she was real to me. She was so worried about losing her friendship with Nav that she never wanted to open herself up to the possibilities that were out there. But I loved her for all of her insecurities. Remember real being the keyword here. She truly wanted to figure out why she was attracted to losers, why she could not get her hands on true love. She was scare of allowing people to get to deep with her. She was scare she was not enough for them, or good enough. But those are reasons to love her. Aren't we all scare of showing the real us to the public. Scare of rejection, scare of being laughed at, made fun of, ~ not being loved.

Nav, you can not help but to fall in love with him. He gives it his damnest to win Kat over. He does what some of us wish we could - he grabs the bull by the horns and runs with it. He knows he may only have one chance to prove to Kat that his love for her is rock solid and that one chance is on that train with her. All to himself. But can he pull it off. He has once shed the life of doing what people expected from him when he left home. So by all means, he was tried of being just the friend. He wanted more from her and he knew she was capable of giving it. He just had to show her that she was capable of giving it. That is why you have to love Nav. He truly was there for Kat, to show her the real person - behind the glamor. And to show her that he wanted to love her through of it.

This book had me in all kind of emotional states. Some moments I was shaking my ereader, cursing at Kat for being so stupid for not seeing what was right in front of her. Then others, I wanted to take Nav in my arms and hold him. Then there were moments I found myself saying "Awwwww" to "I know you just did not do that." Ms. Susan did an amazing job at pulling at the heartstrings in this one.

Then just when you think the story is only of the these two, Ms. Susan stirs the Fallon family pot. Love, Unexpectedly opens the door for a few of the daughters to have that "light bulb" moment with each other. And that was a very nice touch since this series is about the four of them. Because it not only about the encounter with finding love, but with loving themselves and each other. The true meaning of sisterhood.

To find out more of what Ms. Susan has in store, please visit her website -->> here.