Blog Tour + Review + Excerpt | In the Unlikely Event by L.J. Shen --> 4 Stars
"Romance masterpiece" - Kylie Scott, New York Times bestselling author
From USA Today and #1 Amazon bestselling author L.J. Shen comes a new, contemporary romance with heart-wrenching twists and laugh-out-loud moments.
In The Unlikely Event is available now!
TITLE: In the Unlikely Event AUTHOR: L.J. Shen
GENRE: Contemporary Romance
RELEASE DATE: November 20, 2019
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?
FREE in Kindle Unlimited
Amazon | Amazon Worldwide | Amazon Paperback
Now available in AUDIO!
Narrated by: Shane East, Muffy Newton and Savannah Peachwood
⭐️ 4 "New Jersey Princess" Stars ⭐️
After reading In the Unlikely Event, I can genuinely state that L.J. Shen can write any genre with the same aplomb and skill! This story is very different from her usual novels, but I felt captured by Aurora’s journey all read long. ITUE, as I still like to called this book, is a breath of fresh air!
Between humour, betrayal, passion and heartbreak Rory is searching answers about her late estranged father. On her quick trip to Ireland, she meets the eccentric Malachy Doherty. They connect instantly and after a pact to be together if they ever meet again, they both separate with a broken heart! When they reconnect after years, nothing is easy and secrets long kept are gradually revealed.
As much as I enjoyed the book, the romance was a little lacking on the sparks. For a couple supposedly destined to be together, I didn’t feel their passion like I wanted. Yes, the interactions are sweet and funny with a mix of angst, but it wasn’t as powerful as I wanted to feel it. Mal is what made me compelled by this story. There’s just something so charismatic about his personality and the way he acts that I just fell under his charm.
I won’t tell you all the detail about the plotline and let you judge by yourself. In the Unlikely Event is truly a story you need to experience blindly to appreciate better. Definitely worth the read!
** ARC received in exchange for an honest review **
When I finally come face to face with the street artist standing on the side of the pavement, his guitar case open and full of rolled-up notes and change, I understand why his grandfather told me I’d recognize him with the self-assurance of an avid believer.
I’ve never seen someone like him before.
He is beautiful, true, but that’s not what stands out to me. He is radiant.
It’s like his presence has a presence. He sucks the air out of everything in his vicinity, making it impossible not to look at him. Malachy is tailor-made for a huge, colossal heartbreak. Everything about him—his tattered jeans, filthy boots, white shirt, and leather jacket that was broken in decades ago—screams trouble. He looks like a seventies heartthrob. An icon. A Terry Richardson muse. Bruce Springsteen pre-fame.
His voice is like honey and warm spices. It lulls me into a place in my mind I’ve never been before, even though it’s far from beautiful. It is gruff, throaty, and smoky. When someone bumps my shoulder to get closer to him, I snap out of my reverie and realize what I’m listening to.
“One” by U2.
The coincidence is strange. I try to tell myself it’s nothing. This is Ireland. U2 is a national treasure.
His eyes are squeezed shut as he sings. It’s like no one exists other than him and his guitar. Something warm rushes through my skin, like a heat wave, and I shudder in delight.
Warmth.
I always thought there was something melancholy about street performers—the way people walk past them, ignoring their music, their art, their passion. But this guy, he’s the one doing the ignoring. The tables have turned. He’s got the crowd eating from the palm of his hand. Every woman here is under a thick, sweet spell. He’s got that Harry Styles quality that makes girls want to bed him and older women want to adopt him. The men are a cross between impatient, annoyed, and jealous. You can see it in the way they tap their feet, check their watches, nudge their wives and girlfriends to move it.
The song ends, and Malachy Doherty cracks his eyes open and stares directly at me, like he knew I’d be here. Like he watched me watching him through closed eyes. Disoriented—and for some reason wanting to do something, anything—I throw a bill into his guitar case and look away, realizing to my horror that I threw the fifty euros his grandpa gave me. Everyone around me murmurs and whistles. They think it was intentional. I can feel my face flaming red. I bet he thinks I want to sleep with him.
Do I? Probably. But should he know that? Hell no.
L.J. SHEN
L.J. Shen is an International #1 best-selling author of Contemporary Romance and New Adult novels. She lives in Northern California with her husband, young son and chubby cat.
Before she’d settled down, L.J. (who thinks referring to herself in the third person is really silly, by the way) traveled the world, and collected friends from all across the globe. Friends who’d be happy to report that she is a rubbish companion, always forgets peoples’ birthdays and never sends Christmas cards.
She enjoys the simple things in life, like spending time with her family and friends, reading, HBO, Netflix and internet-stalking Stephen James. She reads between three to five books a week and firmly believes Crocs shoes and mullets should be outlawed.
Amazon | Goodreads | Bookbub | Newsletter
