I really struggled with this book, as the characters irritated me right from the beginning, so unfortunately I have up only a quarter of the way into the book.

Thank you to both Net Galley and Bold Strokes Books for the opportunity to read Unexpected in exchange for an honest review.

I have not read a lot of Jenny Frame's work yet but as of right now Unexpected is my favorite novel by her. Well I also love her wolf/shape shifter books too!

Some lesbians may not like if a romance novel has any child characters in the story but for me it is a bonus. Jake stole my heart from the first time he meets and talks to our main character Dale. What drew me to this novel was that it had a different spin on conception. Of course there's boy and girl with no outside help. Then there's boy and girl and they need outside help from another boy or there's any boy/girl and boy/boy that need a surrogate but it's not usually a single lesbian who uses a sperm donor and another woman's egg to have a child. So when Jake comes looking for Dale and refers to her as his other mother it's pretty cool. It took no time at all for me to love these characters and that is a huge deal for me. A book can have great writing and a great story but if I can't care about the characters then I won't like the book. Fortunately Jenny Frame has no trouble with any of those things. Val, Sammy and Jake are standout secondary characters but of course Becca and particularly Dale stole my heart. I would love to revisit these characters in a sequel... hint, hint, hint. I definitely recommend this novel and give it 5 stars.

Dale McGuire is a player who enjoys her life just as it is. Different women, fast cars and no responsibility except for the business she owns and the few friends she loves. Life couldn’t be better.

Rebecca Harper, a stranger to Dale and someone who is hurt and struggling with life is about to have her world rocked to the core.
Both women have nothing in common, or do they. The presence of Rebecca’s ten- year- old son throws Dale into a spin, especially when he claims she is his other mother.

I found this book fascinating, especially how the storyline was handled. I thought it was well written, dealing with a difficult issue. The two main characters were likeable as was the ten-year-old Jake.

I really enjoyed this book and found it different to the usual romance novels. I can certainly recommend it.

Self-made business owner Dale McGuire has always enjoyed two things in life: women and fast cars. Now in her mid thirties, she’s restless and can’t work out why. Then one day a ten-year-old boy turns up, claiming to be her son, and her simple ordered world turns upside down. Rebecca Harper bears the emotional scars of her father’s crimes, and now she has two rules: never let anyone get too close, and never admit weakness. Thanks to an anonymous egg donor, infertility didn’t stop her from having her son Jake. Now pregnant for a second time, she’s horrified when Jake brings home the woman he believes is his other mother. When distrust turns to understanding and passion, can Dale and Rebecca, two women bound by fate, make a family neither expected?
This is a book in genres I don’t read too often by an author I’d never read before. It was a well-written story with multi-layered characters that I really enjoyed. I recommend.
**I voluntarily read and reviewed this book

Stevie‘s review of Unexpected by Jenny Frame
Contemporary Lesbian Romance published by Bold Strokes Books 15 Aug 17

I do like to see well-worn tropes given a new twist, in this case the Secret Baby story. However, this time it’s not so much a secret baby (or secret baby-to-be and secret preteen) as a secret mother that’s the main crux of the issue.


Dale McGuire always knew that donating her eggs to a fertility clinic meant that one day the resulting children might contact her; she just didn’t expect the event to take place until one or other of them reached adulthood. So, when a ten-year-old boy shows up at one of the garages she runs, claiming to be her son, she is understandably taken aback. The lad turns out to be a computer genius, who has hacked into the database of the clinic in order to find his biological parents and enlist their help; his mother is pregnant with his full sibling, but complications are preventing her from working and their house is rapidly falling into a worse state of disrepair than it was in when they first moved there.

Rebecca Harper is a freelance photographer, who is unable to travel at the moment and so is at risk of losing the majority of her client base. After her father was convicted of massive prescription drug fraud and involvement in organised crime, she was briefly a media sensation, thanks to a tabloid expose by an ex-girlfriend. Now that both her parents are dead, she lives a reclusive life under a new name with her gifted son, their routine broken by a few local friends who pop in from time to time. Understandably, she’s nervous of relationships – and of interactions with strangers of any kind – and is less than pleased when Dale shows up to drop off their son.

Dale is struck by Rebecca, who is very unlike the women she usually dates, and decides to help out her new friends by making some basic repairs around the house and to Rebecca’s car, so that they can resume a more normal life. Slowly, the two women become close, and Dale starts to relish being part of a proper family; however, they both have vindictive exes, who want to reveal Rebecca’s identity to the world once again.

While I loved the premise of this book, a little of the characterisation fell a bit flat for me. The main characters were rather too angsty for my tastes, and the ex-girlfriends were a little over the top. A shame, also, since I’ve enjoyed some of the author’s previous books.

Grade: C

I didn't actually read this title and I do not intend to. I think I thought this was a different type of story when i requested it. All in All it's just not the type of book I typically read and it did not grab my attention even after 50 pages and so I gave up.
After a couple months I gave it another chance. New review below.

I received this boom as an Arc from Net Galley and Bold Strokes Books on exchange for an honest review.

There wasn’t anything about this boom that was new or inventive, and yet I couldn’t put it down. It was a pretty basic cookie cutter girl meets girl story with a gifted child thrown in there for color. It was a bad book, but it was predictable and went on for far too long. They never really told us what happened to Ash, and I wanted to know because she was a pretty well written villain. Dale was an excellent character. She was smart, self-made, and cared about a group of people she had never met from the outset. Part of that may have been how attracted she was to the mother of her children overall a quirky read with some solid twists and turn. If you need something quick and happy go lucky. This is the book you should read.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2082606442

An honest review thanks to NetGalley. I love Jenny Frame, and this book so went above and beyond my expectations. As I read the blurb, I didn't know if I was going to like what was in front of me. Yet, I just could not put the book down; I fell in love with Dale and Becca and their story. I will be definitely be rereading this book, anything by Frame will not be a disappointment.

Unexpected by Jenny Frame


Dale McGuire is a player who enjoys her life just as it is. Different women, fast cars and no responsibility except for the business she owns and the few friends she loves. Life couldn’t be better.

Rebecca Harper, a stranger to Dale and someone who is hurt and struggling with life is about to have her world rocked to the core.
Both women have nothing in common, or do they. The presence of Rebecca’s ten- year- old son throws Dale into a spin, especially when he claims she is his other mother.

I found this book fascinating, especially how the storyline was handled. I thought it was well written, dealing with a difficult issue. The two main characters were likeable as was the ten-year-old Jake.

I really enjoyed this book and found it different to the usual romance novels. I can certainly recommend

I was unable to review this book because of a conflict in my schedule. Sorry for any inconvenience this has caused the publisher or the author of the work. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to review for you and I look forward to reviewing for you in the future.

I loved everything about the story, the chemistry between the two main characters (Dale and Rebecca) and the story itself. This book tugged on my heart strings from early on. There were scenes where the author had me tearing up with the shear beauty of the love that leaps from the pages. Jake added another level of enjoyment for me. The love and innocence of a child to add layers to an already complex world of characters. I can’t recommend this sweet romance enough.

OK, I will admit straight away that this book caught me totally by surprise. This is a feel good nice romance. It reminded me a little of one of Disney's fairy tale romances.


The two main characters are Dale from the bad side of Glasgow, flawed and yet maybe a little too good to be true. But I prefer to think there are more Dale's in this world than not. Rebecca who is English and although she lives in a run down house is considered by Dale as being "posh"! So they are basically from opposite sides of the city. They meet through Rebecca@s ten year old son Jake who knows that Dale is his egg donation mother. (Did I say that right?) He hacked the fertility clinics records. So, anyway they get together but there isn't too much chemistry that I could feel.


Yes, it's a nice read and yes, I would recommend it. It is well written and Frame tells her story with style. I also like Frame because her books are set in the UK. I find I can see the places and people more clearly. Therefore I can connect with them better. I gave the book 3.75 stars rounded up to four. Enjoy!


*ARC provided by publisher via NetGalley*


https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2056857997


https://www.amazon.co.uk/review/R2LXM46K1H5E44/ref=pe_1572281_66412651_cm_rv_eml_rv0_rv

I LOVE this book, such a page turner! Very interesting and well thought both back stories of Becca and Dale and how they get where they are in life at the beginning of the book.

I enjoyed this book a lot - it had well developed characters and a nice pace. Throughout the whole book I was scared how Becca will find out about Ashley's story and the link to Dale. That part was a bit underwhelming and all the parts with that are not entirely resolved. Like what happened to Mike? Did he get in trouble for giving out sensitive information? Aside from that I really enjoyed the book and the writing style.

I enjoyed this author's previous books so I was looking forward to reading this one. Maybe my expectations were too high but it didn't quite hit the mark for me. It was well written and the premise was very interesting but there were too many coincidences throughout the book. I didn't like Becca as a character, and found her reasons to become pregnant very off-putting. The main characters' relationship moved very fast - they basically moved in together after a couple of weeks - and a major problem completely vanished at the end.

What a delightful book! I have read all of Ms. Frame’s books and have not been disappointed. This book had a very smooth pace. At the end of each chapter, I would tell myself, “Oh, it’s not too late. Just read one more chapter.” Of course, I had to put it down eventually and go to sleep.

This is a romantic novel with a plot which differs from the usual romance. Dale McGuire is a self-made business owner who loves cars and one-night stands. Rebecca Harper is a single parent with a very precocious 10-year-old son, Jake. Rebecca is not looking for a relationship nor does she have time for one.
The way they meet and handle their differences is the part of the story I enjoyed. Ms. Frame has also created a good set of supporting characters in this book. Perhaps a sequel will follow. Since the characters are so well developed, the readers might want to know more about them.

I rate this book a 5 out of 5 stars. If you like Unexpected, you might check out her other books. She is a fantastic storyteller!

I was given this ARC in return for a fair and honest review.

This romance has quite a different plot, which attracted my attention. Dale McGuire, successful, butch, immature owner of a line of mechanic shops, is approached by 10 year old Jake, who tells her that he is the product of an egg donation she made when she was young. His mother is ill, pregnant with another baby, and Jake feels they need help, so he seeks out Dale to be his other mother. Jake's mother, Rebecca Harper, is less than pleased at first, but quickly comes around to accepting some help from Dale. Romance blossoms, etc. There is a backstory, villain, and former lovers to add some tension.

I found Rebecca difficult to like. Dale was more likeable, but underwent a change from being a womanizing single woman to a responsible head of a family in an instant. I felt like the story would have been more interesting if it had shown a bit more of a transformation process.

The supporting characters were much more interesting, I thought, and would have liked to know more about Dale's business partners Sammy and Valentina, and Rebecca's ex Trent. I was incredibly uninterested in Ash, the caricature of a villain of this story.

In the end, I was disappointed because I felt like the story did not deliver on its potential. This story could have been a much deeper one and I would have enjoyed it more.

*I received this book from NetGalley for my honest review*

Writing/Style: 3
Not giving it 4 because I feel like the writing itself was great but the POV bothered me. I normally read first person so the fact we were in the head of Becca and Dale at all times bothered me a bit. I would have liked for it to be more set. Like, stay in Dale's head and not know Becca's thoughts and vice versa. But I don't know if that's just me or what. Still very good writing though. It was a fairly quick read and very easy to read. I believe this is an own voices book but I can't personally vouch for the rep.

Characters: 3
I loved all of these character (except the ones you're supposed to dislike). I feel like a lot of them weren't as fleshed out as others though.

Story: 2
Now the story was very enjoyable but as this is currently a standalone, there were too many loose ends. Like, does Dale ever make up with her sister? What happens to Ash? There were so many things that were just left up in the air and I would have preferred for it to be more of a complete ending. There's always room for more books and I hope there are but I don't think there will be. I also wish that the author would have focused more on Dale's racing and working on cars. I feel like it was mentioned a couple times but we never really got that. With how much Dale loved racing and cars, I feel like it was just pushed on the back burner.

Pacing: 2
The pacing was kind of sporadic. I feel like some parts were very "actiony" and others were just slow. The ending felt rushed to me, though. The pacing could have been something that was fixed but personally it seemed to be kind of sporadic.

Personal Thoughts: 4
I loved this book. It was so good. Such a quick read and, in my opinion, a lovely little f/f romance.

Overall: 14/20 - 4 Stars
Overall I loved this book. I do recommend it especially if your looking for this type of story. There are so many possibilities for sequels but I don't think there will be any. I do recommend this and I'm so glad I decided to request it.

This is my favorite book by Jenny Frame thus far. I think I liked it better than her Royal series because the characters were more relatable to me.

The premises of the book is extremely unique. I think that normally you'd assume this would be a guy forgetting about donating, and not a woman who sort of forgets/didn't let it play a big part in her memory, so it was kind of funny to me. I especially liked the writing of Jake and how cute and smart he is to create the havoc that he does.

I did think the whole way Dale kind of accepted her role as a parent seemed a little smoother than I had thought it would be according to her initial personality. I thought there would be a few more bumps in the road than there was, considering she was pretty much a forever bachelor type. The chemistry between Dale and Rebecca wasn't sizzling, since that's not the kind of book this is, but they were cute together.

Overall I'd recommend this book to others, and especially think the author is getting better and better.

I didnt realize this was a gay/lesibian book. I could not force myself to finish this book. It started out with a boy looking for his biological mother.. to find (dale) Mary Dale....who now goes by Dale a mechanic.... who froze her eggs ........ beyond that who knows I just could not read this book.