This is a perfect fade to black love story. Zach is a swoony ex-military man who is also a vet coming home in hopes of partnering with the local vet, Stella. Zach was always a stand up guy and early on you could tell he was smitten with Stella. This is a cute small town romance without a lot of heat. Good, heartwarming story like you'd see on Hallmark.

I listened to the audio and it was well done. I really wish a guy would have also narrated for Zach, but I still enjoyed it.

Never Expected You
by Jody Holford

Never Expected You is one of those sweet, and touching, love stories, that straddled the line between light and heavy; one that you never knew you needed, until you read it and fall in love. An extremely pleasant romance story, light, flirty, and funny that is a little slow at the start; but once it picks up momentum the reader gets pulled in and cannot help wanting to see what will happen next. A story is full of loss, struggles and at times sadness; but there is also hope, humor, laughter, friendships and love to be found.

The characters are well developed and when the two finally learned to trust each other have some intense chemistry. It's obvious that hero and heroine are interested in each other, and things had heat up between these two sooner or later. Our heroine has broken many of the "rules", while she burns the candle at both ends, has a scenario of the "damsel in distress"; which is far from the truth. Our hero is different from a lot of the romance male love interests; he sneaks his way in, pretending to be someone he is not; but wanting to help the heroine’s family business, left to her in a financial mess, truly fitting of the cliched "save the girl". The story as much about their own healing, as it is about their happily ever after; which, tugs at the reader’s emotions, witnessing all that delicious emotional growth.

Never Expected You has an adorable cover, with an irresistible blurb letting the readers know that they can count on Jody Holford to deliver beautifully layered, and heartfelt romances. Jody Holford has stellar writing skills, this makes for a perfect romance read with amazing depth and has more than a simple love story going on here. I was gifted a copy and feel that not only the book; but the author both deserve 4.5-stars each.

A lovely, sweet romance with great characters and a great story. Stella and Zach pulled me in right from the beginning. I didn't want to put the book down!

I loved the story of Zach and Stella.
I voluntarily reviewed an Reader Copy of this book which I received through
Netgalley.

Holford gives us an engaging read with Zach and Stella's veterinary-related tale. Two strong-willed yet damaged leads find their HEA in this Love Unexpected series. This was a solid second story in the series and fans will not be disappointed.

This book has been sitting on my TBR in my Kindle for months. Literally months. I'm not sure why it has taken me so long to read it. I wish I has read it sooner.

I loved this sweet romance!
Stella has inherited her father's veterinarian practice and his home only to learn he was way into debt. She doesn't want help until Zach somehow talks her into needing him. Evidently, Zach looked up to her father when he was younger before he left town to join the Army and also become a vet.

*Sigh*
Zach is dreamy!

One thing leads to another and not only is Zach working as a fellow vet alongside Stella (hoping to be partner), but he is also her roommate. (He was going to stay with his mom until he learns she practically has a live in boyfriend and the walls of her home are thin. Oh - and he shares a bedroom wall with her bedroom. Eek!)

This is my first book by this author.
This is book 2 in the series, but I read it on it's own with no issues.
I highly recommend it!

A bit of a heavy read, dealing with grief and PTSD. Still, a warm and uplifting ending made up for it.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

Never Expected You is a novel about Stella, a small town veterinarian who is struggling financially, and Zach, a veteran who is going home to try and convince his local veterinarian to partner with him after helping him out when Zach was a teenager. When Zach and Stella meet, there is instant chemistry, although neither of them want to admit it.
Overall, I enjoyed the book, but it still had the biggest cliche that I hate in romance novels, which is the main conflict in the story being a lack of communication. I just really hate it and find it to be a cheap plot device used to cause conflict. There were plenty of other things that the author could have used to create drama, but instead chose the low road of main characters not communicating effectively.
Other than that, I enjoyed the book. There were some lovely fall vibes, enjoyable characters, and a steamy romance. I'd recommend this book to romance lovers and people who like animals, because there are a lot of animals mentioned within the book.

"Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the advance copy of this book, in exchange for an honest review."

Loved this book very much. It had just enough sweet romance and the storyline was great! I highly recommend!

I absolutely loved this book. The character interaction, the back story, the development. While it absolutely is formulaic, as nearly all romance books are, it did not feel like the same old story with the serial numbers filed off. The driving events that motivated each of the characters was relatable and fresh and I would definitely read something new by this author.

This was such a sweet book. Zach and Stella both had been through a lot in their lifetime sofor Stella it was very difficult to accept or ask for help of any kind. I think their troubled past is what drew them together. I loved Zach he had issues but once he got himself set to do something he went full force after it and he was so caring and sweet to everyone and every animal. Stella was headstrong and at times could seem to be rude because she was so stubborn but you learn why she’s that way and it helps you understand her more. Like I said very sweet read no descriptive sex scenes but that does not take away from the storyline at all

Stella is holding a lot inside, never getting over her ex and still hurting from her father's recent passing. She definitely needs' help around the office, but she might not be willing to take it from Zach. Zach kinda just showed up in her life, and while her heart wants to trust him and let him in, her brain says otherwise. Which one will turn out to be right?

I, personally, didn't find this couple to have a lot of chemistry. Even when they finally started letting each other in, it sorta seemed like "well since you are the only one here, I guess I will like you." Zach seemed rather annoying by just showing up and starting to run things. He even snuck his way in, pretending to be an intern until the intern showed up and he had to explain himself.

The one thing that truly enjoyed about their relationship was when the two finally let go of their own personal baggage and learned to trust each other. This didn't happen until the book was nearly over, but they did eventually open up! I also did like the fact that there was no stereotypical "damsel in distress" scenario. She was never attacked in a back alley or by an ex and had to be "saved" by Zach. Technically he helped her business, but this was still a breath of fresh air from the cliched "save the girl" scenes of adult romances. Actually, Stella already broke many of these "rules" by having her own business in the first place. She didn't rely on Zach to help her off the street, he wasn't her boss, and without him, she might still be able to pull her business together. 

Zach wasn't overly pushy, the only time he even tried to be around Stella when she didn't want to be around him was when they had their first real fight in the last 20% of the book. He was different from a lot of the romance male love interests, and I liked him for that. 

My last issue with the book was that it seemed to be a little slow at the start and then sped up intensely in the last 30-35% of the book. It took me forever to get into the characters, and then when I finally did, the story was already coming to an end.

Overall, I would still recommend this book. It was still a pleasant romance read, and it was pretty unique in the ways that it tried to go about things. Definitely something that I would have read if I had just seen it at a library. 

I received a copy of this book and this is my voluntary review.

Was given an ARC of this one shortly before it was released. I posted a short tour stop review of it on krittie28.wordpress.com. With the fowllowing:
Review:
I read this one is one sitting. I was captured by the story within moments. Such a good contemporary romantic novel by an author I otherwise hadn’t known. Definitely recommend.

Never Expected You is a very well written romance. I enjoyed the plot and the well developed characters. I enjoyed the author’s writing and look forward to reading more books in this series. My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for my digital arc this is my unbiased review.

A sweet romance!

Having read the first book in the series, Let it Be Me , I was really looking forward to Stella's book. She's Megan's best friend, but seemed to hold herself a bit apart--even from her BFF-so I wasn't quite sure what to expect but was ready to get on board with her HEA.

Overall, Stella and Zach's story was sweetly satisfying, even if it was more than a little aggravating at times. Stella especially was very stubborn and tended to be quick to judge, and at times it made her a bit hard to sympathize with. (Her everyone's-going-to-leave-me 'tude seemed a bit excessive--wasn't it just one mentor/fiance who actually betrayed her? She made it seem like it was a done over-and-over thing in her life, and I don't think it was...) Still, it was fun to see Meg, Adam, and Charlie (from book #1) again, and Stella and Zach do eventually pull everything together in the end to come to a highly satisfying HEA, which made it all worth it.

Fingers crossed that Ms. Holford has more books in store for us in this series!

Rating: 4 stars / B

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.

3 stars
Never Expected You was a cute story about 2 vets who fall in love. If I am being honest, I like Zach much more than I liked Stella. She was a little bit of a Debbie Downer. But Zach made up for it,

Zach returns home after ten years of running, trying to prove himself. Zach has very few happy memories of home as he was son to an alcolhic, abusive father who spent all their money on booze. Zach was labeled the "poor" kid at school and bullied endlessly. Then he meets Travis. Travis and Zach were best friends until tragedy struck, sending Zach running. Zach enlisted in the Army and became a veterinarian to animals injured in war. Zach spent ten years saving and investing his money wisely so that he could someday come home to work alongside Dr. Lane--the man who was more of a father to him than his own. Instead, Zach finds Ms. Dr. Lane...

Stella Lane left town to become a veterinarian in hopes of someday working alongside her father. Instead, Stella is drowning in the debt her father left after passing away unexpectedly. The equipment at the clinic is outdated and in need of repairs. Customers come in without making appointments, then want to pay for services rendered with a casserole or pie, not cash. What Stella lacks in business sense, she more than makes up for with her love of the animals. When presented with the opportunity for a way out of debt via a new partner, Zach, Stella allows her stubborn streak and pride to overrule good sense. She turns Zach, but for how long?

This was my first Jody Holford novel and I loved it! It had all the feels. I loved how Zach was able to turn his bad experiences as a young child into something positive and productive. I enjoyed how Zach was able to tear down Stella's walls enough to allow her to grieve the loss of her father. Zach allowed Stella to breathe and let go. Zach showed Stella that her dad was "not the building or his home or his office, but was in her heart. In return, Stella was there to help Zach grieve the loss of his friend so that he could let go of all his anger. As a team, they're unstoppable--until Zach's mistake. While I truly loved this novel, Stella's inability to forgive bothered me--especially after all Zach did for her. Zach's intentions were good, not malicious. With that said, this story does give you a HEA! I read a gifted copy and all opinions stated are my own.

Never expected you is the second book in the Love Unexpected series and it's much better! I did not like Let it be me, but this one was more appealing and easier to read. Stella was a little pain in the arse because she was always fighting Zach about every single thing, but in the end, she admitted that she was mostly the wrong party and matured as a character which was good. She and Zach took their sweet time before getting together which was a little frustrating. But I guess, they needed time to get through each others armor and get to know each other in order to build something that would last. Both of them are humans with flaws and I liked that about them, even if Stella got sometimes on my nerves because I just wanted her to let Zach in.

The book is an easy and light read and it was perfect for reading it while I was under a warm blanket on a cold September afternoon.

A very cute read. I love the finding love when you least expected reads and Never Expected You is wonderful. Stella is strong willed, guarded and a bit feisty. She is doing everything she can to keep her fathers practice running on her own. Once she meets Zach hang on and enjoy the ride. Zach is back after years away and is looking for a fresh start working at the one place he loved as a kid. Little does he know he is going to be put through his paces when it comes to Stella. Watching them slowly grow together is so beautiful. Never Expected You is a heartfelt read with a little bit of those emotions that might lead you to grab your tissues along the way. I loved every minute of this read.

4.5 Stars
I will admit he cover drew me to this book because I love animals, but the blurb sold me on the book. Both Zach and Stella are veterinarians and truth the was the selling point for me. I love the small town and the quirks that come with it. I really liked Zach and Stella together. Great personalities that fit so well together. Stella has a hard time accepting help because she doesn't trust the motive behind that help, but Zach's going to show her he means his every word. It's definitively a make you feel good story that has a really easy flow to the book.