Beautifully Unexpected

By: Lily Morton

Narrated by: Joel Leslie

Length: 7 hrs and 7 mins

Publisher's summary

Sometimes love comes when you least expect or want it.

Magnus Carlsen is determined to grow old disgracefully. At 52, he doesn’t believe in keeping anything. Men, sofas, books—everything gets jettisoned, eventually. He’s divided his life into happy compartments. A successful trial lawyer, he spends his days lecturing jurors, exasperating judges, and striding arrogantly around courtrooms. He fills his nights with a parade of handsome young men who want to make him happy. Why date someone his own age to discuss back pain, retirement planning, and corns when he can date men who don’t care to discuss anything at all?

However, when one of these sunny young men shows an inclination for dramatic scenes, Magnus meets his new neighbor. And his whole world implodes.

Laurie Gentry is nearly the same age as Magnus, but that’s where the similarity ends. He’s messy and creative and nosy and mysterious. He’s everything that Magnus has spent a lifetime avoiding. So, why can’t he get Laurie out of his head?

Luckily, Laurie is only in London for the summer. Magnus can uncover Laurie’s mysteries and indulge their annoyingly hot attraction, and Laurie will be gone before complications arise. A few months isn’t long enough to lose his heart. Is it?

From best-selling author Lily Morton comes a romantic comedy about two footloose older men and how one summer in London brings something quite beautifully unexpected into their lives.

©2021 Lily Morton (P)2022 Lily Morton

European through and through

Although it's nice to read a story with more mature characters, some of the humor is lost in translation. I still loved it.

A bit disappointed

Joel Leslie was not the best choice for this book. He spoiled it for me. His voice was too young.

Swoon

I cannot imagine anyone other than Joel Leslie narrating Lily Morton's books. He delivers warm, animated performances that keep me entertained.

Beautifully Unexpected was one of my favorite books of 2021, and the audio lives up to the book. I am a huge fan of romance between characters over 40, and Lily has two engaging MCs in this story; Joel brings them to life.
I'm sure I'll relisten!

Classic Lily!

A lovely story, Wonderful narration. Made my heart glad. A perfect story to enjoy on a day in which one needs a delightful distraction. Thank you for writing this Lily.

A beautiful romance

From the first meeting you can feel the pull between Magnus and Laurie. If you enjoy a love story with laughter, quirky people and friends to lovers this is for you. The characters are described in a way that you feel as if you know them. Joel Leslie performs this as he does all his narrations, with spot on accents and in a way you feel as if you are there observing everything. A I narration can never take the place of a great narrator. Thank you Lily Morton for another lovely book, you have such a gift.

Witty and Beautiful

This book is witty, snarky and beautiful. The humor is so amazingly intelligent and adult and far from the juvenile low brow humor of so many books today. It is a breath of fresh air and the performance by Joel Leslie matches the book perfectly. I so love this.

Even better in audio!

Beautifully Unexpected sums up exactly what this book is. It's a book about two older confirmed bachelors whom meet under the most unexpected and hilarious circumstances. Neither ever expected to find someone to settle down with. In fact, they were each vehemently against it for their own reasons. This book, like the love between the two MCs, snuck up on me. With the British humour and most proper snark ever, I spent much of the book smiling. I honestly couldn't put it down because it was just one of those reads you enjoy. Listening to the audio was even better. Joel Leslie brought all their snarky goodness to life. Even Mags indignant huffing was hilariously on point. The book has minimal angst and much of it is spent reading about these two well off men taking the p*ss out of each other. Who can keep a straight face when reading about men who place ribbons on their privates? I certainly can't and I dare you to read this book and try for yourself not to smile. I assure you, unless you are a robot, it's impossible.

Amazing. Funny. Snarky. Accent loving story.

Lily Morton is ALWAYS amazing. I loved this, totally different than a lot of other stories coming out, with more men over 40 years of age. They have so much already in life & are looking for nothing more than hookups but end up finding their beautifully unexpected match. The snark and quick Witt is awesome. Joel Leslie is fabulous and i adore him. The story was beautifully written. The MCs were lovely and so real. This story is so easy to dig into and listen so quickly because you don’t want to miss a thing. I want more. Haha so good. 5 stars :)

Pleasant read

This was just an okay read for me. No major drama, just a natural progression of friends to lovers romance. Characters were likable, each with unique background stories but no major trauma. Narration by Joel Leslie was on point as usual.

Again and again and again

Lily and Joel you did it again. Every story is as good or better than the last one I listened too. Please keep writing and narrating together for MANY years. You both are soooo good. Magnus and Laurie were so fun, snarky, and loving. Thanks again.