"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!
Sometimes you meet people who are out of this world, so you make them a part of yours.
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?
Caroline's Review
✮✮✮✮✮
Oh my! This book had typical LJ Shen written all over it but, at the same time, there was a humorous quirkiness added to it to make it a pretty unique read.
"You burn under my fingertips, Rory. How do I give you up?"
Eight years ago, Rory went to Ireland to discover her history but she found Malachy instead. One magical day and night spent together leave an indelible mark on them both. Fast forward to the present and the two characters have changed a lot, especially Mal. He's no longer the sweet, sexy dreamer of Rory's memories, the man who has held her heart for almost a decade. He's bitter and hateful and intent on punishing her for misdeeds unknown to her.
"This girl was put in my life to change it."
Mal wants his revenge on the girl who ruined his life. The maddening thing of all is how much he still wants her even though he hates her. However, the more time he spends with her, he realises that things aren't adding up and when a stunning revelation occurs to him, it turns his perceptions and beliefs upside down, and he's suddenly fighting to keep her any way he can.
"There wasn't one moment in time, from the second we met, that you weren't mine. Just like I've always been yours."
This story had many things including a brilliant initial connection between the characters and a promise of something more. As we flip back and forth between the present and the past, we see how Mal has become the man he is in the present. It's a heartbreaking and angsty journey for them both, pitted with obstacles. Mal and Rory were made for one another and their chemistry was off the charts. Throughout the story, it's clear that no matter what has taken place, they are both totally hooked on the other. The little bit of quirkiness in the story was funny and sometimes downright weird! LOL. It was also an excellent device to get a fully rounded story with a twisty plotline. A fantastic, excellent read!
Download your copy today or read FREE in Kindle Unlimited!
In The Unlikely Event is now available in audio!
Narrated by: Shane East, Muffy Newton and Savannah Peachwood
Excerpt
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.
About LJ Shen
L.J. Shen is a USA Today, Washington Post and Amazon #1 best-selling author of contemporary, New Adult and YA romance. Her books have been sold to nineteen different countries.
She lives in California with her husband, son, cat and eccentric fashion choices, and enjoys good wine, bad reality TV shows and catching sun rays with her lazy cat.
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