Review of When you least expect it by Haley Cass, narrated by Lori Prince

Haley Cass quickly became an automatic read for me after her debut novel Those who wait was one of the big surprises of the 2020 lesfic year and one of my favourites too. Soon after, I read When You Least Expect it and I loved it too, so when I saw that it was going to be released on audio narrated by Lori Prince it turned into my most expected audiobook of the year. I’m happy to say that it was worth the wait.

Caroline Parker is a divorce lawyer who doesn’t believe in love and hates Christmas because she was dumped 3 times during the holiday season. So when gorgeous Hannah Dalton, the wife of one of her colleagues approaches her on Christmas Eve, she doesn’t think her luck will change…

This was another fantastic story by Haley Cass, who writes gorgeous love stories and endearing characters. Both Caroline and Hannah are fleshed out realistically in their strengths and shortcomings. It’s hard not to like both leads and not to root for them to get together.

For some strange reason, this book is told in present tense. I’m not sure the purpose behind this choice, maybe to make it sound like a chronicle of events that happen within a calendar year. It took me a bit to get used to it but once I did, I had no issue in enjoying the story. As the novel is written in third person only from the point of view of Caroline, Hannah is a bit of a mystery to the reader as she is to Caroline herself and makes Caroline’s search for true love more enjoyable.

Ms. Cass knows how to write the “will they, won’t they” push/pull of a romance, as this is a coming out story, there is a lot a little moments that slowly build the chemistry between the leads until it inexorably explodes. The sexually charged moments were so well done that I will remember a particular scene during Columbus weekend for a very long time. An incredible sex scene without sex.

Lori Prince narrated the audio version and did a spectacular job. The emotions and feelings in this book are very raw and Ms. Prince absolutely nailed them. Both main characters were brought to life with such intensity that I could see the story in my mind’s eye. It was absolutely worth the wait.

If you are looking for a romance story with fantastic chemistry, sweet characters, and a great narration to top it all, then this one is for you. 5 stars.

Length: 8 hrs and 7 mins

Available in Scribd