4.5 PERFECTLY RIDICULOUS STARS ✬ LAUREN LAYNE ✬ WALK OF SHAME

WALK OF SHAME

Love Unexpectedly #4

by

Lauren Layne

✬✬✬ 4.5 PERFECTLY RIDICULOUS STARS ✬✬✬

*Slow clap & grinning broadly*
That's what I'm talking about!

This is what I want to see from Lauren Layne, that tongue in cheek humor with a little angst on the side. Her stories have been a mixed experience for me but if this author gets it right, it's amazing.

Georgie is a socialite, she goes out, has fun, does fundraisers and charities and at the end of the day...err...night, at 5 AM in the morning she expects to see her stodgy neighbor, Andrew Mulroney, divorce lawyer and uptight jerk. That man seriously needs to loosen up.

Andrew follows a strict regimen. Every day, Andrew gets up, gets dressed and prepares for the day, which includes working out and meeting his ridiculous neighbor Georgiana at 5 AM when she comes home from another party. You could say they have a standing appointment neither of them knows about. What she doesn't know, though, is that he actually thinks she is sweet and kind.

When he is dragged into a party by Georgie's best friend and against his will they have an actual proper conversation, which - of course it had to - ends on a dare. Georgie would spend a day in Andrew's life and he will prove that she doesn't fit into it. Game on!

This was such a wonderful celebration of love and life itself. Georgie is an amazing heroine with a big heart and positive outlook on life. She is kind to everyone she meets, even Andrew, although he rubs her to wrong way. After all, she knows that he doesn't hold her in the highest regard. Or does he?

“Georgiana.”
“What?” I snap, turning around. “What can you possibly say that you haven’t said a million times already with every scowl, with every eye roll, with every you’re ridiculous? You think I’m stupid and worthless. I get it.”
The guy’s expression is one tangled knot of emotional constipation. “That’s not what I think.”

Andrew is totally clueless when it comes to Georgie. She is so far out of his league that he doesn't know what to do with her. It was adorable to see him struggle with his own feelings and his confusion that he liked her so much - the complete opposite of himself.
Being highly intelligent and more the thinker than the feely-touchy type he isn't very good with women either. Scratch that, sometimes he is downright socially awkward and spouts some silly things which can actually hurt the receiving end of his barbs. Which most of the time is his sweet neighbor.

He couldn’t think about anything except the horrible moment when he’d thought he was making a joke, only to realize the second it left his mouth that it had been downright cruel. Andrew had never been good with women.

You could also say that being a divorce lawyer Andrew doesn't exactly have positive stance on love and marriage. So what does he have to offer a bubbly, optimistic and sweet woman like Georgie?

The woman was just so damn vivacious, drawing people to her with every breath. Everyone liked Georgiana. And she’d chosen him. Somehow, this gorgeous, compelling creature seemed to want to spend time with him.

The witty banter between the main characters, which is a trademark of Lauren Layne's stories, was my favorite thing in this book. I really loved how they always tried to one-up each other. Georgie had a good and reasonable head on her shoulders, which made me fall in love with her even more. I adored Andrew, especially when he got out of his head and let the feelings flow. He also had a decisively bossy side to him, which was rather hot.

I love this author's stories when she gets them right and this one was definitely a winner for me. Dear Ms. Layne, please keep writing wonderful books like this one and I'll be your forever happy reader.