Cover Image: Someone to Love

Someone to Love

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Jenny Frame's latest work, "Someone To Love," is a spin-off of her previous book, "Unexpected," which I really enjoyed very much specifically because of the originality of the story and how Frame executed it with heartwarming resonance. In the story, there was an antagonistic character, Trent, who was one of the MCs' (Becca) ex, who really piqued my curiosity as I thought there was potential in expanding her storyline. And voila! Before I knew it, Frame announced that she would write a spin-off with Trent as the MC! Thus born this Book 2 of the Unexpected Romance series. Needless to say, I enjoyed exploring Trent's back story and what made her who she was. Also, I always find it intriguing to explore a character who starts off as an antagonist in one circumstance but transforms into a protagonist when the POV turns to that individual in a new environment and set of circumstances, thus, making her an even more layered character altogether.

Essentially, this story was an age-gap, second chance, and a totally unexpected romance between Trent, a 40-year-old divorce lawyer, who was still licking her wounds, mentally and emotionally, even years after she and Becca ended their relationship, and Wendy, a 26-year-old "au pair" aka nanny, who left the country to nurse her heartbreak 5 years ago and only just returned to London after working as a nanny to various families from different countries. How did these two individuals, both having experienced a major heartbreak in their love lives, from totally different backgrounds, not to mention, polar opposites in every sense of the word, cross paths, you might ask. Well, as serendipity goes, you'd never know what's lurking around the corner waiting to steal your heart just when you least expect it and when it strikes, there's no escape, no matter how hard you try. Despite Trent being hopelessly averse to having kids in her life and Wendy who loved kids, always dreaming of having a family of her own, it was Trent's sudden "inheritance" of two kids (from her cousin who died from a sudden tragic accident with no next of kin except her, their godmother!) who effectively ended her "freedom of singlehood" that brought Wendy into her life! Fate, it seemed, was not without a sense of irony, was it? (channeling Morpheus!)

I enjoyed exploring how Trent and Wendy's initial encounter that was laced with awkwardness and discomfort as both tried to establish their positions as employer/employee, guardian/nanny, in the presence of Alice, 11, and Noah, 6, both representing different symbols to them (a fear factor for Trent, which as I discovered, had everything to do with her childhood, and a culmination of pure love and affection for Wendy!), but as time went on, their relationship became more friendly albeit cautiously guarded, to eventually becoming more than platonic, much to their chagrin, respectively, for reasons they held dear in their hearts. But, when cupid strikes.... Frame has a knack for moulding romances that aren't clear cut or absolute at first, despite the presence of attraction, but takes her readers to her characters' journey of reconciliation and acceptance with heartwarming effect. This romance was no exception. In fact, Frame upped the game by adding in 2 kids into the fold, thus, complicating the otherwise smoother journey toward romance, which made Trent and Wendy's romance more multi-dimensional! At least for me, it did!

I loved Trent's character. Besides being an aloof, awkward, ice queen-type persona who had absolutely no clue about raising any children, I was thrilled that Frame had crafted a layered back story of her past which she skilfully peeled off as the story progressed. Childhood trauma. I wasn't expecting it, tbh. So when it was revealed, I was immediately intrigued and suddenly everything about Trent, her total aversion of having children in her life made sense to how she had been behaving since Book 1!

*Note: I feel like I should mention something here when it comes to women having children or not. I am a firm believer that it is perfectly ok and there's absolutely nothing wrong with a woman who chooses not to have or doesn't want any children in their lives, be it giving birth to them or having them. When a woman decides not to have children, it doesn't always mean that she had a traumatic past or a bad experience that caused her to decide not to have children. Sometimes a woman just doesn't want to, period. If men can have that kind of freedom to choose whether they want kids or not, without any explanation or incurring a negative response from society at large, then women should be given the same treatment. Unfortunately, it s the social conditioning about women and their wombs, their maternal instincts, their existence as child-bearing tools, that has been ingrained in the society so deeply amongst men and women for generations, that some women themselves are the culpable parties for making others feel guilty for not wanting children without any "acceptable" reason. This mentality needs to be removed from the consciousness of humanity. That's my firm believe and POV.

Back to Trent and her childhood trauma, I was fascinated with the psychological and emotional effects of what happened to her when she was a child growing up. I won't divulge the reasons and circumstances revolving around her trauma here because the resonating effect needs to be experienced directly from the horse's mouth, so to speak, by discovering it yourself from Frame's carefully structured stages of the revelation that intertwined with Trent's growing relationship with Wendy. Childhood trauma, as we all know, cast long shadows. Unlike adulthood trauma, a child is more than likely to block out any unsavoury, difficult, traumatic event that happens to them that their growing mind isn't mature enough to grapple on to its meaning or effects. When a memory is blocked especially when it's a negative experience, and left unresolved, it always has a way of seeping through, usually in adulthood when something external triggers it when the mind's defence mechanism is no longer holding it as tightly as before or when the trigger is too strong that it penetrates into it, thereby activating the once blocked out memory. For Trent, it was the former, as a result of her growing relationship with Wendy.

In essence, Wendy was Trent's catalyst when it came to her attitude toward Alice and Noah, and her mindset of having children in her life, in general. What was more captivating for me was to find out the correlation between Trent's own childhood trauma and Alice's fresh one (after witnessing her dad's death in the flesh with all the horrors of a violent accident) that culminated into a full-blown PTSD. Speaking of Alice, I absolutely loved the development between she and Trent. The slow-burn rapport built between these two injured souls was written with grounded realism and authentic flair. My two favourite scenes from the book were of these two. One was when they were both in the car after Alice's visit to her therapist. The "contract" negotiation between them was pure Trent-style which incidentally worked out perfectly for Alice's character! You'll know when you read it and discover that these two souls weren't all that different after all! And, never underestimate the power of shared experiences regardless of whether they are positive or negative ones. The other favourite moment of mine was the zoo incident where Trent ended up finally having to open up a little of herself when she had the biggest scare of her life about Alice's well-being! It was poignant and effective. The shift in Alice's behaviour toward Trent was truly heartfelt as Frame managed to capture the inner psyche of both characters with emotional resonance. With all the "heavy" energy surrounding Trent and Alice as their relationship was explored from start to finish (but with a well-deserved uplifting result, no worries), Frame balanced that out with Noah as this utterly adorable, innocent and lovable 6-year-old who was obviously too young to grasp the depth of their father's death. Needless to say, he was a delight every time he made an appearance in a scene.

Now, talking of Wendy, she's basically the polar opposite of Trent, in every sense of the word! But that's the beauty of it, innit? Opposites attract! I enjoyed the push-pull between them for reasons that you will discover when you read the book besides the obvious. But there was one thing that jumped out at me when exploring Wendy and Trent's life journeys. One of Trent's childhood traumas happened to coincide with Wendy's own. The juxtaposition of their experiences, though, was portrayed with a keen sense of intrigue (for me, at least!) whether human behaviour is incontrovertibly causal whilst being irrelevant concerning whether reasons can be causes. Trent's behaviour went the negative way when it came to her mindset about children, whereas Wendy adopted a positive state of mind regarding children. Was Trent's negative or Wendy's positive behaviour toward the same topic (children), the result of causality (trigger point) or reasoning (motive or justification) or both (trigger and motive)? Hmm...thoughts to ponder. Incidentally, it piqued my utterly curious and inquisitive mind. Bear in mind, though, this is just my own interpretation! Frame might not even have that thought when she wrote this! Oh well... that's why art is interpretative, innit?

Anyway, the entire story was comprised of a series of unexpected relationships: An unexpected parenthood, an unexpected romance, an unexpected family, all wrapped around a compellingly told and written story about a group of individuals, adults and children alike, with secondary characters from Book 1 and the others, whose lives were destined to be entwined together. Trent and Wendy's respective journeys of truth and reconciliation about their childhood traumas and their process of letting go before they could eventually commit to their mutual love for one another and spending their lives together as a family, were depicted with such heartwarming effect that it was almost fairy tale-like! All's well that ends well, eh? Worth mentioning is, both Becca and Dale made an appearance as secondary characters, along with their kids. So there was definitely a sense of familiarity and warmth whilst reading this book!

All in all, I enjoyed this story very much, especially all the psychological nuances of every character, the meaning of family, and what mattered most in the end. Love. Acceptance. Letting go. If you're a fan of lesbian romance or you've read Book 1, "Unexpected," I'd definitely recommend you give this a read.

**I was given, with much thanks and appreciation, an ARC of this book, by BSB, in return for an honest review.

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An honest review thanks to NetGalley. This was a great read but I strongly recommend reading Becca and Dale's book first. You do not have to but it will give you a look at Trent and Becca's meeting Dale as they are characters in this book as well. I loved Wendy, the nanny coming in and creating loving family is always a great plot and this one did not disappoint!

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I enjoyed this story about a forty-year old divorce attorney, Trent, who is named guardian of her cousin's two young children after her cousin is killed in an automobile accident. Trent hires Wendy, a twenty-six year old nanny, to care for the children when she initally cannot either emotionally nor due to her workload. The story chronicles the initial trials and tribulations of this big adjustment not only for the children, Alice and Noah, but also for Trent. As Wendy tries to draw the children and Trent together, she and Trent begin to fall for each other.

For me this was a quick read and I enjoyed the butch/femme dynamic that the author is known for. The character of Claudia was not a favorite and seemed somewhat non essential in the "will they or won't they" get together for the long haul near the end of the story.

Although the story was set in Britain, I did enjoy the Christmas trip to Lapland with the homey holiday descriptions that the author crafted.

I received an ARC from Bold Strokes Books and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

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ARC received via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a sequel/follow on from Unexpected and features MC Trent, who was Becca’s ex and lawyer in that book. Here, Trent becomes the guardian of her cousins two children after he dies in a car crash. She needs a nanny for the two kids (Alice, 11 and Noah, 6) and hires Wendy, who has been nannying around the world to pay off debts her ex left her with.

Trent is emotionally closed off due to a traumatic/abusive childhood and has trouble opening up to the kids. Wendy on the other hand is open and sweet and bonds with the kid immediately. The two spend a fair bit of time together given they live together and eventually fall for each other. There’s an age gap and the boss thing to contend with, so this ensures a lot of to-ing and fro-ing about the relationship.

This is also a typical Frame book in that Trent is butch and Wendy is femme and they play the stereotypical parts within those roles. The kids did add some interest, especially Alice and her trauma around the accident. Becca and Dale and their kids and friends also make appearances.

For about 3/4 of the book it was just an average romance, not great, but not terrible. But Wendy also has an unfortunate name, it’s Wendy Darling, and she also has a Peter Pan thing because of this, which leads to some truly nauseating moments once they do get together as Trent takes to calling her Wendy ‘darling’ and Wendy calls her ‘Peter’. It seriously made me want to gag. Trent also has something of a side relationship at the start that crops up for no reason towards the end other than to revisit the age gap thing that had already been done to death, which I could easily have lived without.

I liked Unexpected way more than this sequel. I’d give this 2.75 stars.

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Another great book from Jenny Frame. I've read every single book from her and I continue to enjoy them.

I loved that she was able to turn Trent, the antagonist of her first book in this series, into someone who I actually liked and understood, that's not always easy. I also loved the dynamic between Trent and Alice and I loved that their relationship took time to build and wasn't just fixed in one instance. I also loved that she was able to include scenes of Becca and Dale as well so we could catch up on what they've been up to since their book.

I gave it four stars because Trent and Wendy didn't have as much interactions one on one as I'm used to other couples having in her other books. That's understandable of course since the kids were a main part of the book but I wanted more of that because without it, it just seemed like they kissed and then suddenly they were sleeping together and then they were married. It was a bit too fast paced. So slow at the end and then the next 3-5 months were completely rushed.

But other than that, it was another good book from Jenny and I look forward to many more from her.

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Received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for a honest review. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own

It seems like everybody loved this, but I felt it was just meh. The idea behind the plot was nice, but didn’t feel well executed. Ended up feeling like I couldn’t care less about the romance, but I loved the family dynamics between the kids and Trent. I did not feel the chemistry between Wendy and Trent. Was annoyed by Wendy, her judging Trent’s actions in the beginning. And her being mad the Trent bought a house without asking her. I hated the whole Wendy/Peter thing and think I got permanent eye damage from rolling my eyes so much. I hated the whole instant family thing. Would have loved to read about Trent making a relationship with the kids before Wendy came in as a nanny.

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I have to admit that I read this book 7 days ago and put off reviewing it right away for some reason. If I'm being perfectly blunt, I can't remember the plot or any of the character's names 7 days later and need to go look up the blurb to remind myself what this book was about. If that doesn't tell you how I felt about it, not much else will.

Ok, now that I've gone back and refreshed on it, I remember that this one felt rough. For some reason, Frame's stories have always left me feeling very 'meh' about the overall story. Her style tends to always feature a butch, masculine, tough guy character paired with a softer or more helpless femme. This one is no exception with tough Trent and softie Wendy. I did like the change of pace added with the addition of the kids to her typical pattern, but I'm not really a huge fan of kids in writing, so even that didn't sway me much other than I liked that it was different than her other novels.

Look - I feel like a jerk here, but I think Frame's writing just isn't my cup of tea. A lot of others seem to enjoy her writing though, so I'd suggest that if you're thinking about reading this then maybe you should look at some other reviewers who like Frame's style more than I do and make a decision from there instead!For me, 3 stars.

**Many thank to Bold Strokes for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.**

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Nice predictable read. Good writing and likable characters. This is the second book in the Unexpected series but it can also be a stand alone. I was frustrated at times with the MC's dialogue but in the end it worked out well. I would recommend.

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This was INTERESTING!

Why? Because the first half of the book was 5 stars, then it went down to 3, then up to 4, then back to 5!

So let me talk about the first half :) I loved it! You have Trent who’s an ice queen , kick ass, tough, butch lawyer and Wendy the hippie nanny full of sunshine and oozes positive energy! And you have 2 kids, one disturbed and the other is adorable.. the storyline was so good, entertaining and full of good dialogue and emotions.

I was then quite surprised that the feelings were so rushed between both MCs, then the first sex scene was kind of unexpected and such terms as “lover” irritated me for some very odd reason!

There was a very interesting situation that I felt was a bit rushed (Claudia, and sorry can’t say more so as not to spoil this). I would’ve loved to see this part turned into something meaningful that would add to the plot.
There were some cheesy lines and moments that I didn’t necessarily love in this book, but at the same time, some moments were incredible! I know I might be confusing in my review but this is exactly how I felt about this book.

But my overall experience was very nice! There’s just the right amount of angst, very interesting MCs (Trent specifically is one character that I won’t be forgetting soon), and a very nice happy ending! I also thought the author did a brilliant job with the kids as the story really revolves around them but yet it didn’t overshadow the romance.

My rating is a 4.25 and I recommend this book for people who want a family drama read, nice romance and a happy ending :) p.s: this is definitely not a fluffy read, which is needed sometimes!
“I received an ARC for an honest review.”

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I received an ARC copy of this book from the Publisher via Netgalley and voluntarily leaving my review.

Trent is a divorce lawyer and she lives for her job. When her cousin David dies in a horrible crash she is left with his two children Alice and Noah at first she turn her back on them because she learn to never trust family but after talking to her ex who also happen to be her best friend Becca who was in a previous book called Unexpected if you want
to read about Becca and Dale story. She decide to keep until she can put them in boarding school.

Wendy has just return to Britain after being a nanny aboard she left Britian because she had her heart broken by her fiance Bailey who left her and then stole her money she was saving for their wedding. She came back to finish getting her her degree and to get her life on track.

When she get a job as the nanny she instantly falls for the children when she sees the distant between Trent and the children she decide to help bring them together.

Wendy has always wanted a family her childhood wasn't perfect when she had two parents who weren't interest in being parents her grandparents gave her the love she craves from her parents and that love made her who she is today. Trent life change when her mother died granted her father wasn't a good man to begin with but he and her nanny weren't great so she simply close her heart. Trent doesn't want to get attach to Alice and Noah because they remind her of the past that she wants to forget.

Wendy and Trent grow closer as Wendy helps bring them together it sursprise me that this is age gap romance because to me Wendy seems more older then she is book. Overall I enjoy it. Yes it was predictable but to me it's about two women one who didn't want a family the other who always wanted one finding each other when they needed the most.

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Not my favorite Jenny Frame book. In the Unexpected world, this book finds an HEA for Becca's friend Trent.

Trent is a 40-year old hot-shot divorce lawyers, whose traumatic childhood - some flashbacks/recall of psychological and physical abuse - leave her unwilling or incapable of forming a long-term attachment. She neither wants nor needs family. But when her cousin dies, leaving Trent as guardian of his two young kids, she has a ready-made family, like it or not.

In comes 26 year old nanny, Wendy Darling, hell bent on fixing the connection between the aloof Trent and the two kids.

This book had a constant no-we-can't, oh-well-we-did, but-we-can't-again interplay that became trying at times.

** I received this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.**

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While the story was not bad, I did not like how predicable it was.
An highly successful divorce attorney obtains custody of her cousins children after his untimely death. A nanny will step in to help with the kids. Will the nanny and lawyer develop feels for each other?
Thank you Netgalley for complementary copy. Thoughts and opinions are my own.

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5+ stars. I have been anxiously waiting for the opportunity to read this book. I have the preceding book Unexpected as an ebook and audiobook. I've read or listened to it dozens of times. This book will be the same. I absolutely LOVED it! If you haven't read Unexpected, you're missing out, but it's not necessary to read Someone to Love. There is something Jenny Frame has in her writing style that creates this romantic atmosphere, even before the couples get together. The environments she sets her books in, the sex scenes she writes, all scream love. All of her books have storylines that show the characters that love comes to them the way they need it, not the way they think they want it. This author writes perfect partners for the main characters who they would never normally have encountered in their lives without some twist of fate bringing them together in the unusual or uncomfortable situations she writes. This creates an almost Cinderella quality of possibility from the romance and happy ever after storylines she writes. I remain a dedicated fan of this author's and highly recommend this book to anyone who loves Love.
I received an ARC of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

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So this the sequel (or second book in the series) to Unexpected. This one is about Trent, which FYI we find out her first name Divinia. Doesn't really fit her at all if you ask me which is why it was so perfect for her. Anyway, this is her story about finding love what she never knew she needed or was ready for. At the end of Unexpected, I actually began to like Trent. At the beginning of this book, I didn't like her so much and found myself frustrated with her more than anything. Wendy Darling, yes that is her name and it works well for the story, is the nanny Trent hires when her life gets turned upside down and two kids fall into her lap.

I don't want to give up a lot of the story because there really isn't too much too it in turns of twists and turns and I honestly am glad that a certain supporting character didn't play a bigger role in it. I do think certain situations were resolved a bit too quickly which took away from a good amount of angst that could be had and also certain issues were not fully flushed out or even resolved. I also would have liked a little bit more...more interaction with Becca and Dale, more interaction with Wendy's friends, more stuff happening to the MCs outside of the bubble.

Overall, I really did enjoy this book. I love Jenny Frame books because she has that butch/femme theme which I happen to love all PC ideas aside. This is a solid 4 star book for Frame and while you don't need to read Unexpected to enjoy this book (you should because it was great), it doesn't hurt to give a little background to who Trent and her world is.

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