Blog Tour, Excerpt & Giveaway:
Beautifully Unexpected
By Lily Morton

Sometimes love comes when you least expect or want it.

Magnus Carlsen is determined to grow old disgracefully. At fifty-two, 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 neighbour. 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 bestselling 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.

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Excerpt:

He smiles cheerfully at me. “Are you ready?”

I blink. “I beg your pardon?”

“Are you ready for our walk?”

I rack my brain, trying to remember making plans. Then I realise that I didn’t. “Why would I be ready for a walk, Laurie?”

His expression is sympathetic but still somehow manages to look like he’s taking the piss. It seems to be a character trait of his. “For fresh air,” he says, slowly enunciating every word.

I roll my eyes. “I’ll open a window if I require that,” I inform him. Normally, I’d shut the door in his face. I have no problem with being rude. Today, for some unknown reason, I just stand here looking at him.

His mouth quirks and he claps his hands together. “Come on then, Mags. The day’s a wasting.”

“I’m not sure that my day was wasting in any form.”

“Were you working?”

I nod.

“It’s a Saturday. Your day was definitely being wasted. Come on,” he says. “Grab a jacket and your pension book and let’s go for a walk. It’s a lovely day”

“I do not possess a pension book,” I state. “Because I am only a few years older than you.”

“It’s not the age. It’s the mileage,” he says happily. “And those twinks of yours look like they could take a lot out of a person’s tank.”

I want to be angry, and indeed I open my mouth to blast him, but what comes out, to my amazement, is a huge laugh. He watches me, smiling, and when

I’ve finished chuckling, I wink at him. “I have a tank with a great capacity,” I inform him.

“Those who don’t, brag. Get your stuff and hurry up.”

Enter the Giveaway:

To celebrate Lily’s new release, we are giving you a chance to win your choice of any book from Lily’s backlist! Three winners will be chosen!

A Rafflecopter Giveaway

Direct Link: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/cc0f2a57232/?

About Lily:

Lily writes contemporary romance novels, and specialises in hot love stories with a good dose of humour.

Lily lives in sunny England with her husband and two children, all of whom claim that they haven’t had a proper conversation with her since she bought her first Kindle.

She has spent her life with her head full of daydreams and decided one day to just sit down and start writing about them. In the process she discovered that she actually loved writing, because how else could she get to spend her time with hot, funny men!

She loves chocolate and Baileys and the best of all creations – chocolate Baileys! Her lifetime’s ambition is to have a bath in peace without being shouted by one of her family.

[I received a digital arc for an honest review]

Beautifully Unexpected in the new standalone contemporary romance by Lily Morton. Magnus Carlsen has reached “middle age” by living his life according to him and him alone. As a successful QA with a solid group of friends he doesn’t mind not having someone to warm his bed, that is his preference actually. When one of his not-overnight guests doesn’t understand Magnus’ no dating rule Laurie Gentry is there to mock him unmercifully and that begins a new friendship. Magnus and Laurie find comfort in each other that they struggle to find in younger men and an intense and important friendship grows between them. Chemistry is hard to ignore though and the men find themselves trying to keep their expectations of each other low but as time passes and feelings become involved will they truly be able to.

Magnus “Mags” Carlsen wears his intelligence and charisma like a shield. It keeps people flocking to him out of interest but he wields his sharp words to keep them from ever getting too close. That is until Laurie. Laurie blows every past experience away because he not only refuses to bow down to Magnus he outright challenges him. Although Magnus doesn’t change he is able to grow through his friendship with Laurie, opening his mind to the idea that there is more to life than working and one-night stands. When Magnus stops ignoring or pushing away his feelings he immediately becomes a character you sympathize with and want to hug. Magnus and Laurie are able to balance their friendship with heated moments that go an extra step by becoming extremely intimate and heartwarming.

“He’s a stunning man. It’s not so much his looks, as the way he carries himself. Like he’s a downed wire full of crackling sparks and electricity. There’s an air of mischief about him and a palpable confidence that says he’s unconcerned by the way people view him.”

Laurie Gentry has many layers. As an artist he can be flighty, not always taking proper care of himself when really deep into a project. As a man he keeps people at a distance knowing that time is fleeting and that emotional bonds can stifle freedom to be who you want. He is immediately drawn to his Mags when he witnesses the one-night stand bedfellow not getting the hint. He uses humor to protect himself from Mags because he knows he can fall deeply for the man slowly becoming a huge part of his world. He also can be prickly and in being prickly hurts Mags either directly through targeted barbs or through misdirection when questions come up he’s not ready to answer. Laurie is able to acknowledge that his struggle to open up puts up hurdles that they have a hard time getting over.

“I like everything about him. He’s clever and funny and doesn’t let me get away with anything. But I also sense that he’d be incredibly loyal to anyone he loves.”

I thoroughly enjoyed watching Mags and Laurie’s friendship develop into more. They allowed themselves to get to know each other first and grow into intimacy even with the chemistry being there from the beginning. Their adventures through London getting each other to look at the world through a different lens had me reading deep into the night and not being able to stop. Morton manages a wonderful balance of sweet and funny moments, heated encounters and tear-worthy fights.

5 stars for Mags and Laurie proving that sometimes you meet the right person and everything shifts unexpectedly.