Home / Gay / Better Than Expected
Gay

Better Than Expected

Haley Cass
4.5 / 5.0
Published: 2022

Description

Hannah Dalton is a woman defined by her devotion to her young daughter, Abbie, and her carefully constructed routine. After the unexpected arrival of Caroline in their lives, Hannah finds her world shifting in ways she never anticipated. This story offers a deeply intimate look at the internal landscape of a woman navigating the complexities of single motherhood, professional stability, and the sudden, terrifying blooming of a new love. By revisiting the pivotal moments of their shared history, the narrative peels back the layers of Hannah’s quiet strength and vulnerabilities. It is a tender exploration of what it means to open your heart when you have spent years protecting it. Readers who fell for the chemistry between these two women will appreciate this poignant perspective shift, which enriches the original journey with newfound emotional depth. The prose captures the delicate dance of building a life together, proving that the most profound connections are often the ones we never saw coming. With a perfect balance of domestic warmth and lingering longing, this book serves as a beautiful testament to the resilience of the human heart and the quiet, steady power of choosing someone new.

Customer Reviews

Top 3 from Amazon
L
Linbee
July 4, 2023
Verified Purchase

Great Story

I enjoyed reading this book that expresses the thoughts, feelings and future of Hannah Dalton and her daughter, Abbie Dalton. I like that the author went back to certain dates that occurred in the first book that were changes that not only affected Caroline but also Hannah and now we are reading Hannah's thought and feelings. I also liked how the story moved forward in Caroline and Hannah's relationship which there is now a future which Caroline has been dreaming of even if it will be a slow process. I would recommend this book to everyone that loved the first book and want read the romance further blossom.
C
Cam Jam
November 18, 2022
Verified Purchase

I want more!

I have been impatiently waiting for today so I could download and read this, and man, do I wish this had just a few more chapters! At first I was kinda hoping some of the big scenes like Halloween would have been touched on a little more thoroughly, but then I realized we got a lot more after Christmas. This book covers the same timeline and more than the other, it's not just the same exact story through Hannah's perspective (which I thought it would be for some reason). The moments didn't seem as in depth as they did through Caroline's perspective but it feels right through Hannah's perspective. Ending did feel a little abrupt but I like how it ended on a similar Christmas note as the last one.
T
T. Meade
November 13, 2022
Verified Purchase

Brilliantly able to change the POV for the reader

Another winner from Haley Cass - this time weaving Hannah's point of view (POV) through both some of the same moments in time as Caroline and additional moments in time post-"When You Least Expect It" (WYLEI) timeline. And it genuinely reads from a different POV, a different mental "voice over," readily distinct from Caroline's. I also liked that at the conclusion of this novella I didn't feel like I was left a little bit on a cliffhanger like I felt with WYLEI, that there was a a little bow on the end of this narrative where I could visualize the HEA. (Yes, pun intended!) You keep writing, Ms. Cass, I'll keep reading, supporting. [As an aside, I purchased the paperback version so that I could get it one week faster than the Kindle version. While I appreciate the print-on-demand aspect, the margins of the pages on the binding side do not seem to be formatted correctly because they get crammed together in the middle once the pages are bound. Fortunately, I've read and collected enough paperbacks and trade paperbacks over the course of my life to know how to bend a book without creasing the spine ;-) ]