Review: Expect the unexpected
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 10 21, 2013
This story is in the running for my favorite of the series.  I love the every thing about this story.  The main characters, the interaction with the secondary characters, and the way Ms. Long tells this story made me fall in love with a certain character who wouldn't leave my head for months.We meet James, Mike's Place psychologist, while he is in session with Matt, a resident at Mike's Place.  The way James interacted with Matt drew me in and I couldn't put it down.  You could feel that James truly cares for his patients and wants to do what's best for them.  As James is leaving to head to his 1NS date that Madame Eve arranged, he comes across Logan (Always a Marine 2) and he lets Logan know that he wants to arrange a basketball game with Matt to help Matt out.  Logan teases James about his date for the evening, which made me laugh because Logan obviously was changed by his own 1NS.Lauren is an actress who wanted an experience with someone who wasn't out for themselves or using her for career movement.  To me, Lauren is a person that wanted to be seen for more than her career but couldn't find on her own.  Madame Eve to the rescue though.  I don't think Lauren was prepared for James though and she sees just how real James is.James receives an emergency call regarding one of his patients.  It turns out that patient is Matt and James needs to head to where Matt is. Lauren insists on showing him the best way to get there.  While James is speaking with the Police and Damon (more on him later), Lauren sees Matt sitting on the curb and decides to go talk to him because she saw that he was lonely.  Lauren takes Matt by surprise, but she strikes up a conversation with Matt.  James was worried when he found Lauren sitting with Matt but Lauren showed her compassionate side and I think that won James over even more.While I loved reading about James and Lauren, Matt's character wouldn't leave my head.  There were several times I let Ms. Long know that I wanted Matt's story and that I had different scenarios running through my head.  Now, I am solely a reader because I don't have the talent to write, but when different scenes are running through my head, that means the author did her job and left an impression.