Incidental Happenstance by Kim DeSalvo

4 Stars

Incidental: Occurring or likely to occur as an unpredictable or minor accompaniment

Happenstance: A chance circumstance

Incidental Happenstance is a light Adult Contemporary read with a movie star/singer theme. I would say it reminds me a lot like Love Unscripted since it has the same plot and tone of writing.

[Summary]

It’s the one year anniversary of the death of Tia’s fiancé. After a year of hiding out, she decides to go to a hole-in-the-wall bar to start moving on with her life. She then notices super star, singer and actor, Dylan Miller at the same bar. Dylan is in disguise and doesn’t want to be bothered. He just wants to drink his beer and enjoy one night on his own without fans circling around him. Tia buys a drink for Dylan just to let him know she’s a fan and that’s all. Dylan is intrigued with Tia and notices she isn’t the typical fan he’s use to, meaning she’s doesn’t seem to have alterative motives.

[My feelings]

At 22% I had a HUGE smile on my face and was just swooning with the chemistry

At 23% - 74% still smiling and enjoying my read

At 75% I got nervous

At 83% Getting really pissed off and getting really frustrated

At 96% I was jumping for joy

At 99% I was thinking… that’s it?!

[Review]

I really enjoyed the beginning of Incidental Happenstance, it was really warm, light and just all around sweet. There really wasn’t too much tension and I was fine with that. Even the overly narrative writing didn’t bother me to much because I felt like there was a lot of character development.

[Tia + Dylan]

I LOVED Tia and my heart just broke for her in the beginning. I loved how the first chapter kind of set her character up, even though it was just so sad! I liked her attitude on life and the support system she had. Yes, at times Tia seemed a little too sweet, but it made you like her even more.

Was Dylan awesome? Ug, yeah he was. I’ll admit, I read a lot of books where the Hero is either famous actor or singer, so there’s a lot characters I can compare with and Dylan would be on my like list. I wouldn’t say Dylan was overly dominated, but he was definitely cocky and exceptionally sweet. Tia had him whipped and I liked it!

[Overall]

I would describe the first 30% a slow progression of how Tia and Dylan meet. Incidental Happenstance is a very descriptive book, you can read 50 pages and still be reading the same day and sometimes this didn’t bother me and other times I felt like I just wanted to fast forward to the next scene.

The middle part was super cute and it involved more of the Tia and Dylan dynamics. I felt like I was part of the story and was enjoying the light-fluffy ride I was reading. Pretty much the first 75% was really easy, there’s almost no tension, and again, I was okay with that.

At the 75% mark things changed for me and this is where everything shifts.

…..pausing a moment before I make my rant

I understand shifts, I actually was ready for it because everything seemed to go so perfectly for me, but I didn’t like the direction of the shift. I felt like there could have been a different obstacle Kim DeSalvo could have come up with. I am not upset about the slight love triangle either. It was just the actual set-up I had a problem with. Basically Tia and Dylan’s direct interactions were gone in the last 25%.

I didn’t appreciate how long everything was too. For example, there’s one part of the book where one of the characters was going to explain something and I just wanted her to come out with it, but it took a good 20 pages of coaxing and prodding before she said anything and by that point I started too (and I shake my head in shame) BUT I SKIMMED!

Yes, I skimmed the last 25% because it was just too much! It pains me to say this because basically I had a 5 star review ready and couldn’t wait to share my wonderful news, but everything went downhill towards the end.

Once you get to the ending that’s it! I didn’t understand why there wasn’t an epilogue. Is there another book? Incidental Happenstance does end, but somehow I feel like I didn’t get closure.

I had to give a 4 star review because despite my rant, Incidental Happenstance was a good read and since this is the only book listed by Kim DeSalvo, I commend her effort. I am all for self-published authors and will definitely pick up the next DeSalvo book, I just hope she cuts the narrative writing a bit.

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