Review: An Unexpected Everything by Carrie Ann Ryan (The Cage Family #2)

Note: An advance reader copy (ARC) was provided by the author.

We're back with the second book in The Cage Family series, and in An Unexpected Everything, Carrie Ann Ryan offers a second-chance romance between Isabella Cage Dixon and Weston Caldwell. Twenty-nine-year-old Isabella is the eldest among the second set of Cage siblings, aka Loren Cage's children with his mistress, Constance Cage Dixon. She's a forensic accountant who now works for Cage Enterprises, the company owned by several of the siblings from the Cage patriarch's first family. Isabella is slowly finding her footing, both with her new job and her newly discovered siblings. Coming to terms with the secrets that were kept by her parents isn't easy, but she's dealing with it while remaining protective of her siblings. When her family suggests she go to Lake Cage to get away for a bit, she doesn't expect to see the man who ghosted her eight years ago. Now thirty-five and the lone mechanic in the area, Weston is a blast from the past and a complication that Isabella doesn't have time for. But will learning why he left her before change things? What hope can they have of a future together when Isabella lives in the Denver, and Weston in Lake Cage, especially when someone else from her past makes it clear he's watching her?

When Isabella was first introduced as a supporting character, I wondered what kind of person it would take to make her seemingly hardened nature soften. Who would have thought it would be the same person who made her wary of love and romance? Isabella and Weston were a curious pair, but once those bits and pieces of their past came to light, I could see why they actually made sense together. I love how important family was to both these main characters. Isabella--as well as the rest of her siblings--may have still be in the process of navigating the ins and outs of her blended family, but she has come so far, especially given how she was when the secrets of all three parents involved came to light. This softer yet still fiercely loyal version of Isabella was wondrous to see. And what can I say about Weston? He truly was a great brother, albeit I wish he had been far more forthcoming with his reasons for leaving Isabella. The element of suspense wasn't all that heavy, but it did feel like the cherry on top of an already strong read. All in all, An Unexpected Everything delivered exactly what I expected--an entertaining 4.5-starred novel!

Release Date: 09 June 2025

Date Read: 30 May 2025

Learn more about Carrie Ann Ryan.

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