The Love She Never Expected

The Love She Never Expected
Brooklyn never expected starting over to be this hard.

After her father gets a better job, Brooklyn and her family leave New York and move to Philadelphia. Now a second-year college student at a new school, she's determined to make a fresh start.

But Brooklyn has a secret.

She's a young mother to her three-year-old daughter, Olivia, and after being made fun of at her old school, she refuses to let anyone know. Between college, family responsibilities, and protecting the little girl she loves more than anything, Brooklyn has learned to keep people at a distance.

Until she meets Ava and the rest of the friend group.

For the first time in a long time, Brooklyn begins to feel like she belongs. But sitting among the group, one girl catches her eye.

Jason.

A girl with a complicated past, a guarded heart, and more responsibilities than anyone her age should have had to carry. After losing her mother at thirteen, Jason and her twin sister, Jasmine, had to grow up fast and help care for their younger sister. Since then, Jason has built walls around her heart, refusing to let anyone get close enough to hurt her.

Then Brooklyn walks into her life.

What starts as a friendship slowly turns into something neither of them expected. Something real. Something that scares them both.

But when Brooklyn finally opens up about Olivia, she's terrified Jason will see her differently.

Instead, Jason sees the girl she's always been.

And the little girl Brooklyn has spent so long protecting becomes someone Jason wants to love, too.

As Jason learns about autism, motherhood, and the parts of Brooklyn's life she once tried to hide, the two girls discover that love isn't always about having all the answers.

Sometimes, it's about choosing to learn.

Sometimes, it's about staying when things get hard.

And sometimes, the person you never expected to love becomes the person you can't imagine living without.

Brooklyn came to Philadelphia to start a new life.