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Love Unexpected #1
Filthy Sweet: Library Edition
Loner. Troublemaker. Rebel . . . and secret softie?
I try to enjoy the reputation I've earned as a hotshot music exec, even as I'm careful to hide my checkered past. But after another unfortunate scandal catches me with my pants down (literally), I'm forced to clean up my image.
Enter my best friend's little brother. The adorkable sweetheart is my wholesome polar opposite, which makes him perfect for a little fake relationship publicity.
Owen's just out of the closet. He acts shy, but the more time we spend together, the more I glimpse his surprisingly filthy imagination. And the more I can't stop thinking about him.
I don't do relationships. And with my past crashing down around me, I have no right to drag Owen into the chaos of my life. But then he says my name with his gentle voice, and something unfamiliar stirs.
Owen breaks down the walls I've built, but can a guy like me give him the kind of love he deserves?
Contains mature themes.
I try to enjoy the reputation I've earned as a hotshot music exec, even as I'm careful to hide my checkered past. But after another unfortunate scandal catches me with my pants down (literally), I'm forced to clean up my image.
Enter my best friend's little brother. The adorkable sweetheart is my wholesome polar opposite, which makes him perfect for a little fake relationship publicity.
Owen's just out of the closet. He acts shy, but the more time we spend together, the more I glimpse his surprisingly filthy imagination. And the more I can't stop thinking about him.
I don't do relationships. And with my past crashing down around me, I have no right to drag Owen into the chaos of my life. But then he says my name with his gentle voice, and something unfamiliar stirs.
Owen breaks down the walls I've built, but can a guy like me give him the kind of love he deserves?
Contains mature themes.
Audio CD
First published September 27, 2021
244 people are currently reading
676 people want to read
About the author
R. Cayden
38 books312 followersR. Cayden writes steamy M/M romance and sweet, easy reads.
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You can also send along an email. I love hearing from readers, and knowing what you think of the stories!
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Thanks for reading!
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 177 reviews
April 27, 2022
I'm SEETHING.
Fuck this book.
This book started off so strong and solid and cute, the devastating crash literally makes me see red.
Fuck this book.
This book started off so strong and solid and cute, the devastating crash literally makes me see red.
October 26, 2021
2.5 stars
I seem to be in the minority, but this did not work for me. Maybe it's just a case of "it's me, not you" but my attention kept wandering while reading and I had to force myself to finish this. The characters didn't really engage me; they seemed overdrawn if that makes sense. The cliche awkward nerd and misunderstood, bad boy rocker exec. And for a book whose major selling point is smut, it was pretty mediocre. Don't get me wrong, there's plenty of smut; it's just not particularly hot.
• music exec/nerd
• best friend's little brother
• sweet, awkward nerd has a freaky side
• opposites attract
• fake boyfriend
• insta-lust
I seem to be in the minority, but this did not work for me. Maybe it's just a case of "it's me, not you" but my attention kept wandering while reading and I had to force myself to finish this. The characters didn't really engage me; they seemed overdrawn if that makes sense. The cliche awkward nerd and misunderstood, bad boy rocker exec. And for a book whose major selling point is smut, it was pretty mediocre. Don't get me wrong, there's plenty of smut; it's just not particularly hot.
• music exec/nerd
• best friend's little brother
• sweet, awkward nerd has a freaky side
• opposites attract
• fake boyfriend
• insta-lust
December 20, 2021
I basically skimmed from 60% on. I’d say it was more me than the book.
If you like:
-fake dating that become real dating very quick
-barely any relationship angst
-lots of cum play
then you’ll probably like this.
I just didn’t find it all that interesting and the characters were only alright.
If you like:
-fake dating that become real dating very quick
-barely any relationship angst
-lots of cum play
then you’ll probably like this.
I just didn’t find it all that interesting and the characters were only alright.
October 24, 2023
I really enjoyed this book and it certainly lived up to its name. It was filthy and sweet. I look forward to reading the next book in the series.
April 26, 2022
Def not for me
September 29, 2021
Ok read
This book was ok. I'm a slow burn lover and this book was to fast paced for me. I also didn't feel like there was any real chemistry between the main characters.
I did love Reggie though. He was a great side character.
This book was ok. I'm a slow burn lover and this book was to fast paced for me. I also didn't feel like there was any real chemistry between the main characters.
I did love Reggie though. He was a great side character.
December 2, 2021
I actually didn’t finish the last 9% of this book because I got bored but it deserves three stars because the cum play was *chefs kiss*
February 20, 2022
Hot AF fake dating, brother's-best-friend romance between a nerdy biologist and a bad-boy music producer. Not a lot to say about it, it was a satisfying read.
August 9, 2024
Rock adjacent. Music producer (or...er...something) who tried to be a rock star but didn't make it. Just putting this out there in case you like me don't like music industry romances. Just too close to the billionaire trope for my liking.
Tropes/things to know:
🏳🌈 Friends to Lovers
🏳🌈 Friends since they were kids, reconnect when older
🏳🌈 Brothers Best Friend
🏳🌈 Newly out
🏳🌈 Low angst
This is a sweet, low angst romance. There's very little drama (which I appreciated). My only complaint about the story was honestly that the book only needed one narrator. Javi Wilder would have been the superior choice.
Tropes/things to know:
🏳🌈 Friends to Lovers
🏳🌈 Friends since they were kids, reconnect when older
🏳🌈 Brothers Best Friend
🏳🌈 Newly out
🏳🌈 Low angst
This is a sweet, low angst romance. There's very little drama (which I appreciated). My only complaint about the story was honestly that the book only needed one narrator. Javi Wilder would have been the superior choice.
October 21, 2021
Awhh that was such a sweet read and I especially LOVED the cover omfg it's my most favorite right now no cap.
November 2, 2021
Pretty typical of this author. Cute but forgettable.
October 3, 2021
It says at the end of this book, R, Cayden writes steamy M/M Romance...
This is beyond steamy and wonderful!
This is beyond steamy and wonderful!
May 11, 2022
Couldn't really connect to these characters at all, too much telling, not enough showing I guess.
October 25, 2021
I loved this book. Owen is just so sweet and geeky but without being over the top and Fox is a bad boy hiding a soft centre. I loved how both had issues in their past that made them guarded but that they were able to support each other to work through it all. I would have liked to have had more from Owen’s brother Reggie but it didn’t detract from the story for me. It was amazing how they both helped bolster each other as well and I found I just couldn’t put it down.
February 1, 2026
This was such a cute damn book!!! Fox and Owen were sooo adorable. Owen and his nerdy PhD self and Fox the music industry guru. I loved this a lot!!! You have gained a fan here. Such a great switch up.
September 24, 2021
Filthy and sweet .
October 12, 2021
4.75 Stars
Filthy Sweet by R. Cayden is a contemporary rom-com filled with loads of laughs, embarrassing happenings, and sugary sweet moments. It contains quite a few tropes but most notably best friends' brother and geek/bad boy. This story is high heat with a side of delicious filth.
Biologist Dr. Owen Lavigne moves to Seattle to work at a local Natural History Museum. While moving some things into his brother's apartment, he has an unfortunate incident. A dildo and some panties fall out of a box in front of his longtime crush and brother's best friend, Fox. After their embarrassing first encounter in many years, Owen can't seem to get Fox out of his head.
Fox always tried to outrun his past and escape feelings of worthlessness and built up walls to keep everyone out. He works in the music industry, representing some of the hottest bands. Some negative publicity forces him to clean up his image. Owen agrees to be his fake boyfriend. One particularly spicy evening, they attend a rather adult party, and their hook-up begins. They have off-the-chart chemistry.
After trying to tell Owen's brother, Reggie, about their hooking up, a real relationship forms. Reggie never got the letter Owen wrote, and it was a rather unfortunate answering of a phone call that got them called out.
Honestly, this book is packed full of storylines and plot development. It wasn't exactly my type of kink, but it was impressively written. I think most people would enjoy spending their weekend reading this. I recommend it to anyone who likes smexy men and a little kink in their books. It is worth spending a weekend with this one.
***Copy provided to Bayou Book Junkie for my reading pleasure. A review wasn’t a requirement. ***
Filthy Sweet by R. Cayden is a contemporary rom-com filled with loads of laughs, embarrassing happenings, and sugary sweet moments. It contains quite a few tropes but most notably best friends' brother and geek/bad boy. This story is high heat with a side of delicious filth.
Biologist Dr. Owen Lavigne moves to Seattle to work at a local Natural History Museum. While moving some things into his brother's apartment, he has an unfortunate incident. A dildo and some panties fall out of a box in front of his longtime crush and brother's best friend, Fox. After their embarrassing first encounter in many years, Owen can't seem to get Fox out of his head.
Fox always tried to outrun his past and escape feelings of worthlessness and built up walls to keep everyone out. He works in the music industry, representing some of the hottest bands. Some negative publicity forces him to clean up his image. Owen agrees to be his fake boyfriend. One particularly spicy evening, they attend a rather adult party, and their hook-up begins. They have off-the-chart chemistry.
After trying to tell Owen's brother, Reggie, about their hooking up, a real relationship forms. Reggie never got the letter Owen wrote, and it was a rather unfortunate answering of a phone call that got them called out.
Honestly, this book is packed full of storylines and plot development. It wasn't exactly my type of kink, but it was impressively written. I think most people would enjoy spending their weekend reading this. I recommend it to anyone who likes smexy men and a little kink in their books. It is worth spending a weekend with this one.
***Copy provided to Bayou Book Junkie for my reading pleasure. A review wasn’t a requirement. ***
October 4, 2021
Owen looked sweet, but I love that he has this really filthy side to him. It's almost innocently filthy, if that makes sense. He really just wants to find love with someone who is willing to accept all parts of him, no matter what. I really like Owen a lot.
I really related to Fox. Not that I have his background or anything, but there is just something about him that I can really just feel in me. I like how well he connects with Owen, and how well Owen accepts all parts of Fox and supports him.
I really related to Fox. Not that I have his background or anything, but there is just something about him that I can really just feel in me. I like how well he connects with Owen, and how well Owen accepts all parts of Fox and supports him.
March 11, 2022
This is so insanely cute, I feel like my teeth are going to squeak. And it’s nasty, and funny, and also a teensy bit crazy. Owen is his own cup of cake. I had never known such a character in a book before. Fox is very lovely, how he supports Owen, to find and accept himself and his sexuality.
June 4, 2023
Filthy Sweet (Love Unexpected Book 1
Fox Wilder has fought through all the hard knocks that life threw at him with the only supports he had left, Reggie and Owen Lavigne.
Reggie has been his best friend since they all lived in Ohio, then Fox had run away after some Incident in their town and ended up in LA. He’s ashamed of the life he lived there, of what he had to do so survive on the streets. But he learned to survive by learning from those he served in the music industry and now he has his own business and Bands that he has brought into the music scene in Seattle where he now lives and has been back in touch with Reggie Lavigne.
He drops by Reggie’s place to give him some concert tickets and comes face to face with little Owen Lavigne, only he isn’t so little now.
Owen has always had a big crush on Fox Wilder, seeing him standing there in the street made him so nervous he dropped the box of his belongings he was about to carry into his brother’s place.
Dying of embarrassment he tries to stuff everything back into the box, but it was too late, Fox saw everything, the lace panties, a range of colourful dildos, fluffy pink handcuffs. 🤭��😂.
This incident was the catalyst for the friendship that developed between Owen and Fox. Until it turned into so much more very quickly.
Both of them are worried what Big Brother Reggie will say if he finds out Fox is showing Owen everything he knows. Surprisingly, Owen has kinks of his own and between them ‘ Filthy Sweet’ has steam burning off the pages in every Chapter.
‘ Filthy Sweet’ was exactly what I needed to read today, it was funny and heartwarming without any angsty interfering third parties. Owen is such an adorable, kind, sunshiny person, just what Fox needs. He just needs to remove the bricks in the wall that Fox has put up to protect himself.
If you want to read something that won’t wreck you emotionally this might be just right for you.
Fox Wilder has fought through all the hard knocks that life threw at him with the only supports he had left, Reggie and Owen Lavigne.
Reggie has been his best friend since they all lived in Ohio, then Fox had run away after some Incident in their town and ended up in LA. He’s ashamed of the life he lived there, of what he had to do so survive on the streets. But he learned to survive by learning from those he served in the music industry and now he has his own business and Bands that he has brought into the music scene in Seattle where he now lives and has been back in touch with Reggie Lavigne.
He drops by Reggie’s place to give him some concert tickets and comes face to face with little Owen Lavigne, only he isn’t so little now.
Owen has always had a big crush on Fox Wilder, seeing him standing there in the street made him so nervous he dropped the box of his belongings he was about to carry into his brother’s place.
Dying of embarrassment he tries to stuff everything back into the box, but it was too late, Fox saw everything, the lace panties, a range of colourful dildos, fluffy pink handcuffs. 🤭��😂.
This incident was the catalyst for the friendship that developed between Owen and Fox. Until it turned into so much more very quickly.
Both of them are worried what Big Brother Reggie will say if he finds out Fox is showing Owen everything he knows. Surprisingly, Owen has kinks of his own and between them ‘ Filthy Sweet’ has steam burning off the pages in every Chapter.
‘ Filthy Sweet’ was exactly what I needed to read today, it was funny and heartwarming without any angsty interfering third parties. Owen is such an adorable, kind, sunshiny person, just what Fox needs. He just needs to remove the bricks in the wall that Fox has put up to protect himself.
If you want to read something that won’t wreck you emotionally this might be just right for you.
September 30, 2021
Fox and Owen have known each other for awhile. Fox is best friends with Owen’s brother.
Owen has had a crush on Fox forever. He doesn’t have the opportunity to act in it until he starts to hang out with Fox more.
This book was slightly angsty and very hot! Both characters has molten hot chemistry. I enjoyed their exploration of kink.
The story was believable. Fox needed someone like Owen and vice versa. They made a good balance.
September 30, 2021
Fox is a music exec. Own is a researcher for a museum. Fox is Reggie's best friend. Reggie is Owen's brother. It has all the making of a really good Brother's Best Friend book, but it just didn't end up that way. The writing was fine, the pacing was good, but I just had a hard time believing the relationship between the two. I saw the Filthy, but not so much the Sweet.
did-not-finish
December 9, 2021DNF @ 51%
I find Owen adorable. Fox, on the other hand, is so annoying. I didn't find him endearing at all. The dialogue made me cringe as well. I've been forcing myself to finish less than entertaining books but no more. So I called it quits at the halfway point. I'm also gonna skip the series as a whole.
I find Owen adorable. Fox, on the other hand, is so annoying. I didn't find him endearing at all. The dialogue made me cringe as well. I've been forcing myself to finish less than entertaining books but no more. So I called it quits at the halfway point. I'm also gonna skip the series as a whole.
September 13, 2025
I was told this was high heat, so I had expectations. I was annoyed at 30% when there had still been no sex. The men had been aroused, we had discussed the bad experience in bed 3 or 4 times, and one of the characters had a wank, but not even a kiss between them. Then suddenly they are at an orgy (oh gee, I didn’t know it was that kind of party) and they decide it’s the best time and place for a meaningful and emotionally charged first time. It would be possible if the author had set the characters up for that, but this came out of left field and felt cold. After that I began to skim and lost interest the further I read. Yeah, it gets pretty steamy. The steam feels completely disconnected from the emotional side of the relationship, though. The sex scenes felt performative, like the author added them for a a high steam rating, but had no idea how sex and romance are intertwined. Just didn’t work for me.
October 27, 2021
This book delivers on its title, that's for sure. Owen is sweet, but also filthy - whereas Fox seems like a typical filthy playboy - but he also has a marshmallow center. Add in the sweetest dude-bro himbo best friend/brother and its a great short smutty read.
June 3, 2023
Older brother’s hot friend and the once nerdy younger brother of friend trope. GOOD writing and characters, pulled me in enough to continue series and glad I did, next book is one of my faves (sweet obliviots).
May 9, 2022
2.5
I read the first book in this series and I loved it, but unfortunately this book fell short for me, it started very well but then the story just went nowhere, a lot of sweetness but nothing more.
I read the first book in this series and I loved it, but unfortunately this book fell short for me, it started very well but then the story just went nowhere, a lot of sweetness but nothing more.
September 24, 2021
Fox and Owen’s story definitely lives up to the title - it’s a little bit filthy and a little bit sweet. Filthy Sweet is an easy read; I blew through it quickly, but I didn’t feel like I was invested in their story as much as I could have been.
Owen is moving to Seattle to start a new job, ready to explore a new side of himself and finally be open about his sexuality. He’s so sweet, extremely intelligent and dedicated to his career, but he’s been so dedicated to getting to where he is today that he hasn’t had much fun. After an unfortunate picture hits Instagram, he finds himself getting really cozy with his brother’s best friend, Fox, who he’s had a crush on since childhood. Fox is a famous music executive who has been caught in more than one questionable situation. He’s running from his past and doing everything in his power to make sure it doesn’t catch up with him. While he puts up a tough exterior, he’s really a sweet guy underneath it all, but doesn’t feel like he deserves his happiness (at least not yet).
Owen and Fox start a fake relationship to help improve Fox’s image. But, somewhere along the way, it becomes more...more intimate, more complicated, more everything. Once they start to open up to each other, their relationship really starts to flourish and grow. But, I felt like there was something missing from their relationship...it was really sweet, a little filthy and maybe a little too easy? I’m not sure what was missing, but I wanted more from them.
I also wanted more between them and Reggie - he felt like a plot device more than a real character a lot of the time when he could have been a big part of the story. Overall this was a good read, but I just didn’t love it.
Owen is moving to Seattle to start a new job, ready to explore a new side of himself and finally be open about his sexuality. He’s so sweet, extremely intelligent and dedicated to his career, but he’s been so dedicated to getting to where he is today that he hasn’t had much fun. After an unfortunate picture hits Instagram, he finds himself getting really cozy with his brother’s best friend, Fox, who he’s had a crush on since childhood. Fox is a famous music executive who has been caught in more than one questionable situation. He’s running from his past and doing everything in his power to make sure it doesn’t catch up with him. While he puts up a tough exterior, he’s really a sweet guy underneath it all, but doesn’t feel like he deserves his happiness (at least not yet).
Owen and Fox start a fake relationship to help improve Fox’s image. But, somewhere along the way, it becomes more...more intimate, more complicated, more everything. Once they start to open up to each other, their relationship really starts to flourish and grow. But, I felt like there was something missing from their relationship...it was really sweet, a little filthy and maybe a little too easy? I’m not sure what was missing, but I wanted more from them.
I also wanted more between them and Reggie - he felt like a plot device more than a real character a lot of the time when he could have been a big part of the story. Overall this was a good read, but I just didn’t love it.
September 24, 2021
OH Yes.. this book lives up to it's title perfectly! We have Owen our shy geeky PHD graduate with very little experience, and we have our bad boy music executive Fox.. who happens to be Owen's brother's best friend! When Owen and Fox get to know each other again after quite a few years.. the Chemistry is undeniable! They dance around each other a bit at first, but once they hook up.. Steamy sparks fly! Owen brings out the hidden sweet side of Fox and Fox most definitely brings out the dirty side of Owen! They are both the perfect combination of both though really! I received an ARC of this book and I recommend for those who like a pretty angst free, super steamy .. and of course best friend's little brother romance!
September 27, 2022
I'll be honest– This book? It definitely wasn't the best. I liked the story and all. But there were certain parts that could have been written better. Such as the smut scenes. I'm not convinced that the author even knows anything about sex between two men. It doesn't seem accurate. Not very close compared to the mm books I've read before (and I've read a lot).
Displaying 1 - 30 of 177 reviews