I received a book in my RITA pile that I NEVER would have bought on my own. I actually kinda cringed when I first saw it, but I promised an open mind, and was determined to look at the quality of writing and storytelling. In the end, I LOVED it! The whole time I was reading it, I was like WOW!
I’ve never read any of the authors whose books I received and I had no plans to buy any of those books, but truly, I’ve enjoyed most of them and will buy more from those authors in the future. 
I’m so excited about that. I love to find new-to-me authors that are fun reads.
I was also selected to judge GH entries this year (NO idea how I ended up with both), and that’s been interesting. Most of the manuscripts show so much promise that it excites me to read them. I can see why some aren’t published, but I can also see how close the author is (IMHO) and how much effort they put into the writing. I haven’t finished them, but I do hope to find one that blows me away. My cp was a GH long historical finalist last year, and I have to say it’s just wrong that she’s not published yet. She’s soooo good.
I just experienced what you describe with the book - I too am selective on the book/author/type generally speaking but found a new author just this week that is one of the best I’ve read in a very long time! Talk about luck of the draw. (Your book hasn’t gotten here yet - so this is no comment on your writing:mrgreen:) It was a very fun experience! Cole