Kristie J’s review of Marriage for One by Ella Maise
Contemporary Romance published by Amazon Digital Services 8 May 19
I love when a book grabs me right from the start like this one does. I know I’m in for a great read. This could be classed as a ‘Marriage of Convenience’ romance, except it isn’t, really. Jack, our hero, saw Rose at a party and became enamored of her. His world was a pretty dark and grim place and she was a bright and shining light. At first he was content to watch her from afar, but then when he realized the circumstances and the people in her life, well, it was no holds barred – he had to ‘save’ her and have her, even though she had no idea she needed saving.
Jack is a lawyer and partner at the law firm that Rose’s family uses. She isn’t close to her family, her parents died and she was raised by her aunt and uncle and cousins, all of whom treated her like she was an unwanted burden. But one uncle had left her property when he died, providing she was married. Well, her fiancé calls off the engagement and it looks like Rose will lose out on a lifelong dream of opening a coffee bar. But then Jack gets to her before the meeting with her uncle’s lawyer and offers her a strange proposition – if she marries him, he will give over complete control of her coffee bar for two years and he will let her have it rent free for the first six months. But he has to know immediately.
Against her better judgment, she agrees and marries a complete stranger. As I said, Jack lives in a dark world and is impatient, rude, and abrupt with everyone, including Rose. But she begins to see by his actions toward her that while he’s like that on the outside, on the inside she has glimpses of a completely different man.
I adore everything about this book. I love seeing Jack struggle with his growing feelings for Rose. She truly is a light. She’s friendly, kind to everyone, and a very hard worker. She doesn’t seem to let anything get her down. It’s so sweet the way she counts things and it isn’t long before she counts Jack’s smiles. She has a long wait for the first one.
The secondary characters are good too, from Jack’s driver to the guy at the front desk of Rose’s apartment to her employees. Even someone we thought is destined to be the villainess is likable after a while. It’s like anyone who enters Rose’s orbit becomes lighter somehow.
But, of course, there is conflict. Jack has been hiding some very important information from Rose, and as they begin to truly fall in love with each other, Jack worries more and more about what he’s not telling Rose. The reveal doesn’t come until near the end of the book and I felt myself reading faster and faster so I could see what it was. And I’m not going to tell. You’re going to have to read this book yourselves. And you really should read it ‘because it’s good. I’m going to keep my eyes open for more of this author.
Grade: A-
Summary:
Jack and I, we did everything backward. The day he lured me into his office-which was also the first day we met-he proposed. You’d think a guy who looked like him-a bit cold maybe, but still striking and very unattainable-would only ask the love of his life to marry him, right? You’d think he must be madly in love.
Nope. It was me he asked. A complete stranger who had never even heard of him. A stranger who had been dumped by her fiancé only weeks before. You’d think I’d laugh in his face, call him insane-and a few other names-then walk away as quickly as possible. Well…I did all those things except the walking away part.
It took him only minutes to talk me into a business deal…erm, I mean marriage, and only days for us to officially tie the knot. Happiest day of my life. Magical. Pop the champagne… Not. It was the worst day. Jack Hawthorne was nothing like what I’d imagined for myself.
I blamed him for my lapse in judgment. I blamed his eyes, the ocean blue eyes that looked straight into mine unapologetically, and that frown on his face I had no idea I would become so fascinated with in time.It wasn’t long after he said I was the biggest mistake of his life that things started to change. No, he still didn’t talk much, but anyone can string a few words together. His actions spoke the loudest to me. And day after day my heart started to get a mind of its own.
One second he was no one. The next he became everything.
One second he was unattainable. The next he seemed to be completely mine.
One second I thought we were in love. The next it was still nothing but a lie.After all, I was Rose and he was Jack. We were doomed from the very beginning with those names. Did you expect anything else?
Read an excerpt.
