Shannon C’s review of The Best Friend Bargain (Kisses in the Sand, Book 3) by Robin Bielman
Contemporary romance published by Entangled Lovestruck on 08 Aug 16
Friends to lovers is one of my favorite romance tropes. I love when an author can convince me of the shared history between the characters, and I love the conflict the couple has to face in determining whether they should risk their friendship for love. I did not, however, love this book. Neither lead is likeable, and I have some very personal issues with the book that keep me from grading it more positively.
Olivia Lincoln has really put her feet in it this time. Having returned from several months in London, she comes home pregnant and single. But, see, she has a plan. She’ll just ask her BFF, Danny, to marry her, because he’ll do anything to protect her and always has. But before she can discuss it with him in private, she ends up blurting out that they’re already engaged to his landlady, and from there, wacky hijinks ensue. Soon, because she lets people steamroll right over her, she has Danny’s landlady planning her dream wedding, and her friendship with Danny begins to change its dynamics altogether. Will these two crazy kids find love, despite Danny’s big, debilitating secret, which is the only reason nobody’s snatched him up before now?
The premise of the book lost me. I do like a fake engagement story, but I need for there to be no reason beyond a heroine’s general doormat tendencies for the pretense to work in the first place. And Liv doesn’t have a good reason for not clarifying things. Not only that, but I find her whole, “Tee hee, I’m home and pregnant and of course my best friend will marry me because he’s protective that way” line of thinking to be incredibly manipulative.
Danny himself isn’t any better, so I suppose in the end they deserve each other. I love me a beta hero, but Danny, like Liv, crosses the line into total spinelessness. He’s far, far too willing to let Liv steamroll over him.
My other problem with the book is Danny’s secret, which I can’t talk about without spoiling, so stop now if you don’t want to know.
It turns out that Danny has a genetic condition that will leave him totally blind in another fifteen years, so he doesn’t want to get married or have kids because he’ll probably miss seeing all their milestones. I get that this is a legitimate worry, although nobody else in Danny’s life seems particularly concerned, but I’ve been blind all my life. It’s hurtful to escape into happy fun-time reading only to find a character lamenting that the worst thing that could happen to him is that he will have to deal with things I cope with on a daily basis. Granted, I’ve always been blind, and I can’t fathom what it would be like to know you were going to slowly lose a sense over time. Blindness isn’t the end of the world, though. I kept thinking that if Danny were a real person, I’d be wanting to slap him upside the head until he checked out some resources about dealing with blindness and perhaps met a few actual blind people. But no, instead he spends a great deal of time indulging in a bit of a pity party.
So yeah. This one didn’t work for me. It’s un-funny, the characters weren’t likable, and the author’s discussion of disability bordered on the offensive. The one thing I will say for it is that it moves along quickly, so at least the torment wasn’t endless. Still, I don’t recommend it,
Grade: D
Summary:
Olivia Lincoln has a plan guaranteed to get her life back on track. A plan that involves her best friend, Danny. And he’s on board, too…until she blurts
out that they’re engaged and expecting a baby, and the news spreads like wildfire.The problem? Danny doesn’t do marriage. Or family. And everyone knows it, including Olivia.
As irritated as he might be, protecting Olivia is what Danny does. But put best friends under one roof, add house rules begging to be broken, accidental
nakedness, and pancakes in bed, and what started as a marriage between friends threatens to turn into the real deal…which would ruin everything.Each book in the Kissed in the Sand series is a standalone, full-length story that can be enjoyed out of order.
Series Order:
Book #1 Keeping Mr. Right Now
Book #2 Blame it on the Kiss
Book #3 The Best Friend Bargain
Other books in this series:
