The Marriage Offensive

by M.L. Chambers

A TENUOUS HOLD Cole Seeder is known only for his iron control. On the football field, he operates with cutting precision, guided by a cold heart and clear eyes. Off the field, he’s sinking. A dark secret and expanding void fray his famed control. His only hope for a name scribbled on a flimsy notecard. The woman who took more than just his name. A DESPERATE PROPOSAL Jo will never forget that day in the courthouse, holding hands with her devilishly handsome hero. With his favor, he revived her, and disappeared. But now, after all these years, Cole’s returned. Like a knight, he charges into her life, intent on rescuing her again. Jo thought she was through with being saved, but how can she resist him? As the heat between husband and wife rages, discoveries and admissions burn too hot. Could it be that the man she married is the one who truly needs salvation?

Genres: Sports, Sports Romance, Romance, Marriage Of Convenience, Football, Second Chance, Contemporary Romance

397 pages, Paperback

Published April 17, 2023

About the author

M L Chambers writes contemporary romance and fantasy romance with passionate heroes, stubborn heroines, and a heavy dose of steam, pining, and danger mixed in.

A try-anything-once aficionado, she loves to include both new and obscure experiences in her stories.

When she’s not consuming books, M is skiing (alpine and water) or cuddling up with her collie and cat.

Reviews

[Koryne · Rating 3 out of 5]

i could have gone without the constant mention of how he had sex with so many women he didn’t know the number while she only had sex with one and half in the three years they were separated.

like i understand they were JUST friends and never did anything sexual before she left but when she thinks he’s a virgin and then he says no he doesn’t even know how many women he has slept with because there are so many but he imagined they were all her so it’s okay and that he’s loved her since he first saw her…..yeah no thanks. i would have rather him be a virgin 😂 she even said “oh i didn’t know we could do that” meaning sleep with everything with two legs 😒

[Zahra · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was so excited for this when i saw it on tiktok, i loved the whole storyline of the marriage of convenience, but we just got thrown in to this random marriage with little to no backstory? cole and jo have known each other for 3 years, but we didn't really get a solid foundation for how everything happened. i think both characters were a little shallow, like cole just being like "oh i'm huge" the whole way through the book yet he's slept with basically everything that moves, and then jo deciding the first thing to say to her 'husband' after 3 years is just the fact that she isn't skinny? the whole relationship just didn't feel real to me. i also didn't like the writing style, it was in 3rd person which i don't particularly mind, but the switch between whether it was cole's mind or jo's mind wasn't always clear, which made it super confusing sometimes. like the first chapter, i thought he was in love w victoria, and then it was ava and THEN jo? i was just so confused lol

i think there is potential for this to be a good book, but it just wasn't for me.

[Andrea · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF @ 42% - which I never do but, honestly, I just had no idea what was going on.
It sort of reads like cliff notes.
I was "glad" to see the reviews where people didn't agree with the writing because at one point I thought I may be having a stroke (?) Like I knew all the words separately but all together I understood nothing.

[Emily · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5
I don’t know if it’s the couple of drinks circulating in me, but the continuity, flow, and pacing of this book was all over the place

[sydney · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF @ 26% (which is so rare for me). I tried to skip a few chapters to see if it would make me curious to finish it, but honestly not captivating at all.

Main characters are bland. The heroine after not seeing him for three YEARS, one of the first things she says is that she doesn’t like her body because she isn’t one of the “skinny” girls he must be used to. Like… Seriously? You married this man for papers and deserted him and this is what you think is important talking about?

The above paired with the repetition of “caliste” every few lines, the FMC just randomly talking in French during their chats (it is just said that she is speaking in French because that’s what she does when she is nervous) and the third pov that didn’t expand much on either of them, it was a massive fail.

I hope the writer tries again! I came because of Instagram reels and I waited for it to come out because I was so excited! It’s sad that it was so disappointing.

I don’t think I will be reading any other books in this series, unfortunately.

[Sariah Marth · Rating 1 out of 5]

Terrible plus spoilers

Why did I finish this? Idk. I'm a glutton for punishment. Sunk cost fallacy. I was bored. I wanted to see if it got better. I hated it so much I had to finish to be able to hate it properly. Pick any of the above, but probably reasons 2 and 5. Writing was awful. The only things I actually know about the MMC is that he's big, somehow so big that he cannot sit on a hotel bed without breaking it, which makes absolutely 0 sense seeing as most beds have weight limits of ~500lbs... this dude was NOT 500 lbs. The author tried to claim he had to sleep on the floor because the bedframe would "crumble" under his weight (seriously???), but 2 paragraphs later, he flopped onto the bed. That's just lazy writing.

Every scene was abrupt. Started abruptly, ended abruptly. And the DRAMA! Ugh, come on. The drama was basically : MMC - I like her but hate myself so I won't tell her I like her, and apparently I have no idea how to read body language and dont pay attention to people's attitudes and actions, thereby creating a ridiculous amount of drama, but am never held responsible... but don't worry, I do enough self-flaggelation to make up for it.
FMC - I've always liked him but also hate myself, and he acts like he wants to be with me pretty much all the time, so... he probably doesn't actually like me, even though he married me. Insert inappropriate manager, who, for some ungodly reason, gets to keep her job at the end, to FMC- he will never love you and you're gross and not tiny and pretty like me and he never wanted you anyway.
And that's it.

[Cait]

DNF’ed at not even 5%

I couldn’t even finish the first chapter.
Writing style is horrible. & it’s 3rd POV (which I did not mind at first - but ….??????)

[Zoë Feighery · Rating 2 out of 5]

There was so much potential with this plot but it was disappointing. There was something off about the writing for me. I think the writer took the rule "show don't tell" waaayyyy too far, to the point where I had no idea what was happening half the time. I was reading paragraphs over and over trying to figure out what was happening and was still left clueless half the time.

Another thing was the miscommunication in this book made me want to tear tear my hair out. Now I know the miscommunication trope is widely hated but I honestly don't mind it. But, my god, the way these two were talking was just stupid. Their answers were blatantly obtuse or just not a natural, normal thing to say. If people actually spoke like them, in real life, you would think they were having a stroke to be quite honest.

[Aisheline · Rating 2 out of 5]

Listen..... I don't know man. Most of the time, I was struggling with the writing style.

This was, again, another case of me seeing an instagram reel and being very much intrigued.

I feel like the plot would have been better if it started when the arranged marriage happened. It felt like the story started way before the book.

I won't be reading anything else in this series or by this author. Maybe in a few years after she practices more.

2 stars.

[Eli · Rating 2 out of 5]

It wasn’t horrible but a lot of it didn’t make sense and some things were just bad written and ngl the first chapter or so in his pov I still don’t know what the fuck happend so yeah.

Cute characters but meh

[Margaret · Rating 2 out of 5]

The dogs were the best part of this book

[Bianca]

The premise was so up my alley!! I just don’t really understand what the author was going for? The writing confuses me. I’m p sure this was supposed to be contemporary but the tone is giving sort of historical romance or smth 😂 Idk I don’t claim to be a literary expert but if you’d read it you probably understand what I’m saying lol.

[Kk · Rating 2 out of 5]

the writing style in this book is so bad I genuinely thought I had dyslexia

[Catarina Águas · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book yeah, but I was expecting something diferent at the same time. Cole was really sweet underneath all that gruff, he was a really good person, the way his parents treated him, no one deserves that. He was so big but tried to take as much as small space as he could. He was a gentle giant. But when he was unleashed, watch out (he was hot when he was in beast mode btw). Jo had been alone for sometime (just like Cole) and was just trying to make on her own. Them together was delicious, loved them. I just wished they communicated better with each other, there were lengths of room of things they both misunderstood or thought they knew about the other that could have been resolved in a simple conversation. I liked it how at the end they both went after each other, I liked to see that effort

[Charlize · Rating 3 out of 5]

it was cute as! i came from a scene(?) i saw on tiktok that i thought was cute and honestly i was pleasantly surprised, like why do i love ever character in this book?
there were a few things i didn’t like abt this book like the third person thing, the way she immediately talked badly about her body and the third act breakup but like i got over it. oh and her talking in french but it was written in english, like just write it in french and if you want the reader to understand just like have a translation in italics or something.
i also read the bonus chapter and felt like it would be a great prologue, typically i want the bonus chapters to be a look into the future and wish this had that, like expanding on the things mentioned in chapter thirty (not like the🌶️ stuff more like the dog shelter thing and their home being done) but we move.

[D. BookAngel · Rating 2 out of 5]

This author's writing is fucking confusing as fuck. I didn't know what she was talking about half the time. Also, this book could of been over within the first chapter if the characters just had a 5 minute conversation. If you love the miscommunication trope then this is the book for you. Oh, and how the mmc kept describing himself as if he was a titan or a giant was bizarre and he was only 6'5. I know he was insecure about his size but damn. I imagine big foot everything he said something about himself.

[Tesstic00l · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is one miscommunication after the other, making for the most drawn out plot ever made but also it made me feel things and care about dogs which is usually not my thing.

[hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

like 3.99⭐️

cute i enjoyed

[_zmac_ · Rating 1 out of 5]

1,75

[Violeta · Rating 3 out of 5]

loved the cute lil story. absolutely hated the pov

[victória]

Não vou dar nota pra não prejudicar as poucas avaliações. Mas não gostei.

[Malin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very explicit. Sultry. Påvirkes av andre mtp breakup.
Amerikansk fotball men lite om det. Døde foreldre. Begge sliter med egne traumer og det kommer ofte i veien for de.

[Leonie · Rating 2 out of 5]

2,5 stars

For my personal taste there was way too much miscommunication, drama and plot filler

[Shareen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute

[Elise Finlay · Rating 4 out of 5]

HOT sex, the sweetest most in love guy you will ever meet omg, beautiful love story

HOWEVER, that third act- can KISS MY FAT ASS! oh my gosh i hated it. besides that everything else was chef’s kiss 🤭💗

[Shannon · Rating 1 out of 5]

I’m so disappointed with this book… I’m not sure if I can pinpoint just one thing that was that was so off putting about it… From the incredibly confusing and convoluting storyline, to the horrible communication between the MCs (which, I get that in some stories that’s the point but this was really, really bad) there was absolutely no character growth on either end, an incredibly disappointing “confrontation” for Jo with Ava… I just, unfortunately, couldn’t wait to finish this book.

There were a few things I loved, like how Cole was utterly in love with Jo, how he lusted and loved her size, never made her feel bad about herself, and was a quiet foundation to her home. I love that Jo was so strong willed and brave, how she loves fiercely, but all of this was so lost in translation because neither character learned how to communicate their feelings or just talk to each other.

SPOILER: I loved the scene where they're discussing rings and Cole realizes that Jo is being labeled at the jewelry store so he brings in a private dealer. I loved, loved that for Jo!

[Ir · Rating 2 out of 5]

So I read the first book of the series even though it wasn't that good I thought the second will be better but what a disappointment.
SPOILER ALERT
Let me star with the H the author say is not gonna be OW drama but thats a lied the H slept around on those 3 years that he is apart of the h and not just that he has a agent who is a woman who brings drama to H and h ( and author say there was not OW drama so she lied)
And letter on the book H ask h with how many men she has been i mean the audacity of this man, he has been sleeping around with so many women and got jealous because she slept with one and a half but not just that he said that he always imagine her instead of the women he was with, and the audacity i mean the audacity to said he has always love her.
Like dude if you have been in love with her why were you sleeping around ??
And that's not the only bad thing, later when they are together H has a agent who is a woman that treat h like her enemy and this H said that he will fire her but never fire this psycho of agent and the H tell h that one time he was looking for someone to sleep with and this psycho of woman propose to him to sleep together but he decline the offer because he was thinking about the h
Like why the author said there is not OW when the book has OW drama she just lied about the book?
Something that really bother me is that the heroine for the first book treat the h of this book like trash and didn't even let her explain anything like the stupid H, instead of try to control her "friend" who is the the woman who work with the H and is trying to get in his pants, like bitchhhh do something???
And h accepted all of this because she "love" him and he saved her, in all this fuck up drama H didn't apologize properly after not trusting her.
I give 2 star because the h take care of disable dogs
The author could do better
I really hope the third book of this series do better

[Navss (read.yourbooks) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3⭐ in a good way

TBH, I've seen so many reels that when this got released i was READY to read it but then i read some Goodreads reviews here and just added it to my "to read" pile. Two days back I again started getting reels about this book, so may reels that I said 'fyck it, how bad can it be, right? I've read worse."

THIS WAS SO GOOD, the storyline was amazing, something i haven't read and God, the way both of them loved each other but didn't say so because of their insecurities made me want to cry and smack them both on the head to get some sense, both at the same time, yeah, many emotions. When Jo thought about her fears and insecurities, you bet i had tears and just wanted to hug her so bad!! Cole on the other hand had so many bad experiences that now he was afraid of what Jo would feel if he ever crosses the line.

Everything was pretty good but things could've been a lot better too. The storyline and theme in theory was great but the execution needed assistance.

If you feel like you can ignore a few things then give it a read, it's worth one read atleast.

*spoilers* ↓
.
.
.
.
.
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• This is written in third POV which is not an issue, but the flow of scenes was not smooth. As soon as I would get a hang of what's going on, something new would pop up which caused confusion.
• Cole didn't make it to the potential book boyfriends list because of one thing -- he didn't depend Jo infront of Ava ever. Yes, he had eyes only for Jo but Ava would make innuendos towards Jo's weight/size (twice) in his presence and he didn't shut her down. He took too long and still i don't know if Ava is fired or not.
• The beginning of the story felt like jumping into a mid-scene so that maybe needs to be taken care of.
• Sometimes if they could've just talked, some heartbreak could've been saved.

[Briah Chaisson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a funny and lighthearted second-chance/friends-to-lovers/marriage-of-convenience read, and if you are looking for a book where the characters have cute little romantic inner and outer monologues this is it.

I found this to be a second chance romance that I actually enjoyed and I think that is because there was nothing horrible that either person did to separate them. However, if you HATE lack of communication this may not be the book for you because in my opinion that is what kept and keeps them apart for some of the book. Of course there is a happy ending so they do work everything out, and it a story that I found to be funny and generally lighthearted throughout each characters struggles.

I think this is a great read but I did find myself a little lost/confused sometimes - this happend like 3-4 times but I quickly found my way. I did like the characters but I will say they each had their faults in my opnion - I often found Cole annoying and I am not sure why so maybe it was just a me thing and for Jo I just felt like she could have spoke up more for herself when it came to the management team in the end. However, they each had cute moments that anyone could gush over.



My favorite part of the whole book was the decaf realization after that first hit of caffeine…. It was just so funny watching Jo relish in her caffeine addiction and rage over the fact she didn't notice. If anyone has any book recs with funny moments like this please share!



rate: 3.75/5
spice rate: 2.5/5 (light-med on detail/kinks; public and car)

[Peta · Rating 5 out of 5]

I … I thought this was going to be a sweet little football story that would make me smile and keep me warm at night.
Was I wrong or was I WRONG?!
Yes, it’s sweet and yes, it’s sexy af but FUCK ME is it heavy and heady and thoughtful and gritty. I am forever changed, and not just cuz this is the first third person novel I’ve read in a long time. But because it’s beautiful.


Some hours later …
People are saying this is Winnipeg-lite (I’m paraphrasing). I couldn’t agree LESS. Football, marriage of convenience. That’s about it.
Aidan was stoic and measured. Focused. He didn’t love her until he knew her. Cole ADORED Jo. He was a broken down man, grown out of a broken down boy. His whole being burned for her, from the moment he met her. His every breathe was a blessing, because it meant he has another moment with her.
Did both FMCs have complex family histories? Sure. But Jo’s parents DIED. She was orphaned due to tragedy, as a child. Her complex feelings about the Before times and After times formed nuanced and damaged person she grew to be. V’s family were fucking awful and I hope they never have a days reprieve, that their socks are never fully dry and their chicken is always lightly undercooked.
These are not the same. They aren’t, and anyone who says that hasn’t really read both books (that’s mean, I don’t mean to be mean but I’m spitting mad about this unfair and untrue comparison as a way to finish this story).