Hired Bride

Beaufort Brides #1

by Noelle Adams

For years, Deanna's eccentric grandmother has been trying to marry her off to a rich man, and she's finally managed to do it. Deanna has spent her life trying to take care of those she loves, and a six-month marriage should be a simple enough way to keep their historic Savannah house from falling down around their heads.

Sexy, obnoxious Mitchell Graves needs a wife to finalize a business deal, and he snaps up Deanna as the most expedient option. Because she's quiet, he thinks she'll be easy enough to manage as a wife.

He couldn't be more wrong.

Genres: Romance, Contemporary Romance, Contemporary, Marriage Of Convenience, Fiction, Adult, Ebooks

Kindle Edition

First published June 12, 2015

About the author

Noelle handwrote her first romance novel in a spiral-bound notebook when she was twelve, and she hasn't stopped writing since. She has lived in eight different states and currently resides in Virginia, where she teaches English, reads any book she can get her hands on, and offers tribute to a very spoiled cocker spaniel.

She loves travel, art, history, and ice cream. After spending far too many years of her life in graduate school, she has decided to reorient her priorities and focus on writing contemporary romances.

Reviews

[Debbie Oxier · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved everything about this book. It was a quick read but had many of the elements I like in a good love story. It was a marriage of convenience plot, the hero was wealthy, good looking and could be charming when he wanted to be. When he fell in love it took him totally by surprise and he has no idea what to do about it. He turns to his sister, whom I really liked and hope she will have her own book. The heroine was feisty, especially when it came to her marriage with Mitchell. He thought he could manage her, was expecting a wallflower, more or less, and got something else entirely. I liked the way she stood up for herself and was quick to apologize when she was wrong. She was wary of their arrangement but was willing to go through with it for her family's benefit. Once they realize their feelings for one another, there's an extremely touching scene between them as he tries to convince her to stay. Don't want to give anything away so I would suggest you get it and read it for yourself. This was one of the author's best novellas to date.

[♥ WishfulMiss ♥ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Usually I can pick up a Noelle Adams book and it’s an easy comfort read for me. Hired Bride unfortunately didn’t work for me.

It’s about Deanna and Mitchell, two complete opposites who agree to a six month marriage. Mitchell will be able to close out a deal on a property he desperately wants and Deanna will get the funds to restore her family estate that is falling down around them.

I’m a sucker for love/hate romances and opposites attract but Mitchell was too much a jerk and Deanna’s enabling of her crazy grandmother wasn’t endearing or funny. Her grandmother is described as eccentric but I just found her brash and there was nothing cute with her embarrassingly one track mind to marry her granddaughters off to rich guys simply because she refuses to give up her decrepit home. It could just be me but she irritated me and I wished Deanna would have stood up to her more.

I also felt it was too rushed and not enough page time was given to support Mitchell’s sudden change of heart. He came off as really entrenched in his beliefs that marriage was useless . . .

Mitchell didn’t believe in marriage, and that wasn’t going to change. It was another of those stupid things people did because they thought they had to.

His really low opinion of Deanna . . . .

“The grandmother is definitely out of touch with reality, but that’s working in my favor. She’s deperate to marry Deanna off to a rich man, so she jumped at this chance. It’s going to work out well for both of us.”

“But what about poor Deanna? She actually wants to marry you?”

“I don’t think so, but she seems pretty spineless and will do whatever her grandmother wants.”

And apparently fidelity is open to interpretation.

“It wouldn’t be cheating if it’s agreed upon beforehand,” he said gently.

Memorable Moments:
That scene where he tries to get her to agree to a marriage in name only where he’ll still be able to get laid, (whether it’s with her or OW, it doesn’t matter) was the only time Deanna holds her ground. She refuses to have an open marriage, even if it is temporary. She gave a glimpse of the potential she had to be an awesome heroine, sadly I think this was the only time it happened.

Would I recommend?
It was fairly drama free but I found it a bit boring and the MCs not very likable but there might be some people out there that might enjoy this one more than me.

SAFETY INFO:
Ages :Deanna was 26 and Mitchell was 34. Neither are virgin.

Cheating :None.

OM/OW drama :None.

Separation :None.

Push/Pull : Yes but mild.

Main Pursuer of relationship : Mitchell.

Triggers :None.

HEA/HFN : Ends on a HEA, no epilogue.

[ɑƨħŵɑɡ ♥Team Magnus Damora FOREVER♥ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hired Bride is such a great romance novel. If you're into the hate-to-love then go for this.

Deanna and her sisters are orphans, they lost their parents at a young age and they're living with their grandmother. Her grandmother wants her to marry a rich man of her choice, and Deanna forced by her gratitude to not object. However, one day she meets Mitchell, a playboy and a business owner, and they took instant dislike to each other. Soon, he makes a mistake and he tries to get out off and still keep his business deal going by claimed he's engaged to Deanna. Deanna begrudgingly agrees if only to ruin her grandmother's idea of marrying the guy she wants her to marry.

Mitchell and Deanna soon resume their fake-married life and soon the boundaries between what they should and shouldn't do get blurred and emotions start to bleed in their mess of a relationship. Could Mitchell begin to appreciate this new life? and is Deanna going to handle his style of life?

The last thing I expected from this novel is to capture my heart and make me close to tears. I mean, the subtle shift in their relationship was all spot-on and very well written. What's more importantly is how the two talked and fought and were really like married people acted except it was all fake. And the points where they start to fall for each other is something so beautiful.

[Lynn]

Genre: Contemporary Romance
Standalone/series: companion series
Cliffhanger?: No
Cursing?: Yes
Descriptive Sex?: Yes
Descriptive Sex Between H/h With OW/OM?:No
Contains Cheating?: No
Overall Chemistry: builds
Overall Couple's Rootablity: builds
HEA/HFN/etc Ending: HEA
1st/2nd/3rd Person: 3rd
Character(s)POV Spoken: dual

Any Triggers/Warnings: No

Overall Rating: Good
Would You Read More Books By This Author: Yes
Safety Gang approved? Yes, though the guy has been through his share of women in the past since he starts the book as not believing in love or really relationships.

I started this book worried that I wouldn't be able to ever like Mitchell. Their relationship starts off with a big imbalance of power in more than one way and that is a pet peeve of mine. Luckily, I knew to trust Noelle Adams and hung with it. Thankfully the imbalance doesn't last too long. She also was able to get me to like Mitchell with Deanna by the end.

[Coco.V]

🎁 FREE on Amazon today (5/2/2023)! 🎁

[Bluestockings Read · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I found out thru a Reddit AMA that Noelle Adams actually has some dual-POV books,  I was like 🤯😍 and jumped right in with the Beaufort Brides series.

These books follow three sisters who were raised by their eccentric, genteel, meddling grandmother(✳) in Savannah, Georgia. All three books are short(~50k), light reads, with reasonable characters, medium burn, vanilla spice, no virgins, and Hallmark vibes.

This first book, Hired Bride, is good, but there's an amazing scene in the first half that blew. my. mind.

[Deanna] “I’m not the kind of person who can have sex casually. I just can’t. I never have. If I keep having sex with you, I’ll eventually want it to mean something, and that means I’ll end up getting hurt. I’m not going to do that to myself.”

It was all true, and she didn’t regret saying it even though it left her feeling naked and strangely young.

Mitchell didn’t say anything immediately. He stared at her, clearly processing the words. Several times, it looked like he would start responding, but he never did.

Finally he gave a little nod. “Understood.”

She narrowed her eyes. “You’re okay with that?”

“What am I supposed to say? That you should keep having sex with me, even if it will hurt you?”

She swallowed hard. “That would be pretty heartless.”

“I know. I’m not going to say it. Whatever you think, I’m not entirely heartless.”

She sighed. “I don’t think you’re heartless, Mitchell. I just think you’re different from me. I take certain things seriously—like marriage and sex and… and tradition. I know you don’t. That’s fine. You don’t have to. But I hope you understand that I do.”

“I do understand. If you want to have sex again, you’ll let me know.” His eyes smoldered briefly. “I guarantee that I’ll keep wanting to have sex with you.”

Self-awareness? Honest respectful communication?  What's up with that‽ This conversation alone would obliterate the plot in thousands of lesser books.

Oh, and neither was afraid to apologize like adults when needed. WTH? I mean, is this even still a romance novel?? Yeah, it is, because they still had misunderstandings. Also, no actual 3rd act breakup, but they emotionally distance for a few weeks. 🤷‍♀️

❁⊱܁܁܁܁܁܁܁܁܁܁܁܁܁܁܁܁܁܁܁܁܁܁܁܁܁܁܁܁܁܁܁܁܁܁܁܁܁܁܁܁܁܁܁܁܁܁܁܁܁܁܁܁܁܁܁܁܁܁܁܁܁܁܁܁܁܁܁܁܁܁܁܁܁܁܁܁܁܁܁܁܁܁܁܁܁܁܁܁܁܁܁܁܁܁⊰❁

✳ Sidebar: After reading this series, I finally figured out why meddling side characters annoy me so much. I'm not talking about the average pushy types - I'm warning about the dangers of Heavy Meddle.

If other characters are constantly pulling strings, it erodes the feeling of ✨destiny✨. I mean, we're supposed to believe the love interests are meant to be together, right? Not that they were tricked into it by a know-it-all.

Even worse, it messes with my immersion by reminding me that the author is the real puppet-master, and that all fiction is contrived. Um, no thanks, Man-behind-the-curtain! Keep that mess closed tight so I can get lost in the story, mkay?

TLDR Meddling Granny was not cute. It didn't help that she was smug AF about her machinations🙄. She's really a minor presence in this book but is intolerable in the last one.

╭──────────༻⊰❁⊱༺──────────╮

        Beaufort Brides series:
 ⊰❁ Hired Bride ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4.25)
 ⊰❁ Substitute Bride ⭐⭐⭐ (3.25)
 ⊰❁ Accidental Bride ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (3.75)

╰──────────༻⊰❁⊱༺──────────╯

[Jae · Rating 3 out of 5]

The heroine was too uptight for my taste and her constant disagreement (about everything) kinda spoilt the story for me.

[Leigh Kramer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I couldn’t put this down since it’s a Noelle Adams Marriage of Convenience romance. But I had a number of issues with it. First, the positives. This is part of an interconnected series so it was fun to see characters I’ve encountered elsewhere, especially Mitchell’s sister Brie. Deanna’s beadwork skills gave her a lot of depth. I loved how this gave her and Mitchell an entry point for deeper connection and eventual grand gesture fodder.

Deanna was a stronger and much more likable character than Mitchell. While I sorely wished she would have stood up to her toxic grandmother, I appreciated her relationship with her sisters and her commitment to them. But she is largely a pushover when it comes to her grandma. Not my favorite. Mitchell, however, was a smarmy jerk and I did not at all approve of his condescension or how he initially treated Deanna. He did somewhat improve but his inability to communicate was beyond frustrating. I get that he’s always done things the easy way but what did he think was going to happen when he repeatedly told her he wasn’t interested in marriage and this would only be a six month marriage??? Even when his sister called him out on not telling Deanna his feelings had changed, he still couldn’t say the words. This made no sense. I also didn’t like when she apologized for “teasing” him by making out but declining to have sex. That’s not teasing! You can change your mind about wanting to have sex any time you want. Plus, he deserved any blue balls he got because that initial seduction was much more about him not wanting to be celibate for six months than anything else.

While Deanna was better than Mitchell, she had a moment of profound immaturity. She’s not any better about communicating than he is, although at least she was upfront about not wanting to have casual sex because she was likely to develop feelings. Instead of giving him a chance to talk to her, she decides to provoke a reaction by causing him to have an allergy attack. She hides four of her grandmother’s taxidermied cats in the room where they watch TV, knowing he’s allergic. It was supposed to call back to the allergy attack he had at her grandma’s house when they didn’t know he was allergic to cats. But this isn’t a funny prank! It might not be as deadly as some allergic reactions but still. Why would you do that to someone you claim to love? It looked even worse in comparison to Mitchell’s surprise. He made a tapestry with her favorite beads. It was his way of showing he really loved her. Quite effective but after that cat prank, I wanted to pull him aside and ask him if he was sure.

This is an all cishet white world. And it’s set in Savannah, Georgia. One of Deanna’s ancestors was a Confederate soldier during the Civil War and her grandmother has curtains that survived the war and goodness knows how many other relics from that time period. The unchallenged Southern pride around their family’s history and adhering to tradition made me think they probably have a Confederate flag flying outside the house. Or else they have one on display somewhere in there. It’s very concerning that this was all presented as totally normal and Deanna never denounces the Confederacy or what it stood for when mentioning her ancestors.


Characters: Deanna is a 26 year old white receptionist and beadworker. Mitchell is a 34 year old white hotel owner and businessman. This is set in Savannah, GA.

Content notes: grandmother falls (off page) and breaks hip (recovers), toxic grandmother, cat allergy, allergy attack (brought on by FMC pranking him with taxidermied cats while knowing he’s allergic), past death of FMC’s parents at age 11 (car accident, raised by grandmother), taxidermied cats, ancestor was a Confederate soldier during the Civil War, MMC never knew father, casual ableism, condomless sex in epilogue, on page sex, alcohol, inebriation, sex worker stigma, gender essentialism, ableist language, mention of secondary character’s employer being a widower

[AKA · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the idea behind this one and the second half brought the rating up, lol. Mitchell and Deanna (once they began to act like adults) were cute together and I enjoyed some of their "getting to know you" conversations.

I tried to like this one more but Mitchell was such a smarmy, snobby jackass in the first half. Deanna was a push over (and her family's obsession with their history just made me think they were flying the stars and bars outside their dilapidated house). She grew something akin to a spine and he became more tolerable in the second half of the book but I couldn't shake my initial reaction.

I will be skipping book 2 ( the h is the nanny for the H who was engaged to someone else at the end of this book... it's called the Substitute Bride *gag*).

Safety Gang
H is in his early thirties and a commitment-phobe.
"Before he’d gotten married, he’d had sex fairly regularly. Whenever he got the itch, it was pretty easy to find some way to scratch it—usually a one-night stand since more serious relationships were too much hassle. But on a daily basis, the desire to have sex had never particularly troubled him."
He also thinks about the fact that he hadn't gone six months w/o sex since HS. He initially wants to be able to sleep with others. We get a few (non sexual) details about his ex from grad school.

h is mid twenties, has had sex with two previous BFs. Has been celibate for 4 years because she doesn't do sex without commitment.

Ow/ Om-One of her ex's has his own book and she and the H attend his wedding. There are no residual feelings and they are both happy for them.
The daughter of a business associate comes on to the H and he doesn't want her so he lies and says he is engaged to the h, that's how the MoC starts.

[QueenKatie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is how I felt about this book ---> Toast.

"What? Toast you say?!" Yes, toast. Toast is an okay food. It's bland but kind of feeling. You can live off of it, but you might die of boredom. It's better with jam or butter, but not gross plain. This "toast" feeling is how the book made me feel.

Yeah, I read it. I sort of liked it, but not really. I read it in a couple of hours but more to finish it than because I couldn't put it down. I will probably try another one in the series or the Damon series and then really see how I feel about this author.

[atomickitten · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars rounded up

That was very sweet and very Noelle Adams.
And I actually enjoyed this one.
The ending wasn't exactly my cup of tea, especially the lack of communication and the house full of old clothes and taxidermied cats gave me the heebie-jeebies.

But the romance was cute, the steam was good and I liked the characters.
So I'm rounding it up to 4 stars.
That's a very sweet, very relaxing and pretty short read.
Me likey.

[Jenn (The Book Refuge) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read for Content pull

[Ashley Lloyd · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay, I'm woman enough to admit I downloaded this book because I clicked purchase by accident and really didn't think I was going to like it. But Noelle Adams is pretty darn brilliant. The HEA was predictable in a way that was warmly comforting and reminded me that good things do happen in the world without being too cliche. It had enough plot and conflict to make me wonder if the HEA could be pulled off but it was - perfectly! It also ended in a way that gave an insight to the next book in a way that wasn't pushy or sales like but made me want to read it because it seemed like the natural progression for the series.

As an author, I can definitely appreciate the craft presented. As a reader, it was pure enjoyment. One of the things I hate in a book is a bad sex scene. Every scene in this book was realistic and truly romantic.

[Nefise · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked to read marriage of convenience or fake/arranged relationship books. If it developed well, it is always better than an instant-love/lust ones.
This one is not great but still, it was a good time.

[DJ Sakata · Rating 3 out of 5]

My Rating:

3.5

Favorite Quotes:

It was one of those strange moments that feel intense for no good reason.

I love you with everything I have in me to love – which is so much more than I ever knew before I met you.


My Review:

While the storyline was entertaining and had some amusing and steamy bits, I struggled with the plot throughout as basically, the heroine had allowed her ambitious relic of a grandmother to pimp her out. Grandmother had been actively seeking rich husbands for her granddaughters to fund their lifestyle and renovate their family manse, and willingly pawned off the eldest for a marriage of convenience. So the oddly eccentric grandmother is one thing, but doesn’t it make the granddaughter a gold digger to go along with it?

[Paula Phillips · Rating 3 out of 5]

Deanna's life has always been about looking after her sister's and her eccentric grandmother after her parents were killed in a car accident. As the eldest, she has acted as the responsible one and now she is getting worried as her family's estate is starting to look a bit worn out and in need of a fixer-upper. The thing is though that money is tight and they can't afford to do up something this big. Deanna's grandmother has made it her mission to marry Deanna off to a wealthy man. Though it seems that Deanna won't have any trouble in that department as at a gala she meets Mitchell Graves who is in need of a wife to help him as it looks like the vendors whom he wants to make a deal with are "family men". After a conversation, the pair agree to a fake marriage for six months where Deanna will get finances to help pay for the Beaufort House restorations and Mitchell will get the business he needs. The plan is that after the six months, they will get their marriage annulled and then go their separate ways but what happens of course when the lines get blurred and Mitchell doesn't want the marriage to end as he is falling in love with Deanna? Will Deanna feel the same way? Find out in Hired Bride by Noelle Adams. I have to admit I do like these fake marriage arrangements books as they are instalove's and I know they will end in HEAs but the part I hate is the whole game playing, it's like HELLO, tell the other person how you really feel. Never leave it too late as by then it could be.

[Bubu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Its was a nice average story(For me!!). There is Mister I dont do marriage and Miss i have to do this for my family. There is arranged marriage, there is a bit of miscommunication.. what's not to like.

This book is part of a series but it can be a standalone.
The first series is Heirs of Damon(about Damon brothers- In the Hired Bride it was mentioned Ben-her high school bf and Harrison(the lawyer)). The next series is Beaufort Brides(Deanna and her sisters) and Eden Manor series.

[Sarahcophagus · Rating 1 out of 5]

Eh didn’t really feel this one. The rude granny trope is one of my least favorite.

[Maree · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars rounded up. Just ok. Not as good as the Convenient Marriages series.

[Lara · Rating 4 out of 5]

So, this is one of these books where you already know the whole plot without reading as much as a sentence.. The title says it all, right?
But even though it does and you already know the ending and plot twists before you actually started reading, I did get surprised while reading this. By quite a lot of things, to be honest:

One thing that surprised me in quite a positive way, were the characters. I didn't expect them to be remarkable at all, but actually they are. And most of them were pretty interesting to read about. I mean, how many people do you know that love working with beads for example? Not many, I guess. And how many businessmen are there that decide to marry a woman they don't know at all just to convince a woman they need to make a businessdeal with that they won't have sex with her to get this deal sealed???
Yeah, I know this sounds a little strange at first. Maybe even more than a little. Especially, as a 26 year old woman (the female main character by the way) gets married off by her (extremely old fashioned and somewhat peculiar) grandmother to this rich businessman. Um, sounds like a lovely grandmother that forces her granddaughter into a six month long fake marriage - for the money. And nope, this is not a historical soap opera set in like the 17th century. Sounds veryyy strange and highly unlikely, right? Yep, that's what I thought, too. But now comes the really strange thing: I did not even mind, I didn't even feel like "WHY THE F*** DOESN'T SHE TELL HER GRANDMA TO GO TO HELL? AND LETS HER ACTUALLY DO ALL THAT?!"(well only at first). And that's because the author manages to do the only thing which can make such a situation bearable and even acceptable: she lets her characters talk about this strangeness. There is discussion, there is some sort of justification, a humorous approach, and the reader finally understands why maybe things like this could happen (at least in the world of NA).

And now, let's get to the really good part. Yes, you guessed it. The romance. Hmmmmm, basically this novel is just like ice cream. Really, really sweeeeet. Well and cute, cheesy, and just the right amount of frustrating. The of-course-I-need-to-hide-my-true-feelings-cause-the -other-doesn't-feel-that-way-so-I-should-pull-back-and-hurt-him kind of frustrating. Oh and of course the tragic ending isn't missing either. The one where one of the MCs dies in a car accident just before they could tell each other about their true feelings. Just kidding, this is NA and not Nicholas Sparks.
However, there is something remarkably untypical for NA: this novel actually isn't just about sex - which is definitely a good thing.
So yeah, a refreshingly different and yet typical NA romance that makes you feel like in pink & cheesy rainbow-bubble-wonderland. And I do enjoy that from time to time.

[Trish R. · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lot of readers don’t like this type of book, a story where the hero pays the heroine to marry him for a certain length time, for a certain amount of money, but I happen to be one of those who do like it. However, for only having 217 pages this was really, really angsty. Good grief, how many times did Deanna fall into bed with Mitchell then give him the cold shoulder because “it was a mistake.” And how many times did she let him hold her and kiss her then pull away again because she was afraid she might fall in love with him. It was a constant back-and-forth, to where it didn’t make a bit of sense to go on that long. Or one or the other would word something the wrong way and feelings would be hurt. If this had been a longer book I can promise you I would not have finished it. I mean, Deanna and Mitchell were together every day so the angst and hurt feelings were an everyday occurrence. It just became so annoying.

I did like Mitchell, Deanna, Grandmama, Kelly and Brie but this author likes to write angsty books so this is my one and only book I’ll read by this author. If you’re a reader that likes a lot of angst then this book is for you.

It was a good love story, if only Ms. Adams would have added something to it other than angst and misunderstandings.

There is lust and sex in this book, romantic sex not erotic, that was very well written. And there was a little swearing, NO F-bomb.

As to the narration: Love, love, love Angela Dawe. Her male and female voices are wonderful but what are even better are her awesome emotions. When Mitchell was trying to talk and trying to stop himself from sneezing at the same time it was just incredible. Laughing, crying, yelling, whispering, whatever was called for Ms. Dawe did. She’s one terrific narrator.

[Lori ◡̈ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it! Noelle has now made me a fan of contemporary romance stories. I love her characters, their flaw, their vulnerabilities and she does a great job at showing her characters fall in love.

[Jessica Alcazar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read as part of a duet ~ Marry Me: Wedding Season / Hired Bride by Samantha Chase & Noelle Adams

Hired Bride by Noelle Adams:

At first, I totally though this was gonna be the same old same old with this over done trope, but it wasn’t. It was refreshing and fun and just beautiful! It’s told in dual POV so you get a well rounded story. There’s no guessing or inferring this way. It’s my favorite way to read a book. I loved both Mitchell and Deanna. They were so relatable with their flaws. Nothing major or angsty, just the little things we non-fiction characters tend to have LOL It made them likable and I was rooting for them even more because of it.

As it always goes with these arranged relationships, the heart always gets in the way. Go figure, right?! lol But it wasn’t predictable or eye-rolling. The story unfolded beautifully and without a hitch. Well done!

[Fernanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

sweet and enjoyable story,

[Kanoko · Rating 4 out of 5]

Note: Review copy supplied by the author. Honest thoughts follow.

4.5 The Pride cats stars

I was an early reader for Stripping the Billionaire, which I loved, and one of the things I asked about, if not suspected, was the possibility of a spin-off series featuring Deanna and her imposing grandma. Noelle Adams confirmed it (she said not to tell anyone, but then again I had no one to tell), so I'd been basically going nuts over the Beaufort Brides series long before it was officially announced. I am so happy that the first book didn't let me down.

An Adams is a comfort read. There's something about how she tells a story in a relatively low-key way, free from over-the-top drama and artifice, that just fills me with satisfaction and puts a silly, contented smile on my face. Hired Bride is no different. It's simple, cute, sweet, and it embodies a lot of what makes contemporary romance my sub-genre of choice and the marriage-of-convenience trope one of my favourites.

One of the things I personally enjoy about Deanna and Mitchell is the difference in their ideals—Deanna values traditional values, while Mitchell is almost-lazy laidback—because it makes their interactions interesting and provides a natural tension to their relationship. There's a disparity of power between them, of course, but Deanna is no pushover. In fact, she uses her charm as a weapon against Mitchell after one unflattering overheard conversation. And despite the deceptive nature of their arrangement, they are honest with each other and have become, at the course of their marriage, both lovers and friends. I feel they could've communicated more their feelings, but I suppose it's SOP for characters to protect themselves from a world of hurt and rejection.

Hired Bride is a lovely start to a new series I'm excited to read more of. It's such a delight to read, with one of the most swoon-worthy grand romantic gestures a romance novel hero has ever done.

[Sumaira · Rating 4 out of 5]

As this books sounds from the synopsis to close a business deal Mitchell needs a wife to stop his potential business partner's daughter from coming on to him without letting her know he's not interested incase it affects the business deal adversely. What better way than to enter a fake marriage for 6 months? I know, but this book really is one of the better stories I read. The writing of this book is really well done, it is a short book but it doesn't feel rushed. Nor did I feel at any point that the characters lacked depth or that they were not full fledged characters. The romance developed over time, sure the lust and attraction was there but it was nice read the romance developing between these two different people.

I liked Mitchell as a character, you could see him evolve as the story progresses, he is character is the one that develops the most, he goes from being the 'typical' guy who does not believe in relationships to why relationships are important and what they provide. He's a nice guy to start with but he gets better as the book goes on. I will admit both Mitchell and Deanna are bull-headed they do the normal, lets not communicate and talk about what we feel and what matters as the other should know how I feel. I'm sorry to say but from my experience of reading this never works out lol, and I would be correct. They end up communicating to make it a lovely happy ending but you do go through the I want to shake some sense into the both of you phase in the middle of this book.

Deanna was a good character but I think she was a bit too up tight at points. I understood her point of view but I think at points she slightly grated on my nerves. I did love how she would do anything for her family, that was so sweet.

I enjoyed the epilogue of this book so much, for some reason it was so nice to read both Mitchell and Deanna relaxing and having fun. I will be buying the next book in the series too.

[Reina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ando en un tren de romance como nunca antes. Este fue uno de esos libros que están gratis en Amazon y le di la oportunidad ahora que estoy algo malita. La verdad no sabía qué esperar (porque usualmente los libros de Amazon gratis tienden a ser decepciones en este tipo de géneros), pero me ha gustado mucho. Con mínimas inconsistencias y una narrativa decente seguro les gusta. Tal vez, pues. ¿La única pega que tiene? Insta-love. Pero honestamente, se convierte en un fallo menor con todo lo que sucede al rededor de los protagonistas.
Quizás pudo resultar en un desastre completo, pero la autora sí supo cómo llevar la historia y el desarrollo de personajes para que resultara romántico (no creíble del todo, pero no podemos tenerlo todo en la vida).

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This wasn't quite as cute as I wanted it to be. I love a good fake-relationship story, but I thought this focused too much on them trying to fool themselves instead of other people. And it skipped over a lot of the getting-to-know-you parts and focused a lot more on the, ahem, intimate moments, which were kind of graphic. Still, though, it was an overall cute book.

[Irène Wadowski uliasz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Une lecture sympathique, rafraîchissante, idéale pour se changer les idées. L'émotion était au rendez-vous ainsi que quelques sourires. Une personne peut elle vraiment changer du tout au tout ?
ou comment un mariage de convenance sans sentiment profond (autre que le désir) entre deux personnes TRES différentes peut se transformer en quelque chose de passionnel .

[Paige Bookdragon · Rating 3 out of 5]

A total brain candy.