A data analyst and a bartender wake up married in Vegas and must fake being in love —until pretending turns into something real—in this marriage of convenience romance.
Benjamin Hale has his life perfectly under control—until he doesn’t. He’s built his life around spreadsheets and schedules. So when he’s under pressure to impress his boss at an upcoming wedding, he makes one tiny he lies. He says he has a wife. A wife that doesn’t exist.
So when he arrives in Vegas for the wedding, there’s one variable he didn’t account waking up hungover with a wedding ring on his finger—and a husband he barely knows.
Evan Hernandez is everything Benjamin isn’ spontaneous, charming, and perfectly chaotic. A bartender with zero interest in corporate life. So when Benjamin’s boss mistakes their accidental marriage for the real deal, the pressure’s on to play the part of a loving couple.
With a corporate spotlight on their every move—they must keep up the act of being madly in love, while ignoring the fact that it might not be an act at all. Benjamin and Evan must decide if what they’ve found is just a convenient drunken mistake… or the start of something real.
A heartfelt, slow-burn romance about self-discovery, letting go of control, and finding love where you least expect it.
I want to start by stating I'm not usually a romance reader, although I've read romance books, I'm usually leaning more on the big fantasy book (lord of the ring type), so I'm not exactly in my area of expertise. Also want to notify I'm not a native english speaker so if my review isn't very clear or well written, sorry, trying my best. And also, this is going to be my very genuine and not softened opinion.
I gave it 4 stars, and this is my try at giving it a more objective than subjective grade, with my personal tastes, I think it would have been a bit lower, like a 3 or 3,5, because there's a few things I'm sure someone who loves romance would have liked more than me but I wasn't a fan of (basically too much sweetness and cuteness) but that's not very valid critic since I'm very aware it's fully personal tastes.
So 4 stars for me basically means, this is a very enjoyable book with a lot of good points but who could be improved on a few aspects.
I want to start with all the positive, then I'll cover the more negative things.
Firstly the main characters have a nice, well defined personnality (especially Ben) and it makes them very lovable. I got very attached to them (especially Ben). Evan a bit less than Ben, but It's linked to the fact we are IN Ben's head and not Evan's. I enjoyed the way his anxiety was portrayed. It's a lot, but it's realistic, and I would rather like seeing the real impact of having an anxiety disorder than a character who's told to have one but we never see it.
The book rely quite a lot on the fact Ben is denying is own feelings and I found well done the way in his point of view, hiw own thoughts are not quite betraying him, but his reactions and behaviors is hinting his feelings. What I mean is, you don't see his thoughts explicitly like "Oh no I'm falling in love", it's more subtle, it's the way you see Evan making him relax or express a more genuine part of himself (often through annoyance lol), he doesn't until the very end explicitly form the thought in his head that he's in love.
I also liked how the ton of the book changes in a progressive way. You go from something very light-hearted and funny, to something more serious, to something a bit dramatic. Like you can feel the stakes getting higher in their relationship.
I liked that the boss
Another good point is the fact the dialogue are pretty witty and funny. A few sentences here and there made me cringe a tiny bit (it's a me problem), but overall the dialogues were really compelling and I actually laughed reading a few times which I find not easy to achieve in books.
Now the bad things, that I might developped a lot on, but did not overpowered the good points I said above.
The book lose itself a bit in rambling. There's a lot of moments, especially toward the end, where the character are making speeches and they sometimes felt a bit redondant or pointless. Like the messages are great, but the speeches were not concise at all, saying a lot of words for not a lot in meaning. Beautiful speeches are not a problem, the problem is, it made it lose some impact I found. Sometimes the rambling makes sense,
Second negative point, the book lack a bit of contexualisation in my opinion. What I mean by that is we don't feel enough the world existing outside of their story. The book is mostly made of dialogues and internal description of Ben's thoughts and emotions. We get too little description of what is happening around, what's the atmosphere of the place, how are they really interacting with it. Of course you get few sentences like Ben picking up an object, or going to a place, but that's so vague in my mind it was a bit like a movie with super well depiction of characters, floating around in unfinished 3D backgrounds. I don't mean we need descriptions of every single places, I agree too much description gets boring, but I think the book would have benefited from having a few moment more outside of Ben's head. Yeah basically we are a bit too "locked" in Ben's head I found. You might think, yeah but we ARE in Ben's head, that's the point. Yeah but the characters don't feel very "anchored" in their world, the internal point of view could be cheated a little bit and have moment where we get a bit of objectivity. I don't know if I'm being very good at conveying my point but well, anyway, that's my thought. Not a big flaw but something I noticed while reading.
Last issue : The pacing gets a bit repetitive in the middle of the book. The begining and ending were fine, but the middle of the book, where the "falling in love" happens had a moment where I felt like it was too much an alternation between Ben and Evan doing something that brings them closer, then they have an argument, they get closer, they have an argument, etc. It's not very strong you know, but I noticed the repetitiveness while reading.
That's about all I think. To be clear the book is very enjoyable and I had a great time. I think the author can still improve, but that's already a big achievement and I wouldn't be shocked to see this book by published by a big publishing house. It's qualitative and well made, you can really feel the care in it.
obviously I expected to like this and that's why I bought it. obviously. but I expected it to be a silly fun quick read, that would just be that, nothing groundbreaking or anything. that sounds more mean than I mean it, I promise. regardless, I was actually super invested and it was so much some than just a silly fun quick read. there was so much tension, pining, yearning... yet also a lot of deep stuff, like severe anxiety, coming to terms with the fact of not being straight at all after all, the pressure of other people's expectations on a person and what the effects of those being too heavy and burdensome can be... and all that in the slowest slow burn ever, so slow I called it a slug burn. and I just fucking LOVE it when I read a book by an independent author and its gas and I get to rave about it.
from the beginning I saw myself in Benjamin, in the way he was living his life the way he thought people expected him to live it. and suffering from severe anxiety, which made him cling to schedules and anything that gave him structure and made things predictable. that made him look boring and bossy in a way maybe, but I knew it was all a front, a mask, way before he made that clear himself. he frustrated me, so much, because I was rooting for him so badly, and he just kept self sabotaging. but I also knew I couldn't be too mad at him, because he reminded me too much of myself. (I did scream at my book a couple of times, cuz GOD he made some stupid decisions and said some stupid things. made me go absolutely insane.)
then... EVAN. my pookie. I loved Evan, so much. what a fucking gem. the way he was hurting inside because his past/childhood haunts him always, yet still always made sure to be there for Ben when he was struggling... he is too pure. and that also made my heart ache for him. from almost immediately, the moment he's introduced, I knew he was down bad. love at first sight type shit for him. yet those feelings weren't reciprocated. playing with fire from the start fr. the way that one scene genuinely made me feel like "and then I was shot 57 times.." I was in the trenches.
what I loved so much, besides the characters, is that it felt realistic. and not so much the setting, because how realistic is getting drunkenly married in Vegas and then moving in together for housing benefits that the company you work at offers married people? not very realistic, I would say. but. BUT, what díd feel very realistic was the progression of their relationship. and Ben's journey. he didn't just fall in love with his fake husband overnight, in an insta love type beat. and his anxiety didn't just disappear because he had someone by his side. Ben slowly started acknowledging small things, like how he thought Evan is kinda attractive, and how his smile was really nice, and how he got a warm fuzzy feeling inside when Evan entered the room. yet still insisted, in his mind, he was straight. so those things must've been normal thoughts, that you just have about your fake husband/roommate/friend. even when he realized he wanted to kiss Evan, he was still in his carefully built closet. and even when he admitted it to himself, he still wasn't ready to accept it. which I think is so real. loving someone doesn't just fix everything, it isn't a magical miracle solution. and in Ben's case, it indeed wasn't. and Evan knew that. even though it hurt him to accept that, he also knew he deserved better than that. I loved how they figured shit out and then made it work after. the same thing with Ben's anxiety. Evan didn't cure his anxiety, that's not how it works. but he did help, by holding his hand when he was freaking out, by asking him to talk about it and by holding him while trying to help him with breathing exercises when he was panicking. and i thought that especially those vulnerable moments they shared were some of the most beautiful and intimate things i've ever read.
was it a perfect book? no, especially the whole second act breakup wasn't my favourite part... because I think that's just so overdone in romance books. and it was frustrating because Ben was just such a fool. such a gigantic fool that it almost made me angry. but I also think it made sense for them. it wasn't about a problem or whatever that was invented just so that second act breakup could happen. it was about Ben not being able to accept he's gay and Evan knowing he deserves better than someone who can't love him properly. so yes, it made sense. and that needed to be said and done before they could ever properly be together. I still think it was written more stupid than it had to be, on Ben's side. cut damn, he really was goddamn stupid there.
Hello! I was one of the beta readers, and let me tell you there's so much to love about this book! The pacing is great, the characters are so full of life, and the story itself is very immersive! I do believe anyone who sees this should read it especially if you enjoy silly shenanigans and an enrapturing love story!
This was adorable and I will hold this book close to my heart. It was strong going. I very much like the idea, I think it could have been executed a bit better but it was still good.
Ben the anxiety ball is what I will call him. They panic attacks and the high anxiety when things don't go to plan is very much a real thing. I think that anxiety played a big part in the self discovery part since it was one of the main things about Ben. (wish he had a bit more personality to him then ball of anxiety) Evan being laid back was also really funny, he knew when he could be laid back and when he needed to lock in to help Ben with the anxiety.
but the again there could have been so much more then accidentally marriage. I wish there was more scenes of them just being them instead of description of what they did, late night talks in the bed (or on the couch), watching a god awful movie, or even going out and shopping. Thing like that could have shown what Ben may have been feeling, developing feelings while also trying to burry them down.
Ugh, I hate to feel this feelings but I also love this kind of representation, I realized later in life that I was attracted to girls too, and it took me a few years more to accept it. Ghosh, I read Ben’s speech and I saw myself too, cuz there was one possible option in my life plan until it wasn’t.
Gosh Evan, trying to smile even with the cards life throw his way, and his awful mom. Not following your dreams cuz you are just trying to survive, man, poor baby.
And even tho it all started with a lie, it ended on being love and true to yourself.
I loved this!! Seeing them grow from reluctantly married and promising to not fall in love together to actually falling in love and Ben going all the way to Spain just to get Evan back was sweet
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
3.75⭐️ I really enjoyed the first few chapters, but the middle had a few time jumps where I would have loved to read more about their lives together and see more of the tention of them falling in love. Their love story itself was really cute, I love the getting drunk and accidentally marrying each other in Vegas trope. The internalized homophobia (and also the homophobia of other people) was a bit painful to read, but I do understand that’s the reality some people have. Could have done without the third act break up but their happy ending was cute!
As a dark romance girlie, I was kinda surprised by how much I enjoyed this! I think the author has done a really good job at setting the different scenes in a way that made it easy as a reader to imagine yourself in the lives of the characters.
Nice quick read and I definitely will be recommending it to others! :)
Also the acknowledgements were just too damn cute <3
A super cute and classic Rom Com featuring Ben and Evan, who end up in a drunken, fake marriage to save face at the very "inclusive" company Ben works for. I adored both boys, they are so so sweet together as they learn to navigate this new relationship. One of my favourite things to read about is small moments, the little things rhat show you love is building and you get plenty of it here.
"He had a way of sneaking himself into every single part of my life, whether I liked it or not. And the worst part was, I was starting to genuinely like it. I liked having him around, no matter how irritating I found him."
I absolutely love this book. It is my first romcom I have dived into in a very long time but honestly it was amazing. I felt like I was gonna explode every time the characters did something cute or funny. But I also I felt all of the emotions I felt scared when something happened that I thought the characters couldn’t come back from but I also felt and excited when cute things happened the ending absolutely melted my heart. I won’t spoil anything but just now your heart is probably going to melt too.💕
I LOVED THIS BOOK, Evan and Ben's love story is chaotic and sweet and sometimes confusing but that's what made it good, I really like Evan as a character, I believe red, white and royal blue was one of the inspirations and I can really see the Alex Claremont Diaz in Evan, this was one of the easiest books to read, as the language wasn't long, draw out or difficult.
The playlist at the end of this book that goes with it is incredible but I added a few of my own songs as I made the playlist myself.
This book genuinely made me feel so much. It was so gut wrenching beautiful and funny. The romance was amazing, the internal conflicts were so well done. I had such a good time reading it.
The romance was written perfectly, the perfect mix between laid back, fluffy, entertaining and dramatic.
I really love how the different struggles and topics were handled (anxiety, religious guilt tripping, homophobia, being in the closet/ denial, performative diversity and more). Nothing was too overdramatic or undermined.
This is a four and half star from me. I was looking for something nice and lovely and I wasn't disappointed. The Story is enough cute. There is no forced spice parts just for "entertainment"because it wouldn't fit the Story. I don't mind spice just this Story didn't require any. I enjoyed it and there were funny and sad moments. Ben sometimes got on my nerves but that's what gave him his charm. I liked the ending and the won Battle really.
A very cute book, a bit silly at times, as fake dating (or marriage in this case!) often can be. But very real, and raw emotion from a character dealing with internalised homophobia - it paints a brilliant picture of what many queer kids deal with daily, often unconsiciously knowing who they are, but not wanting it to be true.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
I 100% recommend this book. I think it’s actually one of the fastest books I read because it was impossible to put down. Everything about this story was perfect and written beautifully. If you’re looking for an lgbtq+ romance story that takes you along an emotional rollercoaster, then you should definitely read this book!
4.5 Stars This was cute and silly for the most part. I really enjoyed it. Also I was expecting this to just be a light beach style read, which it was for the most part, but also you get a right dose of angst in it to.
There were a few spelling errors/wrong words in the book, so it could have done with one final round of review/editing.
this book was perfect, it was funny and sweet and emotional and sad the writing is great, the characters are everything (especially evan i loved him) loved the humor, the story felt real and refreshing recommend 100%
IT WAS SO GOOD in the beginning but then benjamin had ro ruin it all ( i loved his personality and how the author showed his anxiety so perfectly) but why did he have to do that😭 still glad for the happy ending
It's such a heartwarming, feel good book that's so hard to put down once you pick it up. It tackles difficult topics like religious and internal homophobia. Such a good read and I can't wait for this series to continue 😊
I loved this book. The storyline was good and the characters were well thought out. You can tell that the author put a lot of effort in. I highly recommend
I waited for it through the entire book.... Well... technically there was something, but it was very much closed door. Things were implied, whispers were exchanged, and then the curtain dropped in my face. Had I known that beforehand, I probably wouldn't have picked it up in the first place. A book like this without smut feels like drinking burnt coffee: technically still coffee, but the disappointment lingers on your tongue.
Now, the angst? Delicious. Absolutely delicious.
Benjamin's slow unraveling was done so well. Watching him fall apart piece by piece, and then rebuild himself into someone more honest and accepting of who he truly is, felt beautiful. The way he struggles with his sexual identity despite the signs being painfully obvious made my heart ache in the best way. It was sweet, frustrating, and very human.
I honestly felt so bad for his partner though, because that man had to survive Benjamin's entire gay panic journey and deserved some sort of emotional compensation package afterward.
I also loved the way panic attacks were described. As a psychologist, I can say they felt surprisingly close to reality. And Evan grounding him during those moments? Ugh. So good. Those scenes carried so much tenderness.
However... the therapist's support style wasn't really it for me. I know it's fiction and it doesn't need to be perfectly realistic, but it still pulled me out of the story a little. The same goes for the anxiety medication. Those definitely aren't candies you casually pop whenever the plot demands it.
And then came the love confession.
The confession itself had potential, but it honestly felt like the author suddenly forgot how to end conversations. The man kept talking and talking and talking... I was sitting there thinking: sir, please land the plane.
Recommended if you love closed-door romance and emotional angst.