Mister Bridesmaid

by Ivy Oliver

I haven’t seen him in six years… now we’re married.

When my best friend asked me to serve as her Man of Honor, of course I said yes. A trip to Vegas for the week before her wedding and then on to the Florida Keys for the nuptials was an added bonus. The icing on the cake was her brother, Colt.

I didn’t expect anything to happen. He’s almost ten years older, aloof, mysterious, and devastatingly handsome. All the time I spent fantasizing about his powerful muscles, piercing eyes, hungry mouth, and grasping hands leave me tongue-tied and stammering every time I see him. I can’t hold a conversation with him without picturing my hands running down his taut stomach to that perfect muscular V to grab at his belt buckle.

Then one night the music was pulsing, the beat was pounding, and the next thing I know I’m in bed with my dream crush for a wild night of consequence-free pleasure… Almost. There’s just that little problem of a drunken ceremony at an all-night wedding chapel just off the Strip and what happens after we say “I do”…

Genres: M M Romance, Audiobook, Romance, Contemporary, LGBT, Contemporary Romance, Military Fiction

11 pages, Audiobook

First published May 1, 2018

Reviews

[~✡~Dαni(ela) ♥ ♂♂ love & semi-colons~✡~ · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book didn't work for me, and much of that has to do with the first-person present narrative style, which is hard to pull off and which I really dislike.

The relationship development is entirely MIA. The MCs get drunk married, then say they're going to get the marriage annulled (we don't actually see that happen though). In the last chapter, they get married for real this time, but we don't know them any better than we did before.

The story tried hard to be funny, if you like frat boy humor. I don't. I was bored and unimpressed.

This is my first book by this author, and my last.

[Gustaf · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is actually quite bad. Poor plot etc etc. However, I really liked it for some reason.

[Shin Mon Thway · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is really REALLY sweet! 😁 And hot! 🔥 I mean the limo scene was scorching hot. 🔥 But not so serious. I loved Julian, he’s resilient, playful, sarcastic and quite snarky. Every quality I love in a bratty twink. 😂 And Colt is the classic case of a super macho guy turning to jelly in the hands of a brat. And a GFY theme and the gay guy pining for the straight guy for years. Everything I like in a fluffy book.

However, Colton’s family is like super SUPER exhausting. 🙄 Entitled and really a bunch of self-important arseholes. And although Karen being Julian’s best friend, there were moments where I didn’t really feel like she’s acting like one. I’ll admit, my high rating for this book is mainly because of the narrators. Noah Michael Levine and Stephen Dexter both did a fantastic job narrating this book and it was a very pleasant listen. 👏💙 The ending was sappy but then again, I like sappy so it worked. 😁


4 Tying the knot for twice is even better than once stars
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️





Audio rating

Story - 3.5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Narration - 4 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Performance - 4.5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Overall - 4 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[Megan [At The Cottage] · Rating 3 out of 5]

MM Romance
Woke Up Married
3 Stars ⭐️

🎵Included for free with my Audible subscription
🎵Narrated by: Noah Michael Levine & Stephen Dexter🎵 First time listening to either of these narrators and I didn’t care much for NML because he made Colton sound odd but SD was incredibly good and what made me keep listening. Thankfully most of the book was in Julian’s POV because SD’s sex scenes were hot 🥵


Ok so, this book is trash but I couldn’t stop listening to it and I even cackled along with it. It’s going into my “guilty fucking pleasures” shelf and we won’t speak of this again. I blame Stephen Dexter’s gorgeous voice and it was only 5 hours so it went fast. Julian’s bff, Karen, is getting married and he’s an honorary bridesMAN but attends all the groomsmen things to keep an eye on the groom 🤷🏻‍♀️ I kept thinking the groom was going to be this evil villain but he was just blandly there. Karen’s brother, Colton, used to be Julian’s crush but they haven’t seen each other in 6 years. The night of the bachelor party happens and oops they got married after a really fuck hot sexathon. The rest of the book is all the drama and hijinks that happen during the bff’s destination wedding. It was OTT dramatic, ridiculous and god the dialogue was cringy. I felt sorry for the narrators having to say some of this stuff. I mean, there’s just no way they can say this stuff out loud the entire time without cracking up constantly and I’d love a bloopers reel. It’s very likely I’d have DNF’d this had I not listened to it…And yet I liked it? 🤷🏻‍♀️

Here’s some of it:

”His dick is an ICBM. An Intercockinental Butt-tastic Missile. A Weapon of Ass Destruction.” 💀

And This…

“I need time. This is new for me. I’ve never been with a…you, before. I thought I was, you know.”
“Straight,” I say. “But you’re not. Congratulations, you found your bi-card in my butt.” 💀

[Martin · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was one hell of a confusing story.

The main plot is: The bride's gay BFF Julian has always had the hots for her older brother Colton, ever since he was a teenager. Seeing him again at the wedding, he wants nothing more than to get down and dirty with the presumably straight hunk.

During the bachelor party, Julian and Colton get drunk, have sex and wake up with wedding bands on their hands and a marriage certificate under their bed sheets.

Yeah.

The first reaction is a weak 'let's annul the marriage', which never seems to be done.

Anyway.

The plot revolves around the sister's wedding and how Karen's and Colton's super rich parents treat them unfairly. Colton, who is a pretty interesting guy that I found myself actually finishing this rather bland story for, has some dark secrets of his own that prevent him from being a happy human being, but Julian quickly makes Colton smile and find the courage to stand up for his life.

Colton is a very interesting guy.

Sadly, the story featured hardly any character development. Julian fell completely flat. He was just.... there. And all side characters, except for Karen, are totally bland.

And the main key plot that draws readers in - their secret and embarrassing alcohol induced marriage - totally drowns in lots of blown up family drama and evil dad moments until you barely remember that there was something that needs to be dealt with.

In the end, it was a moot point, because the boys felt so drawn to each other, that being married was pretty okay for both of them.

Somehow this story didn't go anywhere at all and was more or less a waste of time.
I did enjoy Colton Steele (what a porn star name), though.

And some of the cheesy, cringeworthy, desperately-trying-to-be-funny moments were actually quite memorable:

He fucked the living hell our of me. I'm probably lucky to be alive. His dick is an ICBM. An Intercockinental Butt-tastic Missile. A Weapon of Ass Destruction.

I mean, what more can you ask for, right?

2 stars for muscled ex-Navy pilot and rich guy Colton, who (quote) "went through two boxes of condoms in Julian's butt"!

[Mateo · Rating 2 out of 5]

What can I said, the cover was tempting and the story not so much.

[Leaundra · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked it. This is my first time reading this author. One of my favorite tropes. I really liked them together.

[Dani (Daniiireads) · Rating 2 out of 5]

While this had some really funny moments, this just didn't work for me.

Julian gets plastered at a Vegas bachelor party with his best friend's older brother, Colton, who has he had a crush on for years but had zero interaction with. Things get a little wild (aka they bone and A LOT) and end up getting married while blackout drunk. Please keep in mind they are practically strangers.

Colton freaks out, because 1) he's been straight up until now and 2) is going to lose his inheritance if this gets out, and is very adamant about getting this annulled. Julian doesn't really seem to care and just wants to keep boning him, even if he has to be kept a secret.

Two days later, a day after Colton's sister (and Julian's bff) gets married, their secret is outed by a shitty jealous cousin who wants to stir up drama, and Colton has decided that he wants to make things work with Julian and not get an annulment. The book ends with them going back to Vegas several months later to get married, again, and live happily ever after.

Don't get me wrong, Mister Bridesmaid had it's moments... There was just zero relationship growth between Colton and Julian to make it believable that they would want to stay married. Their sexual chemistry was off the charts, but they didn't even really know each other outside of that.

[raccoon reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tropes:
Forced proximity
Secret marriage
Gay for you


Fun fact, I read so much that I don't always read the plot points before starting. I went into this one blind just knowing it seemed like something I might like and so I was *totally* blindsided when they woke up married. I'm so glad I didn't know that was coming because I remember Julian at the tables gambling, drunk off his ass and thinking this is really reaching a fever pitch. Like slow down, waaaay too fast y'all. Then they woke up married and I was like "OH! I see what was happening." I've never read one of those "oops we got married" romances before so it was funny and sweet and not what I expected at all.

The other main character, Colt, has some PTSD that he uses drinking to cope with and it was sweet how Julian supported him through everything. I'm also a sucker for bi-awakening or GFY tropes. Complaints? We never find out if they ever get the marriage annulled before getting married a second time. There were a few other plot holes that could have been fleshed out. But overall a sweet silly romance with spice.

[Ed Davis · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 and 1/2 stars. This is one of those light romances that just make me smile. There is very little angst and just enough problems to keep the story interesting. Julian and Colt certainly had insta love, but they were fun characters and I enjoyed their love story. I probably would have given this 4 stars, but I didn’t like giving a major character a drinking problem and never really addressing it.

[Julie Kristine · Rating 2 out of 5]

Free listen on Audible.

Don’t really like this one. Colton was angry, Julian was pushy, and I didn’t feel any chemistry between the characters. There was a funny scene between the two of them and Karen towards the end that made me laugh but aside from that I didn’t really enjoy this one.

[Hailee Flaherty · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
🌶️🌶️.5/5
Audiobook 🎧

- MM
- Best friends brother
- Childhood crush
- Drunken wedding in Vegas
- Forced proximity
- “I’v been curious before, but not this curious” (queer awakening)
- Hooking up in a limo
- Alley way hookup
- Dirty talk/name calling
- Untouched ✨

“Iv gone from hoping I can get through this night without vomiting on the groom, to hoping I can get through this night without groping the bride’s best friend.”

This book had me hooked from the beginning. I am a sucker for the trope of drunkenly getting married in Vegas.

The beginning half was perfect, but then I felt like the part taking place in Florida was rushed and things started to not be flushed out or make much sense… but I loved the first half so I kept trying to overlook the negative things.

I didn’t like how weirdly pushy Julien was for a while, like he must realize Colton needs some time to come to realization. And I didn’t like how they didn’t tell Karen about their suspicions about her fiancée’s behavior on the bachelor party.

I didn’t realize at first this book is like 7 years old. I think it really holds up well overall, sometimes you read a book and can tell the year it was written through context clues.

Overall, I loved this listen, and I would probably listen to the first half again. I wish the authors other books were out on audio.

[Cee Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

•*´¨)
¸.•´¸.•*´¨) ¸.•*¨)
(¸.•´ (¸.•`"My BFF's older brother...reason why I know I'm gay."

Laughter, teasing, crush galore fun. Throw in the "we actually got married and no one must know" trope and you get a story that is all about actually roping the one that got away even though he was never yours to begin with.

Even though Julian was gay and Colton straight, there was still the fact that Colton's sister was Julian's best friend and the one person he could not see himself hurting. But wild times in Las Vegas put a spin on "what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas..." when the men find themselves tied tighter than a noose.

Colton's sister Karen's marriage was not the only thing they had to negotiate. Colton's very physical attraction to Julian had him in a conundrum, one he took to like duck to water. He voiced: "I've been...curious before, but not this curious." This book had me laughing out loud and shaking my head at the sheer craziness of it all. There was real "ICBM". You have to read to get this one.

I voluntarily and honestly reviewed this book without bias or persuasion from the author.

[JD Crittendon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Man of Honor + Hot Groomsman = Love!

A sweet, cute with bit drama, and bits of angst in the Julian & Colton romantic story. This is a bit fairytale-ish, over the top wedding drama, but still sweet story. I liked the characters even though the ‘I-love-you’s’ seems too soon. I consider this a lite read...cute!

[Sherry Hassanali · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had mixed emotions with this book. The sex was hot as hell but the connection was lacking. I hated how desperate Julien was at times. I never felt the love between these two mcs. I think it would have been better if the plot was fleshed out more.

[M · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.75 stars

I honestly wasn’t expecting much when I started this but I ended up enjoying it a lot! I loved the humour and Colton and Julian’s chemistry was 🔥🔥🔥.

[leo · Rating 3 out of 5]

it has been a long time since i read a MM romance, and though this one was not the best, i enjoyed it!

[Francisca · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5*

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this story. It was fun with little drama and moved at a nice pace.

Julian has had a massive crush on his best friends brother for years and now he has to spend two weeks with him at a destination wedding.

Colton Steele ( half a star just for the porn star name lol) has feelings that he has kept buried for years but when he meets his little sisters best friend again all the walls start crumbling.

After a wild night in Vegas (anyone who has been knows this can happen easily )Colton wakes up in bed beside Julian that’s bad enough until they find the marriage papers from their drive thru wedding.

What follows is ups and downs with lots of ups quite literally lol. As there two complete opposites navigate their way through a new relationship family drama and keeping secrets.

It’s was a fun story and highly recommended. This author is definitely on my to read list for future releases.

I received an arc in exchange for an honest review.

[Kevin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, an excellent read from beginning to end. The author gets you into and interested in the story right from the start. The characters and story line are very entertaining and it is a great read. The plot is really believable, which says something for some of the stories I read. It reads like real life. I was happy to have been given an ARC to read and review. Give it a read, you'll be glad you did.

[John-Torleif Harris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun story and characters

This book had a fun cast of characters and the plot actually had me guessing at things throughout. I didn't find that there was too much in the way of character development for anyone other than Colton, and even that was minimal. But I had fun reading about Julian and Colton trying to hide their marriage during the course of Colton's sister's wedding.

[W · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun

Mister Bridesmaid is light hearted , fun and entertaining read. The overall theme of the book it's offbeat and the banter between characters snarky , with that said, it does has few deeper themes but they aren't fully developed. My first book by this author.

[Kendra T · Rating 4 out of 5]

Julian is spending 2 weeks with his best friend, Karen, celebrating her upcoming wedding. Her family is ridiculously rich, so they splurged for the family and wedding party to spend a week in Vegas before the wedding and then fly everyone to Key West for a week for the wedding and additional celebrations. Colton is Karen's older brother that Julian has had a crush on for years. Colton and Karen have had a bit of a strained relationship over the past few years, so Julian has not interacted with Colton at all. Finally, on the last night in Vegas and during the bachelor party, Julian and Colton have a very drunk hookup.

Once that ice is broken, Colton and Julian form a tentative friendship and relationship for the duration of the vacation. Colton is a little unsure initially because he has always considered himself straight, but he is able to finally acknowledge that he has had interest in guys in the past. Despite being 6 years older, we see a seemingly sure/confident Colton fall apart and come to terms with a lot of the struggles he has had. Julian is a great confidant for him, and he is a rock that Colton didn't know he needed. I loved watching Colton mature and come into his own, with Julian's help of course.

The only little thing that annoyed me was that Julian called Colton "Colt", but Colton repeatedly told him not to call him that. I don't know why he didn't like being called that – was it because he prefers Colton, or because he didn't feel a bond with Julian yet, or because there is some other negative connotation to it for him—but that is ignored and Julian calls him Colt regardless. I wish I could've either had an explanation or had Colton eventually say he was OK with the nickname. For someone who had strong feelings for Colton, I would think Julian would want to take his feelings into consideration.

Like I said, though, that was a little thing, and it did not detract from my overall enjoyment of the story. I have never read a book by Ivy Oliver, but it won't be my last. I really enjoyed this.

[Valerie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was excited to read this book based on the blurb and when I started reading, I enjoyed getting to know Julian and his crush on his best friend's brother, Colton. Julian is a tell-it-like-it-is kinda guy and keeps his feelings to himself because he believes that Colton is straight and that his best friend wouldn't like to know about his crush on her brother.

While I loved getting to know Colton and Julian and enjoyed reading their hot-as-sin sex scenes, there wasn't really a plot to this story. At each step in their journey through the week or so up to Karen's wedding, there isn't any depth to their relationship other than sex. When there is depth in the characters, it's a couple of pages. That was solved with Colton thinking about it for several hours, deciding that his entire life needs to change.

After you meet Julian, there is no character arc. You realize there could be so much more to Julian's story and his relationship with both his best friend, Karen and her brother and his lover, Colton. But Julian, although this is his story, is a supporting character to the two for much of the book. There is no realization he goes through and other than his support of Colton, there's really no emotional depth to his character. You find out a bit of his past, but it's written as an afterthought.

Another thing that bothered me was the side story of whether Karen should marry Alex. There are doubts about Alex being a good guy from everyone from Colton to Julian, but in the end, nothing came of it and Karen married a man she had doubts about all along. It seems a lot of the story didn't tie up loose ends, and even the final scene, felt incomplete.

I believe the story could have been much more than it turned out to be. It had a great concept, but the story ultimately fell flat for me.

[Shymsal · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice contemporary romance with some enjoyable heat.

The MCs: Julian was relatable and I liked him. It was cool that he enjoyed fantasizing about his lifelong crush but still knew exactly where the line between reality and fantasy lay. Colton was coming to terms with a lot of baggage and it hadn't been easy for him. I liked him as well until he suddenly dealt in one wild moment with any reservations he had about their growing relationship. To top it off it seemed to me he up and vanished as a separate character at the end of the story. I will admit, that caused me to drop 1 star off the rating. I really liked the two of them together, some humor, some heat, added up to something nice.

The secondary characters: Outside of a special few they were sketchily characterized. For example, Alex, the groom of the piece, was oddly nebbishy one moment, oddly suspicious in the next, then suddenly not such a bad guy after all. I'm still not sure what made Karen want to marry him. Karen and Colton's mother was little more than a cardboard cut out -- Did anyone notice if she had a name? (Then again I'm not sure their ass of a father had one either. I may have misplaced it due to disgust with his overall dickishness). Bethany was simply a plot device. That said some of the characters were gifted with unexpected depth: obnoxious frat boy Trevor saying what he did at the final confrontation was unexpected (if futile). I did like why Karen was really mad at her brother, too -- though, as a special side character, I'd liked her through the whole book.

I've read two of the books in this series and they were both worth the time I spent on them. Have to see if I can get my hands on the one I'm missing.

I was given an arc of this book by the author in exchange for an honest review.

[Jenn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book in a quick search for a short listen on Everand. I didn't have high expectations. I had never read this author before and just needed a quick "palate cleanser" between longer, more emotional books I'd been listening to. A wake up married in Vegas, bi-awakening book was just what I was looking for.

Imagine my surprise when I found that I couldn't stop listening and really enjoyed it. I found the story captivating and the characters, while not fleshed out to the degree they could have been in a longer book, were just enough that I got a good sense of their relationships and what motivated them.

Julian is the gay best friend of the bride. Colton is the ex-Marine brother of the bride. Of course Julian has had the hots for Colton his entire life. Of course Colton never paid Julian any attention as they were growing up. While I never really completely understood the animosity between Karen (the bride/sister) and Colton, other than they were pitted against each other as kids, it made for some good drama during the wedding festivities.

The "all in" scenes between Julian and Colton once Colton figured out he wasn't quite so straight were a bit cringe. I honestly think it would take a bit more time for a man to make the necessary adjustments and know exactly how to do the things he did, but what the heck. Let's throw out those thoughts to have some super hot sex scenes.

The whole "do we or don't we trust the groom" story never really got resolved, at least for me. Vegas, maybe. Business, no.

All in all I just put a lot aside for the pure enjoyment of a story that maybe had too many things going on, but still gave me some feels and that's all I wanted.

Narration was pretty good. B+ for both. I'll look for more from this author.

[Arsie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Okay, first of all, I freely admit that some of my reaction to this book is that the audiobook has a narrator (the one for Colton) that I thought was terrible--expressionless and harsh. But all that aside, this book is just silly. I managed to finish it where I have noped out of better written books--there's nothing so jarring that one can't continue listening, but it's silly at best. I'll put the rest of this behind spoiler text, though I'm not sure there will be spoilers, but just to be safe. First of all, the premise of the set-up, if you read the description blurb--that the two MCs wake up, married after getting drunk? Doesn't really enter into anything--there isn't anything that they do going forward that they couldn't have done if they'd just woken up having slept together. Which they don't remember past a certain point which is the closest I got to maybe skipping the rest because they were clearly too drunk to give consent--only the fact that they began before they were that drunk saved that bit. And did we ever get to the point that Colton could refer to himself, let alone Julian, as any word that translates to some variety of queer? Yes, his dad is a douchebag, but you can still use the words--they're not an insult if that's how the person identifies. And who, of the side characters, were we supposed to like in this book? Karen, Julian's best friend and Colton's sister? Maybe, but even she wasn't always kind to either MC. It's a thin list. There are some good scenes and talks, so I made it through it, but I can't recommend it.

[Amy Dufera - Amy's MM Romance Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great little love story.

It is a fun, light and quick read.

Julian has always had a crush on his best friend's brother. He certainly never expected to have something happen though. Colton is ten years older than Julian and is also very aloof. But then Julian is asked to be the Man of Honor at his friend's wedding and he runs into Colton again. As usual, Julian is intimidated and acts stupid and tongue tied when they are together.

Then they celebrate the stag night together in Vegas. And then wake up married.

Julian has no memory of the wedding. And Colton is freaked out because his dad will never accept him being with a guy.

From the very beginning, I loved Julian. He is just so adorable. The adventures of the stag night are fun despite the fact that they are initially awkward together. When they wake up married, the roller coaster of events that follow are romantic, sweet, mysterious and captivating.

In the end, they need to decide if they can be together despite the challenges involved. Their road will be thwarted by meddling parents, some backstabbing friends, and some jealous cousins.

If you like the best friend's sibling trope, you will surely enjoy this story. It has it all - the secrecy, the roadblocks and the romance. I highly recommend it.

[Wide Eyes, Big Ears! · Rating 5 out of 5]

Julian is in Vegas as the Man of Honour for the pre-wedding celebrations of his BFF, Karen. Julian can’t keep his eyes off Karen’s handsome older brother, Colton, a man he hasn’t seen for years. Colt has a lot of baggage and seems determined to drown himself in booze at every event. At the cringeworthy Bucks Night, Julian joins Colt in the heavy drinking and the two wake up with rings on their fingers, a marriage license, and the world’s biggest hangovers. Can they keep their mistake a secret while they support Karen over her wedding week? I absolutely enjoyed this, I liked Colt and Julian a lot - they had great physical chemistry and had each other’s backs. There were some juicy subplots, secrets, and soap opera drama and there was some humour here but I also felt a depth of sadness, especially involving Karen and Colt’s repellant, self-entitled dad and the way he treated everybody. Voice actors Stephen Dexter (as Julian) and Noah Michael Levine (as Colt) were both great on the audiobook (currently free on the Audible Plus catalogue)!

[Sarita Chapdelaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a quick, fun and entertaining story that I really enjoyed. Julian and Colton have a wild night in Vegas and wake up the next morning to discover that they got married even though neither of them can remember it. They still have another week of festivities for Colton's sister's wedding to get through and they need to come up with a plan to deal with their marriage. Colton has always considered himself to be straight but he falls for out and proud Julian. Unfortunately his homophobic father controls the money and he knows he will be disowned if their relationship is discovered. I love Julian as he is compassionate, caring and snarky. His willingness to give Colton time to come to terms with them being together is exactly what Colton needs. I wish the story was longer as it jumped forward abruptly at the end and I wanted more of their life after they return home. I look forward to reading more books by Ivy Oliver.
I was given an ARC to review by the author.