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Mail Call Mates #1
The Accidental Husband
Sebastian Hendrick is a fibber who owns prime real estate in the closet. He has told the unvarnished (partially fudged) truth on his matchmaking intake form for Mail Call Mates. He has clicked the “heterosexual” box (a wild fabrication). And he has requested a wife, please, as he has no interest in the masculine gender (liar, liar, pants on fire).
Bastian is thrilled when his phone erupts (almost literally) with notifications to announce his match has been made. His future spouse’s name? Jackson Roy Sadler. Masculine Army Sergeant riding a transport home from Mars after a long, off-world deployment.
The artificial intelligence at the center of the matchmaking service has not bought Bastian’s attempts to hide his true desires. Further, Jackson’s smile captures Sebastian’s heart before Bastian can register a complaint. Promising to love Jackson until death does them part forces Bastian to embrace parts of himself he thought he buried, confront his secrets, and relearn what he believes he knows about family.
*This book includes a marriage arranged by AI, a man's first relationship with another man, a stoic military husband, a geeky guy who just came out of the closet, and some highly steamy education about life outside that closet. It has a full-fledged happily ever after!*
Bastian is thrilled when his phone erupts (almost literally) with notifications to announce his match has been made. His future spouse’s name? Jackson Roy Sadler. Masculine Army Sergeant riding a transport home from Mars after a long, off-world deployment.
The artificial intelligence at the center of the matchmaking service has not bought Bastian’s attempts to hide his true desires. Further, Jackson’s smile captures Sebastian’s heart before Bastian can register a complaint. Promising to love Jackson until death does them part forces Bastian to embrace parts of himself he thought he buried, confront his secrets, and relearn what he believes he knows about family.
*This book includes a marriage arranged by AI, a man's first relationship with another man, a stoic military husband, a geeky guy who just came out of the closet, and some highly steamy education about life outside that closet. It has a full-fledged happily ever after!*
376 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 19, 2022
About the author
Cassandra Moore
18 books33 followersCassandra Moore is a desert rat who thinks closed shoes are instruments of pure evil. She lives in the shadow of the Front Range with a bald husband, a hairy dog, and a daughter. All dwell in the house at the sufferance of the cat, who rightly believes herself the sovereign leader of the home.
When Cassandra isn’t slinging words, she’s knitting, playing video games, and reading. (Sometimes at the same time.) All are best done while enjoying a sunny day on the back porch.
When Cassandra isn’t slinging words, she’s knitting, playing video games, and reading. (Sometimes at the same time.) All are best done while enjoying a sunny day on the back porch.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 216 reviews
April 17, 2024
4.5***** stars
This book has been sitting on my tbr for quite a while, got kicked off even once upon a time and added again a while later, looking for the right mood to finally pick it up. Phew, I’m really glad I made that choice. This was goooood!
With this notion the book starts with Sebastian and his single first-person POV. It starts with his story how he signed up for Mail Call Mates to find a wife and ended up with an accidental husband because the AI decided to look past his bullshit and choose a match he really wants.
I loooved, when Sebastian addressed the reader directly (chatty first-person narrator, the author called it). I had quite a few good laughs and I loved how he explained everything that was going on in a light and funny way.
fun fact: whenever the author couldn’t or didn’t want to explain the finer details of space, space ships or whatever, she (Sebastian, yk because of 1st person POV) claimed confidentiality of the information. *lol
And excited I was too. A US Army Sergeant fighting on mars and a history teacher on earth with secrets yet to uncover.
And because M4-KR (that’s the AI) makes perfect matches the romance between Sebastian and Jackson moves fast. Because they were, indeed, perfectly matched. They work on their issues left from past experiences and fall in love.
All is fine… until it isn’t anymore. And believe me when I say that the super dumb and fabricated incident that lead to a marriage crisis you could see coming from a mile away had me rolling my eyes hard!! BUT, before I could question the author’s decisions here and rein in my plummeting excitement the super dumb breakup lead to a super thrilling last part that had me on the edge of my seat and cost me precious hours of sleep last night.
Said last part definitely made up for the hard eye-rolling and brought back my excitement for the events and the love story.
The only thing that, in the end, really disappointed me was the whole ordeal with Jackson’s brother. Imo that loose end was not tied up at all in the end. The why to his actions was not answered in the least. But, I really do hope that there is more coming in this series soon that maybe answers the questions I have left after finishing this book.
And even if not, I can’t wait for more.
****************
Mail Call Mates Series
Book 1 - The Accidental Husband - 4.5 stars
Book 2 - The Accidental Lover - pending (hoping for 2025)
This book has been sitting on my tbr for quite a while, got kicked off even once upon a time and added again a while later, looking for the right mood to finally pick it up. Phew, I’m really glad I made that choice. This was goooood!
I couldn’t fight on Mars as I’d once hoped I could, but I could give comfort and love to someone who did.
With this notion the book starts with Sebastian and his single first-person POV. It starts with his story how he signed up for Mail Call Mates to find a wife and ended up with an accidental husband because the AI decided to look past his bullshit and choose a match he really wants.
I loooved, when Sebastian addressed the reader directly (chatty first-person narrator, the author called it). I had quite a few good laughs and I loved how he explained everything that was going on in a light and funny way.
fun fact: whenever the author couldn’t or didn’t want to explain the finer details of space, space ships or whatever, she (Sebastian, yk because of 1st person POV) claimed confidentiality of the information. *lol
“MATCH: SADLER, JACKSON ROY | HENDRICK (NÉ VAN HORN), SEBASTIAN GALEN !!!*”
“Why are there exclamation points after our names? And an asterisk?” I asked. “The exclamation marks denote what M4 considers an ‘essential match’, or one with tremendous weight and importance, in its opinion,” she said. […]
“Believe it or not, the asterisk says M4-KR is excited about your union.”
And excited I was too. A US Army Sergeant fighting on mars and a history teacher on earth with secrets yet to uncover.
And because M4-KR (that’s the AI) makes perfect matches the romance between Sebastian and Jackson moves fast. Because they were, indeed, perfectly matched. They work on their issues left from past experiences and fall in love.
All is fine… until it isn’t anymore. And believe me when I say that the super dumb and fabricated incident that lead to a marriage crisis you could see coming from a mile away had me rolling my eyes hard!! BUT, before I could question the author’s decisions here and rein in my plummeting excitement the super dumb breakup lead to a super thrilling last part that had me on the edge of my seat and cost me precious hours of sleep last night.
Mars will try to kill you every chance it gets. I’d come ready to put up my dukes and go a round with the solar system’s most pugnacious dustball. Bring it, Red Planet.
Said last part definitely made up for the hard eye-rolling and brought back my excitement for the events and the love story.
The only thing that, in the end, really disappointed me was the whole ordeal with Jackson’s brother. Imo that loose end was not tied up at all in the end. The why to his actions was not answered in the least. But, I really do hope that there is more coming in this series soon that maybe answers the questions I have left after finishing this book.
And even if not, I can’t wait for more.
****************
Mail Call Mates Series
Book 1 - The Accidental Husband - 4.5 stars
Book 2 - The Accidental Lover - pending (hoping for 2025)
September 24, 2022
I had no idea this was a sci-fi book but what an absolutely wonderful surprise I had with it. New to me author and damn,she can write. However, is it ironic to give a book 4 (almost 5) stars when I absolutely hated one of the Mcs??? So much that he’s going on my “MCs I hate” shelf? He was completely despicable and he was entirely too easily forgiven. Oh, but the other Mc, Bastian, HE is another story. Actually he’s one of the most amazing MCs I’ve ever encountered (thank God we have only his voice throughout the book) and the 4 stars are entirely for him and for the writing. This book is very good with wonderful and really interesting world building and it has depth and even though most of the sci-fi things flew over my head (not a fan of sci-fi books) Bastian was such a joy to the soul. He was kind and heroic and patient and just..good . He really deserved better. I need to explain why this isn’t a 5 stars though and the reason is that the conflict was very OTT and not realistic. Laramie’s hate towards Bastian had no foundation or reason and it was way over-exaggerated. Also, the whole orchestration of the fake kiss was so soap opera-ish that I rolled my eyes hard reading it. And I don’t think I liked any other characters in this book (maybe a little Bastian’s brother towards the end, but only a little and Jackson’s soldiers) and boy, I hated Jackson and Laramie with passion. Jackson’s family was detestable also, just like their sons and they all made Bastian jump through hoops to satisfy their mistrust and reluctance. Jackson was impossible to like, always taking Bastian’s vulnerabilities (shared in confidence) and his deepest pains and throwing them in his face every time they had a fight , kicking him below the metaphorical belt over and over again. He was arrogant, cold,bitchy and paranoid all the freaking time and I couldn’t for the life of me empathize with him. Maybe if we had his POV too..But I honestly doubt it would have changed my feelings towards him..His single good point was that their sex scenes were hawt!!!!! 🔥 (and even there he was kind of a cold bastard lol)
It’s really funny that I say this book is almost 5 stars worth when I disliked most of its characters but it’s true..Regardless of my personal biased opinion this book is really well done , with a good prose and subtle and fine self deprecating humor. I will look for this author in the future..
PD. That cover is tacky and doesn’t do this book justice;like ..AT ALL.
PD2. The book has small “traces” of MF pattern but I noticed this is the author’s first MM book and I enjoyed it so much that I decided to let it slide .
It’s really funny that I say this book is almost 5 stars worth when I disliked most of its characters but it’s true..Regardless of my personal biased opinion this book is really well done , with a good prose and subtle and fine self deprecating humor. I will look for this author in the future..
PD. That cover is tacky and doesn’t do this book justice;like ..AT ALL.
PD2. The book has small “traces” of MF pattern but I noticed this is the author’s first MM book and I enjoyed it so much that I decided to let it slide .
January 18, 2024
4.25 stars. 5 stars if not for that entirely unnecessary drama at around 70%.
Mostly, I loved it. It’s such an interesting premise: Sebastian, who’s a history teacher, signs up for a “Mating” programme. Not what you think: no sexy, muscular aliens who have a thing for nerdy human men. It’s for the (very human) military personnel stationed on Mars, who are looking for a partner in Earth.
Do not talk shit about the machine hooking you up when you’re standing right in front of it. Trying to survive the robot apocalypse here.
The problem is: Sebastian has signed up for a wife, but the almighty AI decided that his perfect match is a man. Jackson, said man, is gay, and less than thrilled when he’s informed that his assigned mate had originally asked for a woman - even if Sebastian is, in fact, a closeted bisexual man.
As I said, there are many things I loved about this book: the (relatively realistic) world building, including climate change, and colonising the Moon, and Mars. The dangers on Mars, and the fights with the Russians (and other nations). The medicinal developments, like the fact that 2 men can, in fact, have children with both their genes. Why same sex couples are more accepted than nowadays, even though we still have homophobes.
War is cool. Killing people millions of miles from home is fine. Penis does not touch penis or the world ends.
And above all, I loved Sebastian, whose POV we get throughout the book, and the way he sometimes addresses the reader directly. Jackson on the other hand… Uh. I wanted to shake him at times. Yes I know, he had his reasons to behave like he did, but seeing it through Sebastian’s eyes didn’t make it better. And really--- having an ex who cheated isn't the end of the world, no reason to have an emotional trauma and lash out like he did.
And the drama 🙄🙄🙄 I agree with Kati, you could see it coming from a mile. Unnecessary if you ask me. But the (very good) ending made it up for me - not quite to give it 5 stars, but almost.
Mostly, I loved it. It’s such an interesting premise: Sebastian, who’s a history teacher, signs up for a “Mating” programme. Not what you think: no sexy, muscular aliens who have a thing for nerdy human men. It’s for the (very human) military personnel stationed on Mars, who are looking for a partner in Earth.
Do not talk shit about the machine hooking you up when you’re standing right in front of it. Trying to survive the robot apocalypse here.
The problem is: Sebastian has signed up for a wife, but the almighty AI decided that his perfect match is a man. Jackson, said man, is gay, and less than thrilled when he’s informed that his assigned mate had originally asked for a woman - even if Sebastian is, in fact, a closeted bisexual man.
As I said, there are many things I loved about this book: the (relatively realistic) world building, including climate change, and colonising the Moon, and Mars. The dangers on Mars, and the fights with the Russians (and other nations). The medicinal developments, like the fact that 2 men can, in fact, have children with both their genes. Why same sex couples are more accepted than nowadays, even though we still have homophobes.
War is cool. Killing people millions of miles from home is fine. Penis does not touch penis or the world ends.
And above all, I loved Sebastian, whose POV we get throughout the book, and the way he sometimes addresses the reader directly. Jackson on the other hand… Uh. I wanted to shake him at times. Yes I know, he had his reasons to behave like he did, but seeing it through Sebastian’s eyes didn’t make it better. And really--- having an ex who cheated isn't the end of the world, no reason to have an emotional trauma and lash out like he did.
And the drama 🙄🙄🙄 I agree with Kati, you could see it coming from a mile. Unnecessary if you ask me. But the (very good) ending made it up for me - not quite to give it 5 stars, but almost.
March 4, 2023
I’m numb reading this. This book had no point being so long.
Not much depth on the sci-fi, mostly confusion and messy. That doesn’t mean we get more romance either. MCs had no personality other than grumpy and assholes. If Sebastian wasn’t loud as his monologues, I wouldn’t know their differences. Both of them had zero connection. With all the arranged marriage and wanting to “try” stuffs, they had nothing. No emotional connection at all. I can’t see it. Nothing hot about the sex, only had awkward positions, forced dirty talks and all of them bore me to death. Their love declaration did nothing to me. They had “angsty” fight but because they are who they are, I was simply annoyed by it. I cringed so bad. When Jackson was hurt on Mars, I was happy for it. Is this how we supposed to feel about our MCs?
They don’t deserve each other.
This was no angst, but straight up annoying. everyone in this book is so fucking problematic and toxic. 1) Toxic family who thinks if you don’t serve in the military you are THE JOKE and judge your life for it, 2) Judgemental firemen friends, 3) More judgemental friends who thinks their marriage is a joke and brought up Sebastian ex for no reason. 4) Insecure husband that blames you for “contacting” with your ex and didn’t want to listen to you. 5) Toxic and insecure brother in law who can’t keep his hands to himself.
Sex, sex and sex!!!!! AAAAHHH They start having sex the first night they met. Arranged marriage with sex at 20% ? *yawns
Writing is off. Too descriptive with unnecessary information. Nothing realistic just Sebastian’s annoying monologues.
Draaaaaaaaaaaaaaggggged out plotline.
Attempt at being bi and trans phobic? 🤡🤡 you are un-fucking-lucky because I am BOTH trans and bi!
“I’m not a straight man,” I told him. “I’m bi. Pan, probably. I’ve always known it.” I knew what he’d say next. In fact, I counted on it. “How can you know? You’ve never tried it. Don’t get me wrong, here. I’m all for discovering yourself and learning about what you want. But I don’t want what happens when a guy decides he’s ‘bi’ because he got a boner thinking about a friend once.
“So I’m gonna tell you what I’d tell a man, a woman, or someone who doesn’t give enough shits to buy into our fucked-up system of genders – as if gender mattered two gopher turds.”
And there’s no such thing as “women-identifying” bullshit.
If two cocks rubbing is enough for you to call it ”gay romance”, then quit.
Bye. I need fucking cleansing.
Not much depth on the sci-fi, mostly confusion and messy. That doesn’t mean we get more romance either. MCs had no personality other than grumpy and assholes. If Sebastian wasn’t loud as his monologues, I wouldn’t know their differences. Both of them had zero connection. With all the arranged marriage and wanting to “try” stuffs, they had nothing. No emotional connection at all. I can’t see it. Nothing hot about the sex, only had awkward positions, forced dirty talks and all of them bore me to death. Their love declaration did nothing to me. They had “angsty” fight but because they are who they are, I was simply annoyed by it. I cringed so bad. When Jackson was hurt on Mars, I was happy for it. Is this how we supposed to feel about our MCs?
They don’t deserve each other.
This was no angst, but straight up annoying. everyone in this book is so fucking problematic and toxic. 1) Toxic family who thinks if you don’t serve in the military you are THE JOKE and judge your life for it, 2) Judgemental firemen friends, 3) More judgemental friends who thinks their marriage is a joke and brought up Sebastian ex for no reason. 4) Insecure husband that blames you for “contacting” with your ex and didn’t want to listen to you. 5) Toxic and insecure brother in law who can’t keep his hands to himself.
Sex, sex and sex!!!!! AAAAHHH They start having sex the first night they met. Arranged marriage with sex at 20% ? *yawns
Writing is off. Too descriptive with unnecessary information. Nothing realistic just Sebastian’s annoying monologues.
Draaaaaaaaaaaaaaggggged out plotline.
Attempt at being bi and trans phobic? 🤡🤡 you are un-fucking-lucky because I am BOTH trans and bi!
“I’m not a straight man,” I told him. “I’m bi. Pan, probably. I’ve always known it.” I knew what he’d say next. In fact, I counted on it. “How can you know? You’ve never tried it. Don’t get me wrong, here. I’m all for discovering yourself and learning about what you want. But I don’t want what happens when a guy decides he’s ‘bi’ because he got a boner thinking about a friend once.
“So I’m gonna tell you what I’d tell a man, a woman, or someone who doesn’t give enough shits to buy into our fucked-up system of genders – as if gender mattered two gopher turds.”
And there’s no such thing as “women-identifying” bullshit.
If two cocks rubbing is enough for you to call it ”gay romance”, then quit.
Bye. I need fucking cleansing.
Did Not Finish
February 11, 2023DNF @ 46%
While I liked the setup of the romance, I couldn't keep going. There were too many issues that kept piling up, both with the handling of gender and biology, and the world-building. Just a few examples:
- Sebastian writing in his dating application that he is looking for "women or woman-identifying [people]" (why not just say women?).
- First saying that the military exosuits on Mars that needed small/light soldiers were piloted by women, and later that they were piloted by people assigned female at birth. These are not the same thing.
- The bizarre handling of chromosomes. In this world, two people with XY chromosomes can make a baby with "no XX chromosomes needed". The main characters discuss, hypothetically, who would donate the paternal genes and who would donate the maternal genes, and one of them says he wants to donate the paternal genes because he had a great relationship with his dad and always wanted that with his kid. The book never explains what paternal and maternal genes means in this context, or why that would make any difference to his relationship with his child.
And to the point where I read, none of this stuff even seemed to make much difference in regards to the romance. All the "women go to Mars" and baby-making science stuff could be taken out of the book and it wouldn't make any difference to the main plot. So it just felt like a lot of confusion and clumsy handling of gender for no reason. I love arranged marriage and the matchmaking scenario was promising, but this book just wasn't it.
While I liked the setup of the romance, I couldn't keep going. There were too many issues that kept piling up, both with the handling of gender and biology, and the world-building. Just a few examples:
- Sebastian writing in his dating application that he is looking for "women or woman-identifying [people]" (why not just say women?).
- First saying that the military exosuits on Mars that needed small/light soldiers were piloted by women, and later that they were piloted by people assigned female at birth. These are not the same thing.
- The bizarre handling of chromosomes. In this world, two people with XY chromosomes can make a baby with "no XX chromosomes needed". The main characters discuss, hypothetically, who would donate the paternal genes and who would donate the maternal genes, and one of them says he wants to donate the paternal genes because he had a great relationship with his dad and always wanted that with his kid. The book never explains what paternal and maternal genes means in this context, or why that would make any difference to his relationship with his child.
And to the point where I read, none of this stuff even seemed to make much difference in regards to the romance. All the "women go to Mars" and baby-making science stuff could be taken out of the book and it wouldn't make any difference to the main plot. So it just felt like a lot of confusion and clumsy handling of gender for no reason. I love arranged marriage and the matchmaking scenario was promising, but this book just wasn't it.
February 13, 2023
DNF @60% and skimmed to the end.
This started out really well. The quirky chaotic narration of Sebastian was fun and refreshing in a way. I was sucked in the story pretty well.
However, as the story went on I found myself getting more and more annoyed with Jackson. He made no effort to be a better husband and it was all on Sebastian to do all the jestures and to appease Jackson's insecurities. It got tiring pretty fast.
Even the ending was Sebastian doing everything while Jackason only received and said he was sorry..
I didn't like the conflict and could see it a mile away. It was tedious tbh.
The sex scenes were also awkwardly written and the dirty talk was a bit all over the place.
This had the potential to be a good book but it needs alot of work.
This started out really well. The quirky chaotic narration of Sebastian was fun and refreshing in a way. I was sucked in the story pretty well.
However, as the story went on I found myself getting more and more annoyed with Jackson. He made no effort to be a better husband and it was all on Sebastian to do all the jestures and to appease Jackson's insecurities. It got tiring pretty fast.
Even the ending was Sebastian doing everything while Jackason only received and said he was sorry..
I didn't like the conflict and could see it a mile away. It was tedious tbh.
The sex scenes were also awkwardly written and the dirty talk was a bit all over the place.
This had the potential to be a good book but it needs alot of work.
Read
July 10, 2025Soft DNF @ 17%. I might come back to it because the mail order husband thing is very intriguing but it's not holding my interest atm.
February 22, 2026
This was awful!
The military family was disgusting, the brother was a hateful moron, the sex was boring, there was absolutely zero world-building/SciFi, other than some shadowy vague military blah blah on Mars, or somewhere.
I picked this up for the SciFi arranged marriage angle. Big regrets.
The writing is horrendous.
I'll add quotes and a more coherent review when I'm less pissy that I wasted time speed-reading this. 😐
The military family was disgusting, the brother was a hateful moron, the sex was boring, there was absolutely zero world-building/SciFi, other than some shadowy vague military blah blah on Mars, or somewhere.
I picked this up for the SciFi arranged marriage angle. Big regrets.
The writing is horrendous.
I'll add quotes and a more coherent review when I'm less pissy that I wasted time speed-reading this. 😐
December 15, 2022
I did enjoy this book. A lot of (unnecessary) information is thrown at you, which resulted in a lot of skimming. I would have liked to give this book a higher rating, but Jackson’s attitude and insecurities annoyed the f**k out of me. I also didn’t like that Sebastian easily forgave him every time. Don’t get me started on the brother.
Did Not Finish
March 1, 2023Update March 1: I'm bored and Dan was right 🤷🏼♀️
TOD: 40% ish
DNFing and moving on
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thoughts so far/ Reading notes:
Alright, the first 20ish % of this was pretty entertaining. Snappy dialogue, narrating character seemed pretty witty and sarcastic which I was digging, and a refreshing maturity to dealing with a pretty absurd situation. And then there’s Jackson … ohhh he is just the right combination of hot-like-fire and deep-like-a-river. I loved him immediately and was ready to smack Sebastian sideways if he let that man down but happily I was saved from having to exert myself. Initially the chemistry is actually pretty 🔥 and there seems to be genuine potential for a real connection here, which I’m pleasantly surprised by. I’m a little unclear on the whole timeline here though…was it ever actually stated how long Jackson is home for/length of deployments* and how long they’ll have together?? If they did I missed it.
Til now the most annoying thing has been the profusion of stabby jabby Uber snarky political commentary sprinkled in all over the place. It seems… overwrought, unnecessary, and grating.
But wait, I spoke too soon…
At about 30%, things started to drift a little off course. First there’s a mini feminist girl-power rant that had me rolling my eyes … then Suddenly we’re deep in the weeds about some weird magical mystical chromosome hopscotch that apparently overrides any reasonable biological reproduction requirements and there’s a truly bizarre conversation between two men about who would be the paternal VS maternal donor if they chose to procreate. Um. What now??
Sebastian also keeps alluding to not-exactly-telling-the-truth-about-something by just… not mentioning it? Which is, ya know, LYINGGGGG. So. What’s up with that? Because I’m starting to get an inkling that maybe this ultra judgy family of his is somehow super important or famous or political or something and that whatever he’s hiding has to do with that. Maybe? Either way if this is leading us to a Great Misunderstanding I’m gonna be PISSED.
And what is this??
Who SAYS that?!?! 😂🤦🏼♀️ It feels like the author is now trying too hard to make Bastian funny and now I’m not laughing because it’s comical I’m laughing because it’s ridiculous.
To be continued…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*utterly unrelated to what’s happening in the story, I was startled to realize that nearly 15 YEARS later I seem to still have a little deployment-related PTSD. 😰🫣 Damn. Like just the thought of having to go through that again, especially the way it was back in even ‘08 with such minimal communication availability where he was, jacked my heart rate right up.
TOD: 40% ish
DNFing and moving on
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thoughts so far/ Reading notes:
Alright, the first 20ish % of this was pretty entertaining. Snappy dialogue, narrating character seemed pretty witty and sarcastic which I was digging, and a refreshing maturity to dealing with a pretty absurd situation. And then there’s Jackson … ohhh he is just the right combination of hot-like-fire and deep-like-a-river. I loved him immediately and was ready to smack Sebastian sideways if he let that man down but happily I was saved from having to exert myself. Initially the chemistry is actually pretty 🔥 and there seems to be genuine potential for a real connection here, which I’m pleasantly surprised by. I’m a little unclear on the whole timeline here though…was it ever actually stated how long Jackson is home for/length of deployments* and how long they’ll have together?? If they did I missed it.
Til now the most annoying thing has been the profusion of stabby jabby Uber snarky political commentary sprinkled in all over the place. It seems… overwrought, unnecessary, and grating.
But wait, I spoke too soon…
At about 30%, things started to drift a little off course. First there’s a mini feminist girl-power rant that had me rolling my eyes … then Suddenly we’re deep in the weeds about some weird magical mystical chromosome hopscotch that apparently overrides any reasonable biological reproduction requirements and there’s a truly bizarre conversation between two men about who would be the paternal VS maternal donor if they chose to procreate. Um. What now??
Sebastian also keeps alluding to not-exactly-telling-the-truth-about-something by just… not mentioning it? Which is, ya know, LYINGGGGG. So. What’s up with that? Because I’m starting to get an inkling that maybe this ultra judgy family of his is somehow super important or famous or political or something and that whatever he’s hiding has to do with that. Maybe? Either way if this is leading us to a Great Misunderstanding I’m gonna be PISSED.
And what is this??
“Come on, boy. Gonna bet you’ve never met a cow before.”
“I have met pieces of cows before, but I’ve never met one before disassembly,” I said.”
Who SAYS that?!?! 😂🤦🏼♀️ It feels like the author is now trying too hard to make Bastian funny and now I’m not laughing because it’s comical I’m laughing because it’s ridiculous.
To be continued…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*utterly unrelated to what’s happening in the story, I was startled to realize that nearly 15 YEARS later I seem to still have a little deployment-related PTSD. 😰🫣 Damn. Like just the thought of having to go through that again, especially the way it was back in even ‘08 with such minimal communication availability where he was, jacked my heart rate right up.
July 30, 2023
Just poor scifi writing. I wish the author took out all the scifi settings in this book, just make it a normal contemporary romance. She ruined it for me. Now I have to think twice, or thrice, before I pick up another scifi romance book again.
August 13, 2023
Bastian can fogive him, but i can't
October 4, 2023
I am changing that cliche expression into "Love you to the Mars and back", that's more fitting.
This book just popped up on Kindle recommendations and I thought I'd try it since I haven't read a combination of dating app and sci-fi interplanetary plot. I was very surprised that I actually liked it. It was difficult to get absorbed at first because, although I love my MCs to talk nerdy to me, my nose just bled all throughout the world-building and jargon he was spouting. I did, however, fell quickly in love with ❤️ Bastian ❤️ and his dry humor that I muscled through reading. Glad I did!
Although I didn't fall for his husband Jackson -- he's a little too absorbed on his own hurts to care about Bastian's feelings -- all the little bits of discoveries on Bastian's character made me love him more and that made up for all the niggles I got from this book. What I also liked about this plot was how, although they were a match made by algorithm, the story did not focus on their attraction but emphasized how they had to navigate a relationship that they agreed to try with their best. They had to learn and accept each other's good and bad attributes and discovered that despite those, they fell in love with each other anyway.
But the part I loved the most was the fact that this was not only about their marriage and romantic relationship. This was also about Bastian's discovery of himself, his passion and true calling, and a second chance in pursuing his dream. I empathized with his feelings and heartaches and cheered him on his missions. The latter chapters definitely gave me angst, tension, and relief as he successfully jumped all the hurdles in life, love, and career. That ending was definitely satisfying. 😊
This book just popped up on Kindle recommendations and I thought I'd try it since I haven't read a combination of dating app and sci-fi interplanetary plot. I was very surprised that I actually liked it. It was difficult to get absorbed at first because, although I love my MCs to talk nerdy to me, my nose just bled all throughout the world-building and jargon he was spouting. I did, however, fell quickly in love with ❤️ Bastian ❤️ and his dry humor that I muscled through reading. Glad I did!
Although I didn't fall for his husband Jackson -- he's a little too absorbed on his own hurts to care about Bastian's feelings -- all the little bits of discoveries on Bastian's character made me love him more and that made up for all the niggles I got from this book. What I also liked about this plot was how, although they were a match made by algorithm, the story did not focus on their attraction but emphasized how they had to navigate a relationship that they agreed to try with their best. They had to learn and accept each other's good and bad attributes and discovered that despite those, they fell in love with each other anyway.
But the part I loved the most was the fact that this was not only about their marriage and romantic relationship. This was also about Bastian's discovery of himself, his passion and true calling, and a second chance in pursuing his dream. I empathized with his feelings and heartaches and cheered him on his missions. The latter chapters definitely gave me angst, tension, and relief as he successfully jumped all the hurdles in life, love, and career. That ending was definitely satisfying. 😊
January 21, 2023
Come on guys….Jackson never redeemed himself. I really don’t understand what Bastian saw in him that made him a worthy partner. The world building was top notch but the love story was not.
January 11, 2023
I always love the arranged marriage troupe and read countless of them, yet I find The Accidental Husband has a unique plot and is refreshing to read. It was told from first POV of Sebastian, a simply man, a teacher but with so much hidden depth. His sarcasm and self deprecating humor is adorable. Absolutely enjoy this book and reading about Sebastian and his accidental husband.
September 6, 2025
the narration style was so interesting, however it needed a stronger edit. it was so messy at times, while it could’ve easily been absolutely epic.
unfortunately i wished jackson would die a painful death too many times to appreciate the romance
unfortunately i wished jackson would die a painful death too many times to appreciate the romance
February 14, 2023
Unlike almost any other romance I've read in its narrative style. And one of those rare instances where you can (and should) 100% trust the narrator, even when he's problematic (because aren't we all)... 🙂
Does it have some problems? Sure. But I was able to overlook those because I became so invested in the story. I really liked the single POV as told by Sebastian & the world building is fascinating.
There are some really diametrically opposite reviews of this book. I'd guide you to take a chance and see how you go.
Does it have some problems? Sure. But I was able to overlook those because I became so invested in the story. I really liked the single POV as told by Sebastian & the world building is fascinating.
There are some really diametrically opposite reviews of this book. I'd guide you to take a chance and see how you go.
November 11, 2022
No showing only telling
The characters, the world-building, and the plot were great. I would give that a 5. But I couldn't keep reading because I was being told what to think. If you like that kind of storytelling, then this book is for you.
This format of writing makes it difficult to believe it's happening. I'm very disappointed because, as I said, the author did their work building the story.
The characters, the world-building, and the plot were great. I would give that a 5. But I couldn't keep reading because I was being told what to think. If you like that kind of storytelling, then this book is for you.
This format of writing makes it difficult to believe it's happening. I'm very disappointed because, as I said, the author did their work building the story.
January 12, 2023
2.2⭐️
Well. It had to happen sometime. There had to be a dud in my reading soon enough, especially after having a consistently good reading experience so far this month. I mean there was the disappointment that was Eradicate, but it at least had a previous book in the series to fall back on.
I expected this book to be good if not better than good based on its premise. While the world building and the first third of the book were promising it failed to deliver after that. The premise of an AI (allegedly/rumoured) matching up people with a very high success rate and it looking through an applicants lies of being straight (while being not so straight) and matching him with a husband was all kinds of great. I will not go into why this was a military sanctioned matchmaking service and why there was a world war happening on Mars, let's just say humans are who they are and will fight about anything and this has caused a population issue along with a morale issue amongst troops. Which is where this service comes in. It matches people and this gives the civilian to contribute to the war effort along with a few perks and the soldier gets to look forward to coming home after being deployed off world.
Both Sebastian, our narrator, and Jackson have had a bad track record recently with their exes and both have secrets that they are not ready to share. That is expected when you are a complete stranger and decide to get married. Jackson's issue is that his Ex cheated on him while he was deployed and he looks at his relationship through that lens. Sebastien's issue is that it is hard for him to tell his husband who he truly is as when he did that with his ex she gave him an ultimatum that would see him having to go back to an emotionally and mentally abusive family. Both of them see their current relationship through that lens. And in the beginning I get why they both do and they both slowly start to communicate their issues and how they can start to get past them.
-There might be minor spoilers ahead -
My problem with this book starts with the way the Sadler family acts towards Sebastien. They look at him with suspicion and that is understandable as he is an unknown quantity. But they look down on him for not serving till he reveals, hey he did serve and got medical discharge through no fault of his own while protecting someone. This of course raises their regard for him except for Laramie the younger brothers. Throughout the book Jackson is touted as this great hero and Sebastian puts him on a pedestal, all the while Jackson looks at his current relationship through the lens of his previous relationship and that betrayal. towards the halfway point it seemed like no matter what Sebastian did it would not be enough. I get that Laramie, the brother was poisoning his mind towards Sebastian but it was way too easy for him to jump to the conclusion that his husband would cheat again as soon as he is deployed and that he did cheat. Not only that he already hurt Sebastien by claiming he couldn't be trusted because he ran away from his family. The one he knows disowned him for who he identifies as and one he himself condemned in the beginning. By this time in the story I just read the book to finish it. I got so ANGRY. There are books where the characters have wrongfully accused the other partner and later realize their mistakes and grovel. Here all of the heavy lifting was done by Sebastian and I just couldn't take it anymore.
This was not a great read for me. Maybe it was the timing of it. Maybe in a different setting I would've liked it but it was wasted potential in my opinion.
Well. It had to happen sometime. There had to be a dud in my reading soon enough, especially after having a consistently good reading experience so far this month. I mean there was the disappointment that was Eradicate, but it at least had a previous book in the series to fall back on.
I expected this book to be good if not better than good based on its premise. While the world building and the first third of the book were promising it failed to deliver after that. The premise of an AI (allegedly/rumoured) matching up people with a very high success rate and it looking through an applicants lies of being straight (while being not so straight) and matching him with a husband was all kinds of great. I will not go into why this was a military sanctioned matchmaking service and why there was a world war happening on Mars, let's just say humans are who they are and will fight about anything and this has caused a population issue along with a morale issue amongst troops. Which is where this service comes in. It matches people and this gives the civilian to contribute to the war effort along with a few perks and the soldier gets to look forward to coming home after being deployed off world.
Both Sebastian, our narrator, and Jackson have had a bad track record recently with their exes and both have secrets that they are not ready to share. That is expected when you are a complete stranger and decide to get married. Jackson's issue is that his Ex cheated on him while he was deployed and he looks at his relationship through that lens. Sebastien's issue is that it is hard for him to tell his husband who he truly is as when he did that with his ex she gave him an ultimatum that would see him having to go back to an emotionally and mentally abusive family. Both of them see their current relationship through that lens. And in the beginning I get why they both do and they both slowly start to communicate their issues and how they can start to get past them.
-There might be minor spoilers ahead -
My problem with this book starts with the way the Sadler family acts towards Sebastien. They look at him with suspicion and that is understandable as he is an unknown quantity. But they look down on him for not serving till he reveals, hey he did serve and got medical discharge through no fault of his own while protecting someone. This of course raises their regard for him except for Laramie the younger brothers. Throughout the book Jackson is touted as this great hero and Sebastian puts him on a pedestal, all the while Jackson looks at his current relationship through the lens of his previous relationship and that betrayal. towards the halfway point it seemed like no matter what Sebastian did it would not be enough. I get that Laramie, the brother was poisoning his mind towards Sebastian but it was way too easy for him to jump to the conclusion that his husband would cheat again as soon as he is deployed and that he did cheat. Not only that he already hurt Sebastien by claiming he couldn't be trusted because he ran away from his family. The one he knows disowned him for who he identifies as and one he himself condemned in the beginning. By this time in the story I just read the book to finish it. I got so ANGRY. There are books where the characters have wrongfully accused the other partner and later realize their mistakes and grovel. Here all of the heavy lifting was done by Sebastian and I just couldn't take it anymore.
This was not a great read for me. Maybe it was the timing of it. Maybe in a different setting I would've liked it but it was wasted potential in my opinion.
October 19, 2022
Starts off strong - the writing and story pull you in from the first few pages and you get entrenched in the story. The writing is approachable and conversational, making it easy to read and get into the story. I immediately wanted to know Bastien better and was rooting for him!
Bastien has a sad, mysterious history that we learn later in the book - we just know that he was disowned by his family, was serving in the military before an accident, and he is now struggling with debt. He decides to serve in a different way - by offering himself up for a match to a military spouse. He wants to be their home base - to care and love for them while they are home, support them while they are away. He asks for a wife. He is matched with a husband.
Fascinating story of how Bastien comes to terms with this match and quickly decides he wants badly to make it work with Jackson, his matched husband. The two meet and things don't go quite as expected.
The first 40% or so of the story is amazing - watching Bastien and Jackson learn to trust one another, learn to care for one another. It's truly heart warming how steadfast Bastien is. They also have off the charts steamy times together - always a win!
Where this story started to disappoint me was when we meet Jackson's family. I won't give any spoilers, but let's just say they weren't the super supportive, amazing family Jackson let Bastien believe they would be. I really didn't like how Jackson glossed over their treatment of Bastien, knowing full well that Bastien had been thrown away by his own family. This just did not sit well with me and made me so unhappy to read.
Nearing the end of the book, it does have a great climactic rise and conclusion, so I did enjoy the story arc as a whole, just really didn't enjoy the middle third of the book because it was frustrating to watch Bastien stay quiet while he was mistreated.
I would recommend this author because I liked the writing style - it felt cozy, like I was friends with Bastien the POV throughout the whole book.
I landed on 3/5 stars for this review as I'd give the first third and last 15% or so 5/5 stars, but the middle section of the book would only be about 1.5/5 stars. So using my magic math, I landed on 3/5 because I enjoyed a good portion of the book, but not all.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Bastien has a sad, mysterious history that we learn later in the book - we just know that he was disowned by his family, was serving in the military before an accident, and he is now struggling with debt. He decides to serve in a different way - by offering himself up for a match to a military spouse. He wants to be their home base - to care and love for them while they are home, support them while they are away. He asks for a wife. He is matched with a husband.
Fascinating story of how Bastien comes to terms with this match and quickly decides he wants badly to make it work with Jackson, his matched husband. The two meet and things don't go quite as expected.
The first 40% or so of the story is amazing - watching Bastien and Jackson learn to trust one another, learn to care for one another. It's truly heart warming how steadfast Bastien is. They also have off the charts steamy times together - always a win!
Where this story started to disappoint me was when we meet Jackson's family. I won't give any spoilers, but let's just say they weren't the super supportive, amazing family Jackson let Bastien believe they would be. I really didn't like how Jackson glossed over their treatment of Bastien, knowing full well that Bastien had been thrown away by his own family. This just did not sit well with me and made me so unhappy to read.
Nearing the end of the book, it does have a great climactic rise and conclusion, so I did enjoy the story arc as a whole, just really didn't enjoy the middle third of the book because it was frustrating to watch Bastien stay quiet while he was mistreated.
I would recommend this author because I liked the writing style - it felt cozy, like I was friends with Bastien the POV throughout the whole book.
I landed on 3/5 stars for this review as I'd give the first third and last 15% or so 5/5 stars, but the middle section of the book would only be about 1.5/5 stars. So using my magic math, I landed on 3/5 because I enjoyed a good portion of the book, but not all.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
March 11, 2023
This is the first book I have read by this author and it won't be the last. I thoroughly enjoyed this story. It is unlike anything I had read to this point and it was amazing. This is the story of Sebastian Hendrick and Jackson Roy Sadler. Sebastian is a history teacher and has a lot of reasons not to trust people. But he puts that aside and looks for the best side of everything. I loved his character right away. He has a lot of baggage and surprising back story bombs. You will enjoy learning about them. Though one of them about his accident broke my heart. Jackson is a Sargeant in the army that is deployed and fighting on Mars. He has trust issues as his last boyfriend cheated on him while deployed and he is still not over it. This is their story. They both decide to register to be Mail Call Mates. However the twist is that Sebastian asked for a woman as his mate. Apparently the computer knew what Sebastian wanted and couldn't ask for. Since Jackson is informed of the deviation, he is worried that Sebastian is not ready for a MM relationship. Jackson is looking for a love match. The road to happiness is not a smooth one. You will definitely think dark and evil thoughts about Jackson and his family more than once. Jackson and Sebastian have off the charts chemistry. The heart wants what the heart wants. I loved this book. I look forward to more books by this author.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
January 10, 2023
Excellent.
This book - just wow. This books has an exceptional futuristic plot, exceptional characters and had me chain smoking as I worried where it would all end up. Exceptional writing.
This book - just wow. This books has an exceptional futuristic plot, exceptional characters and had me chain smoking as I worried where it would all end up. Exceptional writing.
October 21, 2023
This book surprised me. I read it based on a recommendation of an individual in a facebook m/m group. They described the book as a hidden gem and the amount of gushing they did over this book intrigued me. So I picked up the book last night and found myself staying up until 5:00 a.m. in the morning to read it cover-to-cover.
I'm so glad I listened to that other m/m reader. This was such a surprising and lovely story. Nothing in this story unfolded as I expected...and that's a good thing. I love being surprised as a reader. The author included a number of clever twists and turns that made the story a surprise and delight all the way though.
The world built for this story is interesting and the author has done a nice job setting the stage for more books in this world.
Sebastian and Jackson as characers were interesting, complex, and appealing in ways that had me rooting for them both as a couple and as individuals. I know some reviewers expressed disappointment with Sebastian's hangups, but I appreciated that the character himself forthrightly acknowledged them in his video to Jackson and I also appreciated the adult ways both characters comunicated through conflicts with each other and Jackson's knack for psychoanalyzing Sebastian and being able to figure out the reasons behind certain words and actions. Seriously, there is nothing I hate more than reading m/m books where the entire conflict in a book could have been resolved via a simple 5 minute conversation.
But that doesn't happen here. The characters maturely work through conflicts. And while past trauma hindered those efforts at times, that felt real and natural, too. In short, both characters came across a real flawed individuals who were also pretty great and awesome and wonderful too. I was incredibly sad to see this story end because I really wanted to read more of their story.
There is just SO MUCH I liked about this book and I know that my poor description here isn't doing the book justice.
I only have one quibble. I don't think this book needed the 4th wall narrative approach (e.g. where Jackson spoke to the reader). I found it a little jarring at first and it *almost* made me put the book down during the first few pages where I felt that jarring sense the most. I'm so glad that I stuck with it because, by the time I was 15-20 pages in, I was hooked.
And by the time I finished the book, it landed on my "Best of 2023" list
I can tell that I'm obsessed with this book and this series because as I type this, I have an irrational fear that we'll never see Book #2. I know that's just my fear talking...but it's also a sign of just how much I loved this book.
Looking forward to re-reading this book at some point and reading the next book in this series as well. This is Moore's first m/m book, but she has a real gift and I'm keeping my fingers crossed she becomes a prolific author in this genre.
I'm so glad I listened to that other m/m reader. This was such a surprising and lovely story. Nothing in this story unfolded as I expected...and that's a good thing. I love being surprised as a reader. The author included a number of clever twists and turns that made the story a surprise and delight all the way though.
The world built for this story is interesting and the author has done a nice job setting the stage for more books in this world.
Sebastian and Jackson as characers were interesting, complex, and appealing in ways that had me rooting for them both as a couple and as individuals. I know some reviewers expressed disappointment with Sebastian's hangups, but I appreciated that the character himself forthrightly acknowledged them in his video to Jackson and I also appreciated the adult ways both characters comunicated through conflicts with each other and Jackson's knack for psychoanalyzing Sebastian and being able to figure out the reasons behind certain words and actions. Seriously, there is nothing I hate more than reading m/m books where the entire conflict in a book could have been resolved via a simple 5 minute conversation.
But that doesn't happen here. The characters maturely work through conflicts. And while past trauma hindered those efforts at times, that felt real and natural, too. In short, both characters came across a real flawed individuals who were also pretty great and awesome and wonderful too. I was incredibly sad to see this story end because I really wanted to read more of their story.
There is just SO MUCH I liked about this book and I know that my poor description here isn't doing the book justice.
I only have one quibble. I don't think this book needed the 4th wall narrative approach (e.g. where Jackson spoke to the reader). I found it a little jarring at first and it *almost* made me put the book down during the first few pages where I felt that jarring sense the most. I'm so glad that I stuck with it because, by the time I was 15-20 pages in, I was hooked.
And by the time I finished the book, it landed on my "Best of 2023" list
I can tell that I'm obsessed with this book and this series because as I type this, I have an irrational fear that we'll never see Book #2. I know that's just my fear talking...but it's also a sign of just how much I loved this book.
Looking forward to re-reading this book at some point and reading the next book in this series as well. This is Moore's first m/m book, but she has a real gift and I'm keeping my fingers crossed she becomes a prolific author in this genre.
September 20, 2022
Holy. F-balls.
I absofreakinglutely loved it! 10 out of 10, would recommend!
When I first read the blurb, I was intrigued. When I first read the sample, I was hooked. I said, self, (and I knew it was me, because I recognized my voice and I was wearing my clothes) this book will make you laugh, this book is funny. And I wasn’t wrong. It is funny and it did make me laugh. But, there are other emotions as well. Lots of other emotions. If you’re expecting a laugh a minute fun run… well, it’s not all fun and games. It’s real life emotions. Complete with past and future betrayals, foreshadowing and missed communications but not the ‘why didn’t they just talk to each other instead of exploding and walking away?’ Well, okay it was kinda like that but there’s #ReasonsForItAndNotBecauseIt’sTheMainPlotDeviceOrMaybeItIsButLike,It’sDoneInATastefulWayAndIWishICouldReadTheWholeThingAgainForTheFirstTime. This story is unlike any other I’ve read before. I could very much see this one as an animated movie, but wouldn’t actually want that because they always change things and sometimes ruin the meat and potatoes of it.
I have a book coma after reading this one, also I stayed up past my bedtime and cursed the fact that I needed sleep and to go to work. So trust that you’ll want to make sure you have plenty of uninterrupted time to read this and grab some snacks, food and drinks and get comfy and cozy like Bastian from The NeverEnding Story (thankfully minus the traumatic scene, you know the one I’m talking about) because you won’t want to put this book down.
In case you couldn’t tell, I highly recommend this one.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I absofreakinglutely loved it! 10 out of 10, would recommend!
When I first read the blurb, I was intrigued. When I first read the sample, I was hooked. I said, self, (and I knew it was me, because I recognized my voice and I was wearing my clothes) this book will make you laugh, this book is funny. And I wasn’t wrong. It is funny and it did make me laugh. But, there are other emotions as well. Lots of other emotions. If you’re expecting a laugh a minute fun run… well, it’s not all fun and games. It’s real life emotions. Complete with past and future betrayals, foreshadowing and missed communications but not the ‘why didn’t they just talk to each other instead of exploding and walking away?’ Well, okay it was kinda like that but there’s #ReasonsForItAndNotBecauseIt’sTheMainPlotDeviceOrMaybeItIsButLike,It’sDoneInATastefulWayAndIWishICouldReadTheWholeThingAgainForTheFirstTime. This story is unlike any other I’ve read before. I could very much see this one as an animated movie, but wouldn’t actually want that because they always change things and sometimes ruin the meat and potatoes of it.
I have a book coma after reading this one, also I stayed up past my bedtime and cursed the fact that I needed sleep and to go to work. So trust that you’ll want to make sure you have plenty of uninterrupted time to read this and grab some snacks, food and drinks and get comfy and cozy like Bastian from The NeverEnding Story (thankfully minus the traumatic scene, you know the one I’m talking about) because you won’t want to put this book down.
In case you couldn’t tell, I highly recommend this one.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
January 19, 2023
I love finding a new-to-me author - like, it legit *delights* me, especially when their book is so damn good. And Cassandra Moore's The Accident Husband is fantastic!
First, Cassandra writes how I talk / think, so that already predisposed me to love the book. Her writing was funny and very conversational, while still being serious and touching when needed.
Sebastian is a high school teacher and an out-and-proud geek. He's also bisexual, but the last time he admitted that out loud, it hadn't ended well so he's very happy to keep that part of himself firmly in the closet. He's also lonely and ready to settle down, so he signs up for Mail Call Mates, an AI matchmaking service with a crazy high success rate that pairs civilians with military members, to find a wife.
Instead, he's assigned a husband.
Jackson is a guarded military man who's been burned in the past. The only people he can rely on are his family and his team, and he's rolling in the guilt of letting them down. A husband to come home to after his grueling missions sounds like his idea of heaven.
There are ups and downs, first-time MM relationships, love, heartbreak, and space travel in this book. Seriously, what more could you ask for? I love Andy Weir's books and The Accidental Husband felt like one of his combined with an epic romance!
First, Cassandra writes how I talk / think, so that already predisposed me to love the book. Her writing was funny and very conversational, while still being serious and touching when needed.
Sebastian is a high school teacher and an out-and-proud geek. He's also bisexual, but the last time he admitted that out loud, it hadn't ended well so he's very happy to keep that part of himself firmly in the closet. He's also lonely and ready to settle down, so he signs up for Mail Call Mates, an AI matchmaking service with a crazy high success rate that pairs civilians with military members, to find a wife.
Instead, he's assigned a husband.
Jackson is a guarded military man who's been burned in the past. The only people he can rely on are his family and his team, and he's rolling in the guilt of letting them down. A husband to come home to after his grueling missions sounds like his idea of heaven.
There are ups and downs, first-time MM relationships, love, heartbreak, and space travel in this book. Seriously, what more could you ask for? I love Andy Weir's books and The Accidental Husband felt like one of his combined with an epic romance!
February 15, 2023
I really loved how this story was was told and unfolded.
Told by the POV of Sebastian. Who is adorable, witty and smart. About how an AI set him up with a husband (even though he asked for a wife).
Husband Jackson is also adorable. He has his issues and messes up -- badly messes up but the fact he's honest from the start feels redeeming to me. Like he will learn to be and do better. That he WANTS to learn and do better. He does.
Sebastian has his issues too. Where Jackson can't seem to let his go, Sebastian hides his to keep the peace ... early on, as the reader, you'll know how well that's going to go. But humans are flawed, it’s how both men learn and deal that’s important.
I think outside of Sebastian; I just absolutely loved this world that the author had created. It’s intriguing, realistic and I want more stories to read.
There are a few little details that could do with some tidying up but honestly, it really didn’t detract from the story for me. I was just enthralled at how smart and sci-fi it was while also being really just lovely and sweet and romantic on top.
I’m excited for more!
Told by the POV of Sebastian. Who is adorable, witty and smart. About how an AI set him up with a husband (even though he asked for a wife).
Husband Jackson is also adorable. He has his issues and messes up -- badly messes up but the fact he's honest from the start feels redeeming to me. Like he will learn to be and do better. That he WANTS to learn and do better. He does.
Sebastian has his issues too. Where Jackson can't seem to let his go, Sebastian hides his to keep the peace ... early on, as the reader, you'll know how well that's going to go. But humans are flawed, it’s how both men learn and deal that’s important.
I think outside of Sebastian; I just absolutely loved this world that the author had created. It’s intriguing, realistic and I want more stories to read.
There are a few little details that could do with some tidying up but honestly, it really didn’t detract from the story for me. I was just enthralled at how smart and sci-fi it was while also being really just lovely and sweet and romantic on top.
I’m excited for more!
Did Not Finish
August 20, 2023DNF @17% ... and man, was I ever disappointed to throw in the towel on this one. The synopsis sounded like it would totally be my jam, but I didn't really make it far enough to figure out if that might be true. From the start, it felt more like I'd accidentally picked up an old Robert Heinlein novel than an m/m romance (it was the writing style and general tone, like, seriously... lol), and while I'm completely down with that IF that's what I'm trying to read, I wanted a romance here, and found myself skimming far too much - and getting zero actual emotional investment - to bother continuing beyond the point I quit at.
Disappointing, but oh well.
Disappointing, but oh well.
June 29, 2023
If I could rate this more than 5 stars, I would. It's not the traditional romance story format. It has a very realistic yet extremely sweet portrayal of working through a relationship, how triggers from past relationships can continue to exist even in new ones,a beautiful love story of two people choosing themselves. Can't say enough wonderful things about this book. I'm excited that it's my first by the author, and hope the others are as amazing. ❤️❤️❤️
February 11, 2023
I loved every single, solitary thing about this book. Imagine if Andy Weir wrote MM romance. There’s science and love and two people finding their way to each other, unexpectedly. Sebastian is 💯 incredible, at all times, and Jackson is so screwed up but so noble and sincere. This was absolutely phenomenal. 1000/10, would read again.
February 16, 2023
Holy crap I’ve NEVER read a book like this before and I LOVED IT!
The Witt
The spice
The story
Gahhhh I hate I need to wait for book two. I hope it’s MM. I really really enjoy this authors writing style it’s unlike so many of the romances I read
The Witt
The spice
The story
Gahhhh I hate I need to wait for book two. I hope it’s MM. I really really enjoy this authors writing style it’s unlike so many of the romances I read
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