Summary
I need a wife. NOW.
With this hockey season on the line, I can’t afford any distractions. And a dating reality show is one huge distraction. But there’s a surefire way to get out of this dating show contract. All I have to do is get married.
Even with a reputation like mine–the Scottish bad boy of hockey–I’m confident I can find someone to play Mrs. Taylor Savage for a year.
Like Becca Barnes. The one who got away. Too bad she hates me. But that’s why she’s perfect for this arrangement.
My contract is dissolved. She gets the bakery of her dreams.
Win-Win.
She just has to live with me and pretend she loves me in public for a year. No strings. No touching (unless there’s a camera). No messy heartbreak.
It’s sure to be a challenge because with the way I crave her, keeping my hands to myself might be harder than I planned.
But I can handle this. Being married to her will be easy. As long as I don’t fall in love with her along the way.
Review
(audiobook) This series so far has been a trope treasure. After a cowboy friends to lovers romance and a hockey mistaken identity romance, it’s time for an arranged marriage, with a touch of forbidden–Becca is Taylor’s boss’s wife’s sister. With a sexy accent!
Becca and Taylor meet, feel attracted to each other, flirt a bit, have almost a one night stand. Misunderstandings keep them away from each other until Taylor comes back with a proposition Becca can’t refuse: a wedding for the bakery of her dreams. There’s attraction even before it starts, so you can guess the direction it goes once they spend more time together. Then there’s the fact that he’s a hockey player, a celebrity, and Becca’s brother-in-law owns the team, and you get a difficult situation.
Dubbed as a bad boy, Taylor seemed anything but. He’s a charmer for sure, and his Scottish accent helps with getting the girls. But I felt he was genuine in his pursuit of Becca, even sometimes innocent. Though his motivation in marrying Becca is less than altruistic, he needs his temporary wife to be Becca because he wants to help her, and he wants to see her again–at least, that’s how I felt. The Scottish hockey player is also way more than he shows. I wasn’t too fond of that aspect, because I didn’t think it offered much to Taylor’s character, but I can see the appeal.
As for Becca, she was a warrior. Nothing much scares her, and she isn’t afraid to speak her mind. She’s willing to make sacrifices for her dreams, and when she’s in, she’s in. But when she’s not, you’ll have a hard time convincing her. She appeared stubborn at times, but maybe that was exactly what Taylor needed.
The romance starts hot, then grows cold at the beginning of the marriage, just to become scorching hot again as time passes. I loved that they developped feelings by being around each other all the time. They discover who the other is, and fall in love slowly–while lusting after each other, of course.
There wasn’t much hockey here, but Taylor’s career is in question for various reasons, and it was interesting to see his struggles. But I’m still puzzled by the dating app and the reality TV show. It’s a fun idea, and a useful plot device, but I don’t feel it’s realistic.
The male narrator did a perfect Scottish accent, and the female narrator did great with strong-willed Becca. The cameo for Maverick–from a previous book–was delicious. I think the narration gives the book that little something that makes it good, and not just okay.
Quickie
- Series: Anything for love #3 (can be read as a standalone, linked to various series by the same author)
- Hashtags: #hockey romance #fake marriage #one night stand #forbidden romance #Scottish hero
- Triggers: N/A
- Main couple: Becca Barnes & Taylor Savage
- Hotness: 4/5
- Romance: 4/5
- + I loved how Taylor kept saying he musn’t screw up, just before screwing up
- – I felt the whole Scottish lord was a bit too much and unnecessary
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