I think it would be very challenging to attempt to write a believable, contemporary marriage of convenience love story. Karin Beery took on that challenge—and her characters are very lovable. I enjoy a good romance, even knowing how the story is going to end. And given the “happily ever after” ending that is expected, the story itself needs to grab me in order to satisfy my reader heart. Practically Married by Karin Beery has a good premise. Main character, Ashley Johnson, shows up at a farm to I think it would be very challenging to attempt to write a believable, contemporary marriage of convenience love story. Karin Beery took on that challenge—and her characters are very lovable. I enjoy a good romance, even knowing how the story is going to end. And given the “happily ever after” ending that is expected, the story itself needs to grab me in order to satisfy my reader heart. Practically Married by Karin Beery has a good premise. Main character, Ashley Johnson, shows up at a farm to marry a man she’s never actually met, although they’ve become very close friends via the Internet. Unfortunately, when she shows up as planned, she discovers he’s been killed in a hiking accident. Although he’s supposedly from a very close-knit family, no one has ever heard of Ashley. I had a few problems with the story line. First, the conflict that needs to be evident to keep a reader reading seems contrived. For example, the dead fiancé “accidentally” willed the family house and farm to her. The details of said will are sketchy and unbelievable, and any first-year lawyer would have thrown it out, but it’s used as a launching pad for family tension.Then in a blink of an eye, Ashley proposes to the dead fiancé’s, cousin, reasoning that since they’re both unattached, they might as well get married. It’ll be a marriage of convenience, just like she was expecting when she first arrived on the scene. Russ, Ashley’s new fiancé, seems happy to oblige, although he’s got some ex-stalker-girlfriend waiting in the wings to add some more weak drama. I had a difficult time buying their reasons for agreeing to the marriage of convenience because there was no in-depth backstory to justify it for either of them.Beery uses multiple sisters, wedding slip-ups and a flaky main character to keep the action going, but by the time the couple decides to say, “I do,” I lost interest in whether they did or didn’t. I received a complimentary copy for reviewing purposes, but the opinions are my own.
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