| Title | : | Work Wife: A Fake Marriage Diverse Romance |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | - |
| Format Type | : | Kindle Edition |
| Number of Pages | : | 283 |
| Publication | : | First published September 1, 2022 |
But when she finally does, Jonathan Jantzen, owner of Phoenix Capital proposes a counteroffer that Anita can't turn down: marriage.
Will the spontaneous gesture spell inevitable disaster? Or will Jonathan's instincts for investments prove him right in the end?
Work Wife: A Fake Marriage Diverse Romance Reviews
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Where is the romance? The funny moments? The shenanigans that comes with fake marriage situation? It even lacked the good old will they/won't they that is package in boss/ employee romance. This book is as dry as they come and the characters are kin to attempting to put on pants that are several sizes small. No chemistry between the two of them and I hated the abrupt change in point of view. Decided to change who tells the story 70% into the book is a bad decision. Reader already learned and understood the female characters voice and changing to the male character until the epilogue was unnecessary and made the book feel disjointed.
This was a waste of time for me! If you're looking for a good fake arranged marriage romance between a boss and his assistant with amazing chemistry read Terms and Conditions by Lauren Asher trust me, you won't be disappointed. -
Missed the mark
I would not classify this as a romance…the story is painfully slow moving and Anita and Johnathan story was so boring…I really wanted to like this book…I read two other books by this author so I know she is talented, but this was a huge miss for me -
no issues just meh
Ehhh it was meh for me very stilted amd neither of the MCs were likeable so I didn’t really care one way or the other which is not what you want in a romance novel. It’s a marriage of convenience but we never really got to see how they fell in love and what made either of then loveable. The heroine was insufferable to say the least and the hero was a hot conniving mess. Overall …meh -
I thought this was going to be a cute fake marriage situation unfortunately that wasn’t the case at all. There was literally zero chemistry between our leads! At no point did I think oh okay I get WHY they are marrying. I kept waiting for a little sizzle and it never came. I’ve read other books from the author that I enjoyed and I’ll check out more from her but this one was a letdown
-
This was such a cute novel! I liked the Two Weeks Notice and The Proposal-ness of this book. I was expecting him to want a fake wife for a purpose—a new job contract or convincing his family of something. But no, he just wanted her and used this fake proposal to get her. I also like the different approaches to dual POVs in the novel. Anita's POV was the book's first half, and Jonathan's was the second half. I've never read a book where they separate the dual POV like that. CL. Donley's writing really pulls you in and was well written.
I also LOVED that these characters weren't broken, sad, or insecure. They liked clothes and travel, and it seems plausible. Sometimes romance novels can be so over the top you think, " this would never happen in real life." While reading this book several times, I was heck yeah! That could totally happen in the real world.
I'll be looking for more books by this author, and I highly recommend. -
2.5
Slow moving🦥
I really like reading this author's books, it was hard to connect with the Hh. The age gap was a non issue, but this story was just slow.
I stopped and started a few times, but I did not give up, I finished it. -
First - to be clear - if you are looking for a simple, easy going, fake-marriage, lots of sex and no real angst this is not for you. However, I went into this thinking this was going to be like many other stories that promote the "fake relationship" and was actually pleasantly surprised this was different. After a slow build up there were some really wonderful moments between these characters. The author does have a sense of humor and it is dry - so look for it! I felt the slow unwinding of the past relationships and pain both main characters had was worth it.
I would recommend this story to people that are not just interested in a light, easy read. Don't get me wrong - this is not heavily painful or too much angst but it is definitely a slower roll, with two multi-layered characters that take a little time to get where they are going. I will say there was some uneven writing. At the end there was little too much of how they decided to run their business and "work stuff" so to say that I really did not care about, but I would still recommend it. There was something about the characters and the romance that did grab me and kept me reading.
Also high praise for non-cookie cutter h and H. Not only was it a multi-racial relationship, they also were a little more mature, with pasts, and baggage and yet a level of maturity that was refreshing. -
I really liked this story at first. The Boss gave off awkward but sweet at first and overall the interactions were kind of cute. Until the Engagement part and everything went downhill. They really paint the heroine as desperate and the hero as an asshole. I was not feeling the chemistry after that. 😬
-
This was a weird mix of first person and third. The first few chapters were in third and then suddenly it became first, then changed POV.
-
A tad disappointing!
Anita is a perfect assistant to Jonathan. She schedules his life as well as his appointments, and solves any problems that occur. But her dream to become a lawyer is now on the back burner until she decides to quit and pursue her own happiness.
Jonathan's solution: offer to marry Anita so she won't quit. Unfortunately, without love, the story goes down hill immediately after that! Real struggle to finish this! -
Rating Scale
1 - Enjoyment - 2
2 - Legibility/Form - 3
3 - Plot - 2
4 - Characters - 2
5 - Would I read again/recommend - 1
Total: 10/25 40% F -
DNF'ed.
1.
Our main girl is almost 40, which I absolutely LOVED as it's a bit refreshing to see. A lot of the time, the romances I read are ranged between 18–25-year-old female protagonists. The fact that this one had a bit of an age gap where the woman is a bit older than the man piqued my interest a bit.
2.
I felt like there was an itch I couldn't get rid of while continuing to read this book, something ingrained in it that I did not like at all. And it wasn't until a bit later on that I realised I hated the author's font choice. A sans serif font reads a bit too weird (to my eyes) for bodies of text that just go on and on and on. These choices, to the best of my knowledge, are better suited for school textbooks and even then, for children in much younger grades. I would 've liked this book's layout better if it was even in Times New Roman!
3.
I also realised something when I reached the love scene here. I hate it when authors use the words "cock" and "dick" interchangeably. Like, just pick one and stick to it, please. For consistency's sake. Besides that, our couple had absolutely no chemistry or seduction for each other or any air of lust and longing. There was no romancing of each other, no steam.
4.
Also did not appreciate the change in perspective more than 50% in. This is never a good move as it is terribly jarring ad doesn't actually bode well for the relationship readers would have built with the main narrator. If you want dual POV, doing it from the beginning helps a whole lot.
I don't have much more to add as I couldn't push myself to reach the end, I don't know how it ends and honestly, it doesn't feel like I'm missing anything. -
This had to be the sweetest, awkward, and hot office romance ever. I swear Anita and Jonathan's relationship was so cute and sweet, but had it's sexy moments. They both were a bunch of secrets rolled up into one big crazy cycle of denial of love. A proposition from the boss to marry with a six month timetable causes a lot of firsts, hurt feelings, and awkward moments. Anita had hard time not comparing Jonathan to the men in her past and Jonathan had a hard time expressing his emotions without controlling the situation. Between the both of them there was insecurities and distrust for one another even though they're fake marriage was becoming more realistic.This was a great read and would recommend.
-
Usually, I wait a while to leave one of these so it can be a bit reflective, but I accidentally wrote my first slow-burn book and I'm low-key obsessed. Because I have tried to set my mind to do a slow burn several times and could never manage it because I'm too impatient and it just seemed like it would need too many contrivances to pull it off. I have examined this manuscript from every angle and there is nothing to cut or add. You will just be waiting for that sex until chapter 14. Like, I can't believe I did that. Some of y'all are probably like, "slow burn more like NO burn" but even without the burn, I think there's a pretty interesting story there, personally. But I'm biased.
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Adored
That’s the word I’m gonna use for this story. I adored the couple, the plot, the banter. I’m not sure o felt the fire the author expected when it comes to the two main characters’ romance, but the story and dialogue made up for it for me. Having Jonathan’s POV toward the later half of the book was a nice twist, but not necessary, really. It felt like it could have been done although- or happened MUCH earlier. Though I can see why the author chose to place it later (many readers will have already guessed his POV before this point though).
Either way. It’s a solid 3.5 stars. I’d read another of the author’s books. -
I’m such a CL Donley Stan, and this book highlights all the best reasons why!
The ‘in it for practicality’ to ‘screw it, let’s just be in love’ pipeline of the fake dating/ fake marriage trope is always one that hits the spot. The yearning and pinning and subtle affection that was always there, is just elite!
Donley navigates this trope very well with the leads and their strong, stubborn personalities and a delightful will they won’t they, that had me on tenderhooks at certain points!
Definitely a read romance lovers will enjoy! -
An interesting take on a marriage of convenience
3.5 stars
It took me a while to figure out the tone of this book. There was sarcasm, sure. But also earnestness, affection, so many secrets and love.
I enjoyed the use of the dual-POV. It helped me to hear how both people were thinking and feeling about this unorthodox situation. The main characters were frustrating at times but I definitely appreciated that they acted like Brian ups, confessed to their behavior and took the time to sit and talk it out instead of just ghosting. -
I had trouble liking either character… the places I expected it to go, it didn’t, but I wished it had.
Also, I DNF the book when there’s a plot point about failing the LSAT. You don’t open an envelope and find out you’ve failed the LSAT. It’s like the SAT, you get a ranking. I couldn’t deal with an author so confident they were right they didn’t fact check this, then hung plot on it. I really couldn’t deal with an editor who didn’t catch it.
Fact checking, it matters, people. -
*3.5 Stars
NOTE: Star rating subject to change.
With all these GR site upgrades, you would think Goodreads would allow half-star ratings.
The story I've read so far has good bones.
Longer review to follow ... soon.
ARC -
You know those songs that detail the mundane of commonplace interactions in the most boring of ways? This book was like that except it was good and well written. I hope the author continues writing; I look forward to her future work.
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Reading the free Kindle copy.
I think this book is my first interracial romance(?)
Read this in one sitting on the plane to Dubai
A very quick read. At first, the main character is too old for me to sympathize, but I always love a happy ending.
