Reviewed by Sid

TITLE: Legally Wed

AUTHOR: Rick R. Reed

PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press

LENGTH: 216 Pages

BLURB: Love comes along when you least expect it. That’s what Duncan Taylor’s sister, Scout, tells him. Scout has everything Duncan wants—a happy life with a wonderful husband. Now that Seattle has made gay marriage legal, Duncan knows he can have the same thing. But when he proposes to his boyfriend Tucker, he doesn’t get the answer he hoped for. Tucker’s refusal is another misstep in a long line of failed romances. Despairing, Duncan thinks of all the loving unions in his life—and how every one of them is straight. Maybe he could be happy, if not sexually compatible, with a woman. When zany, gay-man-loving Marilyn Samples waltzes into his life, he thinks he may have found his answer.

Determined to settle, Duncan forgets his sister’s wisdom about love and begins planning a wedding with Marilyn. But life throws Duncan a curveball. When he meets wedding planner Peter Dalrymple, unexpected sparks ignite. Neither man knows how long he can resist his powerful attraction to the other. For sure, there’s a wedding in the future. But whose?

REVIEW:

The title funnily reminded me of the movie Legally Blonde. No connections whatsoever with the plot or the characters in the movie, the title actually fits well with this book’s set up.

Duncan craves for his happily ever after and his dream to get married to the person he loves. So when the state of Washington makes Gay Marriage legal, he wastes no time in proposing to his boyfriend, Tucker. However, the reply from Tucker comes unexpected. He not only refuses to marry Duncan, but also dumps him after that. Obviously heartbroken, Duncan begins to think that maybe his dream is unrealistic after all the fucked up relationships he has had over the years. He makes up his mind that in order to have a happy, successful marriage, there is a woman needed in the whole formula.

That’s how Marilyn Samples enters his life. A funny ad posted on Craigslist titled – “Gay Man Seeks A Woman to Marry” (something like that…) – gets Duncan numerous funny replies and one of them is Marilyn. She is different – bold, doesn’t fear to express her true feelings and someone Duncan finds common grounds with. After meeting her, he realizes that this could actually work and as few months pass by, the determination gets strong and finally both of them decide to get married.

Enter the wedding planner that Marillyn suggests is very good at his job – Peter Dalrymple (Damn, I love saying that name!). He is hot, he is smart and is so GAY! And of course, when Duncan wants his life to be free of complications, it pops up in form of Peter because that man has some super-effect on Duncan’s libido.

After reading a few books from Rick R. Reed, I have built up some great expectations with this author. Whenever I pick one of his books, I am certain that I will get a whole package of hot romance, characters that I can cheer for, comic relief, deep emotions and happy endings. And Legally Wed promises all that.

The plot was entertaining. The beginning is perfect because it hooks the reader’s attention right away. Duncan’s feelings are captured well as he decides to propose Tucker. Funny, how books can affect you. I suddenly went from that peak of happiness down to the pit of dark melancholy with Tucker’s “No”. It was sad and I felt really bad for Duncan that he had to go through that bad of a rejection and that too in public! I would have died of mortification if I woulda been him, that’s for sure!

Marilyn is the character I had mixed feelings for. Don’t get me wrong – she is amazing when you get to know her. But I kept seeing her as the one keeping Duncan from the life he could have. That wasn’t true, of course – It was Duncan who was stupid enough to keep making the wrong decisions and that was annoying like hell. I felt like going and shaking some sense into him. And that is why I was glad that Scout, his sister, made an attempt to do just that. More on her later. But I have to say, even though I kind of didn’t like Marilyn for the obvious reason, I was also hoping for a happy ending for her. I was almost afraid and disappointed by the end of the book that we won’t get it, but we do and that was almost satisfying. My only complain is that when the author gave her POVs throughout the book, why couldn’t we get a brief scene at the end where Marilyn is proposed. I personally would have definitely liked that.

What to say about Peter Dalrymple! He doesn’t show up until later in the book, but when he does, he gets a grand entry into the plot! I could hear drums and bass guitars playing in the background when he is introduced (Oh yea, that could be because I may have kept my music player on…). He is the perfect candidate to stir up romantic feelings in Duncan and I thought he was the one with a sensible head in the book. There has to be one of them among the main characters, eh?

 It felt like it was dragged somewhere in between before Peter is brought in. Also, I kept comparing this story with Rick’s other book Raining Men. Not the plot, but a few things struck similar to me. Someone’s death in the family brings a change of mindset – that trick seemed overused to me after reading somewhat similar situations in Chaser and Raining Men.

Secondary characters definitely stole the show. Scout is the sister every gay man needs to have! She is simply amazing. Peter’s gay dad – Ray – is an interesting one too! He brings in some amusing conversations with his son. I saw him as well as Scout to be the cupids in Duncan and Peter’s love story. Also, Ben McBride makes a great cameo. The way he is described -I totally had hots for him! Sadly he is not gay … and oh yea, a fictional characters…

Like I said, the story is good. The moral of “Love comes along when you least expect it” comes off loud and clear!

RATING:

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