REVIEWED by Jay V.
TITLE: Surprise Groom
SERIES: Marital Bliss #1
AUTHOR: D.J. Jamison
PUBLISHER: Rangon Reigns
LENGTH: 322 pages
RELEASE DATE: May 16, 2019
BLURB:
Can two men fake their way to marital bliss?
Caleb Taylor is shocked to learn his family could lose Bliss Island Resort — their home and livelihood — unless he makes use of a clause to marry the child of investor Louis Chastain. Sofia Chastain is more like a sister than a love interest, and Caleb isn’t ready to sign over his future. But Sofia has a brother, and Caleb has a plan …
Julien Chastain was disowned at fifteen and has made a life as a go-go dancer in Miami, but he lives paycheck to paycheck. When his childhood friend proposes an outlandish marriage contract, he thinks he’s crazy. But it’s a chance at a future that’s tough to pass up.
Caleb and Julien must present themselves as an authentic couple for the legal loophole to work, but the lines between “fake” and “real” keep shifting as they navigate intimacy, public scrutiny, and sabotage.
Love isn’t part of the plan, but plans change. If they can outsmart Julien’s father and prove their love is worth more than a transaction, they just might find a true happily-ever-after.
REVIEW:
Caleb is just trying to keep his family’s legacy afloat. After his father passes away, he and his mother realize that the island resort they’ve run for years in in financial straights and they’re skating on thin ice. When they discover a family friend holds a loan that needs a balloon payment, Caleb tries to figure out how to fix it. He finds there’s a clause that if he marries one of the family friend’s children, the loan goes away. After adamantly declining to marry the man’s daughter, who he views like a sister, he turns to the idea of the investor’s long estranged son. Agreeing to this scenario, things begin to spin out of control as their feeling get blurred between farce and reality.
The idea of a fake wedding is one of the almost overused tropes in the MM world, but this story turns it on it’s head. Instead of being a lighthearted farce, the book looks in to the serious feelings of both men thrown in the borderline implausible scenario. Though a forced situation, the two characters try to make the most of their predicament. They both have so much going for them, but they are somewhat lost in their lives. Getting engaged brings out the best in each and helps them both grow as individuals and ultimately as a potential couple. There’s some bumps on the way, and roadblocks galore, but they plow forward to try to make better of themselves.
I’m a bit torn on how to rate this book as the situation they’re thrown is not realistic but the characters and their actions are so much based in reality and so relatable that I’m bumping this up. If you’re wanting to read about bettering oneself, internal revelations, weddings, and being under guise, this is the book for you as the writing rises above the situation.
RATING: 
BUY LINKS: