Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: Marry Me
SERIES: Tattoos and Temptation
AUTHOR: Mia Monroe
PUBLISHER: Self-published
LENGTH: 240 pages
RELEASE DATE: July 15, 2020
BLURB:
A fake fiancé never felt so real.
The idea of facing my cheating ex at a friend’s upcoming wedding sends me right back to the chubby, insecure guy I was when I met my very straight best friend. Since then Jude has been the most supportive person in my life. So when I ask him for a favor, he steps up and becomes the best fake fiancé a guy could ask for.
With three months before the big day, my friends rally to make sure we come across as authentic as possible. Jude takes to the lessons better than any of us anticipated. Especially the kissing.
Now the fake engagement is starting to feel kind of real.
This wedding should be really interesting…
Marry Me is a steamy, best friends to lovers, fake fiancé, gay awakening, low angst story. It is book one in the Tattoos and Temptation series featuring hot Miami nights, Latin desserts, and guys with ink.
It can be read as a standalone.
REVIEW:
Briar is a baker who has been through a bad breakup. His ex cheated on him and made him feel worthless and unlovable. After he’s finally free of him, he is in a bad place when he decided to better himself and goes to the gym to get rid of some excess weight. I mean he is a baker 😉 A guy at the gym helps him out since he’s way over his head. They have coffee and end up becoming best friends 🙂
Jude is a tattoo artist who has his own shop. He’s been successful, but now his shop is blowing up because he’s tattooed a professional athlete and he’s put it on IG. He’s busier than he he’s ever been. He works hard and doesn’t have much of a social life. But once he becomes friends with Briar, they become pretty much homebodies.
Then Briar gets an invite to a good friend’s wedding – as a groomsman. But it turns out his ex is the best man. UGH!!! And the ex is engaged!! So Briar needs a really big favor 🙂 A Fake Fiance – and who better than his hot BFF/roommate. Jude agrees. Then Briar’s coworkers/friends decide that they need to “coach” Jude in being a gay fiance and so they start going out to clubs, brunching with Briar’s coworkers, etc. And Jude realizes that he’s enjoying this. Maybe a little bit too much?
As Briar and Jude are involved in their intensive “practice” things get physical. And Jude is surprised by how much he likes it 😉 He really cares about Briar and he’s mad as hell at how he had been treated by Michael, the ex. He really wants to be their for Briar. And he starts to realize that maybe his feeling are evolving into something more than friendship and he’s not sure what to do about it. Meanwhile Briar is trying to guard his heart because a) he’s been through a bad breakup and was really devastated and b) he doesn’t want to lose his best friend – in fact he’s not sure he’d survive that. But as the wedding gets closer, so do Briar and Jude.
Of course you know things can’t go smoothly at the wedding. And Michael is in the thick of it. But bottom line is that Jude is there for Briar. And after some soul-searching they both come clean and it’s surprising how on the same page they are 😀
I really liked this story! This was a my first book from this author and I found the writing style charming. I liked the alternating POV’s that kept me apprised of where these guys heads were. Briar’s self-esteem had taken such a hit. It really does take a while to get over that kind of hurt/betrayal and it’s really serendipitous that he met Jude at the gym just when he needed a friend. They’ve built a solid friendship and so when they start to “play” at being fake fiance’s it doesn’t feel that fake. There are loads of great supporting characters – both Briar and Jude’s co-workers are there to support them and encourage them. There is fodder for lots more stories with all these guys! So maybe it not that difficult for Jude to discover that he wasn’t quite as straight as he assumed. He’d been through some breakups as well and has kept that part of himself on the shelf. The bottom line is that these two share a love and trust that is a solid foundation for them. I highly enjoyed this and I’m looking forward to the next book in the series! If you’re a fan of friends to lovers/fake boyfriends/fiance tropes than I think you’ll really like this one – it’s super cute. Recommended!
RATING: 
(More like 4.25 hearts)
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