Reviewed by Larissa

TITLE: Marry Me

SERIES: Tattoos and Temptation Book 1

AUTHOR: Mia Monroe

NARRATOR:  Kale Williams

PUBLISHER: Self-published

LENGTH: 5 hours and 54 minutes

RELEASE DATE:  September 10, 2021

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 listened to as a stand-alone.

REVIEW: 

“It’s a big beautiful rainbow where we can all find the place that fits us best.”

Discovery and understanding are the keywords in Mia Monroe’s luscious, tantalizingly sexy Marry Me, the first book in the utterly addictive Tattoos & Temptation series about hot, hunky tattoo artists falling in love with warm, cozy men who bake.  Ms. Monroe gifts the reader with Jude Mancuso, the perfect romantic male lead and audience surrogate.  Jude acts as a proxy for the reader, asking all the questions a reader would, as he inquisitively strives to be an ardent ally for his gay best friend/roommate, Briar Watts, and perhaps learn a thing or two about his own sexuality in the process.  

Marry Me doesn’t tell the story of Jude and Briar falling in love, despite the “best friends to lovers” trope. Marry Me tells the story of Jude and Briar already in love and intimate in every way, but for the sex.  This story shows two men discovering that fact and then understanding that they want it all – and that includes all the sex. 

It’s no accident that Marry Me features glorious love between Jude, a masc (to crib Briar’s description), ripped, tattoo artist who owns Black Heart Ink, and Briar, a special occasion cake baker at the neighboring bakery Dulce Santo, who’s dubbed “chubby” by his (deservedly) ex-boyfriend and “average” by his own description.  Through these two, Ms. Monroe explores the social bias towards attractiveness and the “survival of the prettiest” attitude that fuels skewed viewpoints about who “belongs” together.  She also creates a backdrop for the discussion of sexuality “labels” and how that similarly impacts social attitudes towards LGBTQ+ relationships.

With this groundwork laid, Ms. Monroe uses exquisitely crafted prose to demonstrate the many and varied reasons why this stereotyping is so flawed.  Briar and Jude are just the first in a succession of lovely, loving, complex pairings that defy the “norm” with breathtaking results.  You’ll meet all these couples as you progress through the amazing Tattoos & Temptation series.

Ms. Monroe could not have picked a better narrator for the Marry Me audiobook than Kale Williams.  He is so in tune with these characters, it’s like he channels their spirits. For example, Briar is full of wide-eyed wonder but it’s buried under years of demeaning comments from his ex.  His self-esteem has been battered and bruised yet his kind, hopeful nature is still there.  Briar’s sweet hopefulness also contains trepidation concerning his feelings for Jude and the risk to their friendship. It’s a tricky emotional mix that Mr. Williams balances exceptionally and delivers convincingly and consistently across the story. 

Mr. Williams’ voice possesses an equanimity that that perfectly captures Jude’s character.  He inflects Jude’s voice with a bit of rasp at a baritone pitch and he ramps up the raspiness or tones it down as the scene requires. His vocal performance of Jude and Briar’s steamy encounters is beyond delicious.  He lands all the whispers and growls in the right places with proper effect.  It’s erotic, consuming, and so damn hot.

Mr. Williams’ vocal performances always sound completely effortless. He never sounds like he’s trying too hard even when it’s challenging, like distinguishing between all of the members of the warm, welcoming Black Heart/Dulce Santo community of men.  Every voice is distinct even though none of them are all that different, which is why his characters sound natural and authentic. He delivers Genesis’ twinky attitude, Luca’s Southern drawl, Saint’s almost-defunct Scottish accent, and Cairo’s Spanish accent with spot-on precision.  Listen to his delivery of the rapid banter between all of these characters, culminating in Cairo’s playfully dramatic exclamation of “Oh snap” in Chapter 6 at 8 minutes 13 seconds in, and you’ll be a Kale Williams fan for life.  I certainly am.

If you’ve never read Ms. Monroe’s books or listened to Mr. Williams’ narration before, Marry Me is the place to start.  It’s a squee-worthy romance with important social subtext, an optimistic feel-good attitude, and sweet, sexy fun.  All delivered through Mr. Williams’ glorious voice.  In short, it’s magic.

RATING:

BUY LINKS: 

Amazon  

Audible