Reviewed by Valerie 

 

TITLE:  Matrimonial Merriment

SERIES: Valor and Doyle #7

AUTHOR: Nicky James

PUBLISHER: Self Published

LENGTH: 380 Pages

RELEASE DATE: December 7, 2023

BLURB:   

Quaid Andrew Valor and Aslan Ronan Doyle cordially invite you to be an honorary guest as they join their lives in matrimony. The ceremony is set to take place at Strongwind Castle on December 23rd. Save the date!

Time is short. Quaid has less than three months to plan the wedding of his dreams. A wedding that happens to land two days before Christmas. Don’t be fooled. It is not a Christmas wedding—at least not if Quaid has anything to say about it.0

The wedding binder is fat and the list of things that need to be done is long, so when the department decides to implement a mandatory team-building Secret Santa event that will take up every one of Quaid’s available Saturdays, he is livid. There is no time for nonsense on his tight schedule.

When Aslan sees what the stress is doing to his fiancé, he calls in the cavalry to help plan the wedding. What could possibly go wrong with Ruiz and Torin on their side?

Relationships grow deeper. Friends and family come together to celebrate. And Quaid and Aslan finally tie the knot.

**Matrimonial Merriment is the seventh book in the Valor and Doyle series. Unlike the other books, this one does not contain a mystery and is wholly focused on our two favorite detectives finally getting married. It was meant as a bonus book but somehow came in at over 100k words. Oops. More of them to love.**

 

REVIEW:   

“From today until tomorrow and until time stops, we are one. I love you.”

Matrimonial Merriment is utterly perfect.

Quaid and Aslan’s relationship and how they care for each other is gorgeous. The wedding planning is sometimes hilarious, sometimes sweet. And oh my god, the wedding and the vows! The vows!!  I broke down into a sobbing mess.

In my review of Disrupted Engagement, I said it was absolutely, positively, indubitably the best Valor and Doyle book yet. Well, guess what? This one beats it. That was the best ever proposal and this is the most wonderful, heartwarming wedding.

Where to begin? There’s no need to tell you how brilliant Miss Nicky is with her ability to wring us dry of all the feels, or for me to effusively praise Quaid and Aslan. You know all this already. Let’s get to the nitty gritty of why this book is one you do not want to pass up. It’s a gem that’s so much fun, but what I also love is how Quaid and Aslan’s relationship has come full circle since Temporary Partner. They express their love for each other in every little interaction and word spoken.

So without further I Do, I mean ado, here’s some of what makes this most anticipated book of the year stellar:

• The emotions in this book are through the roof.

• The wedding planning provides a veritable sneer-a-palooza for Quaid and plenty of opportunities to delight Aslan with the face.

• The heart-to-hearts between Quaid and his dad, Aslan and Torin, and Quaid and Ruiz. There’s so much Ruiz and Torin in this book… YAY! Ruiz has come a long, long way. It’s really special when grown men are comfortable in saying I Love You to their friends.

• Graham is absolutely precious, particularly his relationships with Quaid and Quaid’s dad. A very special bond has grown between Quaid and Graham and it’s more than just playing chess.

• We get front row seats to all of the wedding planning, from shopping for tuxes (funny, sweet, and sexy) to the cake testing (Torin at his most comedic). He’s beside himself with glee being invited to tag along. This is probably Torin’s best line ever:

“I’m… Shit. This is… I’m speechless. For real. I’ve never been happier to be your best friend and partner. Like, dude, seriously, I don’t know how to process this much emotion.”

• Aslan’s parents are so extra… the understatement of the year.

• The wedding officiant Barnabus. Two words to describe Barnabus – hysterical and memorable:

“The poor man looked like he’d lost the plot sometime before the turn of the century.”

• Wow the vows! The most amazing, beautiful, heartfelt expressions of love I’ve ever heard. Nicky outdid herself on these. I dare you not to tear up.

• Their first dance. Sigh.

• The details of their wedding night *ahem*. It was intimate, romantic, deeply emotional, powerful, and profound.

A big thank you to Nicky for giving Quaid everything he wanted and deserved for his storybook wedding to the love of his life, and a big thank you for giving us so many more reasons to adore these men, who are surely one of the best MM couples ever. I can’t wait for everyone to be immersed in this wonderful culmination of their love story. So far.

100 stars and hearts.

“I was ready to face tomorrow head-on, take Quaid’s hand in mine, and venture into the second part of our lives together. Because he was my happiness.”

Swoon

RATING:

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