Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: Kicking It for Convenience
SERIES: Out and Kickin’
AUTHOR: Riley Long
PUBLISHER: Self-published
LENGTH: 135 pages
RELEASE DATE: March 9, 2024
BLURB:
The course of my life changed with a phone call. One minute I’m playing kickball and running my construction company. The next my grandfather’s lawyer calls me to say I have to be married for a year to collect my vast inheritance.
Bad news when I’m as single as they come.
Collecting the money seemed a pipe dream… until I got a call that a sink at the Radiance Theater had sprung a leak. I hurried to the job site and, to my surprise, had an instant connection with the theater’s new owner. Soren needs money to finish renovations on the Radiance. I need a husband.
A temporary marriage was the answer to both our problems. Yet with skeptical family and friends doubting our relationship and a hurricane churning in the horizon, will our connection become more fact than fiction? Or will we break under the storm of reality?
REVIEW:
Note: This is the fifth in the series and does have some spoilers for the first four books. It can be read as a standalone.
Levi is having a nice outing with his kickball team. Not that he’s not friendly with his bio family, but these guys are his found family. When he has to go to the reading of his grandfather’s will, things do not go to plan. The entire family is shocked by the wealth his grandfather had amassed. However, there is one wrinkle in Levi getting his inheritance. He has to get married and on his one year anniversary, he’ll get the majority of the money. Huh. Levi isn’t even dating anybody. He’s kind of a loner and hasn’t really been interested in relationships.
Soren has moved to Port Grandlin from Kansas after purchasing a long shuttered theater in the historic district. He had spend summers with his grandparents in the area when he was a kid and he really liked the area. There is a lot of work to be done, but he’s left his job, sold his house, broke up with his on-and-off-again girlfriend to make a go of this venture. Unfortunately after fixing a bathroom sink, water is shooting out all over the room and he cannot get it turned off – despite using the shutoff in the room. He tries to find a plumber and he keeps getting told he needs Hayes Restoration. He finally calls and Levi answers the call.
Levi shows up and helps Soren get things handled for the evening. He feels the tingle of something when he meets Soren and ends up asking him out for a drink and some food and a chat after they get things under control at the theater. They chat and Levi asks Soren about his plans. Soren realizes now that he’s maybe bitten off a little more than he can chew. He’s starting to maybe panic a little bit but Levi has a couple of ideas. Some are on the business side, but by far the most surprising is that Levi proposes a partnership of marriage that get them both what they want. It will just be a business arrangement. Of course it will 😉
Levi loves Soren’s plan and he wants to help in any way possible. He helps with permits and grants and historic designations and of course the renovation work 🙂 They work really well together and the more time they spend together, the more Levi’s attraction grows. But Soren has only dated women in the past and he’s not sure what that means – but he catches Soren checking him out more than once. Eventually Soren can’t help himself and kisses Levi. He’s not sure what this means for him but he definitely knows he wants more with Levi.
I really enjoyed this story! It’s low on the angst but there was plenty of UST during the first half of the book. I liked how Levi didn’t push Soren and that Soren took his time figuring out what he wanted. His brother Hugo was a great resource for him. I loved his parents – they were so chill with Levi 🙂 Levi never thought he wanted a partner, but once he met Soren and they had started to mesh their lives, he realized that maybe there could be more than his work and coming home to his empty house. Loved that the kickball team became Soren’s found family as well. He was taken in as part of the group and they all chipped in when Soren needed help without expecting anything in return. This story was a fun read and nice spin on the “fake marriage” trope. This is a fast and easy read that I can definitely recommend.
RATING: 
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