I go to sleep wondering if there’s anything I can do to bridge the distance between us. It’s always made me feel safe, but I don’t want it anymore. I don’t want a part-time husband. I want him all the way.
This must be one of the weirdest marriage of convenience setups ever! Melissa, a 28-year-old woman, is forced into marriage by her asshole grandfather in order to keep her job at his company and to save the freedom of her lazy sisters. No idea why she doesn’t kick his balls and try to find a different job, but she goes out and proposes to Trevor, a marketing expert her grandfather hates with all his heart. They all met five years ago when Trevor applied for a job at Pops' company. He was the most competent candidate but terribly arrogant and smug, so he didn’t get the job. To this day, Pops' „mustache quivers“ when he thinks of Trevor, who is now developing ads for the competition. So proposing to him is Melissa’s revenge on Pops.
In exchange for a year of fake marriage, Melissa offers Trevor a regional advertising campaign for her grandfather’s company that will earn him „a very large amount of money“. The fake marriage has to include living together and sharing a bed. Trevor agrees without much hesitation and two days later they are married and she has moved in with Trevor.
The author doesn’t waste any time here and comes up with some stupid explanations why Melissa puts up with her grandfather's nonsense. For example the „sleeping in one bed“-thing. Asked by Trevor why they don’t just claim they do it instead of actually doing it (he always verbalized what I was thinking), she answers: "I’m not going to cheat." Sure. Your whole marriage is a lie, but you can't lie to him about sharing a bed. Makes sense. (NOT.) Of course, Trevor comes up with my thoughts again: „So you’re willing to marry a man you don’t like to get one over on Pop, but you’re not willing to cheat?”
However. The setup is weird, but all in all, the relationship evolves nicely, even though it’s seems a bit rushed. Unfortunately, theres is some back and forth later on, utter blindness/ignorance on the part of the main characters, and a very annoying third act breakup. The author also tends to be pretty repetitive – Pops’s quivering mustache is mentioned at least once in every scene with him, not to speak about Melissa referring to Trevor’s obnoxiousness (24 times), smugness (34 times), arrogance (15 times) and his eyebrow thing (33 times).
Another issue is: The author tells, but doesn’t show. Trevor doesn’t act smug or obnoxious (or only very rarely). He's totally nice, thoughtful and funny. He cares and stands up for his fake wife right from the beginning and I immediately loved him (especially when he spoke my thoughts, obviously). Melissa is okay, but Trevor is the one who carries the whole story—even though he doesn’t have a POV.
To sum it up: Trevor is a great MMC in an average book. But I will certainly try another book by this author. Sometime.
Overall: 3.5 (Rounded down for the lack of proofreading!)
Story: 3
Emotion: 3
Trevor: 5
Melissa: 3