What’s a man to do when his security company is hacked with a message from the hacker asking for a job? You hire him, of course.
Which is precisely what Aleks does. At first, he’s conflicted to learn Harris is only seventeen and on the run from a past he refuses to talk about, but that confliction soon morphs into feelings for the tragic genius, and he desperately wants Harris to open up and trust him.
Maybe it wasn’t the best decision to start off his new life by hacking into a well-known security company to ask for a job, but Harris is surprised by what he finds there—a boss who genuinely seems to care about him. As the months pass, Harris finds he wants to tell Aleks everything. To stop hiding. To finally stop running, unless it’s into the man’s arms. But fear’s grip is strong, and doesn’t let go easily.
So, when Harris’s past does come calling? Aleks must prove he will do whatever is necessary to protect his new employee and friend—including fake marrying him, despite being in love with him.
Tags: Brazilians have no concept of personal space, Kizomba, I climbed the trope tree, and hit every branch on the way back down, shy character, underage runaway, bad parenting, May/December, Fake Marriage, Boss/Employee, friends to lovers, virgin character, sharing a bed, Aleks protests all the cockblocking, hurt/comfort, told you I hit every trope, wait I might have missed one
AJ Sherwood believes in happily ever afters, magic, dragons, good men, and dark chocolate. She often dreams at night of delectable men doing sexy things with each other. In between writing multiple books (often at the same time) she pets her cats, plays with her dogs, and attempts insane things like aerial yoga.
She currently resides in Tennessee with aforementioned cats, dogs, and her editor/best friend/sister/partner in crime.
All the tropes but none of the feels. Harris is a skinny vulnerable kid - maybe adopt him, buy him a meal, don't marry him! The format is through a progresson of xmonth ago..; it sets up situations, then moves on several months without showing enough to make me care. Harris's situation is so OTT I struggled to suspend disblief and from there the brain-dead morning scene was too much, I quit. None of the characters rung true and I never even started to care about them. The author's note in the blurb mentions it's trope-tastic so possibly it was intended as a funny parody in which case I experienced humour-fail, it's not for me.
I’m willing and ready to put up with a lot when it comes to the fake-relationship trope—and for the second time in a row, I don’t even consider this fake-relationship trope, the fake part lasts 3 seconds before both characters are made aware that the other MC wants them—so I could’ve swallowed the completely unrealistic plot and ridiculous reason for the fake marriage. I still need to take the characters and their situation somehow seriously to get something out of the trope, though, and here I didn’t. Not even a little bit. In fact, I took them so little seriously that I wasn’t even bothered by the thirty-year-old lusting after and then marrying a runaway, domestically abused eighteen-year-old kid that was working for him.
This was a very good novella - well-paced, suspenseful, low steam age gap romance with likable characters. Despite it's shortness Ms Sherwood managed to show the relationship development between Harris and Aleks that started with solid friendship and turned into something more. The epilogue truly made this story great. I felt like the story arc was complete. I enjoyed their interactions that were quite chaste but very affable and at times sweet. Very nice snippet!
Short and sweet! I like that everything that’s happened was logical and moved in a natural progression. Some stories, things just come out of left field because the author either couldn’t find a way to resolve something or they wanted to force it into a specific direction. I’m glad this one had pretty solid plot line without the usual gaping holes 😆
This story had no head or tail. It was plot-heavy, it focused only on one major problem of the younger MMC and the love interest was there just to make this seem like a romance - which it definitely wasn't.
🟣 Plot heavy 🟢 It should've been called Van On The Run 🟡 Age gap - 12 years, but we don't get to enjoy it 🌶️ No spice 🔵 Don't expect a fake marriage trope, it's not there, they def want to bang each other and they're thrilled to be married 🔴 Older MMC is Brazilian - doesn't really matter in the book except for his fluffy black hair
Yes, the title is a bit misleading.
This novella doesn't focus on the marriage contract at all, but on Harris, who's a 17-year old software developer that runs away from home, from forced labour and his father looking for him. In that running he finds Aleks' company and goes to work there.
When his dad actually finds him, the whole story again revolves around lawyers, software, security and everything else but the two people involved in that fake marriage - that isn't fake at all.
So I'm not really sure what the message here was. I'm confused. Aleks and Harris have very little on-page chemistry and nothing particularly loving or sexy is happening between them. I did like that first night when they fell asleep together though.
They basically just kiss near the end of the book and even now, while writing this review, I'm wondering why the hell was it important that Aleks was Brazilian?? So little was said about him that it made no sense at all.
The idea was there, but the story should've been much more developed - especially the love story.
Honestly this wasn’t bad, it was just too short. Only 72 pages there was a lot that went on that we were just told rather than seeing how it would play out.
I wish it was a bit longer to really develop the relationship and the main plot. I think having it go so perfectly didn’t work well with me. But for being such a short story it was enjoyable.
I liked how this was structured. I liked the characters well enough to accept the iffy plot points. I liked that it is low-angst, it's short enough to make that work pretty well. It's not the author's best work, but not every story can be.
Another winner from the fake-dating giveaway stories! I love AJ Sherwood - her Jon mysteries series is one of my favorites from this year.
This was a fun, sweet novella of a young man on the run from his controlling family. Harris is able to find a place to belong and, unexpectedly, a husband, with his boss and the man who he's had a crush on ever since working for him.
I would have loved a bit more to this story - more time with Harris and Aleks getting to know each other as husbands rather than boss/employee and friends, but overall I did really enjoy this one.
This is a very quick read and I really enjoyed it. I liked how the book was sectioned into time periods beginning with what happened one year prior moving to the present day and then one year later. It started out a bit mysteriously and I don’t think we were supposed to know exactly what was going on. Things were revealed fairly quickly in the following chapters and the story progressed at a nice pace. We got the story from both MCs POV in third person and I liked that.
If you’re looking for high heat you won’t find it here. What you will find is a bit of mystery, a sweet, shy character and his boss and coworkers who step in to protect him. The was a great short novella!
This is short and all sorts of delicious. Harris is all awesomeness, and Aleks is exactly who he needs in his life to encourage and shelter him. I adore/am terrified of Connie, as is only right, and the De Sousa family is simply wonderful. Another win for this author!
I love AJ Sherwood's writing so when I saw this short novella I snapped it up. Although it is different from anything else I have read by her, I still really enjoyed it. Gone are the hilarious antics of her previous (for me) books. They are replaced with a sweet romance. Harris is on the run. He sends the most unusual job application I have ever seen - he hacks into the computer of Aleks firm and asks for a job. Guessing that Harris is a runaway and figuring that someone talented enough to hack into their system would be a valuable employee, Aleks takes a chance on him. It is obvious that Aleks and Harris have feelings for each other and they are perfect for each other. Harris has no self confidence or idea of his worth as a person. Aleks is so understanding and tries to show him that he is worthy of care and affection. The book ends with a sweet look one year into the future. I highly recommend this read if you're looking for a short, sweet romance.
I love a novella and I'm in a novella mood, plus I'm all about boss/employee relationships right now, so this hits all the marks. Harris's dad is pretty damn evil but then cynic that I am I could see someone like that in real life. I liked their friendship development, which is what was the basis for their eventual relationship. Overall, I enjoyed it and I'd read it again.
Hm... I really suspect the only books of AJ Sherwood that work for me are the John's mystery ones and those of Mack, but those are the same universe... Maybe it's because they are more on the fantasy side.
Well, I actually forgot about the title when I read it, so it kinda came to me as a surprise that they suddenly got married for the weirdest reason. Jesus, just go to the police or something. And then this lawyer who was contradicting himself all the time. Is this contract illegal or what? Why should he PAY that asshole of a father the breech penalty fee then? This makes no sense at all.
I give it two stars, because I liked the beginning and some parts were entertaining enough, but I think this shouldn't be a novella.
3.75-4 This was a nice, easy to read MM romance of novella length. The author succeeded pretty well in telling the whole story in such a short page length within its limitations. I've nothing specific at least serious to complain of that comes to mind right now. The story understandable concentrated more on the other aspects as the actual romance here. It's a nice fast read if you don't mind that.
The possibilities as to where you could have gone with this story is mind boggling! It was like chopped to death and we only got a tiny version of it. I love the Dynamic between Aleks and Harris and with story bringing them together was perfect but you really, really should have let your hair down with this and went wild. I really wish you would rewrite this story as an extended version and let it live up to its full magnificence.
I started this hoping for a quick, great read with a fun fake relationship trope and some suspense. The writing and setup were good, the characters interesting, but it was just kinda ho hum in the end. Considering how short this story was, it took me an awfully long time to read it and I think that's because I was never overly eager to pick it up.
Here's A.J. Sherwood's "Marriage Contract" (one of her very few non-supernatural/paranormal books). ["What’s a man to do when his security company is hacked with a message from the hacker asking for a job? You hire him, of course.
Which is precisely what Aleks does. At first, he’s conflicted to learn Harris is only seventeen and on the run from a past he refuses to talk about, but that confliction soon morphs into feelings for the tragic genius, and he desperately wants Harris to open up and trust him.
Maybe it wasn’t the best decision to start off his new life by hacking into a well-known security company to ask for a job, but Harris is surprised by what he finds there—a boss who genuinely seems to care about him. As the months pass, Harris finds he wants to tell Aleks everything. To stop hiding. To finally stop running, unless it’s into the man’s arms. But fear’s grip is strong, and doesn’t let go easily.
So, when Harris’s past does come calling? Aleks must prove he will do whatever is necessary to protect his new employee and friend—including fake marrying him, despite being in love with him."]
and because it's all just fucking hilarious, the authors "other tags" ["Brazilians have no concept of personal space, Kizomba, I climbed the trope tree, and hit every branch on the way back down, shy character, underage runaway, bad parenting, May/December, Fake Marriage, Boss/Employee, friends to lovers, virgin character, sharing a bed, Aleks protests all the cockblocking, hurt/comfort, told you I hit every trope, wait I might have missed one"]
This one was super tropey. However, it was also super good! It was angst and sweet and rough and fluffy. It was so much. It could have been a smidge longer, but our two leading men stopped being idiots long enough to get together and an asshole got what was coming to him, so all in all, it worked out. ;)
Trigger Warnings: toxic parents, several forms of domestic abuse (but not outright physical), and more
Short, sweet, but I was hoping for a little more time so Harris was more than just legal and would actually be maturing. The time skips leave readers disconnected from the characters. Especially as they skip to somewhat large events but completely gloss over them. Those would have been key bonding moments that allowed readers to truly fall for the characters. Especially the scene with Aleks taking care of Harris during the flu. Two weeks we could have seen sweetness and humor, them getting closer, becoming better friends to lay the groundwork for later. I'm still a little flinching about the age gap. I'd rather have had Harris make his break after 18, and had a whole year or 2 to mature a bit while dodging the big bad. We did get over a year...of skipped scenes and jumps. But we missed out on Harris discovering the world. We miss his first time ordering for himself at a restaurant. We miss him overwhelmed at the grocery store. We miss him learning to make friends with his coworkers or befriending a clerk at the gas station. Harris stays so insular that he doesn't ever have the chance to grow and develop outside his already stifled cocoon. Aleks steps in as a protector but we never see Harris liberated and exploring. He remains timid, introverted (which, hey, some of us just are), and almost swaddled. Even with the ending, where he has his own (no spoilers) he still lets Aleks handle things. He didn't interview someone to do that for him. And no one is going to claim Aleks is predatory, he never tried to woo anything other than friendship- and that only to get Harris to realize it's ok to relax and confide. But the age gap plus the never nudging him to spread his wings leaves a slightly bad taste. At least encourage Harris to seek counseling, seek some independence somewhere, even if it's just discovering a new hobby.
Like age gap romances? Protective guys with guys that need protection? You might like this short novella.
Be aware that this is a contemporary romance, and it isn't particularly funny, which is a departure for AJ Sherwood, who mostly writes funny fantasy romances.
Also be aware that there is nothing realistic about this story. I am not a lawyer, but my Dad is an entrepreneur, and I've worked for him since I was 12. I know a little about employment law for family businesses. I know about security software from working as an administrative assistant, not a coder. I know about 12 year olds from being one and being a mother, including to a child with sleep difficulties. If you have personal knowledge of any of these, or worse, law, you may be offended by the author's lack of research into these issues.
Finally, you should know there is no marriage contract, as the title implies. There is a work contract, and there is a marriage of convenience.
I loved Aleks' huge protective family and how smart Harris is about running away.
Harris Jones is a runaway. He had legitimate reasons to run, and was pretty savvy about executing it. He ended up in Nashville.
Aleks De Souza heads a security company. They provide software bundles for their clients, and monitoring for the home and smaller businesses markets. One day, someone hacks their system, asking for a job.
When a young man/teenager walks in, everyone’s protective instincts are aroused. They are sure Harris is a runaway, but, they are about protecting as a business. And the kid is talented.
When his previous life catches up with him, Harris is tempted to run again, but Aleks and his partner are convincing. There is an employment contract that needs to be examined by a lawyer, a possibility of a way to meet the situation head on.
And, with friends in place, Harris decides to take that chance. The contract timeline makes the details a little uncomfortable, but it works out.
This book was no from me. I dnfed at 45% in horror.
This book is all about a rich, powerful man in his thirties who proposes marriage to his vulnerable teenage runaway employee because apparently that’s the only way he would be allowed to help defend the boy in court. So the premise is ridiculously unbelievable. Or potentially disturbing. I assume they get married next and fall in love but I didn’t get that far. The story is delivered in jolting chapters with titles where day zero is the proposal. So it counts down then just carries on counting up again.
This review has turned out a bit ranty... so sorry... but i really really didn’t like this one. That’s partly on me for not reading the bio properly but also partly on the author because I’m not always against an age gap romance if there’s some sense of balance in it in some way... there was none here as far as I can tell.
This was mostly cute, with just the right amount of tension for a short story. Definitely had to have some suspension of disbelief, but that's expected for fake marriage stories. There was basically no adult fun-time, very low heat.
My one gripe that gave me a hard time was the age of the MCs. The book starts with one being 17yo, and then the main story while he's 18. The other MC is 29-30. Irl that would be creepy at best, let along the power dynamics that were in this story. Older MC is younger MC's boss and basically protector. Young MC is in a bad situation and again, irl, old MC would be totally taking advantage or even grooming. I would have been way happier with even a few more years on the younger one. 21-22yo would have even be better.
So I knew when I start it that it will be a short and fast story, that was what I was looking for and I was not disappointed. The plot was good, the writing was amazing, amaze me that with such a few page the author can represented his caracter with a full personnality that we would love immediatly. This book should have more potential if the author decide to make a serie or a more developed version. I remove 1 star for what exactly? Idk, each book can have place for more specially this one. I want a serie, I want more action, more emotion, more Family between co-worker, I wanted more pages...totally in love.
Its a good plot with good characters poorly executed. This book could have been so SO amazing if it was longer.
Instead it went from chapter to chapter with months in between (ie. chapter 1 = one year ago. chapter 2: 8 months ago. chapter 3 = 6 months). Even the “present” time was months apart each chapter. Then in the end, when it was just getting good, it jumped to “one year later” with a hea that ties up the plot and loose ends.
Its still worth reading, as the plot is very interesting. Short book, only 80-something pages.
Tags; Short story. M/M romance. Security company. Hacker. Age gap(?-not explained. one mc is 18). Runaway (financial, mental, emotional abuse of parents). Money isn’t an issue.
I was interested because the MC was Brazilian. As Brazilian myself, I was horrified by the butchering of my language. Misspelling (você/vocé in the same sentence), Wrong language (“si” is in Spanish, not Portuguese). The whole “Brazilian have no concept of personal space” was bothersome. You don’t get up and close to your co-worker (especially in a boss/subordinate situation) unless you are a close friend. I was confused by Harris age. Was he 17 or 18? The age gap and power difference bothered me. I don’t find romantic a 30+ year-old, rich man lusting after a teenager running from an abusive situation. Even if they marry for a good/decent reason, the power imbalance that gives to Aleks is too much.