Wednesday 8 July 2015

The Wedding is a trap but not in the way that you think


Blurb:
Beth Bradley has a problem.  Everyone is expecting her successful music executive boyfriend, Charlie, to be her date for her best friend's wedding.  There's one hitch: Charlie doesn't exist.  Unless she can think of something false, she's headed for the most humiliating weekend of her life.

Alex Tanner has a problem.  The former Navy SEAL's search for a double agent lands him at the Kensington Hotel, and he needs a cover to finish the job.  When the sexy maid of honor blackmails him into pretending to be her lover, he thinks he's been handed the solution.

Except Beth has a way of stumbling into trouble, and when the man Alex is hunting starts targeting Beth, Alex had to decide between solving the mystery or protecting the woman who has stolen his heart.

***

Part romantic comedy, part thriller, and filled with plenty of intrigue, The Wedding Trap is the first novel in the Second Service contemporary romance series.


Review:
The premise for this novella is fairly unique and CIA agent crashing a wedding to find a mole and a bridesmaid with a fake boyfriend who needs to make an appearance.  However, the rest of the novella is fairly straightforward and formulaic as these things usually are. 

Beth, the bride's BFF and subject of this story, is a regular curvy girl who is generous (to a fault). She is a bit of a clutz and cares deeply for others but she does not feel special and this is compounded upon by her mother and ex-boyfriend, who is the groom's best man.  So to save herself she has created a secret boyfriend, basically to stop her mother meddling in her life.

Alex (the hero) is a typical alpha male working for the CIA but he has some likeable elements to his character and falls heavily for Beth.  Alex has his own personal agenda and takes on the persona of Beth's secret boyfriend before he becomes the 'real thing'.

There are funny moments and generally the novella is fast paced and this reader was certainly interested enough to continue reading until the end.  There were some laugh out loud moments and some doh! moments but that I suppose is usual.

The erotic parts weren’t nearly as hot as they could have been and this was a serious disappointment.  As with all romantic fiction the story is a little far-fetched with the insta-love element.  The ending felt rather rushed.  An epilogue would have been nice to see how this coupled fared after more than three days.

This is the perfect read for the beach or the 'plane which requires very little input from the reader and provides a great reward if you are able to suspend belief in reality.

Full Disclosure: I received a free copy from Netgalley for an honest review.

I rated this 3 stars on Netgalley and 'It was OK' on Goodreads (2 stars) and Amazon (3 stars)