Review: First Comes Marriage

Book Title: First Comes Marriage (1Night Stand series) by Valerie Mann
Publisher: Decadent Publishing    

5 LIGHTNING BOLTS




Blurb:


Who agrees to an arranged marriage in the 21st century? Beth Malone can’t believe a date request with the 1Night Stand service morphed into an arranged marriage offer. But after a heartbreaking divorce and no knight in shining armor coming to sweep her off her feet, her desire to find that knight and have a family is looking more like a dream than a reality.

After filling out a 1Night Stand questionnaire worthy of the CIA, Christian Ramos is stunned when Madame Eve offers to arrange more than a date for one night: she suggests a wife! What the hell? After his best friend Jackson Castillo stops laughing, he advises him to consider the offer. Between the fortieth birthday looming on the horizon and his Latino upbringing, Chris is forced to take a hard look at his life. Reality check—time is running out for what he wants—a family and a woman to share his life.

First comes love, then comes marriage isn’t part of their matrimonial situation, but neither Beth nor Christian anticipated the immediate attraction and contentment that comes with saying, “I do.”


Review:

I absolutely fell in love with this story and only wish that it had been a full length novel instead of a short read. I still rated it five stars though, as it was a perfect mix of an endearing love story and steamy hot sex!

The book begins with Beth Malone and Christian Ramos seeking out the services of a dating business called "One Night Stand". After filling out an extensive information sheet on themselves; Madame Eve encourages the two date seekers to agree to an arranged marriage contract. Beth has had no luck with marriage the first time around and therefore doesn't trust her instincts to pick a decent man for herself. She has become extremely lonely in her life though, and she craves a family of her own. She is hesitant but decides to go ahead with this arranged marriage. Christian has not faired much better in the love department, in fact he made it to the altar twice but was abandoned there both times. He has no faith in his choices for relationships either; but has an extreme longing for a family as well.

When Beth and Christian meet, there is an immediate attraction between the two of them. Even though they are both nervous to go through with the marriage, they do carry out the plan to get married and can't wait to begin their marriage the "official way!" The wedding night begins, and to the surprise of them both the sparks fly and they are very hopeful that this wasn't such a bad decision at all and the future suddenly looks very promising.

From the first page through to the last, I adored this book. The writing was clean and the plot was well thought out too.  In my opinion, this book would have done very well as a full length novel. I found the characters were so endearing and likable that I would have loved to learn more about them. The glimpse that I did get I enjoyed and even Christian's brother I found highly entertaining and I hope that there will be a story in the future about him! The added spice to the story was tastefully done and just right for the story as well. This is an author that I will be on the lookout for in the future. I highly recommend this fun loving read to romance lovers everywhere!


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