Title: Marriage of Inconvenience Author: Penny Reid
Series: Knitting in the City #7
Release date: March 6, 2017
(Sub)genres: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 352
Buy: Amazon US ~ Amazon UK
Rating:
I received this book from Social Butterfly PR in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
There are three things you need to know about Kat Tanner (aka Kathleen Tyson. . . and yes, she is *that* Kathleen Tyson): 1) She’s determined to make good decisions, 2) She must get married ASAP, and 3) She knows how to knit.
Being a billionaire heiress isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. In fact, it sucks. Determined to live a quiet life, Kat Tanner changed her identity years ago and eschewed her family’s legacy. But now, Kat’s silver spoon past has finally caught up with her, and so have her youthful mistakes. To avoid imminent disaster, she must marry immediately; it is essential that the person she chooses have no romantic feelings for her whatsoever and be completely trustworthy.
Fortunately, she knows exactly who to ask. Dan O’Malley checks all the boxes: single, romantically indifferent to her, completely trustworthy. Sure, she might have a wee little crush on Dan the Security Man, but with clear rules, expectations, and a legally binding contract, Kat is certain she can make it through this debacle with her sanity—and heart—all in one piece.
Except, what happens when Dan O’Malley isn’t as indifferent—or as trustworthy—as she thought?
I have to admit, I’m a fairly ‘new’ Penny Reid fan. Friends of mine have read her work since the beginning, but I only started her books last year. And in that year, I have devoured every single book. Oops… I love the ‘Knitting in the City Series’, it’s about a great group of friends who are all very different, but their friendship is everything. Kat is the youngest member of the bunch, and a bit of a mystery. Marriage of Inconvenience finally gives us her story, I love Kat and Dan together.
“I swallowed, careful not to gulp air, and gave him a smile I was sure looked dazed. I was dazed. I was amazed and dazed and frazzled and bedazzled. And bewitched. This was the worst. And the best.”
Kat is a young woman who likes to make her own living, and she loves her friends and their knitting club. What not a lot of people know (including most of said friends) is that she’s a very wealthy heiress, and that she doesn’t have to work a 9 to 5 job. Kat isn’t close with her family (an understatement), and the strings that come with the family company and fortune don’t make her happy. When she’s ‘forced’ to marry as soon as possible, she turns to her longtime crush Dan. Too bad she can’t keep her feelings out of their agreement.
Dan spends his days working and living in the same building. It doesn’t sound perfect to me, but he doesn’t mind. For the past years Dan has looked at Kat from a distance, a girlfriend and assumptions tend to do that. But now he’s single and Kat seriously needs his help, he’s all in. The more he gets to know the real Kat, the more fascinated he becomes. And his feelings? Well, he didn’t even plan on keeping those out of the arrangement.
“I’d never felt the shitty feeling in my chest until I met Kat Tanner. Like I couldn’t draw a full breath when she was around. Actually, scratch that. I couldn’t draw a full breath sometimes when I simply thought about her.”
I love Marriage of Inconvenience! Like in the other ‘Knitting in the City books’, there’s a couple with great chemistry, strong friendships and a few interesting side stories. The story of Kat and Dan is not any different. Most of the book is told from Kat’s POV, but Dan gets a few chapters of his own. Beside the main couple their friends (mostly the couples from the previous books) pop up all throughout the book, and there’s a good old-fashioned villain. I love the whole combination.
Oh Kat, I felt so sorry for her. Not just for the whole inheritance thing, but also because she didn’t let her friends in. I understand she wants her privacy, but they would have helped her without a second thought, no questions asked. Letting Dan in is huge for her, given that she’s still battling her demons. Dan Dan Dan, he’s an amazing, real guy. He knows what he wants, and he learns from his mistakes (never assume dude, you know, assumption is the mother of all fuck-ups). I love Kat and Dan as a couple and I love their story, it’s as simple as that.
“I want the ugly and the beautiful and everything in between. You don’t pick and choose the parts of a person you want. Shit, I’m the ugliest fucker I know, and I want to give it all to you.”
Excerpt
Staring at his chin, because I couldn’t quite lift my eyes any higher, I cleared my throat. “Should we get ready for bed?”
“Sure,” he said, his voice a rumble. Dan’s eyes were on me, I felt the weight of them.
My hands came to the hem of my skirt and I hesitated, feeling winded for some reason. Sneaking a glance at him, I immediately wished I hadn’t. His gaze was watchful, but it was also unmistakably hot in a way that seemed at once both avaricious and accusatory. The vice tightened around my lungs.
Kiss him! Just freaking kiss him! You want numbered steps? Fine. You kiss him- check. He kisses you back- check. Then you make out- check. Check the boxes.
I licked my lips, balling my hands into fists at my sides again, preparing to follow my hasty list.
But then he said, “Undress me.”
My breath caught. On instinct, my eyes lifted and collided with his in much the same way our bodies had collided at the top of the stairs just moments ago. Jarring. Startling. Thrilling. This time I couldn’t look away because this time I was falling. He made no move to catch me.
“What? What did you say?”
His eyes narrowed, which served only to increase the intensity of his gaze from smolder to inferno. “Take my clothes off.”
I stared at him, licking my lips again, and shaking my head. That wasn’t one of my steps.
Lifting my chin, I moved to kiss him. He leaned to the side, evading me even as his eyes dropped to my mouth.
“Take off my shirt and I’ll give you a kiss.” He’d used his naughty-secret voice.
An explosion of heat erupted in my belly, and now I was hot all over. I couldn’t figure out if the heat was embarrassment or arousal or both.
He didn’t give me a chance to figure it out. His hands lifted and he undid his cuffs; then they moved to the top button of his shirt.
“You better take over,” he said darkly, “or else you’re not getting that kiss.”
Leave a Reply