3 Stars
Publisher: Entangled Publishing, Indulgence
Date of publication: October 9th, 2017
Genre: Romance, LGBTQIA
Number of pages: 175
POV: 3rd person
Series: Love and Sports
His Convenient Husband – Book 1
Where you can find His Convenient Husband: Barnes and Noble | Amazon
Book synopsis (from Goodreads):
NFL football player Isaiah Blackwell lost his husband three years ago and is raising their teen son alone. He lives his life as quietly as his job allows, playing ball to support his family but trying not to draw unwanted attention. His quiet life is shaken up when a mutual friend introduces him to Victor, a visiting principal ballet dancer who is everything Isaiah is not.
Brash and loud, Victor Aleksandrov has applied for political asylum to avoid returning to Russia, where gay men are targeted and persecuted. He’s been outspoken about gay rights in his home country, and if he doesn’t get asylum, going back to Russia is a death sentence.
Their one-night stand turns into a tentative friendship, a relationship they both agree is temporary… until Victor’s denied asylum. Isaiah can’t offer Victor a happily ever after, but he can propose something that’ll keep Victor in the US and safe… marriage He just doesn’t expect his new husband to dance away with his heart.
Trigger Warning:
My Review:
When I saw the blurb for His Convenient Husband, I was pretty excited to read it. I couldn’t wait to read Isaiah and Victor’s story and see how they fall for each other. What I ended up with was a huge disappointment to me.
The plot for His Convenient Husband was simple. Isaiah is still getting over the death of his husband when he meets Victor, a ballerina. Victor has applied for asylum in the United States. He is a gay activist in Chechnya*. Being gay in that country is dangerous. Lesbian and gay people are being purged. Victor is afraid that he will be on the next list because of his activism. When Victor is denied asylum, Isaiah does something that surprises himself. It also surprises friends and family. He marries Victor to keep him safe. The only thing, Victor isn’t exactly the fade into the woodwork kind of guy. He is out, proud about it and not about to tune it down. When Victor’s activism starts affecting Isaiah’s professional and personal life, he is faced with a choice. Either love Victor for who he is or let him go.
I mentioned in the first paragraph that I was disappointed by His Convenient Husband. The main reason I was so disappointed was because of Isaiah. While he was a good man and a great father, he wasn’t willing to open himself up to love again. But that wasn’t even the problem I had with him. The problem I had, and the reason I gave the book the review I gave it, was that he was cruel to Victor. He said and did such cruel things and Victor took it until he couldn’t take it anymore. It left a bad taste in my mouth. Every time Isaiah even though he was getting close to Victor, he did or said something to drive him away. Made me go “WTF” several times during the time while reading.
I loved Victor. He was what Isaiah needed, even though Isaiah was doing his best to keep him at arm’s length. He put up with so much from Isaiah. Much more than I would have, to be honest. I would have left long before he did. I did like that he was shown as being human. I mean, he meant to cheat of Isaiah at the club and had second thoughts. What I enjoyed was the positive influence that he had on Isaiah’s son, Evan. Evan, who is genderfluid, learned how to stand up for himself from watching Victor. See, Victor is an activist in his home country of Chechnya. That country is purging gay and lesbians. Victor is doing everything within his power to bring attention to that and it rubbed off on Evan. So yes, it is safe to say that I liked Victor much more than I liked Isaiah.
The sex between Isaiah and Victor was hot. The sex grew hotter and hotter as the story went on. Even when Isaiah and Victor were relieving themselves, it was hot. My feelings for Isaiah aside, the sex scenes were very hot with Victor. I did like that later in the book, they were starting to get more emotion driven….even if Isaiah was fighting it.
The end of the book was actually very nice. I liked the dressing down that Isaiah got from Evan. I did a double fist pump and went “You go, boyfriend“. I also liked the epilogue. I don’t know if Isaiah and Victor would make it as a real-life couple. I give them a 45% chance with hopes that Isaiah does some major changing.
Like I said above, His Convenient Husband disappointed me. The male romantic lead, Isaiah, couldn’t get his head out of his butt to see what he had and almost lost it. He also was cruel to Victor. What saved this book from being a 2-star review was Victor and the hot sex scenes.
Will I reread: No but I will read other books by the author
Will I recommend to family and friends: Yes
Age range: Adult
Why: Sex and language
I would like to thank Robin Covington, Entangled Publishing, Indulgence, and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review His Convenient Husband.
All opinions expressed in this review of His Convenient Husband are mine.
I received no compensation for this review.
**I received a free copy of this book and volunteered to review it**
- What is happening in Chechnya is a very real thing. The world needs to speak out against the purging of the gays and lesbians of this country and let their leaders know it will not be tolerated.
