So, working in a library mostly caters for my book addiction but a little while ago, I went on a book splurge and this was one of the titles I bought. I’ve read plenty of Dreamspinner Press books, but I hadn’t read any of their Dreamspun Desires range.
Three things about that. First, I can’t speak for the rest of the range, but this book was kitschy, corny and light. I saw a reviewer online state that the range was fluff, but fluff that was as addictive as crack. Secondly, the book can be a little silly at times, but so is the age-old trope of getting drunk and marrying a stranger in Vegas, which does happen in real life (Britney Spears, anyone?) so you know, I forgave that. This Dreamspun Desires range also seems to be going for the Harlequin-type of romance novels, those light, fluffy, slightly ridiculous reads with titles like The Cattle Baron’s Bogus Boyfriend and Romancing the Wrong Twin – both titles in this series – and this put me off a little, as it was my stereotypical view of romance before I read it, and I wasn’t sure I’d like it, however I thought I’d give it a try. The writing is mostly good, although occasionally there are some cringeworthy lines but overall they’re forgiven because the rest of the book is written very much with an awareness of what kind of book this is (at one point, a character points out says that they’re not in a romance novel!). Thirdly, and this strikes me as a definite point of praise – I really liked the cover. So often, romance books have terrible covers, and more so, the models on the front (almost uniformly in their twenties, with abs, and white) don’t look anything like the characters in the book, but the guy on the cover fits the character of Cody to a tee (also, and let’s be real here, the guy on the cover is cute, so that helped the purchase along quite nicely). Also, here’s to handsome guys who aren’t skinny tall and six packed to high heavens being on the cover!
As for the plot, Cody, an aspiring writer and waiter, gets drunkenly hitched to Julian, a US senator, who is an out gay man but has always advocated for marriage. He also doesn’t believe in love, and thinks that it complicates things. Cody does too. They’ve both been hurt before. You can see where this is going, right? It’s a very enjoyable book that I zipped through in a couple of days. If you’re looking for something fluffy, give this a try – and here’s a perfect example as to why you should, there’s a scene where big lug Cody reveals he’s a secret soap fan, and tries to get stuffy Julian to watch it, who protests that the plots are stupid, and contrived, but of course, an hour later, Julian’s fallen for it hook, line and sinker. An epilogue would’ve been nice to cement their relationship in the end, but overall, an enjoyable read.
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You can reserve a copy online at South Dublin Libraries’ catalogue here.
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