myzanm's review
3.0
Sweet story with lots of non-cuminication.
Jesse was really sweet. Chris was sweet too, but he was so self centered it almost put me off.
Jesse was really sweet. Chris was sweet too, but he was so self centered it almost put me off.
crtsjffrsn's review
4.0
Chris Valentine is a struggling writer who has experienced some success but is still looking for that break. He's trying to juggle working as a barista with finding the time he needs to write, and he would love to find a publisher willing to take on his new series. At a reading, he ends up with two leads, one of whom is Jesse Donovan, an attractive business mogul who expresses a keen interest in helping Chris get published. The two meet to discuss the prospect, and Chris finds that he enjoys spending time with Jesse (but they'll only be friends since Jesse is quite obviously straight). Eventually Jesse reveals that he's in a bind, and he hopes Chris can help him. Jesse needs to get married--and stay married for at least a year--to retain control of his company. He offers Chris a business proposal: Chris gets all the time he needs to write for the next year and will receive a million dollars for his trouble. Chris knows it's strictly a business arrangement, and he could certainly use both the time and the money. But can he really spend a year pretending to be married to one of the most attractive men he's ever met?
This is the second book released in the new Dreamspun Desires subscription line. Each is a stand-alone book that (for the most part) follows the basic romance formula. And I'm glad to see some of the authors they have already set for this line.
In some ways, I'm not at all surprised that I enjoyed a Shira Anthony title. She has a way of creating and writing characters who are complex and realistic. And the background characters always seem to get that same attention. The worlds in which her stories take place aren't just the tiny bubble in which the main characters exist, but we also don't get pages and pages of unnecessary information that doesn't have anything to do with the plot. The balance is always just the right mix.
I know we're not very far into 2016 yet, but I have a feeling this is going to be one of my favorite books of this year.
This is the second book released in the new Dreamspun Desires subscription line. Each is a stand-alone book that (for the most part) follows the basic romance formula. And I'm glad to see some of the authors they have already set for this line.
In some ways, I'm not at all surprised that I enjoyed a Shira Anthony title. She has a way of creating and writing characters who are complex and realistic. And the background characters always seem to get that same attention. The worlds in which her stories take place aren't just the tiny bubble in which the main characters exist, but we also don't get pages and pages of unnecessary information that doesn't have anything to do with the plot. The balance is always just the right mix.
I know we're not very far into 2016 yet, but I have a feeling this is going to be one of my favorite books of this year.
jessilwow12's review
5.0
If you are trying to get into the M/M genre and really enjoy the Historical Romance story of hasty required marriage plot this is the book for you. I read a lot of genres and Historical Romance is one of my go-tos to unwind and drift away but I haven’t really been able to get into the M/M Historical books. This book is a great example of taking something very old and done a lot and making it feel very new. The author did an amazing job of blending two types of story and making one great book.
Jesse needs to marry to secure control of all he has known and worked for. Chris is a struggling author who catches Jesse’s eye. Enter now the quick courtship and hasty wedding. All the usual historical hang ups are evident in the story but done in a refreshing way that keeps you reading just waiting to see if these two can stumble along and find true love and get their HEA.
This story could have felt like just another contrived love story but the author did such a great job making what is an overdone story in the Historical M/F Romance genre feel all new and exciting. All the same components are there but Shira made them appealing again. As I said before if you are looking to see if you like the M/M genre and have enjoyed Historical Romance, this book is a good one to start with. The chemistry between Jesse and Chris is hot and a good introduction to M/M for Historical book lovers. Definitely give this one a try. I know I will be reading more from this author in the future.
I received a free copy of this book to read for Inked Rainbow Reads in exchange for an honest review.
Jesse needs to marry to secure control of all he has known and worked for. Chris is a struggling author who catches Jesse’s eye. Enter now the quick courtship and hasty wedding. All the usual historical hang ups are evident in the story but done in a refreshing way that keeps you reading just waiting to see if these two can stumble along and find true love and get their HEA.
This story could have felt like just another contrived love story but the author did such a great job making what is an overdone story in the Historical M/F Romance genre feel all new and exciting. All the same components are there but Shira made them appealing again. As I said before if you are looking to see if you like the M/M genre and have enjoyed Historical Romance, this book is a good one to start with. The chemistry between Jesse and Chris is hot and a good introduction to M/M for Historical book lovers. Definitely give this one a try. I know I will be reading more from this author in the future.
I received a free copy of this book to read for Inked Rainbow Reads in exchange for an honest review.
menomica's review
Had the realization that I do not care about these characters at all.
the_novel_approach's review
5.0
4.5 Stars Shira Anthony’s First Comes Marriage is the epitome of category romance—the meet-cute, the setup, the drama, the wooing, the happily-ever-after—and I enjoyed every last word of it.
Following in the tried-and-true footsteps of your mom’s Harlequin romances, Dreamspun Desires and the authors contributing to the line are giving new life to some of the time honored tropes in the romance genre. First Comes Marriage is such a blatantly wonderful feel-good read that I couldn’t help smiling and sighing just a little the more I got to know its main characters, Chris Valentine and Jesse Donovan. The title of the story itself is just adorable, playing on the schoolyard rhyme every kid sang or heard at one time or another growing up; although, doing things more than a little backwards is an indicator of the conflict these men are getting themselves into. Jesse’s proposal happens well before the k-i-s-s-i-n-g or the love, mostly because it was made approximately five minutes after he and Chris met. This particular merger and acquisition is more a necessary business arrangement for Jesse than it is a ’til-death-do-us-part proposition.
At first…
For a plot and resolution this foreseeable to work, it needs strong characters we readers can invest in, and I’m thrilled to say Shira Anthony got the job done, spot on, with Chris and Jesse, as well as their supporting cast. In short, I really liked these guys and wanted them to stay the course. Chris’s steadfast anti-marriage stance along with Jesse’s decision to lie by omission supplied the plausible setup for this plan to emerge, build, evolve. And then, of course, when lies, truth, evasion, and the dynamics of what Chris and Jesse want and don’t want and can’t admit to wanting play out, we get the logical conflict anyone who isn’t Chris or Jesse could see coming light years away, wrapped up in an idea so full of reasons to fail. What Anthony does, though, is begin to build a friendship between them, and their chemistry as friends is so lovely that their falling in love was just a no-brainer. At least for us readers to see. For Chris and Jesse, however, it wasn’t quite that easy.
One of the characters that ended up surprising me in a good way is Jesse’s step-grandmother, Wenda. Where Shira Anthony could have crafted Wenda’s role as nothing more than a convenient stereotype, I love that her subtle portrayal played into the family dynamic not as Wenda truly was but as who Jesse expected her to be, and I enjoyed every single scene she and Chris were in together. Jesse’s upbringing and the loss of his beloved grandfather informs each aspect of his adult life—both he and Chris are just a little bit broken, in fact—so the strong women in their lives (Chris’s mom is great too, as well as Marcie, Jesse’s chef) were a welcome addition to the story. Of course, there has to be a shrew in this brand of storyline as well, First Comes Marriage being no exception, but this character was more annoyance than threat, so any over-the-top angst was kept to a minimum, thank goodness.
From cute little seductions to solicitous caretaking to incredibly romantic gestures, I bought into this story in a gleeful way. I admittedly don’t read much standard fare romance, but when I do, I want a story and characters that charm me straight along into the happy beginning. Shira Anthony succeeds at this in a most delightful way.
Reviewed by Lisa for The Novel Approach
http://www.thenovelapproachreviews.com/release-day-review-first-comes-marriage-by-shira-anthony/
Following in the tried-and-true footsteps of your mom’s Harlequin romances, Dreamspun Desires and the authors contributing to the line are giving new life to some of the time honored tropes in the romance genre. First Comes Marriage is such a blatantly wonderful feel-good read that I couldn’t help smiling and sighing just a little the more I got to know its main characters, Chris Valentine and Jesse Donovan. The title of the story itself is just adorable, playing on the schoolyard rhyme every kid sang or heard at one time or another growing up; although, doing things more than a little backwards is an indicator of the conflict these men are getting themselves into. Jesse’s proposal happens well before the k-i-s-s-i-n-g or the love, mostly because it was made approximately five minutes after he and Chris met. This particular merger and acquisition is more a necessary business arrangement for Jesse than it is a ’til-death-do-us-part proposition.
At first…
For a plot and resolution this foreseeable to work, it needs strong characters we readers can invest in, and I’m thrilled to say Shira Anthony got the job done, spot on, with Chris and Jesse, as well as their supporting cast. In short, I really liked these guys and wanted them to stay the course. Chris’s steadfast anti-marriage stance along with Jesse’s decision to lie by omission supplied the plausible setup for this plan to emerge, build, evolve. And then, of course, when lies, truth, evasion, and the dynamics of what Chris and Jesse want and don’t want and can’t admit to wanting play out, we get the logical conflict anyone who isn’t Chris or Jesse could see coming light years away, wrapped up in an idea so full of reasons to fail. What Anthony does, though, is begin to build a friendship between them, and their chemistry as friends is so lovely that their falling in love was just a no-brainer. At least for us readers to see. For Chris and Jesse, however, it wasn’t quite that easy.
One of the characters that ended up surprising me in a good way is Jesse’s step-grandmother, Wenda. Where Shira Anthony could have crafted Wenda’s role as nothing more than a convenient stereotype, I love that her subtle portrayal played into the family dynamic not as Wenda truly was but as who Jesse expected her to be, and I enjoyed every single scene she and Chris were in together. Jesse’s upbringing and the loss of his beloved grandfather informs each aspect of his adult life—both he and Chris are just a little bit broken, in fact—so the strong women in their lives (Chris’s mom is great too, as well as Marcie, Jesse’s chef) were a welcome addition to the story. Of course, there has to be a shrew in this brand of storyline as well, First Comes Marriage being no exception, but this character was more annoyance than threat, so any over-the-top angst was kept to a minimum, thank goodness.
From cute little seductions to solicitous caretaking to incredibly romantic gestures, I bought into this story in a gleeful way. I admittedly don’t read much standard fare romance, but when I do, I want a story and characters that charm me straight along into the happy beginning. Shira Anthony succeeds at this in a most delightful way.
Reviewed by Lisa for The Novel Approach
http://www.thenovelapproachreviews.com/release-day-review-first-comes-marriage-by-shira-anthony/
anitalouise's review
4.0
Oh this was so sweet. This takes the old Harlequin romances of old and wraps it up in a nice little MM package. I adore the marriage of convenience trope and this was done well. We also have the not terribly likable step mother component tossed in for good measure. Very relatable MCs - loved Chris and Jesse - very strong, well defined characters - and their slow realization that they loved each other. Nice sexual tension. Nice change from the jump into bed within 20% you find in some reads. I love Shira Anthony's style. Though this is only my second read by her, but that inimitable breezy, charming and lightly emotional prose she writes just jumped out at me. I swooned while watching these two slowly and deeply fall for each other. Great secondary characters that surrounded Chris and Jesse and added some lovely heft to what might have been a bit of fluff. Just makes you want to sigh --- ahhhhh. Left me with a smile on my face. Brava Ms. Anthony!