New Review! Marriage for One by Ella Maise 4 Cranky Stars

Marriage For One by Ella Maise
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

4 Cranky Stars


I’m going to admit I almost gave up a few times but I’m glad I didn’t. About the second half is when things started to pick up for me. First half was kind of tedious and I don’t know if maybe it was because I wasn’t just in the frame of mind for it, but I prevailed, and I liked the story of Jack and Rose. No not the sinking ship and not sharing a door Jack and Rose we have all come to love and be slightly upset about. Jack and Rose who struck up an unlikely business deal that most would run away from.

Rose as forced to live with her aloof, cold and calculating Uncle and his family after her father’s death. She was treated more like an annoying outsider than family, so she’s learned to get by on her own. When her fiancé calls off the divorce and a death in the family leaves her without her dream business, she finds herself adrift. Enter Jack Hawthorne one of the lawyers at the firm who handles the estate of her family member with a proposition. Marry him and she can have that dream business at the prime location for two years. First, she thinks he is crazy then slowly comes around to his way of thinking. She has already sank so much into this coffee shop so what could possibly go wrong.


Jack Hawthorne hasn’t grown up with love, so he has no idea how to love or even forge friendships. Everyone is kept at a distance including his driver and business partners at the firm. He once locked eyes on Rose at a Christmas party and wanted to know her. Finding out about her fiancé he got a feeling the guy wasn’t who he said he was. Flash forward to when the estate file comes into his firm and he knows here is his chance to have the girl that sparked something in him. With a proposition built on lies and half truths he convinces Rose to marry him so she can start her dream and all she would have to do is attend dinners and events on his arm. Easy peasy right but Jack doesn’t realize she will flip his life upside down.


Ok first off I just want to make note of the names in this book. Jack and Rose (Titanic) Fred and George (The Weasley twins) Sally (the employee) and of course back to Jack (The Nightmare Before Christmas). I don’t know if the author did this on purpose or it was a total coincidence that I just happened to pick up on. I honestly hated Jack and thought he had no redeeming qualities he was hard to connect to for the first half of the book. Marriage for One had a lot going on from lies to deceit to what seemed like a random major health scare that I guess was for a purpose but still. It took me a bit to read this book but it was good at its core. I liked that slowly Jack and Rose warmed up to each other and it wasn’t so forced anymore. Rose was tenacious and really knew what she wanted. She was a utter mess at times but that’s a doctor phobia for you. All in all a good book with a little of bit of everything for someone.


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