Just Married by Jenna Bayley-Burke
Contemporary Romance
Released: August 30, 2016
Swerve

Reviewed by Sheena

Seattle attorney Miranda Rose arrives in Las Vegas determined to keep her best friend-with-benefits from making a costly mistake – marrying some stranger just to save his family trust. But once there, Miranda discovers she’s the surprise bride! One red-hot honeymoon later, they’re back to their over-scheduled lives on opposite coasts. But a marriage of convenience with regularly scheduled sexytimes turns complicated when Miranda gets the shock of a lifetime: she’s pregnant…with twins.

Miranda has always wanted a family of her own, but her infertility made it impossible. Besides, Callum’s difficult upbringing places him adamantly in the no-kid zone. Now she must decide between the man she’s been in love with for years and the children she’s longed for. Or will Callum surprise her yet again and come through when it matters most?

“I think I need a shower from showering with you.”

Just Married is a contemporary BFF to HEA  romance novel and I wish I could say I liked it.  I mean, all the pieces were there.  Professionally accomplished hero and heroine are the best of friends who would go to the ends of the earth for one another.  Both secretly harboring more than friends feels for the other Mira and Callum are so perfect for one another, that going on with this “friends” farce is romantically and emotionally criminal.

Cal is in quite the bind. His Gaelic heritage and an archaic inheritance codicil have become an albatross around his neck, thanks to a greedy relative, he has no choice but to marry – and marry fast in order to protect his family’s interests.  Sure an heir would make things iron clad, however, Cal is not in the market to be anybody’s baby daddy and as far as he is concerned, the marriage will shore things up enough to circumvent a power grab and protect his interests.  He can certainly do the husband thing, as long as he is careful not to get bogged down with any icky marriage stuff.

Sexy hunh.

If he has to get married, the only women he can see to fit into his  specific designs is his BFF Mira.  Mira is an attorney who lives across the country, thousands of miles away from Cal’s New York, she calls Seattle home.  They have been friends with benefits since undergrad and their family and close friends, for the most part, are none the wiser.  Mira satisfies his tall order.  She has her own life, lives far away enough to not encroach on his life and she’d do anything for him.  Now all he has to do is convince her. Calling her under the rouse of inviting her to his shock wedding, he tricks her into coming to Vegas, reveals his plan and prays she considers.  Annnnnnnd this was truly the beginning of the end for me.

Mira had no idea Cal was perpetrating a fraud with a faux fiance.  She went to Vegas determined to dissuade Cal from marrying a woman she knew nothing about, a woman who she was convinced was a gold digger …a woman who was not her.  She has some hot shower sex with Cal, aiming to entice him into calling off his nuptials.

“Do you want me more than you want to get married?”

“Yes”

She smiled at the word and then gasped as his hand slipped between her legs, his fingers parting her sex.  he slid his finger over the tiny button of nerves and pleasure rippled through her body.  She gripped the hard muscles of is shoulders and leaned against the granite, watching the intense expression on his face as she accepted the bliss he offered.

He kissed her and the remains of her conscience fled….It both terrified and excited her to think of how far she was willing to go to keep him from making the biggest mistake of his life.

…

The chill of the water against their lips, the rich taste of him, and barely being able to catch her breath had her pulling away and shutting off the water.

“That’s the perfect way to start a honeymoon.”  A bolt of nausea pealed through her like church bells in a quiet town.

“You’re still planning to get married?”

I had a pretty low opinion of Mira with that move, especially considering how self-righteous she professed to be regarding the sanctity of  marriage.

“You want to get married but you don’t want anything to change.  Now you’re not only disrespecting me, you’re disrespecting marriage. A union I happen to believe in.”

Is that right, Mira, is that so… five minutes ago she was being miss grabby crotch and having (really good) shower sex with an engaged man.  As soon as she realized she was the intended bride and would be subject to Cal’s ideal of a convenient modern marriage, suddenly the symbolic union is paramount? Insert giant smirk here.

When the unexpected pregnancy occurs, things do not improve much.  Though I never really liked Mira, I could not help but want to hug her when she realizes she is pregnant.  It was a beautiful moment made all the more real considering her fertility challenges and early pregnancy lifestyle that caused her concern.  Mira was really invested in being a good mom, and that is admirable.  What was not admirable was the way Mira totally marginalized the role a father would and should play in her babies future lives.  It was actually very disappointing to see a woman who I knew would be a wonderful mother, muck it up by cavalierly tossing Cal out of her life.  I expected the fight regarding where they would live, seeing as though they lived so far away and both were stubborn- again, a given. But Cal never insinuated the children could take or leave Mira, effectively saying she can go fly the biggest fucking kite she can get her hands on and leave him alone. Oh but Mira certainly did.  Sure it was always known Cal was anti-fatherhood, his own obligation and legacy, both his own personal hell, but Mira was a little shit to him on several occasions.

Cal had his own share of dick moments as well.  Though in his (limited) defense, He didn’t find out about the pregnancy until 16 weeks in, they live apart and only see one another once a month.  It wasn’t so far beyond the scope of decency for him to question paternity.  “Is it mine” will always ruffle an honest woman’s feathers, but all things considered…could I blame him. No.  What I did blame him for was how high-handed he tried to be in the beginning.   I could go on and on regarding how much of a dick they became to one another but I won’t.  Just know that they were.

“Children need a father.”

“Which you have no intention of being.  You’ll be traveling more days than you’re home.  Can you really see yourself teaching the boys how to pee standing up or how to build roads in the dirt for their cars?…That is why the boys and I will stay here.  If you truly want to be a part of their lives, we’ll work out a visitation schedule.”

“I will not visit my own children.  I have a legal right-”

“Legally, I can. And I will.  It may have escaped your notice, but I am a damned good lawyer and my firm is one of the most successful on the West Coast…”

……

“You’re acting like you chipped a tooth on your silver spoon.”

“Before you look down on my upbringing, remember your children will have the same.”

“Hardly. I’m not sending them to boarding school in another country before they can tie their own shoes.”

The silence hung in the air.  She wanted to take back the sting of her words, but not the reality of them.

“You know what’s insulting?  How you think you know the outcome of conversations we’ve never had. You think you know how I want my children to be raised, and we have never discussed it.”

She let out a slow breath. “You’re right.”

“Finally.”

HUGE dicks.  And not the fun kind.

I enjoy stories where there is growth and I can appreciate characters having to mature and have paradigm shifts in order to realize their potential.  There were shades of this in Just Married, but ultimately it was overshadowed by Mira’s personality.  There is an HEA so no surprise they come to terms and make it work in what I think was a nicely executed conclusion.  There is an epilogue that is beautiful and gave me great feels.  It featured Cal and Mira as they really had the potential to be, once they stopped trying to control one another and gave into the true love that was always there under the surface. Ultimately, there is little to no comedy, feel good moments come in the last 85% or so, steamy and emotionally conflicting.    If you like stories where the H/h  run one another into the ground before calling a truce, dusting one another off and riding off into the sunset (on a private jet- swanky!) then you may enjoy this novel.

Grade: C-

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