The Academic Bride by Lucy McConnell

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

3.5

I thought this was a pretty cute and original novella. Janel is an Archeology student and trying to find funding for a Mayan dig she wants to do when she overhears a conversation in a restaurant that changes her life.

This is a bit like a modern mail-order-bride story, I like arranged marriage plots and was curious to see how things would play out. It starts out as more of a business arrangement, but they soon start having feeling for each other.

The reason I didn't give this a higher rating was I just did not believe they were in love. I don't want to rant, but here are a few of my thoughts. First, they barey spoke before they got married. I was expecting at least a little conversation, see if they actually mesh or not. I wouldn't base even a business marriage on just him being good looking. Second, he wanted to get married to have someone go to functions with and to get him off the market. They only did ONE function the whole time. I guess I was expecting more. Lastly, by the end when they are declaring their love for each other I just didn't buy it. Not after spending zero time together over the course of their three month marriage. Maybe if we could have seen more of their texts? Or heard their phone conversations? I'm not kidding when I say they are never together. He's a workaholic and she is working on her PhD and teaching classes. How does she know he is such a great guy if they are never together. Sure he does some "sweet" things, but really they weren't over the top, just normal stuff a normal person would do. By the end, I could see maybe a friendship forming, but not love. At least not yet. Sorry.

Overall, I did enjoy it and thought it was a fun premise and fun idea. I look forward to reading more from the series.

Content: Clean romance, no language, no violence

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