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. ( )

‘First Comes Marriage’ is an excellent illustration of “cart before the horse”. First Jesse and Chris get married, then they try to figure out what sort of relationship they might or might not have. This isn’t a real surprise since their marriage is a business deal, nothing more. Now, on a personal note, marriages of convenience and arranged marriages usually annoy me. Why? Because they take something that my inner romantic adores and make it mundane, a business arrangement, or a way to control someone. Not so in this case! The characters are real and I felt for both of them, their circumstances were challenging each in their own way, and how they approached the situation was less than mature and full of errors– on both sides. I have to admit I enjoyed watching them muddle through it.

Chris is a struggling novelist who has self-published his first book, but he wants more. More success, of course, but also more money so he can give up the evil day job as a barista and write full-time. Then he meets billionaire Jesse at a book reading, and they not just hit it off, but the super rich businessman makes Chris an offer that is hard to refuse: marry Jesse for show so he gets to stay in control of the company he inherited – in exchange for one million dollars and a year of writing full-time. But Chris has a few hang-ups about marriage, and with him already attracted to Jesse before they even start, he isn’t sure he can survive with his heart intact.

Jesse has a few issues of his own. He works hard, but he is used to getting his way. Now he has to get married or lose the company to his stepgrandmother, a woman he does not exactly get along with. Jesse has no intention of marrying a woman – not when he is gay. Not that anyone knows – he has always been too afraid to come out and disappoint his grandfather. So he wants a deal – a contract – with no danger of any emotional entanglements. Chris seems like the ideal candidate – only as it turns out, Chris is a little too ideal…

If you like arranged marriages that turn everyone inside out, if two men who could be great friends but ruin everything by getting married under false pretenses intrigue you, and if you’re looking for a read that is entertaining, romantic, infuriating, and very sweet, then you will probably like this novel as much as I did. It made me laugh, yell at the characters, and cry – just perfect! ( )

3.5 ( )