The Contract by Melanie Moreland

Four out of Five Stars.

One sentence summary: To convince a new business associate that this playboy has turned family man, Richard gets his assistant to agree to marry him; the only thing is- they can't stand each other.  

First thought: This book has been on my TBR list forever. When I search for marriage of convenience, it always pops up. I knew going in that our hero was going to be an Alpha, but instantly I was put off by him. It took a while for me to get over that, but once I did, I was here for Richard. And, almost nothing can keep me away from this trope 

Why I read it: I had just put down a DNF, and I wanted to get into something I thought I'd like, without doing a reread. 

POV: First Person alternating M|F, Past Tense. We don't often get chapters from our heroine, but by the end of the book I didn't mind.  

Setting: Victoria, British Columbia 

Tropes: Marriage of Convenience, Work Place, Redeeming Hero, Enemies to Lovers   

Our Heroine: Katy. Overall, she's not the type of heroine I'm screaming over. I liked her and I found her qualities admirable. Her reasons for sticking out a marriage with a man who clearly treated her like less than human were filled with compassion. So, while Katy isn't my cup of tea as a heroine, I did respect her.

Our Hero: Richard, nicknamed Dick for a reason! We spend most of the time with our hero, since very few chapters are from Katy's point of view. I didn't mind this because he had the most growing to do. We never had to wonder what he was feeling and I think that allowed for good character development. 

Overall thoughts: As a reader, I have favorite archetypes. As a human, I understand that people and stories focus on all different types. So, once I put my preferences to the side, I really enjoyed Richard and Katy's story. I thought the way they fell in love was a bit fresh. There was no wondering, is this real or are we faking. Richard decided from the start that he'd never love anyone and Katy accepted that. 

The author creates a believable friendship and certainly puts our hero through the emotional ringer. While the two did have intense back stories, we got to focus more on the present. Overall, I really enjoyed this read. It gave me exactly what I was looking for. 

The sexy scenes: They were nice. I think I prefer reading steamy scenes from the female POV and we didn't exactly experience that. 

The best part of the book: Richard's character growth. It felt genuine. 

Worst part of the book: I sometimes found the dynamic at his new work place a little cheesy and idealistic. But, hey, isn't love? 

TLDR: This exactly fits the bill of a work-place-alpha-fake-marriage-trope. If that's your jam, I highly recommend.  

How I read it: With my Kindle Unlimited Subscription

Links: The Contact on Goodreads & The Contract on Amazon 

Enjoy my blog? Follow me on Twitter or add me on Goodreads!