☆☆➹⁀☆ 4 stars ☆➹⁀☆☆
What it’s about:
Is there anything worse than playing maid-of-honor to your bitchy college nemesis? Try it when she’s marrying your DAD! Olivia Chambers doesn’t know what she’s done to deserve this karmic retribution, but she needs a date to the wedding from hell – and fast. She’s used to matchmaking billionaires, but now she needs a Prince Charming of her own. Someone handsome and famous enough to make bridezilla and her minions drool with envy…
Someone like hottie ex-NFL star Ryan Callahan.
Ryan is looking for love. Well, the fake kind. He needs the perfect woman on his arm to woo investors for his superstar new business venture, but nobody is scoring that touchdown… until elegant, sophisticated Olivia comes to him with a proposition. She’ll play his perfect date – if he’ll play hers.
The deal is simple! Or is it? Take one week in the Florida Keys, a dose of sizzling sexual tension, a madcap wedding, and some seriously humid frizzy hair, and Ryan and Olivia have the recipe for disaster… or maybe the time of their lives.
But can Olivia let down her guard long enough to let Ryan sweep her off her feet? And will Ryan take his eyes off the (business) prize long enough to see what’s right in front of him?
iBooks | Amazon US | Amazon UK | Amazon AU | Kobo | B&N | Google Play
My Thoughts:
Lila Monroe’s latest installment of her Billionaire Bachelors series is hilarious. It is a great take on the fake wedding date premise. Main character, Olivia Chambers, runs the fake date service (she is not a madam nor is she a matchmaker per se), but when one high profile client just can’t find the right person to act as his partner for some business schmoozing, Olivia fills in.
The laughs begin when her client, Ryan Callahan, steps in to bail out Olivia. When her dad announces that he is marrying Olivia’s college nemesis, she decides she needs a hot date for the event. The old college roommate, Vanessa, is a nightmare, and she goes out of her way to make the wedding a trip to Hades for Olivia. Good thing Ryan is there to save the damsel in distress every time she lands in a weird pre-wedding crisis.
Both main characters are highly likable, and while I didn’t find their chemistry to be explosive, I did love the ease of their relationship. They seemed like old friends who had a new appreciation for one another. There is a solid base of respect and admiration beyond their physical attraction.
The secondary characters are a mixed bag. Olivia’s friends are delightful and supportive. Vanessa and her “bride tribe” seem to be a spoof of several high-profile social media “celebrities”. Olivia’s dad is almost a non-character. He has one really meaningful scene with his daughter, and then pulls a high-speed-left- turn-from-the-right-lane twist to the story line.
Wild Card is a light-hearted, swoony read. I loved that the main characters are equals (outside of comedic situations, no one needs saving/rescuing), and Ms. Monroe has infused the story with equal amounts of heat and sweet. A perfect summer read!
About the Author: Combining her passions for books, sex, and well-fitted suits, Lila Monroe wrote her first romantic comedy, The Billionaire Bargain, in 2015 and hasn’t stopped since. She loves writing about smart alpha men, and the strong and sassy women who try to tame them.
© Copyright 2018 Book Junkie Reviews. All rights reserved.
Book Junkie Reviews 