Review: Contractually Yours by Connie Cox

I was offered this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.  This was the first book I had read by the author, but it won't be the last.  It was quite an enjoyable read though there is some discrepancy between the blurb and the actual story.

We meet Caroline two days after the worst day of her life.  The high society wedding that she had pinned all her hopes, dreams and the loan from her parents on, was called off by the groom just moments before the wedding was to take place.  Caroline had paid for much of the work out of her own account, being promised reimbursement when the wedding took place. Now that the wedding has been called off, and even the check she had received at the beginning had bounced, shes looking at not only the lose of her business, but her parents house as well.  So Caroline decides to take the bills directly to Brandon D'Estrahan, the groom who called off the wedding and who she was promised would be footing the bills.

Brandon D'Estrahan is a entrepreneur who does multi-million dollar deals around the globe. But his business deals are hurting because companies don't want to deal with a "playboy". His work around was to get married. Unfortunately, his first choice of wife turned out to already be married. When Caroline shows up at his office, looking for repayment on the wedding, Brandon makes her a deal - 6 months of outwardly wedded bliss and he will pay off all her outstanding creditors and save her parents house. In return for paying off the debts, she will outwardly be his wife, handle the charity commitments, plan and host parties and basically grant him the air of stability that he is currently lacking.

In many ways this followed the typical marriage of convenience troupe. However, as with everything, the devil is in the details.  And the details on this one are quite wonderful. I was thoroughly sucked into the story and found myself rooting for Caroline and Brandon. She isn't quite the push over she initially appears and he isn't the hard-hearted villain taking advantage of her situation. There are some great secondary characters in the book and I look forward to finding out their stories someday. This book had me grinning and sniffling back a few tears. I gave it 4 stars.

Broken vows...
Wedding planner Caroline Duplessis sinks all her hopes, dreams and finances for the future success of her budding company Weddings Divine into the event of the year.

But when Brandon D’Estrahan’s intended leaves him at the altar, she also leaves Caroline holding enough debt that her fledgling company is on the edge of bankruptcy. And the second mortgage her parents took out on their home will leave them homeless.

So when the groom, who needs an arm ornament and hostess to further his business connections, proposes a way out, Caroline sees no other option but to take it.

Marriage to him for one year and she will walk away with financial security. But will their marriage last the year?

Or, like his former fiancee’, will she find the need to leave him, too?

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