Boyfriend or Bust, Claire Castle

Sometimes an announcement from an ex has the power to shock and frazzle you.  In Carson's case, his cheating ex sent him an invitation to his wedding; a lavish Greek extravaganza with the man he cheated with, to be exact.  So what's Carson to do?  Any sane and well-adjusted person knows the answer is to make up a fake relationship and accept the invitation to attend the destination wedding.  With the help of his best friend's brother, Sam, who Carson has just so happened to have a little crush on for years, he finds more than just a willing wedding date, he just might have found his very own forever.

Both men are intelligent, attractive, and have secretly been interested in one another for a long time.  In the two months prior to the wedding they get the chance to learn about all the things that make them tick.  I think that it was a smart play for the author to have a slightly shared history between them through the best friend and sister, Sloan, so we could get right into what made both men unique and ideal partners.

Sam's slightly adolescent hesitation and methods for meeting up with Carson in the beginning was seriously cute.  I was nervous about him when we first meet him because of his eyeing up someone else but it ended up making a good contrast for the next time he sees the guy.  It was a simple yet very clear way to show how much he cared for Carson despite the short timeline.

And Carson's nerdy cuteness was endearing.  To see him freaking out with Sloan could have been annoying but it made him much more relatable.  I mean, who hasn't said or done something to put ourselves in an awkward or potentially disastrous situation for whatever reason and then have an internal or external freak-out for what we did?

The story's mundane activities and the inner musings while they figured one another out did have a tendency to drag on, though, which slowed the pace of the story and its progression quite a bit.  Especially once they got to Greece.  The day-to-day activities seemed like a week's worth of time when it was really only a couple days.  And the wedding itself...so very over the top, in many ways.  When Hugo made his proposal it felt contrived.  While it might have finally proven to Carson that he can stand up for himself and to Sam that there's only Sam in Carson's heart, it just felt out of place and took the focus away from the point of the story.  Other than that, the relationship's evolution was tender, steamy, and felt right for the characters themselves.

*$2.99 on Amazon or FREE on KU!

About Claire...

Claire Castle grew up surrounded by books. She has loved reading for her whole life. Her true love is romance and HEAs. When she’s not reading or writing, she can be found wearing comfortable leggings, drinking mocha and petting her west highland terrier. She loves collecting awesome mugs and paperbacks of her favorite stories.

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