REVIEW: Will & Patrick Wake up Married (episode one) by Leta Blake and Alice Griffiths
B Reviews / B Reviews Category / Book Reviewscontemporary mm romance / serial / soap opera19 Comments
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Review:
Dear Leta Blake and Alice Griffiths,
I have heard a lot of good things about this story, but I hesitated about trying it because I thought the price was too high even for me. I mean the price for six parts all together – not for this first part; I waited till it was free on Amazon and then got it.
So, the blurb gives you the setup. Of course my first thought was about Ross and Rachel from “Friends”, but Ross and Rachel had a history whereas these guys are complete strangers. Swallowing this about complete strangers should have been even harder for me, but surprisingly it was not. When I finished the story, I had my share of eyerolls and laughs, not just about the setup but about what followed after that, but while I was reading, I happily went along with the flow. To me that means that the writing was very good, very convincing. Opinions may differ of course.
“Will looks down. Lying there, drooling onto Will’s pecs, is a man, perhaps thirty-five or so, with short auburn hair that curls. A man with long wiry muscles, and trim shoulders and hips. A man he definitely does not know.”
“We got married.” Patrick presses the palms of his hands against his eyes, shaking his head furiously. “For the love of—oh, you’ve got to… For the record, this cannot be happening.” Patrick is finally on board the panic train and Will’s ready to ride it with him, but his vision goes spotty and his mouth numb. He moans. A rushing noise hits his ears, and then there’s darkness.”
Both characters came alive on the page for me. I am not sure if “sharply drawn” is the best phrase to use here, but I could feel their panic and the conflicting emotions that came right afterward.
You see, no matter what super-crazy attraction they felt that led both of them to decide to get married (while quite drunk), of course they do not want to stay married to strangers when they wake up the next day. But in order for them to eventually get their happy ending in part six (because part six is called “Will and Patrick’s happy ending”) they need to stay married or at least to stay close to each other.
The plot twist the authors come up with in order to make it true? You ready? I do not think it is a spoiler because the blurb pretty much discussed it. Will sort of belongs to a mafia family, but not really anymore (his close relatives left it quite a while ago), but he has some money from the mafia (not really mafia) and is leading a huge charitable foundation which does tons of good things for the people of his town. However, the mobster relative who left him the money made sure that it came with strings – he cared about sanctity of marriage. A lot. So once married Will cannot divorce, the grounds for annulment are strictly limited, and trying to get a quick annulment does not work out.
Will decides that his grandmother (who was in the mafia in the past but still has tons of connections) will help them to get around this clause and get a divorce. But Patrick needs to go with him to Will’s hometown and stay there for a few months. Does this make any sense? I know if I were reading this summary I would have sworn to stay away from this book forever. But I happily went with the flow while I was reading the story. And Patrick, who abandons his life, because all he has is his work, and agrees to go with Will because he felt bad and I suspect was more attracted than he thought initially? Yes, it all made sense to me. Don’t ask me why, I guess the writing entertained me that much.
““I’m not going anywhere with you—” Will whirls around. “But you’re willing to go to bed with me?” “Well, yeah, we’re husband and husband. May as well get a little something out of this”
There is no resolution at the end of the story, which is understandable since it is only the first episode, but there is no cliffhanger either.
Grade: B+
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I really want to read this series (“wake up married!” is a fave trope of mine), but I’m waiting for the entire series to be released elsewhere. IIRC, Leta mentioned that the KU/Amazon exclusivity ends sometime in mid-July.
The premise is fun and, although I’m not as familiar with Anna Martin as I am with Leta’s works, it sounds like it’s going to be a delightful read. :)
it seems to be free on amazon right now
@ruthg: Yep and looks like it had been free for couple of weeks at least now if not more.
@Maz: I ended up buying the whole series from Amazon for the price of 8.99 which I figured was not bad even for five episodes since the first one I got for free. Listen if you are in the US I can always loan it to you. Let me know.
@Maz: Sorry forgot to ask is Anna Martin other name for Alice Griffiths? I think I read something by Anna Martin, but don’t remember what it was at all.
I can’t find the serial on Kindle unlimited, and the bundled series price is more than I pay for the three authors who remain on auto but for me.
@Anne V: Actually you are right, sorry about that. It does not look like it is on KU anymore, I will correct my review tonight when I can do it from the desk top instead of the phone. As to the bundle price ($8.99) for six episodes which are the length of the novella. Separately all but first episode come out for 2.99 for me. I am happy you can find the prices of the auto buy authors which are cheaper than 1.50. Lately sometimes I was able to grab 0.99 books from the authors I like, but those I do not see often at all – normal prices for my auto buy authors vary from 2.99 to 6.99.
@Sirius:
LOL, I meant Alice Griffths! I was commenting in a hurry and, well, hence the name snafu. /o\
I enjoyed the entire series. Really fun and I loved both Will and Patrick!
Thanks for the review. Just finished the first book and stopped to write this before starting book two.
Thanks for this. I’ve read through episode two, and am really enjoying it. It is very fresh and different.
I enjoyed this series. It wasn’t deep and some of the plot circumstances are a little contrived, but overall it kept me glued to the page to the bitter end. And when I read it only some of the books were available on KU.
Danie, Joy thank you now I have something to look forward to – good to know other episodes in the series are not disappointing at least.
Etv13 I hope you will continue to enjoy the rest of the series as well.
Thank you for the review. I read the series and (while the editing errors were legion and many of the initial plot points were unnecessarily farfetched) the authors created some truly interesting characters here – both main and sub. I was expecting “funny”; but as the episodes unfold you find that each of these leads has his own set of legitimate issues. I liked that the guys worked through them (e.g. they weren’t magically solved by great sex or love at first sight) over the course of the full “novel” . I also appreciated reading about the wonderful female characters in these two men’s lives.
@nblibgirl: I am so glad you enjoyed the series. Thanks for letting me know.
I really liked this! I read the first episode for free and I will definitely be getting the rest.
I enjoyed it a lot (the basic premise reminded me of Husbands, which I adored) though the repetition of the insulin injections got a bit much. I realize it was a significant plot point but even so. And so many of Will’s friends and family needed to back the hell off! And Ryan to die in a ditch… But the romance was sweet and hot.
Kim I am so glad hope the rest of the episodes won’t disappoint.
Jane Davitt, I figured that Ryan needs to die in a ditch based on the first episode alone, guess his behavior is not getting any better :(.
@Sirius:
Ryan becomes so evil I truly hoped for his demise.