The Marriage Bargain by Jennifer Probst
The Marriage Bargain by Jennifer ProbstMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
I bought this book at books-a-million ($3.97) and figured I would give it a shot.
I cannot explain how frustrating it was to have something-anything interrupt Nick and Alexa whenever it was getting hot and heavy. First Gabriella, then the police ect...The author tortured me through this one. Alright? It just didn't stop.
Something else that bothered me: liquid warmth. <---ladies data-blogger-escaped-a="" data-blogger-escaped-about="" data-blogger-escaped-and="" data-blogger-escaped-br="" data-blogger-escaped-either="" data-blogger-escaped-every="" data-blogger-escaped-gentlemen="" data-blogger-escaped-giggle.="" data-blogger-escaped-giggle="" data-blogger-escaped-giggled="" data-blogger-escaped-good="" data-blogger-escaped-i="" data-blogger-escaped-just="" data-blogger-escaped-liquid="" data-blogger-escaped-more="" data-blogger-escaped-novel.="" data-blogger-escaped-of="" data-blogger-escaped-ot="" data-blogger-escaped-other="" data-blogger-escaped-page="" data-blogger-escaped-pov="" data-blogger-escaped-profusely.="" data-blogger-escaped-sort="" data-blogger-escaped-talk="" data-blogger-escaped-the="" data-blogger-escaped-this="" data-blogger-escaped-warmth="" data-blogger-escaped-was="" data-blogger-escaped-what-the-hell-were-you-thinking="" data-blogger-escaped-word="" data-blogger-escaped-would="">Every time the word popped up on the page...
ME:
AND THEN:
Things that annoyed me
1) Any time an author uses the "antibiotic" excuse for an accidental pregnancy, all respect I have for the female lead goes out the window. For author's it appears to be the easiest way out, but for readers we don't see it that way. We see pure stupidity. The second I read "You're already taking antibiotics", I started counting down the chapters...Really? Hell, I would've been more acceptable of "the pill just didn't work" instead of the antibiotic excuse.
2) And Alexa's goody doer ways. *SIGHS* She wants to help the pigeons, rats, dogs, fish...This didn't help her in my eyes. I didn't think of how goodhearted she was and all of that good shit. I just didn't feel any sympathy towards her.
3) The sex scenes were not up to par. If you can't write them, just don't. After all of that sexual angst,and 200 pages of waiting, it was a big letdown. I thought the writing was very admirable until the sex scenes came into play. I think this would've been better as a Romance novel (not erotica) because the sex didn't add any impact at all. I could've gone without it, honestly. It was nothing special.
4) For someone who doesn't give a damn about money, Alexa sure as hell wants everything that requires A LOT of it: expansion on her cafe and a big wedding...
5) A rushed ending. The last 30 pages of this book ruined it for me. I'm not a big fan of third person POV's, but I was intrigued with this one. There was a lot of detail and to a certain extent it appeared well written. But this author couldn't deliver at the high points. Every time an argument played out, I expected more and she never delivered. Everything was so "easily" resolved and that left me frustrated. For example: the Gabriella kiss. WTF? She slid a "two weeks later" into the picture and within three pages, all is well in Alexa and Nick's world. The ending was very similar. It was a rushed mess. And it's hard to read such decent material for 200 or so pages and then have an author tank the ending. I get that Alexa is forgiving, but all I saw was weak. Boo-hoo, I'm pregnant, I'm going to do it on my own. He doesn't want to have this baby with me ect...And then oh wait, he's back. I'm going to forgive him because he wore a Met's t-shirt. No. NOPE. As a character she didn't grow. I saw a lot of growth in Nicky, but not in Alexa. If anything, she backslid throughout this damn journey. SAD.
CONCLUSION: 3 stars.
It would've been 4 stars if the ending wasn't rushed. (I even contemplated 5 stars at one point.) I am disappointed. I felt like the author favored Nick's grow over Alexa's and because of that her character suffered in the end. Not sure if I would recommend it to friends. I have to sit on it for a while. This was a book that had a plot that kept going higher and higher until it had nowhere to go but down.
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