My Big Fat Fake Wedding

De: Lauren Landish

Narrado por: Carly Robins, Joe Arden

He needs a wife. I need a husband. It’s just temporary...what could go wrong?

I’ve always wanted the fairy tale wedding. Not for the princess perfect dress or big party, but for papa. My grandfather. The only father figure I’ve ever known. It’s his dying wish to walk me down the aisle.

Gee, no pressure.

But I can grant that wish. I just have to fake being head over heels in love with Ross Andrews, my best friend's big brother whom I embarrassingly crushed on all through high school. Handsome. Knockout sexy. Arrogant jerk extraordinaire. Our childish pranks and tit-for-tat battles were legendary. Then I grew up. Not that he ever noticed.

I know it’s a terrible idea, and we’re both in over our heads. It could be the wedding of a lifetime or a total disaster.

How do we make it to the altar without killing each other first? Or without falling in love for real?

My Big Fat Fake Wedding is a full-length romance with a HEA and no cliff-hanger. Now a Washington Post and Amazon best seller.

©2019 Lauren Landish (P)2019 Lauren Landish

My Big Fat Fake Wedding

Violet has always dreams of the fairy-tale wedding. Running her own interior design business has left little time for much more than work. But when her grandfather has a health scare and outlook is grim, Violet feels the need to get down the aisle ASAP if nothing else than to let her grandfather know that she's well taken care of. Now it just remains to be seen as to who will fill the role of groom.

Ross Andrews hasn't quite gotten over his wild ways. Yes, he's reliable when it comes to getting his work done, but his personal life has still been known to be eyebrow raising at times. After one such time catches him sneaking out of a club with a married woman, Ross's father tells him the board of directors is threatening to oust Ross unless he shapes up his personal life.

Violet and Ross see in each other a means to an end. Violet can give her grandfather some piece of mind, and Ross can get his father off his back. They'll marry in an elaborate ceremony, and then down the line they'll annul it. Easy. Except for the fact that both Violet and Ross are falling for one another.

First off, I thought that Carly Robins & Joe Arden did a pretty good job of narration on this one. I've listened to a few books narrated by Joe Arden and it always takes me a minute to get used to his voice for some reason, but once I do it's smooth sailing from there. I don't believe I've ever listened to a story by Carly Robins. I liked her narration. She has a clear, sometime bubbly voice (at least for these characters) and I enjoyed her narration. I love the dual narratives. I think it adds a lot when each character's section is narrated by a different voice actor.

Now the story: Based on the book blurb I was prepared for a big mashup of enemies to lovers with a side of marriage of convenience and fake fiancee, and it's all there, but Lauren Landish seamlessly makes all the different tropes really work well together. They are almost a story within themselves telling of the movement of Violet and Ross's relationship.

Plain and simple, I just enjoyed the story. I thought the way the conflict played out was done well. Things weren't rushed, and even though it's easy to see where things will go, it never felt redundant or like a hard slog to get there. Despite maybe not making the best choices, I could sympathize with the how the characters found themselves in their individual predicaments. Mainly, I liked both Ross and Violet. I mainly enjoyed that there wasn't a "bad guy" between the two of them. They both genuinely wanted to help the other out, but together, they probably didn't go about it in the right way. Except they ended up seeing each other in a different light and opening their eyes to a love that neither of them really thought possible.

This has probably been my favorite of Lauren Landish's books that I've listened to (or read). I thought everything was balanced out really nicely. And I definitely wouldn't say no to Ross's sisters each getting their own story too.

AMAZING STORYLINE

Love this story and the characters. Very well developed plot. Carly Robins is the best. She really makes Violet come to life. Joe Arden always a pleasure to listen to! Overall amazing! Great love story.

Plot is a bit far-fetched but...

While the plot is far-fetched, uncomfortably stretching the limits of plausibility, the characters more than make up for it in this sexy story of childhood enemies. The chemistry sizzles between the main characters and the supporting characters are interesting and well developed. If youre a sucker for a happy ending, youll love this story. The performance by the narrators was excellent!

narration

my God, the way Joe announced chapters or the name of the character, sooo funny and annoying..

Very well read definitely listen 2 author again

I kinda got impatient about 2/3 or way thru. it was not the book it was me

love love love

I'm loving this author! this is my 2and book by her. I love how sassy and crazy they are

Expertly narrated sexy fun

The marriage of convenience trope is a difficult one to pull off in contemporaries so you'll need a fair amount of suspension of disbelief for this, in which the heroine decides to get married so that her dying grandfather can walk her down the aisle, and the hero needs a fake girlfriend to get his father off his back about growing up and settling down.

Said H/h - Ross and Violet - have actually known each other for years (Ross' sister Abby is Violet's best friend), since school, when Ross used to tease Violet mercilessly about her "chicken legs" and Violet hid her crush on him, giving back as good as she got. As adults, they've not had a lot to do with each other, but when Violet's fiancé dumps her two weeks before the wedding, it's Abby who has the idea of getting her and Ross together because they're - kind of - in the same boat.

What follows is sexy and fun as that long-ago attraction on Violet's part re-surfaces, and Ross finally comes to his senses and actually sees Violet for who she is and falls head over heels. Along the way, they've got to convince both their families that they're in love and getting married for real - which turns out to be surprisingly easy because with each day that passes, they're falling more and more deeply for each other.

The spoke in the wheel and ensuing drama near the end is a bit over the top, but doesn't go on for too long - which kind of made it all feel rather inconsequential, really.

I admit I picked this one up simply because of the narrators; Joe Arden is someone I really enjoy listening to, but given most of his output is in a genre I don't listen to all that often I don't listen to him much; Carly Robins is one of the few female narrators out there who doesn't make me want to gnash my teeth and run away screaming. Both give excellent, performances, differentiating effectively between leads and secondary characters, and doing a good job voicing characters of the opposite sex. They're both highly accomplished romance narrators so the sex scenes are really well done (Joe + dirty talk = *fans self*) and they're also great at conveying the quieter emotional moments, too.

Not something I'll be rushing to listen to again, but it made a change :)

good until the wedding

great writing until after the wedding. I mean can you really overcome all that? I would have lost trust forever.

Sisters know best!

I loved this story! I had a hunch his sister knew what she was doing. The story has many funny moments. It was a little corny sometimes but the sex scenes were hot and I enjoyed the banter between various characters.

MY NEW FAN FAVORITE!!!

I absolutely loved this book, the story and all of the characters. The narrator's did not disappoint at all. Lauren Landish has done it again. Loved It!!