For the record, I never want to get married, but if I had to, I’m glad I’m marrying my best friend for insurance fraud. Legal, insurance fraud.
Des is a confirmed bachelor who loves his life, always playing the field and never being tied down. But when his best friend, Tanner, loses his job and, by extension, health insurance for him and his four children, Des doesn’t hesitate to offer to marry him so that he can put Tanner and his family on his policy. It’s a crazy idea, but Tanner doesn’t have many options, so he agrees, with the understanding that they’ll get the marriage annulled once Tanner is back on his feet. They weren’t expecting Des’ co-workers to find out and start to meddle in their affairs. Now, to keep them from uncovering the ruse and costing him a big promotion, Des moves in with Tanner and his brood to make it look like it’s legit. While they’re busy playing family, Des is busy falling in love with his new life and new family. Will he be brave enough to permanently say goodbye to his bachelor ways and make his marriage to Tanner into something real?
I thought this was a very sweet fake marriage/best-friends-to-lovers story. Des and Tanner had a lot of history and a great way of communicating. I think that went a long way in terms of making their new arrangement work. They were so open and honest with each other, and I loved their late-night chats. I enjoyed the evolution of Des and Tanner’s relationship. Sure, Des never wanted to be tied down in a committed relationship, but it made sense that if there were ever a person he’d change his ways for, it would be Tanner. They had great chemistry, too, once they crossed the lines from friends to more.
The chaos of Tanner’s family was portrayed so well. The kids were adorable, and each had a unique personality. Tanner was a great dad and had his hands full as a single dad for the last few years after the unexpected death of his wife. I loved how Des came in and helped to ease the load, even if it wasn’t in his nature to be a caregiver. The more time he spent around them, the more he realized he was better at it than he gave himself credit for. There were several scenes between Des and the kids that tugged at my heartstrings. So heartwarming.
One thing I love about this series is that these guys are about my age, so a lot of the jokes and references to their high school days were very relatable. I could also relate to Tanner’s situation with his layoff and job search since I just went through that last year. The way he feels about just needing a job vs caring about climbing the career ladder resonated with me, too. I liked his character a lot.
I found Des’ coworkers’ meddling to be a little over the top, but I liked how it ultimately turned out. Overall, though, this story was low angst, with plenty of laughs and even more heartwarming moments. I really enjoyed it!
The Book Boyfriend Addict 