Catherine Bybee - Married by Monday

Carter Billings:
Sandy blond hair and Hollywood good looks, Carter Billings could have any woman he wants. However, when he makes his bid for the Governor's seat in the state of California, he needs to settle down and become a family man. Eliza, the woman he secretly adores, embodies the perfect amount of spice and passion to suit his marital needs, but she's not interested in becoming Mrs. Billings. She can't even stand to be in the same room with him.
Eliza Havens:
It's much easier to drive Carter away than to give into desire. Matching couples is how she earns a living, but getting married isn't an option. The secrets she carries are too dangerous to entangle anyone else. When her hidden identity and past threaten her future, she's left with little choice. Carter is quick to offer solutions to both their problems, but saying yes could mean endangering the man she's growing to love. 

Comment: This is the second story on the Weekday Brides series by the author. I've read the first book months ago and it was a story good enough to keep me interested in the sequel, so here are my comments about it.

This is Eliza Havens story, she's Samantha's business partner from book #1. Eliza is a very reserved person because she has a secret. She thinks her life is god enough but after meeting Samantha's new husband's best friend Carter Billings, her life isn't the same. If they had their arguments was only to hide a mutual attraction and now that Carter's career is at risk, Eliza takes a chance on living without fear or restrictions...

Carter has liked Eliza from the start but didn't realize how much until he realized she's the only one he sees himself getting married to...

I think this story is sweet and easy enough to be quickly read, it's not overly dramatic nor full of silly characters that we wish could go away.

However, this story keeps having a little issue which didn't seem to matter as much on the first book but which I now realize might be part of the author's writing style. I'm talking about the way the story is often told and now showed. It didn't seem to matter much but then if one thinks about it it's rather obvious. At least for me, as soon I had that thought, I couldn't not think it again and it seemed so present. 

The thing is, Carter and Eliza have been attracted to each other and we don't see that, we didn't have many scenes where this was shown, not in this book which already starts with the premise they do, and not on the first book where they were secondary characters and even if we were told they were attracted, we didn't really see it that much.

This wouldn't have to be a problem, had it happened differently, but as it is, it feels like we are told they have the hots for each other which is very convenient so from this book on they can start to work on it.

My issue is, I don't feel enough time was spent on preparing them to be a couple. I also know the idea behind this is the quick decision to marry propelled by an outside need, but I still wish we could see more of them before they make that decision. Sure after the marriage the situation would be different, but before that, something more to cement their views of each other would have been nice.

The plot offers quite the different issues to be dealt with. 

Carter has his intended government career and what that entails, the kind of money one needs to have before starting something like that. In a superficial kind of way it was interesting. Also interesting were the themes on his background, social differences, money matters, love matters more, and so on.

Eliza had a different background and issues to present. She has a secret which I won't tell but that is told quickly during the story, which controls her life in a way she can't ignore, only work around it. I think that this also presented interesting ideas of how people in real life with the same life experience she is portrayed having here can exist and how they might manage.

The romance, as soon as they get married becomes what one would expect and sincerely, nothing amazing happens on that front, they do get their HEA but for me they're personalities never really were highlighted as I imagined.

The secondary characters had a pertaining role and, most likely, we have the beginning of the set up for the next story. I will read it and see if the author's style is a trademark or a "spur of the book".

Grade: 7/10