Title: A Groom of One’s Own
Author: Emma St. Clair
Series: Appies #3
Pages: 368
Star hockey player Eli Hopkins has it all almost. But when he finds out he will be deported due to incorrectly filed paperwork, he realizes he needs to get married within 30 days or he will lose everything.
This was a closed door, slow building, marriage of convenience romance. Bailey is working at an animal shelter and preparing for veterinarian school while also funding for her grandmother’s stay at a care home. Eli was a sweet guy who just wanted to continue his hockey career and help take care of his mother who has chronic illness. My biggest issue was he felt too perfect at times and I didn’t love that he carried his mother around instead having her use a wheelchair on her bad pain days. I am not disabled but it felt wrong to have him carry her around and take away her freedom when mobility aids are available.
Their relationship starts as a marriage of convenience but they both had tentative feelings for each other before they even agreed to that plan. As you can imagine these two quickly fell for each other as they got to know each other, but it does take them a while to actually talk about their feelings. I don’t usually read close door romances, but I felt the pace of the relationship was good and I didn’t mind that there wasn’t on-page sex.
Overall, this was a good marriage of convenience story with some hockey, cute dogs, and nosy sister and mother.
TW: grandparent with dementia; parent with chronic illness; deportation fears; death of parents mentioned;
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Previous books in the series:
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