When Will & Patrick wake up in a hotel room together in Vegas, they realize to their horror that a drunken evening has led to a drunken wedding and a night of wild sex. These guys barely know one another and don’t much like each other in the light of day, and both would love a quick divorce that would put this disaster behind them. But Will has inherited a multi-million dollar trust from his father’s family that he uses for all kinds of good works. And as it turns out, his father is none other than a major crime boss. Apparently the family is fine with murder and other criminal activities, but not with divorce or marrying for anything other than true love, and a clause in the inheritance will enforce that. That means until they can sort things out, the guys are stuck together or else Will will lose everything. And while Patrick may be self absorbed and kind of a jerk, he can’t allow all those charitable causes to go unfunded. That means the guys are stuck with one other, pretending to be madly in love, until they can untangle the mess.
Wake Up Married is a new serial from authors Leta Blake and Alice Griffiths. The first three episodes have been released and the final three are coming in the new year. It is written as one long story and you need to read them all in order for it to work. Not only does episode 2 pick up at the end of episode 1, but the chapter numbers even continue as if it is a single book. I have reviewed the first two stories here today, and the third episode review is coming next week.
Rating: 4.25 stars
Buy Links: Amazon | All Romance | Amazon UK
Length: Novel
Will & Patrick realize to their horror that their night of drunken sex has led to a marriage that neither of them wants. Patrick’s already lining up the divorce when Will breaks the news that they can’t split up or all the money the foundation relies on will be gone. Patrick is, of course, furious about this turn of events, but he can’t bring himself to abandon Will, at least not yet. And Will swears he will get things worked out soon with the help of his grandmother. Given that Patrick’s job as a neurosurgeon is in flux, he agrees to accompany Will back to his hometown of Healing, South Dakota to pretend to be the happy husband while they get things sorted. The fact that they have a top notch hospital there doesn’t hurt things either.
When the guys return to the small town, they are forced to put on a good front and pretend to be in love. It is hard considering Will knows just about everyone in town and they are all pretty shocked to hear about the new marriage. It doesn’t help that Patrick is pretty much an ass to everyone and isn’t making many friends in Healing. Plus, the locals all know that until a few days ago, Will had been dating Ryan. The two were off and on (most recently off, leading to Will’s drunken evening), but Will still hopes they can get back together. But other than his family, Will can’t risk telling anyone the truth about the marriage. The Molinaro crime family is making it very clear they are keeping tabs on Will’s marital bliss and that they expect true love, or else.
So I really loved the start of this serial as Will and Patrick find themselves married with no easy way out. The story is kind of crazy and over-the-top (as it is supposed to be) with the insane marriage stipulations, threatening mafia dons, and the small towners who are in everyone’s business. You can’t take things too seriously or ask too many questions here about realism, but that isn’t really the point. It is fun and humorous and I loved Will and Patrick together. They bicker and banter and, while they officially want to be separated from one other, also clearly have an attraction and a liking for one other. Patrick is pretty much an ass, but he is an endearing one. We get just enough of a hint of the troubled, but good person inside that we can enjoy his jerkiness rather than be put off by him. Plus watching the two of them together is hysterical.
This first episode really just sets the stage for the rest of the story and gets us back to Healing where the guys begin to deal with the fallout of their marriage. The two are still mostly bickering with one another, and though there is great sexual tension, there are no sexy times here other than those remembered from their wedding night. Patrick is all for it, but Will is not one for casual sex (despite his night with Patrick) and is still hoping for a reconciliation with Ryan. We learn a little about Will’s background, especially his alcoholism, but again, this is mostly a set up for the larger story.
So I really enjoyed this first episode, so much so that I immediately started the second one as soon as I finished. It is fun, entertaining, and fast paced and I am eager for more.
Rating: 4.25 stars
Buy Links: Amazon | All Romance | Amazon UK
Length: Novel
Will & Patrick are in Healing trying to make everyone believe they are happily in love. But telling Will’s mom about all this isn’t going so smoothly. She is disappointed and angry and Patrick doesn’t do much to help things on his end either with his attitude. Will has only been able to tell the truth to a few people, and other than that, the two are forced to fake being in love, especially since it has become pretty clear the Molinaros are having them followed to keep tabs on the state of their union. It is made even worse by the conflict with Will’s ex-boyfriend, Ryan, who doesn’t hide his disdain for their marriage. Despite the fact that he has moved on with another man, he is resentful about Will marrying Patrick and can’t keep his nastiness to himself. The worst part for Patrick is how Will just seems to take it, and someone believes he deserves Ryan’s attitude.
Since he is stuck in Healing, Patrick begins to work at the hospital. He continues to make few friends, but he is happy to be seeing patients again, especially since Will’s foundation seems willing to sink money into the facility to make the neurology department top notch. Will and Patrick even are getting along a tiny bit better. But despite all that, it is looking pretty clear that getting out of this marriage won’t be easy. Will and Patrick must continue to keep up appearances, even though it means lying to almost everyone.
This second installment picks up right after the first and continues to focus on the fallout from Will and Patrick’s marriage. The immediate crisis is over, and now they are starting to settle into the day-to-day reality of having to live as happy husbands together until this can all be sorted. Patrick continues to be prickly and snarky and can’t seem to stop himself from picking fights with just about everyone. But this episode really gives us deeper background into both men so we start to understand them better. Patrick’s childhood was messy and horrible. We can see how he has had to distance himself from family, learn to be self sufficient, and never quite let himself care. He is arrogant and an ass, to be sure, but we see his soft underbelly begin to show. We really start to get him here and honestly, I find Patrick so entertaining in his straightforward arrogance that I kind of love him.
We learn more about Will as well, especially from watching his interactions with Ryan, who is a total douche (as Patrick has noted all along). It is pretty clear that Will has some major self esteem issues (alcoholic, formerly overweight kid), and that his relationship with Ryan only exacerbates that. Ryan is constantly putting him down, telling him he is weak, and Will just accepts that as truth. I loved to see those scenes where Patrick is making clear to Will that he is a good guy and deserves far better than Ryan. And in fact, that Will deserves more than he thinks of himself. Things haven’t totally thawed between these guys by a long shot, but we can see them slowly getting to like each other. I’ll admit I’d love to see things moving faster on the relationship development here (especially since still no sex and their chemistry is insane). But this is only part 2 two of six so the authors are taking their time building things between them, especially since Patrick is very clearly not a casual sex guy (at least when sober). So this is another building episode, giving us a lot more background on these guys and watching them setttle into some semblance of normalcy as they deal with the fallout from their marriage.
I continue to be a big fan of this serial. The story is light fun with lots of humor, I love both Will and Patrick, and I can’t wait to watch them fall in love and sort things out.
