I received this book for free from Audiobookworm Productions in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Neutral Grounds by Jiffy Kate Series: French Quarter Collection #3
Narrator: Stephanie Nemeth-Parker, Matt Martucci
on October 17, 2021
Genres: Adult Contemporary Romance
Length: 08:33
Source: Audiobookworm Productions
Format: Audiobook
My Rating:
Goodreads
Synopsis:
First comes marriage, then comes…love? Divorce? Let’s pretend this never happened …
They say opposites attract and that couldn’t be truer when it comes to CeCe and Shep. But what happens when the two most anti-marriage people in the French Quarter start enjoying the act?
CeCe
I never planned on getting married. After my dad deserted my family the day before my tenth birthday, and I watched my mother fall to pieces over him, I decided it wasn’t worth the heartache. Then Shepard Rhys-Jones, who ghosted me two years ago, declares he needs to marry someone to claim his inheritance, and I drunkenly offer myself up as his wife.
He was the best I’ve ever had and now, he’s all mine… but only for the next year.
Shep
I never planned on getting married. It was one business transaction I had no desire to close. Yet, here I am… sitting in a bar in New Orleans… seriously considering making CeCe Calhoun my wife. If we can manage to stay married for a year, I’ll be one hundred million dollars richer and finally have the freedom to forge my own path, separate from the Rhys-Jones name.
She’s the only woman I’ve struggled to forget, and she’s finally mine. For now.
Is it possible for this fake marriage to be real?
My Review:
This third book in the series was a good book to finish it all up. While there are a few other characters that I could see getting stories, we have now pretty much used up all the characters who are owners of the different locations we’ve visited in the French Quarter as part of this series, the Blue Bayou hotel, the Come Again bar, and in this one the Neutral Grounds coffee shop. Yes there are some other locations that featured regularly in the series, but they are not located quite in the French Quarter, so they would not be part of this.
Anyway, once again I was transported into the city I have come to love after visiting three times within three years, New Orleans. It’s been too long since I’ve been though, and now I really want to go back! This fake marriage story was perfect, and it actually had quite a few original aspects to it mixed in with the ones that are standard. First was the fact that his parents wouldn’t be upset if he had a fake marriage, because they just wanted him to get the money from his grandfather’s will. However they did want him to marry a woman of their choice, to make a marriage that combined families in order to make them have more and become a wealthier, more powerful family.
Now CeCe bugged me a little with really taking the whole independent woman thing too far in my opinion. I mean it only makes sense to let his lawyer that would be well-versed in real estate laws and cases like she had to deal with when her ownership of the coffee shop building was challenged. And then, damn, let him take you shopping for a dress to meet with him parents and their society friends! I mean, come on!
Other than that the romance mostly flowed in a realistic way, not too much insta-love. I was upset that he let her talk him into almost giving up. But how it all worked out in the end was perfect again, I like the way things got resolved between the two. There was one bit towards the end that made me wonder if the story was going to go a different way, but I was glad to see that it didn’t deter down that other trope path.
As I said, a great finish to this series!
Jiffy Kate is the joint pen name for Jiff Simpson and Jenny Kate Altman. They’re co-writing besties who share a brain. They also share a love of cute boys, stiff drinks, and fun times. Their first published book, Finding Focus, was released in November 2015. Since then, they’ve continued to write what they know—southern settings full of swoony heroes and strong heroines. You can find them on most social media outlets at @jiffykate, @jiffykatewrites, or @jiffsimpson and @jennykate77.
Matt Martucci is a versatile narrator and voice actor from New Jersey, who doubles as a network level play-by-play announcer for various sports.
Having started out as an avid bibliophile, Stephanie soon took up acting which lead to a degree in Theater from the University of Georgia. She ventured out to Los Angeles where she worked in Indie films, TV and theater. It wasn’t until love brought her to Switzerland that she started in voice overs. Marrying her love of acting with voice over work naturally lead to Audiobook narration. When Stephanie is not recording, she can usually be found walking her two rescue dogs in the forest near her home or trying to teach her teenage sons how to take care of themselves. (Wish her luck!)
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