An absolutely charming read! The story was witty and heartwarming with sweet main characters and their outlandish friends. It’s a relatively quick and light read, and downright funny.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

Unfortunately this book just didn't quite work out for me. For starters,I found Joe so very childish for his age - I understand that there are going to be grown adults who are still slightly immature and haven't fully grown up but Joe just seemed to take it to another level. I understand wanting to make a character a bit cutesy and kitsch by adding in small mishaps and accidents but Joe just seemed to take it to a whole other level that was just embarassing and way too much. I also really struggled to connect with any of the characters at all and I strugg;ed to figure out who some of the characters were - like Chloe, his flatmate. I feel like I know absolutely nothing aout her or how she even actually fitted into Joe's life apart from being his flatmate.

The romance was pretty cute between Joe and Henry although I still struggled to figure out how on earth they ended up together or worked out at all. And again, I feel like all Joe's quirks just ruined the romance and made their relationship seem even more unlikely. We got some side story also in the quest to find Joe's parents and the relationship between Joe's friend Frank and his partner Gabrielle. But it almost seemed like there was again, too much going on in the story that all came to a head at the same time.

I feel like this could be a great book with a bit more backstory to some of the characters and if Joe's kook's were toned down a bit. Overall, just a 2-star read.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

I just couldn't get into this book. The jumping around timeline and writing style completely distracted me from the book. I only got about 25% in before I stopped reading.

3* It made me smile, and it had potential, but it was a bit too much 'too many cooks'.

This is a tale that had potential, but that feels like it fell straight out of the author's brain and onto a Kindle page, without seeing an editor - it had a confusing timeline that jumped from the here and now, i.e., the couple's wedding day, to six months before the wedding day, to 5 years before the wedding day, when the leads met. There was no explanation as to why the jumps were there or why the author chose them, and I ended up confused as it was all really unnecessary and it just muddied things up with me trying to catch up.

There were nice parts to it: British-of-Jamaican-origin Joe Kaminski, a sweet artist, but who happens to be the most inept IRL person ever; Henry Someoneorother, once a business owner but then something I had no clue about (the change in his circs added nothing to the tale); Henry's sister, brother-in-law and mother; Joe's mother and his flatmate, Chloe, a 60yo woman; Joe's bestie, Frank, a Scotsman (or maybe an Irishman; it was hard to tell, and by then, I didn't really care) and his true love, Gabriella, the daughter of a minister. And then the not-so-nice parts: Henry's ex who refused to leave the picture; Henry's dad who I think was made out to be bigoted, but if so, the author failed and then failed in redeeming him; all the shenanigans that seemed to happen a few days before the wedding, involving seemingly everyone, so that the whole thing turned into a Carry On movie, and the wedding cake Henry's mum made, made of coffee ice cream, lettuce, ketchup and frozen fruit - don't ask.

There were far too many cooks in this tale and everything came to the boil at the same time, out of control. I think that with a bit of sitting back, rethinking and some diligent editing and weeding out the filler, this could have been a sweet, cozy, low-key romance of opposites attracting. As it was, it sounded like confused ramblings. Unfortunately.

ARC courtesy of Riptide Publishing and NetGalley, for my reading pleasure.

I’m so happy I took a chance on this book by a new-to-me author, because I really liked it!

The story opens on the day of Joe and Harry’s wedding, which is on course to be a complete (and completely hilarious) disaster. Then it tracks back to five years before the big day to show how the two of them met, before jumping to six months before the wedding, when Joe decides to propose to Harry. The storyline continues jumping back and forth in alternating chapters between the opening months of Joe and Harry’s relationship and the near past until the narrative arrives back at the wedding day at the end of the novel.

Readers who aren’t put off by the structure of the book will be rewarded with a terrifically funny story. It’s an opposites-attract romance, with Harry being the sensible one to Joe’s irresponsible whirlwind. Joe’s more than a bit of a mess, honestly, and that results in some very humorous moments. The chapters detailing Joe’s attempt to plan and execute a romantic proposal are pure comedy—definitely laugh out loud material.

It’s not all fun and games, though. Joe desperately loves Harry, and some of the writing where Joe is thinking about Harry and the depth of his feelings for him is sweetly romantic. Joe’s also got some serious abandonment issues, and Harry unfortunately manages to trip over them at times, leading to heartbreak for poor Joe.

The worst thing about this book? I now want to read more books by the author, and she’s only written a few others. Sadness!

Seriously, though, I’d recommend Marry Him to anyone who enjoys (mostly) lighthearted romance.

A copy of this book was provided by NetGalley for review; all opinions expressed are my own.

Tried reading this book twice and wasn’t much impressed with it, but persevered. The book is about two gentlemen whom get together and want to get married. The side stories didn’t add anything to the main on either,
I didn’t understand the need to keep switching from different timelines too!

Marry Him, Marina Ford

Review from Jeannie Zelos book reviews

Genre: Romance, Humour
I've had a slew of books recently that were perhaps bad choices on my part and I really hate writing low star reviews. I always try to point out though that although I didn't gel with the story others will, that reading is very subjective. This book illustrates that perfectly. Already I can see a few two star reviews, even a couple of ones and yet I loved it. Absolutely loved it.

It made me snigger with the scatty humour, and for anyone ( a few reviews mention it) who thinks life isn't like that – it is. I don't have Joe's exuberance but do have his problems with everything going t$ts up, with my careful plans descending into chaos, although mostly I just go with the flow and don't make strict plans. Everything goes wrong when I do so why bother? The nurses were sniggering when I broke my hip falling out of my wheelchair, moving the electric fence for my horses, then recently my scooter suddenly ran out of charge just before home and a big slope. I had to accept a push from a poor man who was using a stick to walk...then there's the time I super-glued my hand to the kitchen worktop. I was putting it away safely so the grand-kids didn't get it.
Frank is so like my late husband, that full on persona, always talking to strangers like long lost friends, always full of weird and wonderful ideas.
I enjoyed the very different personalities of Harry and Joe, again my late husband and I were very different, and yet it worked, we were together over 40 years, so there's no reason why Harry and Joe couldn't make it work too.

I wasn't so keen on the timing, the way it was five years past, six months past and then present, it worked to tell the story but I found it frustrating jumping back and forth. That's a small crit though and as I'm not a writer maybe that's the only way the story would work?
I did like the different people, the prejudice, the way Joe was casually called “ the Gay “ from folk who'd be astonished at the suggestion that wasn't really polite. Casual sexism, prejudice, bigotry like this is insidious, people only see the open hatred as being prejudiced whereas actually its far more and something people face daily but shouldn't have to. Being a wheelchair user I get that kind of thing when folk talk to whoever is pushing the chair, offer them the change even though I've paid, ruffle my hair like I'm a pet. One day....

The story itself has some great dram that unfolds to a real climax at the end. I couldn't believe it would really unravel, and yet the clues Marina set up for it all going wrong were incredibly real and believable.
Looking on goodreads Marina is a new to me author, I'll certainly look out for her books in future.

Stars: five, a cracking read that had me sniggering at several points at poor Joe, and empathising with him having done the same kind of thing.

ARC supplied by Netgalley and publisher

Loved it, quircky and fun.
Short story with punch. It made me laugh out loud and it made me swoony.

Mare~Slitsread

This book definitely has a cute premise - a love story of two men who seem like complete and total opposites. There is a lot of comedy and some very sweet moments. However, this book fell short for me. My main issue is that I couldn't figure out why the story was not told in chronological order. It would have made so much more sense that way and I think I would have connected to the story better. Jumping around in time, in this story, just served to confuse and did not seem to serve a purpose in the end. I generally enjoyed the characters Joe and Harry, but there are many times they frustrate you enough to shake them. There is also quite a bit of open door steam, so be prepared!

Thank you to NetGalley for my advanced reading copy!

I thought that this was a really enjoyable story!

All round it was a really entertaining read and it was genuinely funny in places which I loved. The story was well written and I loved the mix of seriousness versus romance that the author had packed in to the story. The characters were well developed and you got a real feel for them and their personalities.

It is 5 stars from me for this one, I thought that it was a well developed and enjoyable story that had a great flow to it - very highly recommended and really enjoyable!

Joe was probably the most childish character I have ever read. I could not take him seriously at all. He has so many mishaps and accidents, his social skills are non-existent and my secondhand-embarrassment was through the roof. I could barely handle it and it felt quite unbelievable at all happened.
Henry was much more my character and I liked him more. I understood his motivations even if the book did not explain them very well.
I could not however understand how they fell for each other. I feel liked we skipped the romance entirely. Between the constant switching of times, it was hard to keep track of what their current relationship status was. We jump from casual sex to "I love yous" very fast and then don't get into it any deeper.
Their respected families were more on the sidelines; Joe looking for his birth parents (which did so little to the plot and was very random) and Henry struggling with his homophobic father (another unsatisfied sideplot).

As for the writing... it was fine.
The lists were actually entertaining. I liked the mirroring of their actions and how they both have spent enough time together to take up each other's quirks. The friendship between Frank and Joe was also sweet.

There were also quite a few comments that just didn't sit right with me (e.g. people referring to Joe as "the gay"). It was uncomfortable to read.

The book description pulled me in and I am so happy it did!!! Once I started to read I could not stop!!!!
This book is hilarious !!!!! I loved the back and forth from past to present ... the MC is endearing and quirky.
I love that he is not a spaz even though he is spontaneous and does not conform to what most deem the right way to be a successful adult. He is who he is and he is fine with himself .
This book is well written , fun and just a good time . It is a good reminder that people don’t need to be the same to be in a relationship, they just need to love each other for who they are .
I am very happy I discovered this author !!!
10/10 would recommend!