Have I Found My Favourite Adult Romance of 2022?
A book review of ‘Marriage for One’ by Ella Maise
One of the first books, and in fact, the first romance novel I read in 2022, was Ella Maise’s Marriage for One. Coincidentally, it is also the last romance I read this year. And that tells you two things, dear reader: one, that I loved it so much I reread it within the span of a year. Second, I picked it out from a list of excellent books from the influencer ARC list that was kindly provided by the publishers, just to make a symbolism out of it — I wanted my year to end on a similar note of high.
Disclaimer: I received a review copy of this book from Simon & Schuster India. All opinions expressed are my own and in no way influenced.
About ‘Marriage for One’
Here is the synopsis from Goodreads:
Jack and I, we did everything backward. The day he lured me into his office-which was also the first day we met-he proposed. You’d think a guy who looked like him-a bit cold maybe, but still striking and very unattainable-would only ask the love of his life to marry him, right? You’d think he must be madly in love.
Nope. It was me he asked. A complete stranger who had never even heard of him. A stranger who had been dumped by her fiancé only weeks before. You’d think I’d laugh in his face, call him insane-and a few other names-then walk away as quickly as possible. Well…I did all those things except the walking away part.
It took him only minutes to talk me into a business deal…erm, I mean marriage, and only days for us to officially tie the knot. Happiest day of my life. Magical. Pop the champagne… Not. It was the worst day. Jack Hawthorne was nothing like what I’d imagined for myself. I blamed him for my lapse in judgment. I blamed his eyes, the ocean blue eyes that looked straight into mine unapologetically, and that frown on his face I had no idea I would become so fascinated with in time.
It wasn’t long after he said I was the biggest mistake of his life that things started to change. No, he still didn’t talk much, but anyone can string a few words together. His actions spoke the loudest to me. And day after day my heart started to get a mind of its own.
One second he was no one. The next he became everything. One second he was unattainable. The next he seemed to be completely mine. One second I thought we were in love. The next it was still nothing but a lie.
After all, I was Rose and he was Jack. We were doomed from the very beginning with those names. Did you expect anything else?
My thoughts on the book
I cannot really remember where I first came across Marriage for One. Considering the fact that I get a majority of my book recommendations from BookTube or Bookstagram, it could very possibly have been either of these two. And once I picked up this delicious treat, there was no going back!
Marriage for One has all my favourite tropes: grumpy x sunshine (a grumpy hero and a very bubbly heroine), marriage of convenience, dual point of views, kind of an age gap, slow burn, acquaintances to lovers. What I think is the best feature of books of these kinds is the character and story arcs that make us feel a bunch of emotions, especially as we see two (kind of) unlikely people fall irrevocably in love. You, dear reader, along with the characters, get all the feels!
The names of the two characters are also such cliches — Rose and Jack. And just like Rose, I too had a sinking feeling that maybe, just maybe, their ship might be a sinking one too. Thankfully, the author wrapped up the ending in a pretty decent way (I am not going to give away any spoilers here) and I had an amazing time overall with it.
I absolutely also loved the process of Rose building her cafe so that was a treat as well! Just reading about the various steps she had to take to get it ready for opening day was a pleasure. I think so many of us have this unconscious desire just to take a step back from the hectic corporate life and just live life slowly while enjoying all the beauty of it.
Around the Corner, Rose’s cafe just tickled the right spots for me. Making it ready also gave Rose and jack the much-needed quality time that ultimately cemented their relationship together.
And can we talk about Jack? Please tell me men like him exist in real life too. Or am I reading too many romance novels at this point? Jack bringing her flowers just made her day(s), and to be honest, mine too! I was living vicariously through Rose, let me tell you. If I had a husband like Jack? Oh my lord, let us not even go there.
I love how Jack and Rose grow closer until they blur the lines of their marriage of convenience! I absolutely adore this book and demand you pick it up as soon as possible!
If you love this book, I would recommend you pick up Elena Armas’s The Spanish Love Deception, especially if you want a little cameo of Jack and Rose! And Around The Corner, of course!
If you are looking for more romance recommendations, you can also check out my list of the top romance novels I read in 2022!
Nayanika Saikia recently graduated with a First Class Master’s Degree in English Literature, and is currently working as an editor at a publishing house. She is also a Booktuber and Bookstagrammer. She can often be found on her Instagram account Pretty Little Bibliophile.
You can support her by Buying Her a Coffee or by using her Referral Link while getting a Medium membership!