Reviewer: Holly
Make-Believe Wedding by Sarah Mayberry
Series: Great Wedding Giveaway #9
Publisher: Tule Publishing
Publication Date: July 28th 2014
Genres: Fiction
Pages: 130
Add It: Goodreads
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books

Series Rating:

The Great Wedding Giveaway - Book 9
Everyone in Marietta, Montana, is in love and getting married - at least that’s the way it feels to Andie Bennett the night of the Valentine’s Ball. As she watches the man she’s loved from afar for half her life dance with another woman, Andie allows herself a moment of sheer fantasy as she fills out a stray entry form for the Great Wedding Giveaway.
Andie channels years of fantasy and yearning for Heath McGregor onto the page, but she never intends to actually enter the Giveaway. Only a crazy woman would do that. But fate has other ideas….
When Heath learns he and Andie are last minute finalists in the Great Wedding Giveaway, he’s completely baffled. How on earth could anyone make such a ridiculous mistake? When it becomes clear that Andie will be humiliated if the slip-up becomes public, Heath does what any good friend would - he suggests they pretend the engagement is real until the Giveaway is over and then quietly “break up” when no one is paying any attention. It’s the perfect solution, except Heath very quickly realises that pretending Andie is his is no hardship at all. In fact, it may just be the best thing that’s ever happened to him…

This was a great read. Andie has been in love with Heath, her brother’s best friend, since she was 13. They grew up together and now she works for him, but he’s never noticed her as a woman. The night of the town Valentine’s Day Dance, she hopes to finally change that and dresses to knock his socks off. Except..he doesn’t notice. A little drunk and a lot frustrated, she fills out a questionnaire about her and her fiance – adding her name as the bride and Heath’s as the groom – for a Great Wedding Giveaway the town is hosting. She accidentally leaves it on the table, then forgets all about it. Until three months later when the Chamber of Commerce tracks them down to tell them they’re semi-finalists in the giveaway.

When Heath sees how humiliated Andie is, he offers to pretend to be her fiance until the winners of the giveaway are chosen. He doesn’t see much harm in it, especially if it will save Andie embarrassment in town. Until they share a kiss in public. Then he suddenly realizes Andie is a woman, not just his best friend’s little sister and his employee.

There were so many great things about this book. Andie is an electrician, for one. She’s also tall, reed thin and more cute than pretty. She can out-fish, out-hunt and out-spit most men. All-in-all, she’s pretty much the opposite of every romance heroine out there. I loved it. Her feelings for Heath came across as very real. A lot of times when one is carrying a torch for someone their feelings are shallow or they love the ideal of the person. Andie really knew Heath. Her love made sense.

Heath was a little dense when it came to Andie’s feelings, but I like how his eyes were slowly opened to her and how his feelings developed once he realized she was an actual woman. His attraction to her came on slowly – he was so used to seeing her in the role of friend/employee – but he didn’t deny it. He realized pretty quickly he wanted more than just a fling with Andie and did his best to show her how he felt.

Mayberry has always been great at pulling me into a story. I finished this one with a smile on my face and a happy heart.

I’m told Beau, Andie’s brother, and Lily, her best friend, will get a book early next year. I’m really looking forward to it.

4.25 out of 5

The Great Wedding Giveaway Series 

Prequel: Beauty’s Kiss by Jane Porter 
Book 1: What a Bride Wants by Kelly Hunter 
Book 2: Second Chance Bride by Trish Morey 
Book 3: Almost a Bride by Sarah Mayberry 
Book 4: The Unexpected Bride by Joanne Walsh 
Book 5: The Reluctant Bride by Katherine Garbera 
Book 6: Game Of Brides by Megan Crane 
Book 7: The Substitute Bride by Kathleen O’Brien 
Book 8: Last Year’s Bride by Anne McAllister
Book 9: Make-Believe Wedding by Sarah Mayberry