Book 825: Say Yes to a Mess – Elle Brownlee

I ended up grabbing this one after spending a bit of time looking for Two for Trust. I was really hoping to find it at the library so I could read it a year later and see if it held up as the OMG SQUEEEEEE I remember. When I couldn’t find it, I figured I may as well try another one by Brownlee since I enjoyed most of hers I’ve read.

This is Wiley’s story. He had to move back to his hometown when his grandmother got ill and he never left and all of a sudden his childhood best friend, Kit, and his reality tv show with his brother, Holt, are returning to town to film a special episode. Well Holt decides to pretend Wiley is his fiancé and it’s their wedding episode the brothers are there to film.

We all know I love a fake boyfriend romance, so take it to the next level and of course I’m going to read it. I think the most stressful part was how focused Wiley was on Kit when they first came to town—like obsessed. So of course, Holt is nowhere on his radar and the announcement throws him for a loop, but he says yes anyway, and the fun begins.

I got excited early on when there was a Jane Austen shout out:

Only because they come true so often and you’re left having to talk me down from the ledge with pints of ice cream and our shared Persuasion DVD. (7)

Because I thought maybe it was a retelling I wasn’t aware of, but that was the only mention.

The story moves quickly and there’s all the usual remembering things from their childhood, the pining between the two main characters, and the lack of communication that just ramps up the “drama” constantly. I was convinced the major crisis of the novel was orchestrated by Kit for ratings, but apparently it wasn’t, and it forced Wiley and Holt to realize they actually wanted to marry each other, and they got part of the wedding they wanted and not just the extravaganza that Kit wanted them to have.

This is definitely a slow burn romance, similar to Brownlee’s other works. The characters kisses slowly started to heat up until about the two-thirds mark, but there’s no major sex scenes or anything until almost the very end of the novel which worked perfectly for the book.

The minor characters, Kit and Carla (Wiley’s best friend), really helped round out the novel. Even the rest of the production crew, random locals, show fans, and the fan site blogger really added to the story creating a better experience.

Recommendation: Well worth the read. It wasn’t quite as good as Two for Trust, but better than the other two by Brownlee I read. I thought Wiley and Holt’s relationship was adorable and the way they fell into each other even though they weren’t that close growing up. The minor characters really help flesh out the world and I only wish this were a series!

Opening Line: “Okay all you superfan (Team Kit!) Kittens and (Team Holt!) Holsters—and the rest of you lurkers reading out there—what do we think this big doozy of an announcement the Leydon brothers have been teasing for ages is about?”

Closing Line: “It’s only the beginning for us. — Oh. Yes.” (Whited out to avoid spoilers, highlight to read.)