Series Review: Is this series worth your time? Does it get better as the novels progress? Or does it get worse? Find out below:
Synopsis for Save the Date (from Goodreads): Aidan Iverson III, old money wealthy and blatant playboy, has never felt the need to be with one woman. Why, when he has the looks, money and a family name to rule the nightlife? And, when it thoroughly aggravates Grandfather? LILLIAN SNOWE, do-it-yourself overachiever, has a plan to keep her father healthy and living in the home where he raised her. But, how can she, when the hospital bills are piling up, the bank wants their money and she is hundreds of miles away from home? From the moment they meet, Aidan would have to be blind not to feel an attraction, especially with Lilli’s work attire and feisty humor. When illness, death, debt and a mutual friend, bring these two together, feelings are hurt and someone is insulted. It takes determination, sneaky actions and cockiness to secure the deal. But, even with an iron clad marriage agreement and pre-nup in place, there are those who would seek to destroy the spark threatening to engulf our couple in a happily ever after. So, Save the Date, because you are cordially invited to the seduction of Lilli Snowe.
Series: Modern Arrangements Trilogy
Author: Sadie Grubor
# of Books: 3 (Save the Date, Here Comes the Bride, Happily Ever Addendum)
Book Order: Chronological
Complete?: Yes
Genre: New Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Heat Rating: cool
Point of View: First Person, Alternating
Publication Dates: January 2013 – June 2013
Source & Format: Own (Kindle Freebie)–eBook
PLEASE NOTE: I have not read the last two books in the series, Here Comes the Bride and Happily Ever Addendum, prior to writing this review.
Why I Picked it Up/My Expectations:
I got Save the Date as an Amazon Freebie one day and I put it near the top of my to-read list. One of my favourite contemporary romances is the Marriage Bargain where two friends enter a fake marriage for financial reasons but end up falling in love–so I love reading other books with a similar plotline.
My Review:
Overall, I wasn’t too impressed with Save the Date. One of the main reasons was the writing style. There were a few grammatical errors (using the incorrect verb tense, bad typos, etc.) but I could get past that because it wasn’t overwhelming. It just needed a good polishing because it started rough (felt very immature to me) but I felt like it improved–or maybe I just grew used to it as I continued to read. But I found the flow of the plot and how it was written didn’t do much for me.
For example, Lilli and Aiden don’t really interact until halfway through the book–so up until that point it was a little dull. I missed the sexual tension between the two of them as that is one of my favourite aspects of this type of plotline. Also, a lot of time would pass between events (weeks to months) so I had a hard time keeping the timeline straight. I think the biggest reason I struggled with the plot/timeline was that I thought this series was going to be a series of books about different characters within the same world. But it is actually a trilogy about Lilli and Aiden’s relationship. I think it would be stronger as a series of standalone but connected stories because Save the Date felt like a very long prequel novel to me. Here Comes the Bride sounds a little more exciting to me but I’m not sure if I will read it.
As for the characters, I didn’t totally love them. Aiden seemed nice enough but he just seemed like he was a couple pickles short a jar (I mean when he was trying to convince Lilli he could have mentioned that he liked her as a person for goodness sakes!). I totally understood Lilli’s side of things and I liked her character setup but I felt like I didn’t get to see enough of her to particularly care. I just felt like the communication between the two in terms of dialogue and actually being the in the same room and talking to each other was lacking.
Will I Pick Up the Rest?
I’m undecided about reading the next two installments of this series. People seem to enjoy the sequels but they also enjoyed the first novel when I really didn’t. If it pops up for free on Amazon/Kobo, I might consider it but for now, both are a pass.
Series Rating: DNF
Save the Date 2/5 | Here Comes the Bride N/A | Happily Ever Addendum N/A
I’ve read better “arranged marriage” novels and I felt like this wasn’t up to par with them. I won’t be recommending this to my friends anytime soon (or ever).
- The Marriage Bargain by Jennifer Probst (Marriage to a Billionaire Series #1)
- Break by Vanessa Waltz (Billionaire Series #1)
- His Hired Girlfriend by Alexia Praks (Kiwi Brides Series #1)
