Review: My Darling Bride by Ilsa Madden-Mills

My Darling Bride by Ilsa Madden-Mills
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was provided an ARC of this book via the author and Netgalley, all opinions are my own.  

Graham is a successful football player with everything going for him.  During the final play of the Super Bowl, he takes a hard hit causing a concussion and and a near death out of body experience.  It has left him rattled as he recovers.  In an attempt to find meaning he takes a vacation in his new fancy car to the middle of the desert.  There he finds Emmy, a quirky girl hiding from her crazed soon to be ex-boyfriend.  (Trigger warning for domestic abuse in the present and past).  Graham helps Emmy get rid of unwanted advances from a stranger at the hotel they are staying off.  Graham accidentally drops his keys leaving Emmy the perfect escape when her ex shows up looking for her a short while later.

When they both return to New York, Graham needs a favor and Emmy owes him one after stealing his car.  You see he and his brothers are set to inherit a large sum of money, however they all have to be married, to a woman.  Graham's brother Brody could use the money to expand his business, but he and his husband have been cut out of the will.  Graham isn't dating anyone and he is focused on his football comeback, so a marriage of convenience is ideal.  Graham and Emmy had a connection in the desert and he proposes a mutually beneficial agreement that will help both of them.  Emmy is wary of the agreement, but she has a family to look after and Graham doesn't seem so bad after getting to know him.  The more time they spend together the more their connection grows and threatens to break down the walls they have both built.  

I really enjoyed getting to know Graham and Emmy.  This reads as a complete standalone but if you have read some of Ilsa's previous books, you will appreciate the Easter eggs.  This has just the right amount of spice and humor to balance out the more emotional moments.  Their relationship does have more of an instalove feel to it as they don't spend a ton of time together on the page developing things.  The time they do spend together is fun, but I would have liked to see them together a bit more on the page.  This has a distance makes the heart grow fonder vibe to it as they figure things out.  I enjoyed the side characters and hope to see some of them get their own books in the future.  

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