Review: Marriage of Inconvenience by Penny Reid

Synopsis:

There are three things you need to know about Kat Tanner (aka Kathleen Tyson. . . and yes, she is *that* Kathleen Tyson): 1) She’s determined to make good decisions, 2) She must get married ASAP, and 3) She knows how to knit.

Being a billionaire heiress isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. In fact, it sucks. Determined to live a quiet life, Kat Tanner changed her identity years ago and eschewed her family’s legacy. But now, Kat’s silver spoon past has finally caught up with her, and so have her youthful mistakes. To avoid imminent disaster, she must marry immediately; it is essential that the person she chooses have no romantic feelings for her whatsoever and be completely trustworthy.
Fortunately, she knows exactly who to ask. Dan O’Malley checks all the boxes: single, romantically indifferent to her, completely trustworthy. Sure, she might have a wee little crush on Dan the Security Man, but with clear rules, expectations, and a legally binding contract, Kat is certain she can make it through this debacle with her sanity—and heart—all in one piece.
Except, what happens when Dan O’Malley isn’t as indifferent—or as trustworthy—as she thought?

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Title: Marriage of Inconvenience
Series: Knitting in the City #7
Author: Penny Reid
Release date: March 6th, 2018
Cliffhanger: No
Rating: 5 stars

Delayed gratification: maybe you're not a fan of it. Maybe you don't like the waiting so much, and in the end, that gratification is not quite as pleasurable as you had anticipated. The crash and burn can be painful, so you avoid it like the plague. This book is pretty much the definition of that phrase. To say that readers of this series wanted Kat and Dan's book written is like saying that the discovery of the DNA structure is a pretty decent scientific find. We were practically foaming at the mouth in our rabid impatience to get our hands on their book. And folks? Put your worries to rest, because Dan the security man and Kit-Kat lived up to every bit of their promise.

Kat has always been the most quiet and reserved woman of the group. I was happily surprised when her quirky personality unfurled-she was endearing from the first page. Cheese is her drug of choice, and she uses it to self-medicate her anxiety away. She hiccups when she's nervous. Not in a cute little peep...no, this was something else entirely. I actually laughed out loud at her mortification over her stress hiccups.

My hiccups sounded like a shrill gasp if I wasn’t careful to keep my mouth closed. A few people eyeballed me as I walked, as though attempting to determine if I were in distress or just a weirdo making truncated shrieking sounds.

The reason for Kat's subdued personality comes out, and it all made perfect sense. As the heiress to the largest privately held pharmaceutical fortune in the world, she was worth billions. When you have that much money, it's a lonely position to be in. Kat had a completely dysfunctional childhood with one mentally ill parent, and another who either didn't acknowledge her existence, or show her any love or acceptance. But she never cried 'poor little rich girl.' She began a downward spiral, years of dangerous rebellion, and self harm. She didn't have any positive reinforcement, no one there who encouraged her, or helped guide her in the right direction. But she lays the blame entirely on her own shoulders, and the shame and feelings of unworthiness eat her alive. She internalizes everything and that is probably one reason for the mysterious Big Misunderstanding.

If it weren't for that night in Vegas, she could have avoided the uncomfortable awkwardness that her relationship evolved into with Dan. Her stubborn avoidance of the man who stars in every one of her fantasies frustrates him to no end. The poor man has been besotted with her for years, but even after their disastrous night, he can't get her out of his mind. I think this is what makes their chemistry so enticing. That pull they have towards one another creates some of the most delicious friction and tension.

   I leaned closer again.
“Dan.”
He tilted his head to the side, saying,
“Kit-Kat,”
and a tiny shiver raced down my spine.
He’d lowered his voice to the naughty-secret level.

It takes a moment of desperation to reach out to Dan for help, and he grabs his shot with both hands without hesitation. How can I explain how much I loved his instant eagerness to help her, no questions asked?? Penny Reid excels at creating heroes with charm and charisma, and Daniel O’Malley is no exception.

He's coarse, rough around the edges, but with a soft side that is so devilishly sweet. One thing I particularly loved about him was how devoted he was to his mother. Devoted, yet at the same time completely terrified of her wrath. How cute is that? He's also very intuitive, and doesn't let Kat hide away from him like she's used to doing with the rest of the world. He peels back her protective outer layers, and reveals the woman that she hadn't felt worthy enough to expose.

Instead of running scared, he's drawn in even more deeply than before. Their relationship is anything but conventional, they're essentially dating after they get married, and learning each other's faults and eccentricities. But not only does he accept her issues, he vows to help her navigate through them and heal. Suddenly their fake marriage is becoming more than words on a piece of paper. They're both in deep, and sorting their feelings while navigating her crisis with Caleb isn't making it easy on them.

Fuck me,
but I could drown in her eyes.
It wasn’t just that they were gorgeous,
it was everything behind them—
the smarts, the goodness, the toughness,
the compassion—
and they made me stupid
when we were this close.

There were moments when you just wanted to grab the back of their heads and smoosh them together. Kiss, you stubborn kids!! Then tie them together and make them talk out all of their fears and concerns until they got it right. Lust is often confused with love in many relationships, but with Kat and Dan, gratitude was what drove a wedge between them and caused doubt. Based on the mistakes of his father, Dan was hypersensitive and too quick to distrust in order to avoid repeating history. But in doing so, he could demolish the progress they made together if he can't see the truth in front of him.

The Knitting in the City series started its journey five years ago. I have read each and every full length novel in order, and looked forward to the next with impatient giddiness. Coming to the end of the road with these beloved characters is definitely bittersweet, but oh, how it hurt so good. I'm not going to lie, I got a little emotional facing the fact that this would be the final couple in the series. However, getting to know Dan's brother a little better, I have to wonder if he'll be getting his own book. Can I be the first in line to beg for that? I'll make sure we form a neat and orderly line. There's much more to him than we all previously thought, let's just say that. And that epilogue had me dreaming of a spin off series...but that could just be my inability to say goodbye rearing its head. To sum things up: READ THIS BOOK!! But you probably don't need me to tell you that.

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