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A review by jscarpa14
Nearlyweds by Beth Kendrick
4.0
This book was EXACTLY what I needed to read. Beth Kendrick is officially my hero!
Stella, Erin and Casey all get married on Labor Day weekend by the same reverend who later dies before signing or filing their marriage certificates so after all the fuss of a big wedding in front of family and friends they find they aren't really married. Which isn't actually a bad thing because their dream marriages aren't exactly what they'd thought they'd be.
Stella "married" a man twice her age who refers to her as his trophy wife. She was a nanny when they met and all she's really ever dreamed of was being a mom and having kids of her own. What her new "spouse" doesn't tell her is that he's had a vasectomy that he doesn't want reversed and he doesn't want anymore children considering his own children are her age or older. Not to mention they had her, though he doesn't actually acknowledge this. Or maybe I should rephrase that, he told her while she was drunk so she wouldn't remember because he knew that children was something she wouldn't compromise on and despite what her wants were from life and what not having children would do to her, he wanted her anyway.
Erin "married" her college sweetheart David who prior to her marriage she lived with in Boston, but not owns a house with right down the road from his mother. His mother who takes controlling mother in law from hell to a WHOLE NEW LEVEL. She actually attempts to kill Erin at one point in the book, knowing Erin is allergic to peanuts and then pretending to have forgotten when Erin goes into anaphylactic shock. She manipulates every situation until she's living right in their house because despite how horrible she treats Erin, David can't stand up to her.
Casey "married" that guy from high school that every girl crushed on. The one who never would have looked twice at the animal rights nerd she used to be. The one who used to date all of those girls who bullied and mistreated her making her high school tenure a living hell. Except Nick doesn't know how to commit to anything and almost bails on their wedding. He dropped out of law school, he wouldn't sign their lease. He went to a football game with his buddies instead of spending their first "married" Thanksgiving together.
Needless to say none of these women are really sure anymore if they actually want to be married. The book follows them and their relationships as they decide what they really want.
While this novel has some lovely romantic parts it's not really a romance, it's about these women learning what they can and can't compromise about, what they do and don't deserve and what they really want out of life. Each character had their doormat moments, but everyone has their doormat moments, it's how long those doormat moments last and what they're really willing to accept from the person they're with that makes or breaks a book for me. What I really loved that they don't do is apologize to their partner for their partner mistreating them. They don't grovel to their partners when they aren't the one in the wrong. They don't allow the person they're with to treat them like a secondary species. Some of the relationships in the book end up working and some don't, but the ones that do end up working work because the guys realized the problem and fixed it, because they realized what they wanted and the steps they needed to take to get there and made them and they realized what they really wanted was the women they meant to marry in the first place. I'm not saying the girls didn't compromise at little and offer a little give and understanding because they did, but they didn't just cave and live unhappily ever after either. And the relationships that did work were because some compromises are too harsh to make and if someone actually loves you they'd never ask you to make them. And I strongly believe the characters realize this.
The only thing I didn't like about this novel was that I wasn't ready for it to end. I would have really liked to have seen what happens now, or at least been offered an epilogue of five years later. Marriage does mean compromise but I loved that Kendrick doesn't behave as though that compromise should all be on the woman's side. I love that she also showed a variety of characters with different dreams. Erin for example doesn't want children for a long time, if at all. Casey doesn't really show an opinion one way or the other. I loved their friendship and I loved watching them heal. This book is just AMAZING! Highly recommend.
Stella, Erin and Casey all get married on Labor Day weekend by the same reverend who later dies before signing or filing their marriage certificates so after all the fuss of a big wedding in front of family and friends they find they aren't really married. Which isn't actually a bad thing because their dream marriages aren't exactly what they'd thought they'd be.
Stella "married" a man twice her age who refers to her as his trophy wife. She was a nanny when they met and all she's really ever dreamed of was being a mom and having kids of her own. What her new "spouse" doesn't tell her is that he's had a vasectomy that he doesn't want reversed and he doesn't want anymore children considering his own children are her age or older. Not to mention they had her, though he doesn't actually acknowledge this. Or maybe I should rephrase that, he told her while she was drunk so she wouldn't remember because he knew that children was something she wouldn't compromise on and despite what her wants were from life and what not having children would do to her, he wanted her anyway.
Erin "married" her college sweetheart David who prior to her marriage she lived with in Boston, but not owns a house with right down the road from his mother. His mother who takes controlling mother in law from hell to a WHOLE NEW LEVEL. She actually attempts to kill Erin at one point in the book, knowing Erin is allergic to peanuts and then pretending to have forgotten when Erin goes into anaphylactic shock. She manipulates every situation until she's living right in their house because despite how horrible she treats Erin, David can't stand up to her.
Casey "married" that guy from high school that every girl crushed on. The one who never would have looked twice at the animal rights nerd she used to be. The one who used to date all of those girls who bullied and mistreated her making her high school tenure a living hell. Except Nick doesn't know how to commit to anything and almost bails on their wedding. He dropped out of law school, he wouldn't sign their lease. He went to a football game with his buddies instead of spending their first "married" Thanksgiving together.
Needless to say none of these women are really sure anymore if they actually want to be married. The book follows them and their relationships as they decide what they really want.
While this novel has some lovely romantic parts it's not really a romance, it's about these women learning what they can and can't compromise about, what they do and don't deserve and what they really want out of life. Each character had their doormat moments, but everyone has their doormat moments, it's how long those doormat moments last and what they're really willing to accept from the person they're with that makes or breaks a book for me. What I really loved that they don't do is apologize to their partner for their partner mistreating them. They don't grovel to their partners when they aren't the one in the wrong. They don't allow the person they're with to treat them like a secondary species. Some of the relationships in the book end up working and some don't, but the ones that do end up working work because the guys realized the problem and fixed it, because they realized what they wanted and the steps they needed to take to get there and made them and they realized what they really wanted was the women they meant to marry in the first place. I'm not saying the girls didn't compromise at little and offer a little give and understanding because they did, but they didn't just cave and live unhappily ever after either. And the relationships that did work were because some compromises are too harsh to make and if someone actually loves you they'd never ask you to make them. And I strongly believe the characters realize this.
The only thing I didn't like about this novel was that I wasn't ready for it to end. I would have really liked to have seen what happens now, or at least been offered an epilogue of five years later. Marriage does mean compromise but I loved that Kendrick doesn't behave as though that compromise should all be on the woman's side. I love that she also showed a variety of characters with different dreams. Erin for example doesn't want children for a long time, if at all. Casey doesn't really show an opinion one way or the other. I loved their friendship and I loved watching them heal. This book is just AMAZING! Highly recommend.