The Favor

Fantastic. I've had a top 5 favorite book/series list for several years now that no other book has come close to touching. Until now. This book just kicked out one of my top 5 and moved into its slot. I'll start with the heroine. Vienna is a dream heroine for me. I'm conditioned to overlook a lot in a heroine because to be honest, most do not behave the way I wish they would. Because of this, I don't let most of what they do bother me and instead focus more on the hero. Now saying that, when a heroine comes along that demands respect and proves me wrong, I am in book heaven. What makes Vienna a dream heroine for me? She had self respect. She didn't fall all over the hero and allowed him to disrespect her, not that he really did, but you'll understand when you read this. I also really loved how she handled the drama with side characters. She called them on their BS to their face. I LOVE THAT. I'm not a fan of a lot of drama unless it's handled. She handled it. Also, she was a genuinely good person. She put others before herself, but not to a point that she was a doormat. There wasn't one time in the book that I wanted to change Vienna. I loved her. Now for the hero. Dane is very cold, aloof, calm but cutting at times. You do not get his POV in this so I was left guessing about his intentions from the very beginning. I actually really liked to trying to figure out when things changed for him with Vienna or if he had a plan from the very start. This mystery lasted a long time, and to me it had me completely enthralled. Not only because I was left guessing, but also because I adored his actions even though I was never sure if they were because he loved her or if he was just protective. Despite the fake marriage, he was very protective and always had Vienna's back. Loving the main characters as much as I did, I also loved how much time we got with them in the book. Due to the fake marriage, the story was about them as a couple almost from the start. My favorite thing to read with a couple is when they work together agains the drama, and not have the drama keep them apart. I feel like I could go on and on about this book but I don't want to spoil anything. It was fantastic! I want more books like this and I want the author to write more about this couple. I don't think I could ever get enough of them.

If you've ever read a Suzanne Wright book, you'll find little to no surprises in this book and since she's chosen a well-used trope as the framework for this story, it's especially been done before. I still found it an entertaining read and the author uses her regular tricks throughout the story. Dane is a super successful businessman - of what, I'm not really sure because even though it was emphasised how powerful and dominant he was, there was quite a lack of detail and examples given around this. He's ruthless, alpha, intense, *insert all of the adjectives this author likes to list in all of her books*. His uncle left him and his brothers a significant trust fund. The only condition? He has to be married by his late 30s to inherit. Enter his PA, Vienna, a beautiful and hard working woman who has set some kind of record in putting up with her mercurial boss having worked for him for four years. She owes him a favour as he helped her out with a sex tape incident years ago, hence the title, asking her to be his fake bride for a year so he can get the sentimental items that come with inheritance. On top of that, someone isn't happy that they're getting married so there's a heap of drama with an unknown party trying to sabotage the happy couples fake marriage. The book was entertaining enough. If you've ever read a billionaire or fake marriage romance before, let me heavily emphasise that there are absolutely no surprises here. There's not even a unique twist but luckily this author's writing is enough to carry it over the line (and carry it quite well). There's the deep and broody hero of the story and a strong but sensitive heroine and while they kept it PG rated while they had a working relationship, living in close quarters heats things up a notch and they give in to their long held attraction to each other. If you're a fan of age gaps, Dane is 37 and Vienna is 25. I found the premise for the favour a bit far stretched - he helped her with a sex tape problem and he asks her to give up over a year of her life and lie to all of her friends and family. Apples and apples? Not really and by not really I mean not at all as they are not even remotely comparable. Just a side note: If you've read Shiver from this author, there's a super quick mention of Kensey and Blake which was a nice touch. There was also a reference to Rags to Riches. As I've said above, if you've ever read a book by this author, she is pretty formulaic and her books only variate depending on how much she emphasises well-used tropes and themes that are through all of her books. I'm going to list the recycled themes from this author. The Favour has the main characters both having less than happy backgrounds - foster care, abusive fathers, a mean foster sister, troublesome siblings and in-laws. Vienna's father also has IDI with 5 or so personalities so there's a random tragic back story thrown in with this. Dane is uber jealous and possessive so if that floats your boat this author always ticks that box. The reader is metaphorically bashed over the head with repeated reminders of how intense, masculine, dominant and hot Dane is and all of his manly attributes that make him so swoony and irresistible. If I had a dollar for every time the author tried to not so subtly vomit out how male Dane was, I could probably retire early. There's also the usual dribble about how helpless Vienna was to resist him even though she tried and tried and tried. You get to read several times about her lady bits waking up when Dane enters a room, how his manly attraction wasn't fair and was unrelenting and how she was helpless to resist him and his magic peen mojo. This goes on through the whole book along with 'I think he might have feelings for me but I could be imagining it but no he feels something because we had a little nooky but now here is something to put a spanner in the works and make me doubt him again because it'll never, ever, work, waah, waah, waah, I'll just watch his magic mojo from afar because it'll never happen'. Rinse and repeat. Lots of mentioning of it only being a fake romance and him not really being that into her and their relationship doomed from the start. I mean, if you didn't get that it was a fake marriage from the blurb where it literally says it's a fake marriage, you might need someone to help you sound out the words in the book anyway. Now for one of my pet hates churned out by this author - over the top ex and other woman drama. Vienna's ex fiance cropped up throughout the book and while I was happy to see early in the book the ex drama was a male for a change and not a female, I spoke to soon because along came the womenz trying to get Vienna's man, y'all, and just generally causing trouble. As per all of this author's books, the other/ex woman drama was still shoved in there and once again ruined parts of the book for me. There was Dane's brothers' wives who were causing drama and one whom he had a past with. There was also the nasty foster sister so once again, there was no shortage of cattiness and over-emphasised ridiculousness that Wright loves to include. This is always the biggest downfall of a lot of her books for me because it automatically makes it feels as though I've already read the book...because I basically have in every other book she's written. That being said, I keep coming back and clicking on the books, so more fool me lol. A lot of this book reminded me of The Dark in You series. We were constantly told how masculine Dane is and how he gives out a 'you're mine' vibe. Dane repeatedly told Vienna to hold her orgasm until he said it was cool to explode. A little bit of Knox Thorne, anyone? And seriously, Suzanne Wright's characters have the worst luck with breaking and entering. Her books are like the epicentre of break in crime in the fictional book world. Another pet peeve - there are the token dialogues thrown into the story to spell out the story, what happened and break down of the perpetrator's motives that also imply the readers is stupid and not able to piece the plot together themselves. It makes the characters speak almost unnaturally and clumsily ties up loose ends in the story. There's one or two recurring jokes throughout the book used as catch phrases for some characters - again, another writing technique this author uses. There's one liners forced in to the story for a bit of humour and a good amount of steam and sexy times. A couple of the characters that were in a relationship had recurring arguments that got old quick, too, that I think was chucked in there for humour. The plot points and direction they was taking the story were pretty obvious and without spoiling anything, the resulting whodunnit was an absolute fizzer with no surprises at all. Like, not even a teensy bit of a twist or revelation. And the reasoning behind it? Holy where the heck did that random ridiculousness come from, Batman? The backstory was so silly I assumed I was reading one of her Shifter books where all the characters have a back story that is reminiscent of a crack addict on a bad trip. I know I've listed a lot that the author repeats, but hey, if I have to dive into it every book it's only fair I get to harp on about the well-used writing devices in my reviews, too, yeah? I like quite a few of this author's books but my word does she love a good regurgitation of themes and repetition of phrases, style, etc. But this is what her readers like and this is what sells her books so I get it, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to highlight the fact. I still found it an enjoyable read so four stars.

I just gobbled this story up! I loved Vienna, her principles, her intellect and that she didn’t let people walk on her. The marriage of convenience was fun to read through. What a crappy family he had, but I really liked her dad Simon. Very good story!

I genuinely enjoyed the storyline. It’s a fake marriage story. There was so much of the story I truly enjoyed. The issue I have with this book is the writing. So many books I’ve read are so smoothly written. They say a lot without having to say much. The author’s writing is long with the need to make it longer than it needs to be. The writing goes into detail about something. And then it’s paragraph upon paragraph of unnecessary details that basically repeat what was already said. I skipped so many paragraphs because I felt like I was reading the same thing over and over. At times it felt like the author tried too hard to make it work. She used the word “droll” a lot. I picked up on it because I eventually was annoyed by it. I did think the excess of details went well when it came to some of the spicy scenes. But very much dragged for no reason. Once I began skipping the extra stuff I ended up enjoying the story.

This is my favorite book I read this week so I hit the cover of the book it really turned me off into reading it at first but then I was like let me go ahead and read it started today finished it today because it was that good I love this book and honestly I don’t know if other people will love it but I loved it so much it was totally worth it!!!!! I loved both the male main character and the female main character honestly the female main character always made me laugh she was hilarious she would tell really good jokes it was just amazing the banter that they had for being two people who at the time didn’t really love each other as they said amazing top-tier 10 out of 10 I loved it it was amazing!!! Now you have to talk about Dane because Dane Davenport loved this girl since the minute he met her for him it was love at first sight and you don’t see that until you get maybe about 20% into this book but for him it was love at first sight and I just I loved it I loved it all because from the fact that I also love that she didn’t believe that he loved her or even cared about her but he did the whole time like I actually love that I loved it so much and I loved how much he loved her and how much he care for her and how much he protected her from the beginning I just I fell in love with this man so fast honestly probably in my top 10 best book boyfriends or as I should say book husbands because they’re married and by the way there’s no third act break up which makes this 10 times better!! Also the drama in this talk to you from family drama to just like a little bit of drama between them the side characters I honestly kind of absolutely loved and the mental health aspect of this book was honestly also one of my favorite things because talking about a mental health illness in a book most people don’t tend to do and this author I think she did it so well and I love that none of the characters or none of the important characters were judge mental towards the mental health aspect that one of the characters had it was also one of my favorite parts of it like they cared so much about this character I love that And so their childhoods both main characters childhoods really made me so sad and they both went through two different things but at the same time it was the same and they understood each other in the sense of what they went through but they both dealt with it in two different ways in the thing is one thing I will tell you about Dane he doesn’t seem to care about anything but he does and I wish we would’ve gotten his point of you because that’s what really made it hard was not seeing his point of you but it was still really good book but seeing that even without his point of you you could tell that he did care about her and he just doesn’t know how to show love and he doesn’t know how to take love I think is a really big thing also I’m so happy I just had to read this book today I really needed it totally worth it will reread it honestly I might even buy them paperback it was that good but happy reading if you read it

‘The Favor: A Marriage of Convenience Romance’ is a standalone book about saying yes to the unthinkable and finding love in the process. After reading the blurb I couldn’t help but think of the movie 365 Days, because like Laura Vienna also found herself trapped in a relationship for 365 days. Lately it’s been difficult for me to find a book that’s all consuming and enthralling and I’m happy that I found my fix in this book. Vienna Stratton is the PA to the CEO of o-Verve. She’s beautiful, smart, witty and caring with a great sense of humor. A few years ago Vienna found herself in a difficult situation that she couldn’t solve on her own. Thankfully her boss swooped in and saved the day, but not without the price of her being indebted to him. Dane Davenport is the founder and CEO of o-Verve. Dane is the epitome of an alpha male. He’s handsome, dominant and ruthless with an innate aura of authority. Both Vienna and Dane are very likable characters. I really enjoyed Vienna’s witty remarks and her strength. Dane and Vienna’s chemistry was molten hot. I really enjoyed reading about their relationship and its journey. The author takes us on this amazing journey of the metamorphosis of their relationship into a union that’s absolutely beautiful. This gives a very genuine feel to their relationship as opposed to it being stuffed down your throat. Both are multidimensional characters and it was very admirable to see how much they’ve grown as individuals after enduring several hardships during the childhood. Another thing that I enjoyed immensely was the side characters. Well some of them at least 😋Vienna’s dad story is something that I’ve never seen in books, which was very unique and touching. Another side character that wove their way into my heart is Vienna’s friend Ashley. The antics that Ashley pulled with her boyfriend literally had me rolling on the floor with laughter. She’s just too much 😂 Although I enjoyed this book tremendously, I will admit that the lengths that the antagonists in the book went to were very out there and even a bit far fetched. However this in no way took away from my overall enjoyment of the book. Vienna and Dane’s off the charts chemistry made up for this small hiccup. Overall, ‘The Favor’ was a very swoon-worthy book that sucks you in from the very start. If you’re looking for a feel good romance novel with a witty heroine and a dominant hero who doesn’t take no for an answer, then this is the book for you.

Since I’m a huge fan of Ms. Wright’s PNR books, I knew I would love a contemporary romance written by her. I was not disappointed and thoroughly enjoyed this book. Vienna was the perfect leading lady. She was such a beautiful, strong, dependable and solid person. Vienna had the best personality and I loved how she was able to joke with Dane when no one else would ever dare to try. Dane was a broody and oftentimes grumpy leading man. He was also hot, sexy, protective and bossy which are characteristics I love in the men in my books. When Dane started with the dirty talk, he kicked up his hotness level even more. He was forever doing small sweet things that took Vienna by surprise. This was a slow burn romance that turned steamy. There was an existing mutual attraction between the characters that was never acted upon because of their work relationship. We get a front row seat as lines are crossed and feelings are formed. Both of these characters had difficulties in their childhood and they connected in a way that just seemed to fit. The epilogue was really good and the perfect ending to this great story.

I love this trope, but marriage of convenience books tend to be implausible and focused mostly on sex. While this book has plenty of (well-written) steamy scenes, they felt naturally woven into the storyline instead of being the only reason the characters connect. I also appreciated the way the author created characters who had experienced trauma but worked to overcome it. It made them feel more like real people instead of cookie cutter Barbie and Ken stand-ins. Really, the only criticism I would offer is that, while the story is based in America, I could tell that the author was British because of the way she phrased a few things (we don't queue up in America - we line up), and those little differences pulled me out of the story a tiny bit, but that's more the fault of the editor than the author. This was my first novel by Suzanne Wright, but it won't be my last. Her characters were well developed, her plot was realistic, and her writing was engaging. I would definitely recommend this book as long as stories of abuse aren't triggers for you.

This is the story of two people, Vienna and Dane, with sadly damaged pasts who have nonetheless worked their way through them. You can see as the book progresses that the way they behave now is the result of the way they were treated in the past. They are both very strong characters but they need something from each other. This is a marriage of convenience story but it's so much more. I find the way the author approached the trope was far from cliché. They have known each other for 4 years and the attraction was always there but they never acted on it. There are many other characters that contribute a lot to the development of the story, the plot got thicker and there is actually so much happening and so much incredible drama that it's a long book and even though some other reviewers said the book was too long, I did enjoy it. There were no gaps or holes unanswered in the story and that's refreshing. There were things that I didn't enjoy and will talk about that too but there were many things in the story that I liked. Without any doubt what I think the master creation of this story is the communication between Vienna and Dane, I'm so thankful the author created open and honest communication between them. You will not find any stupid, miscommunication or misunderstandings in this book. I just can't stand that in a book. Vienna and Dane were also a team against the world, even if their relationship was kind of pretend at the beginning, they never stop standing up to EVERYBODY against them. I have actually never read a book where so many people DIDN'T want the couple to be together, good God! But that didn't weaken them, they always defended their relationship and that's admirable and such a pleasure to read. I liked both main characters, especially Vienna, she's is loyal, hard-working, sassy and very strong and Dane is pretty much a mystery for most of the time and without his voice, I wondered what his intentions and feelings were until they were finally revealed. He's a little too alphahole for me, rough, super jealous and possessive, but I like him good enough and they sure look like a good fit together. One of the things I think could be improved is the lack of Dane's point of view. He is an enigmatic character right to the end really, I would have loved having the dual POV in this story but maybe the author did this on purpose to create excitement, which she did. Also, to my liking, there were too many evil characters and over the top drama in the book. There is a lot of OW/OM drama but fortunately the way Vienna and Dane manage ALL those scenes (brushing the exes off and protecting each other) without exception was fantastic. I didn't care much about Vianna's neighbor couple, they were supposed to be funny but they grated on me more than anything. The wedding reception planning was a little on the boring end for me. What I want to highlight especially is that Vienna and Dane were honest with each other and loyal all the time. They didn’t lie to each other and they never cheated. That is worth 5 stars. Unfortunately, for the things I didn't enjoy that much that I just explained, I would give this book a rating of 4.5. All in all, I think it's an exciting book that keeps you wondering all the time till the end. I enjoyed it quite a lot.

I hadn't read any Suzanne books, and when I saw that recommendation, I was curious to read it. I was surprised, I loved this book so much. Because it's a relatively clichéd topic, about contract marriages and etc... this book didn't get repetitive and tiring. Reading is fluid and I just wanted to keep reading and I wanted the book not to end. Dane and Vienna have amazing chemistry. The two are wonderful together. They're honest, playful, seductive... which made the story amazing and fun. So, I highly recommend this book and congratulations to the author!!!

Es una historia de romance con final feliz. Sin duda. Lo que no me esperaba es el sarcasmo del la protagonista, la ame. El protagonista se robó mi corazón en su totalidad y me gustaría ver más allá del epílogo un espacial o algo. Sin duda un romance muy bonito y con el drama suficiente para mantenerte con nervios en algunas partes.

J'adore tout ces livres. Jamais déçue, toujours emmener dès les premières pages dans l'univers que cette auteur créé. Si vous ne connaissez pas, vous pouvez acheter les yeux fermés. Ces personnages féminins sont attachantes, fortes, drôles sans être dans un excès de personnalité. De belles histoires d'amours et de belle leçons de vie aussi.

First Read: 2022 5/5 Reread: 2024 5/5 Honestly one of the best marriage of convenience books I’ve read so far.. I throughly enjoyed rereading this book and am really happy that it’s still 5/5 stars for me! Dane and Vienna‘s dynamic and communication is on a next level and is one of the main reasons why I enjoyed this book so much! Seeing their relationship change from professional to passionate and affectionate was awesome.. both tried not to act on their feelings but just couldn’t stay away from each other.. It was really great how Dane opened up to Vienna slowly over time and how he stood up for her and didn’t let anyone talk bad to or about her without consequences!! Their chemistry was amazing and I enjoyed all the fake dating moments before they got married! The drama in this book was something else and kept everything so interesting, I love how Dane and Vienna worked everything out and didn’t let the drama come between them because they communicated so well, trusted each other and had each others backs! Everytime Dane put Vienna before everyone else - CHEFS KISS!! Both of them overcame a lot in their pasts and I really liked Viennas relationship with her biological father, her foster parents and friends.. I was really glad that Kent and Dane got closer at the end of the book! The epilogue was awesome and I‘m happy everyone got their happy end!!