The Marriage Merger by Jennifer Probst

I received this book for free from ARC in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Her sisters have found wedded bliss with their wealthy,wonderful dream men, but not Julietta Conte. She’s stayed on terra firma as top executive of the family’s corporation, La Dolce Famiglia bakery. Work is her passion, and her trendy Milan apartment her sanctuary . . . until Sawyer Wells, a masculine masterpiece in a suit, lures her out of hiding with an irresistible offer: an exclusive partnership with his international chain of boutique hotels.

Julietta’s been burned before—and trusting her brother-in-law’s friend, whose powerful gaze alone has her rethinking the best use of a conference room, is the riskiest proposition. But with a once-in-a-career chance to take the bakery global, will she mix stone-cold business with red-hot seduction?

Let the sighs begin!

So let me be honest here. I read the blurb for The Marriage Merger on NetGalley and hit request. No second guessing. No Goodreads research. No rushing to see if my friends had read it. I read the blurb hit submit and walked away. Then I was approved, saw that this was book FOUR in a series and pretty much shit my pants. Luckily I learned that it wasn’t a total necessity to read the books in order since each one focused on a different sister. Insert sigh of relief here. You see that sigh of relief? Yeah, that sigh was the first of many. Too bad the others were from frustration instead of relief.

The Marriage Merger started off the way I expected it to. We have Julietta, who is strong, independent and too stubborn to see that having a man doesn’t mean he is her sole purpose for living but maybe someone to share her success and frustrations with. This is probably the second most frustrating trait I see among Contemporary, Adult and New Adult reads. Yes I know it’s meant to add character but what type of idiot really runs around thinking that having a husband/wife/partner in general means they can’t have a successful career too?! And please don’t try and feed me that “woman scorned” crap! It’s one thing to put up a wall out of fear of falling, but it is a totally different thing to swear off having a partner in life because “you’d rather have a career”. Like it’s a “one or the other” decision!

This was my first, of many, problems with this book. Then you have her “I’m a broken woman” disorder and I was ready to strangle her! I know that I’m not an expert withing this field, but even I know that if you’re not have ANY orgasms it’s not YOU it’s the jerk face you’re with that’s the problem. I think it bothered me even more that, she just gave up on sex in general. Here we have a very strong and business focused woman who dominates and doesn’t give up in her business, but when it comes to something as instinctual as enjoying sex, she just gives up! Strike two The Marriage Merger, strike two.

Then you have the icing on the “all these characters bug me” cake. Sawyer.

I truly hate to say it, but, he was your exact cookie cutter love interest that you see in most romance/adult/contemporary/new adult reads. Filthy rich? Check. No family? Check. A face sculpted by angels? Yep. A brutal past that wouldn’t be revealed until the very end for dramatic effect? Um huh. The answer to all the worlds problems right between his legs? How did you know!?!

However it wasn’t just Sawyer that was cookie cutter! The story itself just wreaked of books I’ve read before, and that’s probably the most disappointing thing for a reader. I’m just sick and tired of reading about billionaires finding each other but being too prideful to admit their feelings. I’m bored by all the inner monologuing and demon battling. I tire of the running from the obvious only to be brought together at the very end like some really cheesy teen movie! When will I see some originality? Some REAL adult interactions? At what point in time will authors realize that sometimes, it sexier to see a man and a woman sit down and iron out all the awkward “what now’s”? How long will it be until we see two adults grow! I want them to meet, talk, become friends then lovers, then they become a unit?!

I wanted The Marriage Merger to be the first book I read for ARC August. Something that was steamy but also light, that would put me in the reading mode and keep me there. But all it did was make me roll my eyes and pray that I would be put out of my misery soon. It probably wouldn’t have rubbed me in such a way if there was ONE character that I had a connection with but of course that was another request of mine that was ignored.