Name: Who'd Have Thought
Rating: 4.134615384615385 (13 reviews)
ISBN: 9783955338770

G. Benson

Who'd Have Thought

Lucia Correa

Edit for a re-read May 2018 - Ever hit a reading funk and none of the half- dozen (or more) books waiting to be read only NONE of them are appealing to you? So a possible cure - re-read a favorite. I’m so glad I decided on this book. Cures all what ails you. I think I liked it better the second time around. I’m sure it will become a annual read. 

It’s still
5 SOLID GOLD STARS. 

The plot of this story isn’t that unusual A marriage of convenance and not love but eventually turns into love - I’m sure a lot of arranged marriages in real life, Older movies such as 7 Brides 4 Seven Brothers and more recently The Proposal with Bullock & Reynolds.

In this case it is between Samantha Thompson, a brilliant, focused neurosurgeon but socially awkward and Hayden Perez, an ER nurse. Sam reminds me of Nora in Between the lines and Isles of Rizzoli & Isles. Sam needs to get married quickly and Hayden needs the money Sam is offering. Sam won’t reveal why and because she is desperate Hayden accepts the deal. The problem - Hayden really dislikes Sam so it proves to be difficult to convince their colleagues that they are in love & after one month of “dating” they marry. Especially Hayden’s BFF, Luce and Hayden’s family. It doesn’t help that Hayden is a terrible liar & Sam’s awkwardness. It is told via Hayden so we get to know Sam along with Hayden.

This is a very satisfying slow tolerance to friendship to romance. There are great side characters that are well developed. Such as Jon, Sam’s Brother and skeptical Luce. 

I loved Sam’s family. From her pulls no punches, strong Grandmother and sister and her cute young nephew. Slight spoiler. (view spoiler)[ I could really relate to the struggles that they were going through with her mother suffering from early onset Alzheimer’s. It was well written and on point. Both my brother & sister suffer from the disease. My brother is now in assisted living facility & my brother-in-law takes care of my sister with help from his daughter-in-law & son. In fact they just built a small house on their property so my sister & Bro-in-law will be close. I could relate when my brother wandered off when he was in my care. No harm, but scary. A bit off topic, but it resonated with me.  (hide spoiler)]

Don’t get me wrong this is not a downer of a book! There is humor - especially in the banter. There is Luce (great name!) usually giving Hayden a hard time - this cracked me up.
“You’re staring at your wife with moon eyes.” “You really, really were. Like, I expected a breeze to waft through and wave your hair gently around while violins started up.” 

There is so much more that I liked but read it and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. I just might do a reread tomorrow!

G. BENSON

Top neurosurgeon Samantha Thomson needs to get married fast and is tightlipped as to why. And with over $200,000 on offer to tie the knot, no questions asked, cash-strapped ER nurse Hayden PErez isn't about to demand answers. The deal is only for a year of marriage, but Hayden's going into it knowing it will be a nightmare. Sam is complicated, rude, kind of cold, and someone Hayden barely tolerates at work, let alone wants to marry. The hardest part is that Hayden has to convince everyone around them that they're madly in love and that racing down the aisle together is all they've ever wanted. What could possibly go wrong?

Loved the relationship dynamics and how they eventually fell in love after everything and the wholesomeness between them, nice slow burn relationship

Kristina K

Ella Patterson

A cute slow burn with the added benefits of higher stakes. Didn't love Luce but the narrative surrounding the family and the main character's mother dealing with Alziehmers was really interesting and grounded the story.

Jude Silberfeld

I love this book. I never completely remember how much I love it each time, then it makes me all happy again. It’s in the little things, which makes it difficult to explain.

This time, I listened to the audiobook version, and it was also wonderful. I really liked Tanya Eby’s narration and the different voices, including Hayden’s nephew (children are not easy). I usually like the fake-romance trope but it has to have a believable reason. If it needs me to suspend my disbelief, I might still enjoy it if the writing is good but it won’t be the same. I think this one has the best reason I have read. I won’t spoil but when the reader, along with Hayden, finds out why Sam needed that fake marriage, I loved Sam even more. But I’m getting ahead of myself here.

Hayden Pérez is a nurse in New York who, despite working as much as she can and being very careful with her expenses, is struggling financially. A lot of what she earns goes to her family in Miami. When she stumbles upon an ad on craigslist looking for a temporary bride, the idea seems ludicrous at first. Yet the promise of money pushes her to answer, only to discover that the author of the ad is Samantha Thomson, the most arrogant and rudest surgeon at the hospital.

I love Hayden, even more with Tanya Eby’s voice, which I thought was perfect. Hayden is hard-working, loving, responsible but she’s also a smartass and I love that aspect of her. She has a wonderful if complicated relationship with her family and it breaks my heart every time she feels guilty for not visiting enough, not sharing the burden, not doing more when the money she sends every month is already helping tremendously.

On the surface, Sam is the opposite. She’s older, always in control. She doesn’t talk about her family, she has no friends. She’s cold. Once Hayden gets to know her, however, she finds that she’s really kind-hearted and more socially awkward than rude. I more than once wondered whether she could be on the autism spectrum, especially when she explains that she takes her cues from others, or if her attitude stems from her upbringing.

With small delicate touches that never feel fragile, Benson tackles issues such as Alzheimer’s or homophobia with both plausibility and finesse. Bonus points for making Hayden pansexual and her best friend Luce non-binary with just the right amount of explanation and without making a big deal of either. That’s just the way things are, and Luce is only one of excellent secondary characters, who bring angst, tension and comic relief to what is overall an awesome novel.

Who'd Have Thought

Reviews

Highlights