The Un-Arranged Marriage by Laura Brown: When Mark’s car won’t start, his only option for a ride to his 
sister’s wedding is his nemesis: Shaina Fogel. Even though their families have been friends for years, the two of them never built a bond much to their mothers’ chagrins. Mark has always thought that Shaina thought that she was too good for him since she ignores him. When Shaina finally erupts with the fact that she can’t hear him since he’s too soft spoken, he questions everything he knew about her.
Being hard of hearing has always set Shaina apart from everyone. In her parents’ eyes, she was never as good as her brother Noah. She has to strain to hear anything that other people say, especially when it comes to Mark Goldman. When she’s stuck on a car ride with him and he keeps with his whispering tactics, she finally yells at him that she has never been able to hear him.
When they arrive to the wedding, they find out about a competition that will take place in pairs. Being the only single ones (excluding older aunts and uncles), Mark and Shaina pair up to try to win. As they work together in the competition, they start to get to know each other more and more and learn that maybe they were wrong about each other the entire time.
Mark has always struggled with people understanding his sexuality. When he feels a spark with Shaina, it is the last thing he expected. By building on his relationship with Shaina, he learns to come out of his shell and how to speak up for himself. Whereas before he would stand on the sidelines and let his parents think what they did, he stands up for himself and how he feels instead of letting them think that he only wants to be single forever.
Shaina has always been in the shadows of perfection, which has made her afraid to ask for help. She realized growing up that she didn’t need to ask for help anymore since it wouldn’t be provided. As her relationship with Mark progresses, she finds that she wants more than she normally would. He helps her understand why she is strong the way she is and doesn’t need to compete with anyone to be better. When she is finally able to tell her parents and brother how she feels, it is freeing for her.
Overall, the book was so good! It has the perfect amount of spice with a lot of explaining life with different labels. It is a fun read that will teach you something about the world around you that you might not already know.
Book Info:
Publication: March 28, 2022 | Entangled Publishing LLC (Amara) |
Their mothers are the worst matchmakers…
Mark Goldman has never gotten along with Shaina Fogel. Ever. Even when they were in diapers, their bestie mothers wanted them to grow up and get married. Not happening. Mark prefers his quiet, reserved life. But a family wedding is about to change everything Mark thought he knew about his archnemesis.
A week of wedding events with Mark Goldman? Shaina would rather have a week of root canals. Maybe the guy is hot, but for their entire lives, he’s never once acknowledged the fact that she’s hard of hearing. So it comes as a massive surprise when she discovers that Mr. High-and-Mighty and Annoyingly Sexy simply didn’t know. And now she needs his help.
When it’s revealed that the weeklong wedding events are actually a weeklong competition—for a dream vacation—Mark and Shaina do the unthinkable: work together. And the second the animosity begins to fade, something even more electric takes its place. Only now it’s not just an attraction between enemies. And nothing could be worse than the fact that their mothers might have had it right…
