REVIEW: Wife for the Weekend by Ophelia London

In Wife for the Weekend (Sugar City #3) by Ophelia London, marrying her good friend’s brother on the same night that they missed their flight out of Vegas and got rip-roaring drunk, Jules Bloom can’t believe her stupidity. Worse yet, neither of them can remember anything about the night in question. But they do know one thing; they can’t just annul the marriage when they’ve somehow already announced the happy news to their friends and family. However, the more they continue with their sham marriage, the more Jules begins to realize that being married to Dexter Elliott isn’t a bad thing after all. Except, there’s no chance he’ll ever feel the same way.

”Sure you can handle that?”
“I’ve handled rougher. Haven’t I? He nudged her arm. “Oh, and Vince’ll threaten to give me a pounding for marrying you.”
“He’d beat you up? Why? We haven’t dated in eight years and he’s getting married.”
“Big bad player like me corrupting a sweet young thing like you?”

Ever since reading the first book of this series, I’ve looked forward to every story that has followed, and I’ve got to say that Wife for the Weekend is the best of Ms. London’s Sugar City series so far. The plot was compelling, fast-paced and kept me entertained because of Jules. She’s honest to a fault and having to lie to Dexter’s family is one of the hardest things she has to do. I really enjoyed how it started with Jules and Dexter coming face-to-face again and being delayed in Vegas due to unfortunate circumstances, which leads to big trouble of them ending up married when both are adamant they weren’t planning to get married anytime soon.

As for the dialogue, I laughed several times throughout this story. There are some light-hearted moments where Jules makes a bit of a fool of herself, and Dexter’s family don’t make things easy for them. Especially when they enquire about how the couple ended up together since no-one in the family had any idea they were dating. Yet, the dialogue did also get intense due to the main characters back stories, Jules’s situation with inheriting her grandmother’s house and a secondary character trying to cause trouble for their relationship.

Both main characters impressed me, although Dexter did annoy me with how he treated Jules towards the end of the book. He treated the heroine no better than as if she was an escort paid to accompany him over the weekend, and it made me feel sorry for her. Yet, in saying that, he’s a good guy the rest of the time. He’s hard-working and certainly knows how to have fun, which is proven through the bets he and his family tend to make with each other. Then there’s the way he is with Jules. She’s good for him, and the way she helps solve his problems with his dream job bought them closer together. She made him see things through the eyes of an artist, to make him appreciate that art can’t be achieved as good through digital means like a computer compared to someone picking up a paintbrush. However, I liked that he managed to redeem himself in Jules’s eyes by announcing that his plans for his dreams were going to benefit children.

”Nice touch?” she asked.
“Staying standing after everyone sat, looking gooey-eyed at me.”
Jules felt a flush coming on. Bad, bad timing. “I’d never look gooey over you.”
“I’m saying it was a good thing. People totally bought it.”

They say opposites attract, and it’s quite true with this couple. Where Dexter is overly analytical, Jules tends to not overthink things. She’s quirky, sassy and tenacious when she finds something worth fighting for. For a while in her life, she’s been unable to find the inspiration to resume her love for art and follow her dream, yet being with Dexter is good for her. He makes her realize anything is possible, if there’s someone by her side that believes her dreams can become a reality, and the only person she’s really had in her life that did that for her was her grandmother until he came along.

Overall, this was a really good book where the chemistry was strong between Dexter and Jules from the beginning and kept getting stronger as the story progressed, despite the fact that their romance was a bit on the sweet side. As for the secondary characters, I liked them all. Dexter’s entire family are a real hoot, and definitely know how to push his buttons. No way can he tell them the truth about his marriage at the beginning, afraid of the consequences for both him and Jules. She’s a good family friend, and doesn’t want to make things awkward between her and his family.

The ending wrapped this story up nicely, as Dexter proves his love for Jules by helping her with her dreams for her grandmother’s home and Jules finally finding the inspiration to follow her art dreams. I would recommend Wife for the Weekend by Ophelia London, if you enjoy the friends to lovers trope, or the fake relationship trope. Moreover, I would recommend the previous books of this series as well, most especially Natalie and Luke’s story, which is the second book called Kissing her Crush.

Book Info:

 March 14th, 2o16 | Entangled Publishing | Sugar City #3

When bad weather closes the airport, free-spirited Jules Bloom finds herself stuck with the admittedly hot but total suit Dexter Elliott. One night and one large pitcher of “Vegas Sunrise” later, Jules wakes up in a hotel bed with a vicious hangover…wearing nothing but a wedding ring.

Determined not to ruin his brother’s wedding, Dexter strikes a deal with the frustratingly gorgeous Jules to continue their quickie marriage through the weekend. Only she keeps getting under his skin in unexpected ways.

Jules has her own reasons for staying married to Dex but they seem less important with each exaggerated touch and staged kiss. But one marriage, one major secret, and two complete opposites don’t add up to a happily ever after…