CBR Bingo – Rings. Marriage.
Caution: Spoilers.
Anna Green and Liam “West” Weston were divorced and went their separate ways after they finished their studies at UCLA. Their sham marriage was just so they could get inexpensive housing on campus.
Three years later, Anna finds herself with a fine arts degree, jobless, no prospects to sell her art, and saddled under her dad’s medical bills. She gets a surprise visit from West, the handsome, extremely wealthy heir apparent to the Weston Foods supermarket chain.
West reveals that they were never really divorced because they had to remain married for longer in order for him to meet the requirements of his inheritance. His sister is getting married on a private island in the Philippines and need to show up with this “wife,” after which their divorce can officially go through.
More money than Anna can imagine (she can pay her dad’s medical bills), a couture shopping trip, and a first class flight later, Anna finds herself on a 10 day adventure with a man she barely knows. What ensues is dysfunctional family relationships, romance, sex, misunderstandings, fights, and secrets all leading to sweet, funny, stressful, romantic situations. All in a beautiful beach setting.
Back in LA there are more misunderstandings, a fight, a reconciliation, and ultimately a real wedding.
This books is basically “Pretty Woman” except without a prostitute and set on a private tropical island in the Philippines. The story line is almost entirely predictable. Many of the characters are one dimensional – the overbearing father, the snobby mother, the nice but shallow sister, the overlooked resentful brother, the overlooked brother who overcompensates by being “the funny one.” My favorite character though is sassy sister in law Blaire, who I wish we could get to know better.
Despite all of this, I enjoyed this perfect summer feel good book. After all, who doesn’t love a Hollywood ending?