The Reason I Married Him by Meghan Quinn

Narrated by Stella Hunter and Aaron Shedlock

Romantic Comedy. Second in a Series of Standalones.

My thanks to Meghan and her staff for providing an advance copy for review purposes. Ana’s Attic accepts no compensation for reviews, and all reviews contain my honest opinion. This post contains Amazon Affiliate links.

Because Meghan Quinn writes standalones, she normally does not mark them as series, but The Reason I Married Him is the second book that takes place in Almond Bay, and it’s about another Rowley sibling. I started my advanced copy of The Reason I Married Him before I read The Way I Hate Him, and I felt like I was missing some context, so I stopped and went back to read The Way I Hate Him first. I’m glad I did, a lot of background is explained. While I think you can read The Reason I Married Him alone, it will be a much better experience read in order.

A little family background: The Rowleys were four siblings (3 girls, and 1 guy) from an abusive home. One sister, Cassidy, died before the series started and Ryland, (the guy sibling) is raising her daughter. The first book was about the youngest sibling. This one is about the older sister, Aubree, and (try to follow here…) Cassidy’s dead husband’s brother. When they died they each left half of their farm to their sibling. Aubree got half and Wyatt got the other. Wyatt is a famous thriller author who never showed any interest in the farm, and Aubree has been running both the farm and the almond store herself.

Wyatt’s best memories are in his grandfather’s mountain cabin which was left to the first grandson to get married. Wyatt had it in his grip until his fiancée left him brokenhearted the day before the wedding, and now his evil cousin is going to get married just to knock the cabin down out of spite.

After moping long enough, Wyatt’s best friend suggests he go to Almond Bay and make a trade with Aubree: Her hand for his land. In other words, he will give her his half of the farm if she marries him for one year to get the cabin. Aubree and Wyatt are COMPLETE opposites. She is closed off and bitchy (you learn why in this story and I just wanted to hug her and be her friend), and now I understand the meaning of a “Golden Retriever Hero” with Ryan. He is so charming and lovable that the whole town has fallen for him. So when he sets his sights on Aubree, he’s impossible to resist.

I NEED ME A WYATT.

“I didn’t think he’d wiggle his way into my life the way he did. I didn’t think I’d find comfort in him, peace . . . protection. I didn’t think I’d fall for him, yet I did.”

How could you not? He was so sweet and so fun. He knew every button to press (literally and figuratively) to bring Aubree out of her miserable shell and it was so wonderful to see her transformation throughout the story.

“What exactly are you winning?”
“You, of course. What a prize too. A little bit of ornery, a lot of sass, and a bunch of growling. What a lovely bride you’ll make.”

Likes:

Vising the small town of Almond Bay again.
Wyatt was like a ray of sunshine.
Amazing banter and innuendo.
How Wyatt slowly chipped away at Aubree’s walls.
The goodnight kisses.
Tons of fun cameos and Easter eggs.
How Aubree loosened up and changed throughout the book.

Dislikes:

It wasn’t quite as funny or hot as many of her other books.

The Narration:

Meghan must write her books knowing her narrators and the style first, because her casting is always SPOT ON. Doing this series in duet style just made the entire story come to life. Stella Hunter’s ornery, annoyed Aubree was amazing and Aaron Shedlock embodied the charming Wyatt. They were great at all of the side characters as well.

The Down & Dirty:

Though The Reason I Married Him by Meghan Quinn is another long book for a romcom, it never felt long. The slow burn needed that time to heat up. I absolutely loved Wyatt and the way he slowly and carefully brought Aubree out of her shell. I am hoping we get Ryland’s story soon…perhaps with a certain beekeeper?