Release Day Review by Kristie: Life of Bliss, by Erin McLellan

Life of Bliss, by Erin McLellan
Series: Love Life, Book 2
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: April 30, 2018

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Nobody plans to accidentally marry their frenemy with benefits.

Todd McGower and Victor Consuelos do not like each other. They can’t have a conversation without insults flying, and Victor seems to get off on pushing Todd’s buttons. The fact that their antagonism always leads to explosive sex . . . well, that’s their little secret.

Victor has a secret of his own. His full-blown crush on Todd is ruining his sex life. He hasn’t looked at anyone else in months, and he’s too hung up on Todd to find a date to his cousin’s wedding.

In a moment of weakness after a heart-stopping night together, Todd agrees to be Victor’s fake boyfriend for the wedding. Victor will have his plus-one—which will get his family off his back—and Todd will get a free mini-vacation. It’s a win-win.

But pretending to be fake boyfriends leads to real intimacy, which leads to too much wine, and suddenly, Todd and Victor wake up with wedding bands and a marriage license between them. That was not their plan, but a summer of wedded bliss might just change their minds.

M/M Pairing
Gay Character
Contemporary Romance
POC Character
Frenimies with Benefits
Fake Relationship
Wake Up Married
Secret Marriage
Secret Lovers
Part of Series
Standalone

So, first off…this book gave my heart all the feels! Life of Bliss was so unexpectedly sweet and wonderful and fun to read. I think I was partially surprised because I picked this up thinking that I’d not read Erin McLellan before. But then I remembered that I’d read Controlled Burn, and that book was INCREDIBLE. I recall being so overwhelmed by that book, by this new author I’d discovered and very excited to read more of her books. Well, now that I’ve read Life of Bliss, I’m ready for even more.

In Life of Bliss we meet Todd and Victor, not quite friends, not exactly enemies. Both of these guys love to poke and jab at each other, pick and antagonize. Having met through mutual friends in the first book of this series, Life on Pause (a book I still need to read) there is already a relationship of sorts established. This helps move the story along quickly from the start, something I appreciated very much. The story moves fast, the heat sizzles from the get go, and the feelings I had for these guys was immediate. Not having read the first book in the series, while I think would have been a good thing to do first, didn’t take anything away from their story. If anything, this might have spoiled a few things for me from Life on Pause, but not so much that I don’t want to go back and read it.

I really liked Victor in this story right way. When he lets his guard down, when he’s all in, he’s so open and loving. He has this fierce attitude that I’m really addicted to. The way he loves so completely is really beautiful to read and experience. Todd did take me longer to warm up to, but I think it’s because until I understood him, I almost hated him. Maybe hate is a strong word, but he could be insufferable! Todd didn’t have the same kind of life that Victor did. Victor has an incredible family, huge and full of love and support for him, something Todd is not familiar with. Todd has family, but he’s an only child with parents with whom he’s not close. There are all kins of other issues too, things that made Todd how he is. And he’s not a bad guy, just very unsure of himself, very closed off and he doesn’t easily trust his feelings, making him not entirely open to love… even when it’s staring him right in the face.

So when the fake boyfriend / wedding date happens and they *accidentally* get married, it’s no wonder things don’t work out exactly how they thought they would. Their summer of marriage was so fun to read. At times it was heartbreaking, often frustrating, plenty aggravating, but also so full of heat, the tinyist bit of kink, and a whole lot of loving.

Todd and Victor struggled with a lot of things people dating and/or married deal with on a daily basis. The comedy of their story felt genuine, their progression very heartfelt and real. I loved, loved, loved these guys and was sad when their story came to and end. So go forth and get this. I don’t think anyone would be disappointed. This was a ray of sunshine on a rainy day.

Erin McLellan writes contemporary romance with characters that are complex, goodhearted, and sometimes a little quirky. She likes her stories to have a sexy spark and a happily ever after.

Erin has a bachelor’s degree in creative writing from Oklahoma State University and a master’s degree in library and information studies from the University of Oklahoma. Though no longer a public librarian, Erin still enjoys being surrounded by books and readers, but now she hopes to find her stories on the shelves as well.

Originally from Oklahoma, she currently lives in Alaska with her husband and spends her time dreaming up love stories set in the Great Plains. She is a lover of chocolate, college sports, antiquing, Dr Pepper, and binge-worthy TV shows.