In a Jam
Books | Fiction / Romance / Contemporary
4.2
(160)
Kate Canterbary
When Shay Zucconi's step-grandmother died, she left Shay a tulip farm-under two conditions. First, Shay has to move home to the small town of Friendship, Rhode Island. Second-and most problematic since her fiancé just called off the wedding-Shay must be married within one year. Marriage is the last thing in the world Shay wants but she'll do anything to save the only real home she's ever known. Noah Barden loved Shay Zucconi back in high school. Not that he ever told her. He was too shy, too awkward, too painfully uncool to ask out the beautiful, popular girl. A lifetime later, Noah is a single dad to his niece and has his hands full running the family business. That old crush is the farthest thing from his mind. Until Shay returns to their hometown and turns his life upside down. CW/TW: absentee parent(s), brief mention of parent death, brief mention of parent chronic illness, mention of incarceration, mention of temporary foster care placement, reference to teenage teasing/bullying (not detailed, not explicit), brief incidence of fat-shaming, living with a neurodivergent child
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More Details:
Author
Kate Canterbary
Pages
472
Publisher
Vesper Press
Published Date
2022-09-20
ISBN
1946352756 9781946352750
Community ReviewsSee all
"first book of the year! it was so sweet :)) I loved grumpy, “daddy bread baker” Noah, Shay and sweet, feisty Gennie! this was a small town, fake marriage, single parent romance! with sweet wholesome moments along with the spice we know and love from Kate Canterbary! all in all, I really enjoyed this one! a good start to the year :))"
"*very slight spoilers* i love this book more than anything, literally my dream dynamic for a relationship. now have a thing for cowboys (or would it be country guys?) though. that is 1000000% not a complaint. i’m a sucker for a good second chance plot line, though im kinda getting tired of the fake arrangement story so i did enjoy the slight twist with this one. i still hate spicy books tho. "
"<strong>The absolute worst</strong><br/><br/>I tried. I really tried, but I could only make it to the 67% mark. The last line I read was "Do as your told, wife!" I liked the first 20% of this book. The author was setting up a slow burn and the 2 main characters had set up hard boundaries for not letting their fake marriage hurt Gennie. It had potential. Then they go to a high school football game and the author flushes all that down the drain in favor of cliches and sex. I'm convinced that 90% of "romance" novelists don't understand what romance actually is and think it's just sex. Or that's all they actually want to write about and just use romance as a cover. I could have dealt with that, but Noah is the most cringe character ever written. He would not stop calling Shay "wife" and I wanted to pull my hair out. It was just so stupid. He's all over her every time they step foot in public, but the two of them are so stupid that they're shocked when Gennie and the rest of the town figure out they're married. This book got dumber the longer it went on. Throw in 2 chapters of the most dragged out sex scene I've ever read and I just couldn't take anymore of Noah telling me what he would or would not "allow" his wife to do. This author has some serious kinks wanting her man to degrade her and control her life. I wish her the best with that but this book was just too awful to finish. Life is too short."
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Travis Peak
"Not worth your time. This book is a drag I dnf at 40% because my poor brain could not take anymore torture. I’m so angry to have wasted my time with this book. The characters are bland and the little girl is soooo annoying I cringed every time she was on page. Do yourself a favor and don’t read this BORING BOOK. And that’s on period😤"
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Lee Davis
"This book made me crave more from the author. While it isn't faultless, the plot takes a common premise and makes it the driving force while also providing other plot points. The marriage sham cover-up scenes come about rather naturally, interwoven with the entanglement of the rest of their lives."