Introducing Double Booked - Double Booked is a collaboration between two Black romance reviewers, myself and Tropes and Kisses, to read and review books by and about BIPOC characters. We’re prioritizing our ARC TBRs to share our perspectives of every swoony line, every lust-fueled plot, and the scenes that literally stop you in your tracks.
Hi Librarygoer!
I have a very, FUN book to talk about today. Premise wise it’s almost one of one and I enjoyed every moment of the zany FMC and the MMC acting like he’s not head over heels for her.
It’s a treat to read something that feels new but also feels like your favorite blanket. I hope to make someone feel that way about my books one day … so I should probably write them! This brings me to a quick update: I’ll be taking a temporary hiatus throughout most of the rest of this year. I have a couple of reviews scheduled in advance and a sequel to my 2025 round up of BIPOC releases but my free time moving forward is dedicated to revising Leela and Braxton’s story.
I’m SO excited to spend time in their world while applying feedback from my SmoochPit mentor’s edit letter.
Now, onto today’s story, happy pub day to Claire Kann and her gem The Marriage Narrative!
This story combines marriage of convenience with reality tv and swearing off of love in a way that keeps you turning page after page.
Happy reading!
-Aleia
Quick ask: I’m trying to reach 250 subscribers before 2025. If you’ve enjoyed my book recommendations, would you forward this email to one friend who loves romance? I (+ Double Booked with Christine) have LOTS in store for the new year!
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Zinnia is ready to be married, and it has to be right, right now. She has no notion of finding her One True Love because she wants a business partner in life. One that she also happens to be married to. She starts the search for her marriage solution on a dating app, much to the chagrin of her two best friends. However, the app leads her to Jordan, who also wants a very quick marriage for his own reasons.
After a few strategic dates, business meetings, they get married and Zinnia signs up to help Jordan with his reason for marriage—his family’s Kardashian style reality television show. Marrying Zinnia stops him from having to marry his attention-seeking ex, but that doesn’t mean there’s any fewer fireworks on set.
Or behind closed doors.
Zinnia is one of those heroines you instantly root for — ambitious, self-aware, and done with dating disasters. She’s not looking for fireworks, she’s looking for stability, partnership, and peace. Her plan? A marriage of convenience. No messy feelings, no heartbreak, just a pragmatic path to a happy life. Honestly? Mood.
I love a character that is so deeply motivated in a seemingly foolish goal. That’s Zinnia to a T. When we meet her, she’s convincing her friends that she can find a platonic husband via a dating app in a short amount of time. She has guidelines, hard stops, and interview questions for the business meetings with her potential partners (which are absolutely not dates according to her). But other than that she has motivation and a lot of gall.
I love to see women in men’s fields.
Then there’s Jordan. He just wants to take care of his sister and spend time with a family he’s been publicly estranged from. His reasons for needing a wife, one not scripted for him, make a contemporary marriage of convenience make romance sense.
This book has so many delicious twists and turns that combine the theatrics of reality tv and the conflict of successful romance novels so well.
I’m rooting for Zinnia because I support women’s delusion. She’s both whimsy and focused when she needs to be (gotta love a woman with optimal self-defense skills). Her sunny, idealistic nature makes her impossible not to like and Jordan is exactly who she needs. He’s used to supporting people from afar and that’s exactly what he does for Zinnia. Slowly but surely he breaks down her walls. Sometimes he goes overboard in protecting her without telling her what he’s protecting her from but he course corrects easily and their love gets a chance to deepen.
I can’t complete this review without taking a moment to talk about children growing up in front of the cameras with a semi-scripted life. Stop that, respectfully. The twins grow up entirely on the screen to the point that their reality is warped. There’s a point where Wylie talks about wanting to build a career as a writer, but can’t because his sister ‘already had that storyline’. That’s not real life and although the twins annoy me regularly, it feels like they are stuck in a period of juvenile development.
I’m not saying that every child with a camera shoved in their face from nine to nineteen suffers the same fate, but it really connects me to Lulie and Wylie when I initially wanted to paint them as villains. I’m not sure if we’ll see them as fully realized adults if this series continues—btw pleaseeee let it continue … there’s an F/F (maybe F/F/F) pairing I really want to see in a book two—but I hope there’s HEA in store for them that includes living their dreams, and not just the one scripted for them.
This book has an amazing cast of characters, a lovable main couple, an eccentric family and friends on both sides, and very interesting staff supporting the filming of the show. I love them all and hope you enjoy them as much as I did!
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Reality tv as a setting isn’t a completely new phenomenon in romance but it’s rare enough that they all seem to hit different notes. Here are some of our favorite recs.
Instalove by Danielle Allen - A betrayal, a bad date, and a bottle of wine leads Mariah to a dating show where she meets her match, and mate in Zion. They’re engaged at first sight then spend weeks getting to know one another, very intimately, and competing against other couples Survivor style—all with hopes of making it to the altar.
Mango and Mistletoe by Adrianna Herrera - This Scottish set cooking competition pits two Dominican chefs against each other at the holidays. Its feel good, and feels really good—especially to the book’s FMCs.
Witch You Would by Lia Amador - One of my favorites of this year, this also Latine cooking competition (this time in Miami) pairs a set of witches together in a competition full of potions and hijinks.
D’Vaughn and Kris Plan a Wedding by Chencia C. Higgins - Queer Married At First Sight but your families aren’t in on the plot. In this reality show D’Vaughn and Kris have six weeks to plan a wedding and convince their families it is real. Only Kris’s eye is on the $100K prize and D’Vaughn has to work her coming out story into her wedding announcement.
Are you into contemporary marriage of convenience or reality tv recs?
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