Saturday, January 11, 2014

The Wedding Game by Amy Matayo - Book Review

The Wedding Game by Amy Matayo
About the Book:
Cannon James has a plan: Sign on as a contestant for his father’s new reality show, marry a blonde hand-picked by the producers, and walk away two million dollars richer. It’s all been arranged. Easy. Clean. No regrets. Until Ellie McAllister ruins everything by winning the viewer’s vote. Now he has to convince America that he’s head over heels in love with her. Not easy to do since she’s a walking disaster. 

Ellie McAllister has her own problems. She needs money, and she needs it now. Despite her parent’s objections and her belief that marriage is sacred, she signs on to The Wedding Game…and wins. Now she’s married to a guy she can’t stand, and if she wants her hands on the money, she has six months to make voters believe she loves him. Not easy to do since he’s the most arrogant man in America. 

It doesn’t take long for Ellie and Cannon to realize they’ve made a mess of things…even less time for their feelings for one another to change. But is it too late for them? More importantly, can the worst decision they've ever made actually become one of the best?



About Amy Matayo:
Amy MatayoI graduated from John Brown University with a degree in Journalism.
I came this close (holds finger and thumb together until they practically touch) to also having an English degree, but decided I wanted to get married instead and besides, who needed it?
After all, managing an entire six-credit-hour semester seemed just so exhausting, and one degree was more than enough.

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

Not the marriage—that’s all good. But the pseudo-exhaustion. It might be nice to have that degree right now. Anyway, after graduation, I went to work for DaySpring Cards—a division of Hallmark—where I worked for seven years as Senior Writer and Editor.

After the birth of my first child—a ten pound boy—I became a freelance writer before pursuing novel-writing full time.

My first contracted novel—The Wedding Game—won the 2012 ACFW Genesis Award. It released on November 16, 2013. As the mother of four children with a husband immersed in political life, I have very little free time. I prefer to spend that time enjoying intellectual pursuits such as: watching television with my feet propped up, watching movies with a bucket of popcorn, and watching my laundry pile high—with no desire to do anything about it.

It’s a fun life.

My Thoughts:
This is a fun, modern-day romp, complete with a headstrong woman and an arrogant man. Can two complete opposites ever find some sort of common ground?

Arrogant Cannon makes it clear he can't stand his new wife, and quite honestly, Ellie doesn't exactly make it easy for him to change his mind. Always at each other's throats, they both wonder how in the world they're even going to make it to the six month mark of their marriage and win the two million dollar prize. 

Little by little, fight after fight, they begin to understand one another and see the other for what they truly are. Adults that might have more in common than they first thought.

Ellie isn't the hick Cannon took her for. Neither is she named after a cow as he assumed. Cannon isn't as hateful and arrogant as Ellie first thought. After she gives him a break and gets tired of all the fighting, she realizes he's actually a pretty complicated guy that has his own cross to bear and his own set of problems. 

One is born with a silver spoon and has everything this world has to offer. The other has the grit and determination that only comes with hard work and effort. Both have something the other needs.

I truly enjoyed this book. It was a very quick and easy read that left me very satisfied with the ending and the plot. While I could guess at some of what was going to happen, it didn't detract from the story at all. There were a couple of times I thought Ellie was being a little hard-nosed and mean, but I realize that it was to keep the walls around her heart and Cannon out. And vice versa with Cannon. I liked how Ms. Matayo brought these two unlikely hearts together and made them a great match. If I were to liken this to a movie, I'd say this was similar in feeling to The Proposal but much better. 







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