Series: Standalone

Genre: LGBT (m/m), Romance

Rating: 2/5 stars

Cover: I love the little touch of color

Links: goodreads

Trigger warnings: abuse

Description: She bit her bottom lip. She had a gleam in her eye. A wild hair. “I found you a new roommate. The printout is in the envelope.”
The package crumpled in my hand as I filed past the bills. Where did she get this kind of cash? I pulled out the slip of paper inside.
SWCM in search of SWCM for husband. No smoking, no drinking. Monogamous companionship wanted with no expectation of romance. Must be willing to relocate.
“Tempe. This isn’t an ad for a roommate. It’s for a mail order husband.”

After six years of an abusive relationship, Will finds himself single after his now ex-boyfriend, Mike, is arrested for fraud. With little money and no job, Will’s sister Tempe has a plan: a mail order husband off Craigslist.
Bryce is tired of being alone, his last relationship was eighteen months ago and ended after his boyfriend decided he didn’t want children—a deal breaker. No longer interested in clubs, blind dates, or hookups, Bryce agrees with his mother’s plan to place an ad online for a husband.
After several emails, one phone call, an awkward bachelor party, and a weekend wedding, Bryce and Will are married. But, can Will ever trust Bryce with his heart after Mike’s betrayal? Demons from Will’s past continue to threaten the newlyweds as Will is named accomplice to Mike’s crimes and is forced to face his abuser. Will they ever find what they’re in search of?

Review: Usually I am a sucker for the mail order groom trope, but this one was far too easy to be thrilling.

There are two reasons for this. First there is the length of this story. It would have worked so much better as a novel… Will is being seriously abused by his boyfriend and in the course of two months without any therapy or any work at all really, he’s not traumatized? When before he flinched if someone moves his hand too fast. Just because he fell in love (again) he is suddenly healed? I don’t think so.

There is a lot of sex in this novella (if you are considering the length) as well. Because of this I felt like the only important thing for Will and Bryce is sex. Nothing more. But I do belive that there is more between them behind the pages. Sadly it’s not really on the pages.

The second reason for me not really liking “In search of…” are the mistakes. Well, mistakes is not really the right word. This novella simply needs some editing. There are a few repetitions and some logical mistakes. For example is Bryce ‘very erect’ and on the next page (well, kindle page, depending on your settings it could be on the same page or a few behind) he is only ‘semi’. The words aren’t really flowing as well.

I do like the idea though and with some work and a way higher word count it could be a great book. It’s great as well that S.M. Koch put the abuse help lines after her story. Numbers like this are so very important and they’re not stated and known enough.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy through the author in exchange for an honest review. Thank you.