Review: Just a Little Married

Just a Little Married by Reese Ryan
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. 

Third and the final book in the Moonlight Ridge series about three adopted brothers, Just a Little Married, brings back together Travis Holloway and Riley George. Riley was the rich girl who cruelly broke things off with Travis when they were teenagers, this lead to fights and heated tempers and the car accident all three brothers were in. The car accident and how the three brothers drifted apart because of it and are now forced to come together because of their adopted father's health issues, is threaded through all three books and I would suggest reading the first two in the series first so that you have an understanding of the family dynamics. Travis was the most injured from the accident, damaging his leg enough that he lost his college football scholarship and dreams of the NFL. Even though he is now a famous chef, he still carries some anger from that night and why when he first sees Riley again, he wants to keep his heart closed to her. 

“What do you want, Riley?” 

She lifted her chin and met his gaze. “A husband.” 

Readers have heard about Riley but this is the first time we meet her. We learn that she can't get her inheritance from her grandfather unless she is married and to a man of his own independent means. She wants the money to help out with two of her foundations and when she sees Travis in town and learns about his family's resort needing some help, goes to him with the plan of a fake marriage for one year. It's a second chance romance with marriage of convenience trope that brings some heat. 

Riley sighed, her heart still racing from the kiss that had set her entire body on fire and left her wanting much more from the man she'd asked to be her fake husband. 

While this was mainly set at the Moonlight Ridge, it felt the least connected to the series. The two other brothers and their wives pop in and out, along with their father Jameson who adopted all three of the boys when they were younger but for the vast majority of the time, the focus is on Riley and Travis. The first half had Travis pretty much not giving any leeway to Riley as he is still angry and hurt over how she told him he wasn't good enough for her when they were teenagers. It had a frosty feel with dormant volcano brewing underneath and at around the halfway point, Travis learns something about the night Riley broke-up with him and he starts to melt towards her. From the start Riley still has feelings for Travis but tries to hide them because of the hurt she knows she caused him. 

He cupped her cheek and offered a pained smile. “I'm sorry I believed the worst of you.” 

There was a little too much going on here for me, Travis' restaurant business, his documentary show, trying to save Moonlight Ridge and find the embezzler (continuing storyline from previous books), the fake marriage, Riley's fundraiser gala, and all the family dynamic issues. I wanted some it to be cut in favor of just having Riley and Travis together and working out their issues. There were too many time jumps, we don't get much of the Great Gatsby Gala (the cover picture is of the night) and we don't get to “see” any scenes from their honeymoon. At around the 75% mark, Travis' mother comes into the picture and a big bomb is dropped, way too late in the story for the resolution to not feel rushed. 

I enjoyed Riley and Travis' characters separately and together, the scene where Travis tells Riley's father to essentially f-off was a particular favorite and Riley putting herself out there for Travis had me cheering her on. There was a little too much going and weeks passed by/not shown when I simply wanted to see Riley and Travis together. The ending had a somewhat rushed and cobbled feel to it with bringing together the embezzlement story thread (book 2 made the villain obvious thankfully because there was pretty much no explanation of motivations here) and the fallout of the Travis mother bomb drop. However, I did enjoy seeing the last Holloway brother get his happily ever after and the steam between Riley and Travis.

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