by Lauren Blakely
Trophy Husband is not your usual romance novel. It’s really a novel about a woman. Period.
McKenna, fashion blogger and gamer, has to recover from an awful break-up. The story focuses almost entirely on her and is solely narrated from her point of view. To protect her feelings she decides to do the same thing as her ex-fiance and look for a Trophy spouse. She makes a political statement out of her public search for a suitable young good-looking husband. We accompany her on a bunch of more or less successful dates and into her bedroom and fantasies.
At one point she runs into Chris, gaming blogger, who offers his help but under no circumstances wants to take part in the trophy husband challenge himself. Lauren Blakely made McKenna and Chris feel like real, 3-dimensional people. No alpha male caveman antics, just the honest story of a man and a woman, slowly developing feelings and trust. At the same time they’re entertaining us with amazingly witty banter though! So this isn’t just all political and solemn 😉
The narrator Samara Naeymi has a deep voice that matches the character of McKenna wonderfully. She manages to give back the emotions so well, making the story even more interesting and captivating. It really drew me in. However, the narrator isn’t so strong in doing different voices. At times I found myself a bit confused about who was doing the talking in a dialogue. Her intonation and delivery were great though and I had several laughing out loud moments (also, Steely Dan Duran!!).
McKenna, especially the way Samara Naeymi portrays her, is in so many regards the kind of heroine I’d like to see in romance novels (especially in young adult and new adult, impressionable minds and all…). She is the self-reliant strong yet vulnerable and open woman I often miss in this genre.
Oooh-Factor:
3 out of 5 she’s-mostly-doing-it-alone stars
It’s a sexy book though, no worries 😉
Audio-Factor:
Audiobook > Book
I felt thoroughly entertained listening to Samara Naeymi!
Pick it up here:
Audible audiobook “Trophy Husband”
You can pick it up through the Audible Romance package