DNF: His Convenient Husband

His Convenient Husband (2017) Robin Covington

Isaiah Blackwell is a professional football player, out gay man, and widower trying to raise a teenage son.

Victor Aleksandrov is a professional ballerina and an out-spoken gay rights activist from Russia.

When Victor’s asylum case is denied, Isaiah offers to marry him so he can remain in the US.

I started this and then put it back down because it opened with a casual sex scene, which isn’t my thing. But I was struggling to figure out what I wanted to read, so I decided to give it another try, because a marriage of convenience between two men, one of whom has a teenage son is such a good one I wanted to know more.

The dislike of casual sex is a Michelle thing, so I’m not counting that against the story.

I’ve got other stuff to complain about anyway.

First, the POV switches between Isaiah and Victor. Normally that’s not a huge issue, but it really is here, because the POV shifts within a single paragraph, and since both main characters are male, I repeatedly lost track of who thought what.

Take this bit.

“Anything Matt needs, I’m in.” Isaiah half turned to face Ian, pointing in his smug face. “Just make sure I make money. I’ve got a kid who’s going to be an artist and will probably be living with me the rest of his life.”

“Oh, you’re hilarious.”

“I am.” Victor turned, and their gazes clashed for an instant before his husband dipped his head and rubbed his face with a towel.

First, what on earth is what “I am.” relating to? Victor just appeared out of nowhere, in the middle Isaiah’s conversation with his agent Ian. Victor is what? And whose husband are we talking about, because each refers to the other has “his husband” so that doesn’t help at all.

And take this:

They both signed their copy and then a third, and then stood back while the witnesses added their endorsement to the papers. All done, they watched as the attorney handed them their own documents and shoved the third in a briefcase. A brief word of congratulations and then he was gone.

“I’m going to hit the restroom before we head out to the party,” Victor said, reaching out to squeeze Isaiah’s before leaving the room. Isaiah watched him go, admiring the graceful arch of his back, the sexy sway of his hips.

Reaching out to squeeze Isaiah’s what?

The whole book is full of passages where I had to stop and try and parse precisely what was happening.

So, the editing is a mess.

But I was muddling through, because I still was curious as to how they were going to work things out, and then 85% into the book, Isaiah say some things SO STUPID and utterly unforgivable and I. AM. OUT.

What did Isaiah get made about? He got mad at Victor when the teenager (who is bi-racial and gender non-conforming) gets into a fight at school.

That’s right. It’s completely Victor’s fault that a 14 year-old-boy got into a fight at school.

That is the DUMBEST thought any romance character has possibly ever had. And to blame Victor IN FRONT OF OTHER PEOPLE for that?

Nope. Out.

I don’t care what happenes, because I can’t comprehend any amount of groveling that Isaiah might do that would get him past that.

Publisher: Entangled: Indulgence

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