ARC Review: Mister Wrong by Nicole Williams

Buy:  Kindle Ebook Paperback



Review

2 *big sigh* stars

OK, so clearly I am going to have the unpopular opinion here because there’s a lot of love for this book, and I’m really glad that there is, but sadly, it just did not work for me. I thought the premise sounded fun, and I’m a big fan of Nicole Williams and was curious to see how she would pull it off, but the characters just annoyed me, the book was too short for me to really get invested, and in the end it was a struggle to finish the book.

Cora grew up with the Adams twins, Matt and Jacob. Though Matt was the one she had most in common with and always felt the closest to, it was Jacob that made the play for her and, thinking that Matt didn’t return her feelings, she stayed with Jacob, eventually falling in love with him and agreeing to marry him.

Matt was always desperately in love with Cora, but she was with his brother so he never voiced his feelings. He was always there for her, and loved her enough to want her to be happy – even if it wasn’t with him.

The book begins on what is supposed to be Cora and Jacob’s wedding day. Except that Jacob is a no-show. So Matt, steps in to do what he can to save the bride from the pain and embarrassment that would come from being left at the altar – he steps in as groom. Luckily, the twins are identical so nobody knows about the switch – not even Cora.

Marry the woman you love, Matt, then let her spend the rest of her life with the man she loves.

The two of them take off on their tropical honeymoon and Matt is so swept up in the emotion of it all that there is a whole lot of consummating. But what happens in the morning when the truth is finally revealed? And when Jacob arrives, the three of them will finally be forced to face up to the secrets they have been keeping – even from themselves.

I might have wanted them both in my life, but there was only one I couldn’t live without.

I’m usually a fan of this author’s books, but this one was a painful reading experience for me. I just couldn’t get past the stupidity of the characters, and of course that made the rest of the angst, drama and romance just seem ridiculous.

Standby for much ranting…

Spoiler title
Matt knew Jacob was no good for Cora. He knew he cheated on her, knew he didn’t treat her the way she deserved to be treated, but he never spoke up! He just sat back and watched it happen, and that was totally not cool for me. I love a romantic hero who is madly in love with his girl, but I want a man who is going to fight for the woman he loves, not one who allows her to be mistreated and disrespected – especially by his own brother! Why didn’t he ever speak up? He knew that Jacob wasn’t right for her, knew that any marriage between them would be a disaster, so why did he just let it go? If he loves her, he should want the best for her, and he knew that Jacob wasn’t it! Regardless of his feelings for her, she is one of his best friends. Friends don’t let friends marry douchebags!

Jacob is a douche. Plain and simple. The reason he didn’t show up to the wedding – he was recovering from the drunken night before where he hooked up with a random woman. Ugh. He’s a cheater, a liar and a selfish asshole and there is honestly not one redeeming factor about him.

My main issue though – how could Cora not know that she was marrying the wrong man? Grown identical twins aren’t that identical – and Matt even says that he is slimmer than Jacob. For a woman who has grown up with both of these men, how could she not know that the man she married and then spent all night shagging (in what is apparently the best sex of her life) is not the same man that she has spent the last 10+ years in a relationship with – especially when everything feels so different?

He kissed me like we’d been lovers in hundreds of lifetimes before this one, like he wouldn’t rest until he found me in a hundred more lifetimes in the future. He kissed me like I was everything he needed, and I was clinging to the hope that I was.

(Granted, she does say later on that she ‘knew in her heart’ it was him – so they why the big, shocked reaction when she found out, and all of the subsequent melodrama?).

And if they were such good friends and knew each other so well, how could they possibly be so clueless about the others’ feelings?

And while they were both mooning over their feelings and Cora was trying to make the decision over which brother she actually loved, for a moment I was wondering whether there was going to be a big twist and they wouldn’t end up together at all, and I honestly started to get excited about the prospect. But no, instead it’s just an angst-filled few days of everybody skirting around their feelings and nobody actually talking to anybody else, and uuuuugggghhhhhhh!

One of the highlights of the books for me was Maggie. Matt’s friend who bizarrely follows him to the Caribbean to make sure he’s ok. She is the voice of reason in this crazy, angst-filled situation, and I admit I kinda wanted him to just end up with her, but instead she works to push the oblivious lovers together and her come-to-Jesus moment with Cora was fantastic!

“He doesn’t like me, does he?” I asked.
Maggie made a face like my words were insulting her. “He doesn’t like you?”
My eyes connected with hers for a brief moment. “Not in the way you know I’m talking about.”
She shook her head, blinking a few times like she was waking up. “Hi, welcome to planet Earth,” she said in a mock cheery voice, waving in my direction. “The place where brains and sound-thinking make the planet go round.”

And OMG, Cora was so stupid! She needs a slap. Seriously. Of course Matt is the man for her, I honestly don’t understand why so much soul-searching was required. And when she finally made her choice, she didn’t tell Jacob that it was over, she just went running straight for Matt, paving the way for Jacob to walk in on them together. That’s bad form, seriously. Yes, Jacob is a dick, but that’s not cool.

OK, that was therapeutic and I’m feeling better *deep breath*.

So yeah, clearly not a winner for me. I’m sure lots of people are going to love this book, but I was turned off pretty early on and sadly it all just went downhill from there for me.

I will say though, that Nicole Williams’ writing was just as good as always. I usually love her books and she does a great job of getting us inside of Matt and Cora’s heads, and you can see the emotional turmoil that they are going through – but sadly I was too disconnected from the story to feel it alongside them.

2 stars.

Advanced Review Copy generously provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *