The Substitute

Wedding Pact Series #1

By: Denise Grover Swank

Narrated by: Shannon McManus

Length: 10 hrs and 7 mins

Publisher's summary

Megan Vandemeer meant to tell her parents about her broken engagement, but a month and a half later she finds herself boarding a plane home to her wedding. Having stretched avoidance to its limits, it's time to come clean - a terrifying prospect since her mother is sure to blame her rather than her cheating, emotionally frigid ex. A couple of drinks and two Dramamine later, Megan finds herself spilling her sob story to the tall, dark, and handsome stranger in the seat next to her. With only one week left to save his business, Josh McMillan boards a plane to Kansas City in a last-ditch effort, leaving the details to chance. An unexpected answer is delivered in the form of the beautiful brunette beside him. Though she's completely loopy, her honesty, openness, and humor charm him. So when she passes out before landing, he helps her off the plane - a good deed that leads to a colossal misunderstanding. Her parents assume that he's her fiancé. In a twist of fate, the mix-up might help Josh save his business, so he plays along, figuring that he can help Megan too. All he has to do is stage a public break-up convincing enough to appease her mother. Josh is only supposed to be a substitute groom, but the more time he and Megan spend together, the more their pretend engagement starts to feel real, and the less they want to break it off. Can a relationship that began as a farce turn into happily ever after?

©2015 Denise Grover Swank (P)2015 Tantor

I used to like the name Megan

I didn't enjoy this story. It's completely unrealistic but I can handle that. My biggest issue is that there is not one likable character. The heroine is a doormat, the hero is unethical, mom is a horrible momzilla, dad is a cheating bastard, granny tries to be funny but fails miserably and even Megan's friends are terrible. I couldn't connect with any character and the story felt like it was 5 hours longer than needed. The whole story takes place in 3 days and the book is over 10 hours long. Way too long and drawn out.

The narrator was ok. My only issue is the robotic way she would say the name Megan. And it is repeated a gazillion times throughout the story in the same robotic way. So no, I don't recommend this series at all.

Enjoyable & Fun Story

If you could sum up The Substitute in three words, what would they be?

steamy, lighthearted, fun

Who was your favorite character and why?

Megan was my favorite character because she was sweet and kind.

What about Shannon McManus’s performance did you like?

I will say it was funny to me to hear the narrator speak the men's voices (first time I've listened to a book with this), but she did a good job in consistency of all because I could tell from the tone which character was speaking each time.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, I wanted to keep listening and was annoyed life was getting in the way!

Any additional comments?

I have listened to books before, but not many. After recently signing back up with audible.com, I chose a few books to download and, after looking at the list decided I needed something a bit lighthearted. The Substitute sounded like just the ticket from the description and I wasn't disappointed. I found myself looking for opportunities to listen to the story, I wanted to know what was in store for Megan and Josh, the main characters (and now look forward to book 2!). The Substitute is a steamy, fluffy chicklit book that is perfect for a weekend getaway, rainy day curled up in front of the fire, or just about anytime you want to "read" something simply for fun.

A sweet, funny read!

Absolutely loved this book! Megan and Josh are adorable together! All the characters in this book add the perfect amount of everything to the story and what a wild ride it is! Can't wait to read the other books in this series! Knickers and Grams are hilarious!

Loved the Idea

This audiobook has a fun premise. Josh, a genial (and, of course, handsome) man, helps a damsel in distress on a plane to Kansas City. He ends up posing as her fiancé. The damsel, Megan, is heading home for her wedding. She's been afraid to tell her family that she and her true fiancé broke up six weeks prior. The family mistakes Josh for the fiance and so it begins...

Loved the idea. The scenario is as far-fetched as it can get—but it’s fiction so that’s okay in my book. It seemed like a light, humorous read.

But, I have never met so many unlikable characters. Out of all of the characters, there were only 4 that I could stand. Josh, the male lead was kind, considerate and according to the book’s description tall, dark and handsome—though I don’t consider 6 feet very tall. Megan was okay too, though the fact that both her witch of a mother and her witch of a best friend dominated her to the point that I wanted to scream made me like her less.

Libby, her one care-free friend was likable. Lastly, there is Megan’s gram, an eccentric octogenarian, who ends up naked at every turn. She was fun but it seemed too forced, She was over-the-top outrageous like she had escaped from a locked nursing home unit somewhere.

The rest of the characters were unremarkable and-or obnoxious. Nicole, Megan’s mother was intolerable, controlling and there wasn't one thing likable about her. Bart, the father was mostly absent and spineless, and Megan’s brother Kevin needed anger management. Megan’s best friend Blair was so obnoxious that I disliked listening to any part with her in it. All of these characters serving to highlight Megan’s tendency to be a doormat were hard to listen to.

The book does have some funny moments and funny dialogue. But overshadowing the humor, for me, was the sadness of our leading lady having a mother that treated her like she was never good enough. That ISN’T funny.

I also have to say that the sex scenes were too graphic for my taste. I don't need all the specific details of each encounter and there were many.

For me, the narration ruined it. I was thinking as I listened that it was poorly written. So I picked up the book after the audio so that I could see if that was the case. The writing isn't exemplary but it isn't horrible. It seemed in the narration that the reader placed emphasis in the wrong places, or just read very flat. Both Blair, the best friend and Nicole, Megan's mother, sound and act exactly the same (sort of an upper crust east coast vibe even though they are in Missouri). There was very little variation in voices for the different characters.

The next book in the series is about her obnoxious friend Blair. I’m going to pass.

All down hill once they step off plane

I'm shocked that I was able to finish this book. The premise was outlandish, true, but I've read enough unrealistic stores that do work to give this one a try. Mistake. I'm not even sure it deserves a list of my dislikes but for those considering picking this up, I warn: doormat heroine, a momzilla, a granny who'd character tried to be funny but is a total fail, a hero whose behavior is borderline illegal and certainly unethical, obnoxious secondary characters...Good luck.

Funny and Great Banter!

This book cracked me up! I loved the banter, the back and forth. It was great I really enjoyed the fact that once Megan even had any inkling that something was up with Josh and why he wanted to “help” so badly she calls him out on it!! Ha, that was great.

OMG, we have to talk about Megan’s grandmother, she stole the show no joke this lady was funny and the comedic relief this book needed.
I wouldn’t want to have Megan’s mother, she seemed to be very judgemental I get why but it was almost too harsh.

Megan and Josh’s brothers cracked me up they both are gems in their own right. I wonder if they have their own books. *snicker* that would be fun to listen to I think.

This was a first for me by this narrator I believe and I really enjoyed it. I liked the different tones and voices she gave to the characters it really brought them their own uniqueness which I really enjoy.

Wow. Women are their own worst enemies

The narrator is good, not incredible, but good. The problem is this story in general. Every woman in this story, except the main character, is written as an awful, jealous, horrible, 'bit*h'. That's not just the takeaway, that's literally written about even women who pass by the main character. I'm substituting w for b in this review to keep it clean, but the book describes them with a b, bear this in mind. The mom is a jealous, overbearing snotty witch, the flight attendant is so overwhelmingly llust smitten by the LI that she also becomes a raging jealous witch who can't control being snotty, obnoxious and unprofessional and fawning all over the LI, the sorority sisters from the MC's past are mentioned as, also, witches. I turned it off when even the best friend turned out to be a raging witch. I'm sure she was sleeping with the ex-fiancé or something. I didn't stick around long enough to find out. Had my fill of the misogyny.

The Substitute: Wedding pact series

I did chuckle now and then, but the story was too predictable and at times boring.

cute

this book was entertaining. I thought it was a little too unrealistic but it was cute.

Funny, passionate, light, but deeper than expected

So I'm a 40 something straight woman and have an audio book addiction... I have to admit it now. I go through several books a week. I generally listen to romance, and have several preferred story themes. I tend to like intense, historical or fantasy. However, I like to switch it up with comedy romance, which is this book. I get bored with many books... sometimes after the couple gets together the book starts to drag... I lose interest and fast forward to the end. Not this book...

I kept interested all the way to the end...

Romance level: This is an adult book with fully descriptive sex scenes. They add to the book; they are written well and not overdone.

What I enjoyed most about this book: The plot is simple, it is yet another twist on the fake finance. That being said, I was really impressed with how the author wrote the characters and their reactions. The female lead didn't jump to conclusions. She was intelligent and caring, a bit insecure but still able to fend for herself - she was very "believable." The various character's actions stayed consistent and true to their presented personas. Her mom was written as dramatic, pretentious, and bossy -- albeit dedicated to her family -- and she stayed that way throughout. She was funny. The yoga-practicing, nudist embracing granny is hysterical. The male lead was responsible and bit uptight, but passionate about his business and family... so when he was hesitant to get involved but then started falling, it made sense. He was definitely respectful, which is pleasant writing. Also, you could actually believe the male lead was falling for the character he was trying to play.

This book is LOL funny at times. There's a scene with a pool party that literally had me laughing out loud while I was folding laundry.

Do not expect profound or complex; do not expect subplots, suspense or big surprises. It's pretty light... but somehow by the end it's a bit deeper than I expected. It's a lovely statement about the goodness of people and how love brings out the best in us all. It was a pleasant, engaging and entertaining listen (and hot). Enjoy!

Light hearted and very romantic

Great story line, paced really well.
much more romantic than I was expecting it to be. Josh is a honey. Grams is shockingly fabulous.
Such a sweet story if you enjoy light comedy which I do if I have listened to something heavy.

Easy listen

Really enjoyed this easy listen. Highly recommend and I will definitely listen to another story by this author.

Enjoyable nonsense!

A reasonably good (if unbelievable) plot line, and interesting side characters. I definitely wanted to hear it through to the end. Some very funny and farcical scenes.
Two things detracted and made it a 4 star rating - the repetitive use of the nickname Nickers or Knickers was very irritating, especially when the story narration used it, and, the voice narrator wasn’t as good as she might have been. Just shows what a skill it is to perform in this way. Her male voices were good, mind you.

Surprisingly good really enjoyed

I’ve listened to some mediocre stories recently but this was a very pleasant surprise even the narrator was excellent but I’ve listened to her before and her delivery is well acted out the story engaging and somewhat believable and the characters intriguing well done and I will be looking out for other books from this author

Exactly what I needed and more!

I’m a girl who loves some dark and depraved romance, with morally grey love interests that would make me question my morals, but sometimes you crave that sweet, lighthearted filler book once in a while as a little reprieve from the darker side 😈

And this, ladies and gentlemen, had it all.

The banter was hilarious between the main protagonists, with just enough hilarity without being too silly. The romance was the most exquisite slow burn, and the pacing was seamless. I also loved the side characters and all their quirks too.

This is. a must listen!!

Another passive heroine

I wanted to like this and for a minute I thought that the author pulled it off, but no. Many romance stories feature things that would never, ever happen in real life but I can overlook or even enjoy that if the characters are good enough, the plot is intriguing or original and there are moments of insight or honesty about human behaviour. I didn't find that here.

I think this book was aiming for screwball comedy but ended up feeling a bit deranged and sad. The heroine's lack of agency felt lonely and insecure. Every other character was hell-bent on ignoring or removing her choices and that was frustrating and depressing. The emotional development was so rushed, it came across as unhealthy, worrying, even. The happy ending felt unearned. I read all the way to the end, increasingly pessimistic about whether the author could turn things around in a satisfactory way, but I was ultimately disappointed.