The Unwanted Wife

De: L. Steele

Narrado por: Shane East, Roxy Isles

Amazon #5 bestseller

He’s my brother’s best friend
My fake husband...
And doesn’t believe in love

Nathan Davenport, CEO of the Davenport empire is my complete opposite.
He hates chocolate. I’m a size sixteen dessert chef.
He only wears black. I love glitter and pink.
He’s grumpy, while I look on the brighter side of life.
Too bad his piercing eyes, and high cheekbones haunt my dreams.

When he offers to loan me the money to save my bakery.
I have no choice but to agree.
Except he has conditions:

I must pretend to be his wife for a year
I must fake my feelings for him so his family believes our relationship.
I must stay by his side for the duration of our arrangement so he can claim his inheritance.

I don’t even like the man, surely I can get through this charade without developing feelings for him?
Except living in close proximity with him, our chemistry escalates
I know I am falling for the wrong man.
For when I tell him: “I love you,” he growls: “Love was never part of the equation...”

This is an opposites attract, forced proximity, one-bed, marriage of convenience, and a brother's best friend, billionaire romance with a plus size FMC. It is a complete standalone.

©2024 Laxmi Hariharan (P)2024 Laxmi Hariharan

Hot and steamy

The only complaint I have is that I was not in the right space of mind for the ptsd, and other mental issues that popped up towards the end of the book. I cried for the last few chapters, my heart felt too much of the story. I loved the happily ever after though, very satisfying.

Steele knows her way around the heart.

Steele knows her way around the heart. From the waltz of temptation to the two-step of heartache, The Unwanted Wife tangos it's way into your soul. Skylar and Nathan turn a conveniently, inconvenient marriage into an accidentally perfect second chance. Sweet and sultry never loses sight of the emotion that romance entails.

The twist!!

This was spicier than I expected, and it had a big twist I also wasn’t expecting! I really enjoyed Nate and Skylar’s love story. They’re definitely destined to be together, despite their crazy history. This audio was fantastic, and I can’t imagine anyone could’ve been better as the narrators than Shane East and Roxy Isles. I loved the narration!

I can’t wait to listen to book 2

The Unwanted Wife is book 1 in The Davenports series by L. Steele. This was my first time reading a book by L. Steele and now I can’t wait to listen to book 2 on audio!

Skylar is a plus sized bakery owner who loves spicy books and is super witty. Nathan is a broody billionaire and ex-marine with PTSD. He is also Skylar’s brother’s best friend. On Skye’s 18th birthday she kisses Nathan and despite kissing her back, he ends up walking away. Fast forward a few years and Nathan is standing in Skye’s bakery offering to help save her bakery from closing, but with one catch - she has to marry him first.

I really enjoyed this story! I will say at one point I felt a little confused and was wondering if I had missed something, but then there was a huge twist that left me in tears. There were actually a couple of twists that both had me crying, which I did not expect! Nathan’s possessiveness was over the top and I ate it up. I loved Skylar’s quick wit and playful personality. I have officially started using TV show names in place of swear words now too. 🙃

The narration was fantastic! It had been awhile since I have had the pleasure of listening to Shane East, and he did not disappoint. He portrayed Nathan’s dominant and demanding personality just as I imagined. This was my first time listening to Roxy Isles and she was amazing! Between the writing and her performance, she had me laughing and crying. I can’t wait to listen to more from her.

Oh, these Davenports are gonna be so good!

The Unwanted Wife is book #1 in The Davenports series. Nathan has a tumultuous past, both personally and professionally. He's in line to become CEO of the Davenport conglomerate. He just needs a wife. Skylar is a struggling bakery owner that needs a cash infusion quick. When Nathan offers to partner up with her, his only requirement is she marry him. These two have history. He's her brother's best friend...and the man she kissed on her 18th birthday. This story has so many great vibes...grumpy rich guy, plus-size FMC, brother's best friend, virgin, marriage of convenience...it's as delicious as her pastries sound! And steamy...well, let's just say that Nathan has a little proclivity for the dark side🔥🍑💦 which makes this spicy af.

The narration of Shane East and Roxy Isles is absolutely fabulous! Shane seems to be the king of all that is rich and British and we know why. Roxy brings that hint of naivete with her sassy, crazy cursing to Skylar's character. 5 brilliant stars for this duo.

Off to a great start

Narrated by Shane East (who I could listen to all day) and Roxy Isles they certainly brought the story to life for me. Their voices are easy to listen to and they did justice to the story that Ms. Steele wove.
This was certainly a roller coaster of a listen but be prepared it will quickly hook you. Nathan Davenport and Skylar’s story is the first in the latest series and did not disappoint.
The secondary characters were intriguing and added another dimension to the story.

Nothing

If you want a story line all about sex then this books for you , nothing much else to it ,

Sexy and witty with a twist of mystery

Audiobook Review: The Unwanted Wife by: L Steele
Narrated by: Shane East and
Roxy Isles

The Unwanted Wife is book 1 in The Davenports series by L. Steele. This is the first book I’ve read by this author and I had a credit on audible so I decided to listen to it!

I’m now reading book two because I loved it. Skylar is the greatest FMC she is a bakery owner and makes desserts inspired by the romance bookish world! She’s a plus size bombshell who loves the smut like the rest of us.

Nathan is the toasty marshmallow billionaire who is ex military and suffers from PTSD. He is Skylar’s older brother’s best friend and fellow soldier in the same unit.

They share one earth shattering and altering kiss on Skylar’s 18th birthday. But he pushes her away even though he kissed her back. They part ways after that and have like a weird dynamic of hating each other on the rare occasions they cross paths.

Then years later he comes back into her bakery with a proposition- marry him and he will help save her bakery from going bust.

I really enjoyed the story and plot. The family dynamic was really good. There is an overall mystery so to speak. Things don’t all add up and there are fuzzy parts but it’s intentional and leads up to a crazy plot twist that is gut wrenching! There are a handful of other things that had me going WHAT! But it was so good kept me engaged.

Nathan and Skylar have intense chemistry and I loved watching them grow and change as they fell for each other. Well they were both in love with the other but they didn’t admit it so as they slowly showed that it was so good! The banter and conversations between these two was so good. A cute quirky thing she does is use TV show names as swear words since she was a little girl and wasn’t allowed to swear.

Absolutely loved this story especially because it had so many layers with the funny parts and the mystery.

Now onto the narration I love Shane East I have several books with him as the narrator and he is phenomenal. That man could read me the phone book and I would swoon! This was the first book I’ve listened to by Roxy Isles and she is incredible! She brought such a flirty personality to Skylar but when she got to the emotional parts she delivered them with such passion I was crying you could feel it. Both of them brought that deep emotional energy to the characters and I was hooked. The complemented each other so well and brought out the chemistry of these two so perfectly.

This is definitely a great read and I am excited to read the rest of the series.

Favorite Quotes:

"Couldn’t forget the shape of your mouth, the softness of your lips, the little whines you made at the back of your throat, the sweetness of your breath, the beat of your heart as it picked up speed, the thrum of your pulse at the base of your throat.“

“Isn’t that what the definition of living is? To look forward to each moment, to want to do more, to enjoy each second you’re alive.”

“I am the captain of my soul and the master of my fate.”

🧁 Genius Baker FMC
💵 Military Billionaire MMC
❤️ Brothers Best Friend
💋 Spicy
💍 Marriage of Convenience
🤫 Secrets

The Unwanted Wife

Sky and Nate have an unexpected story. He is her brothers best friend. There are secrets and challanges for the couple to overcome. By the end everything is revealed and there are many open ends to the story that allow so many options to explore with other characters within the world. I really enjoyed the audiobook for this story the Narrator's Roxy and Shane did a great job bringing their voice and emotions to these characters.

The plot twist.

Loved this book. What a surprised plot twist, didn’t see that coming! Loved the bonus epilogue too 🥰.