Emma St. Clair always manages to make me laugh and The Buy-In was no different.
Only complaint is that the child seemed much older than her age.

Tropes: second chance, marriage of convenience, single parent

Content: kissing ( )

A big city, ex-NFL player learns his father "Schitt's Creeked" a town. But not just any town, it's the hometown of his college sweetheart who got away. Hijinks, misunderstandings, and a marriage of convenience ensue, in what some might consider cuteness overload. This is an extremely closed door romance (maybe three or four kisses/make out sessions), which does not help the cuteness at all. I am typically on the other end of the "spice" spectrum for my romance, but I'm telling myself that some variety is nice. It doesn't help that spicy books are coming with "cute" covers.

I did have a few issues with the book outside of my romance preference: 1) Jo is overly mature even for a precocious five year old, 2) the "villains" of the book are 2D cutouts, whose actions all occur offstage, and we don't get any real motivation from them, 3) the main conflict of Rachel wanting custody of Jo, is solved way too quickly.

Main takeaways: A cute, fluffy read with uncomplicated characters. ( )

Emma St. Clair is one of my favorite romcom authors and The Buy-In is an absolute favorite. It’s a sweet, hilarious second chance/marriage of convenience love story. I found myself frequently laughing out loud, fangirling over Patrick and his selflessness, touched by Lindy’s situations, and loving the people of Sheet Cake, Texas.

Emma captured the quirky, fun people of a small town perfectly. The “Sheeters” add surprising depth to this sweet, funny story. She’s also taken the heart wrenching subjects of child custody and dementia and lovingly created a story that both touches the heart and adds a bit of humor and lightness.

Lindy has a complicated past. She doesn’t trust or let her guard down easily. She struggles with a mother who has dementia and a sister who abandoned her daughter Jojo whom Lindy is now raising. Five year old Jojo is darling! This sweet little girl has wisdom beyond her years and soaks up all the love showered on her. But, when JoJo’s mother suddenly wants custody, Lindy does everything in her power to keep her including considering a marriage of convenience to the one man whom she never forgot and broke her heart.

Patrick is amazing! He’s not only handsome and built, but is a giver. He loves performing acts of service and this endearing quality shines all throughout the story. I loved all the little details he remembers and his patience in trying to make up for past mistakes to show Lindy he really loves her.

From singed squirrels, to that moment every parent experiences when a child stands by their bedside scaring them to death, to glitter disasters, to a rooster named Elvis, this book totally made me laugh out loud! I enjoyed it so much! It was just the thing to brighten a cold winter’s day.

Highly recommend this book! It deserves all the stars! It can definitely be read as a stand alone. However, fans of the Love Cliche series will enjoy cameo appearances from lovably familiar characters. I can’t wait to read Winnie and James’ story! Thank you to Emma St. Clair for an ARC of this book. All opinions are my own and I was not required to provide a positive review. ( )