Monica Walter’s quickly became a must read author with this one! Black love by a Black author, this follows Giselle who is a a dental hygienist and has two kids (not what you expect though) and while that profession sounds hella boring to me, this woman is anything but!!! Our mmc is a veterinarian named Gentry who is one fineeeee specimen. This whole series is about arranged marriages and I love it!!! Gentry did piss me tf off for a while but he was perfect for Giselle.

Tropes:
Insta-spark
Single parent
Drama
Vet MMC
Jealous baby daddy

3⭐️

Thank you NetGalley for the ALC

This arranged marriage story was difficult to connect for me because of certain elements in the plot. I thoroughly bought into the idea of the arrangement and how Giselle and Gentry met, but I found it hard pressed that a mother with young children would pursue this as an option without discussion with her family or children’s father. The author did a splendid job of creating the turmoil and aftermath of that decision, which kept me invested.

There were other nuisances that weren’t fathomable that took away from the climax of the aftermath such as her parents and family’s immediate acceptance of this arranged marriage, the filing, signage, and serving of a child custody order all in one day and on a Saturday, arbitration without an arbitrator, and the language the attorney used during the arbitration. Even some of the urban lingo felt out of place and forced by the MMC and some secondary characters at times. If this had a pass with a developmental editor to fine tune these elements, I have no doubt it would’ve been a dynamic story. Unfortunately, there were too many minor issues that took away, which led to a lower rating. Those aside, the story was a uniquely enjoyable read.

In this installment of the anthology, characters Giselle and Gentry (love the names, by the way) meet through a matchmaking service, on some Love At First Sight type of time. Giselle is a single mom who is looking for a forever love, and Gentry is a veterinarian who is ready to settle down.

There were a couple of places the book that could have been slowed down to allow us more insight into why Giselle and Gentry decided to take this particular plunge, but I enjoyed it - I am a Monica Walters fan full stop - however, the audio delivery wasn’t quite there for me. The narrators that were chosen seemed to read with technicality, and didn’t really connect with the vibes of the characters, which were a little edgy.

I would give the writing a 3.75 and the narration a 2.75. Thank you NetGalley for an advance listener copy of this title and I look forward to reading the other installments in the series.

4 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ stars! Thank you to NetGalley for the ALC! Giselle is ready for a relationship, her happily ever after, the man of her dreams. She has two children, from an arrangement that she had with her best friend, she has a great career and now she’s ready for love. She decides to pay for a matchmaking service, Arranged Hearts to help her find her one true love.

Gentry is a veterinarian and is tired of being single and is also ready to find the love of his life. He also decides to use Arranged Hearts to help him find the one, his person, his future wife.

The matchmaking service matches these two and without seeing each other they embark on their Arranged Hearts journey and get married sight unseen. They had instant attraction and felt that they met their match. What could go wrong?

I enjoyed Giselle and Gentry’s journey and we find out if their relationship can weather some storms and if they will come out in the end with their happily ever after. I really enjoyed this story, the narrator and definitely recommend.

This series is great!!! The narration was and story line was great. This is my first time reading Monica Walters' work and I am now a fan😊. Gizelle, and Gentry's story was incredible. Gizelle was ready love in a partner in her life. Gentry was ready for love and a family. Their life together start when they say I do. The joining of the family was difficult but what can one expect in this type of marriage. Oh, but the insta love these to had was 🔥 🔥. Thank for this story itcwadca treat!!!

I wasn't initially down with the idea of arrange marriage but Giselle and Gentrys story was so cute! Everyone has their ups and downs but ultimately this story resulted in a beautiful love story

Audio review
Narrated by Benjamin Charles; Reina Mystique

Insta love
Matchmaking service
Steamy
Single mom
Angst

While the story is fast past and not very long it is a full story. Gentry and Giselle are both looking for love. They don’t meet each other until the wedding and it’s an instant connection. HOT HOT HOT


Giselle really wanted to be a mom after a traumatic event in her life. She and her best friend Clayton decided to have kids together. There was nothing romantic- just the act to get pregnant. Two kids later they are coparenting well together. Once Gentry is introduced, things go sideways. Giselle is strong, her only weakness is her children. She sometimes can’t see the forest for the trees. She lets things get out of hand until she is backed against a wall. Then she came out swinging.

Gentry is our dirty talking veterinarian. He falls hard for Giselle but he also will not be a doormat. He doesn’t let things with Clayton hold him down. He is arrogant and petty and I loved it all.

A new relationship, a child custody issue and a lot emotion is the meat of this story. Emotions are at an all time high. The situation had both characters, laughing, crying and loving each other above all else.

OMG I must say I absolutely loved listening to this book on my walks, and as I cleaned. This was a story of two people looking for love with help wading thru the b.s.. When Giselle and Gentry were completing this interviews with Arranged Hearts, I thought let's see how this is going to go. The characters development and their desire to love and be loved as they worked thru real life issues was great. Passion was a great read via audio, better than it would via print; speaking for myself

I received the audiobook as a NetGalley ARC. This is my second read in this series. The tropes are obvious: arranged marriage and instalove. This love story was messy since Giselle had 2 children with her best friend BEFORE signing up for the services of Arranged Hearts. Additionally, she didn’t tell the father of her children about her marriage plans. Therefore this is a story about the following: spouses learning how to depend on and communicate with each other, trust and communication between coparents, prioritizing marriage over personal feelings, the value of talking issues through with a therapist. I would give this book a 3.75 stars.
About the narrators: I liked the male narrator. I didn’t care for the monotone cadence of the female’s narration.

Gentry and Giselle met at the altar via Arranged Hearts and to say the attraction was instant was an understatement. The chemistry between these two burn through the pages and audio. The love was instant in spite of the drama they encountered. What is a good story without love and drama. It makes for a good story and to see how the couple endure. Loved seeing the cameos from other series by Ms. Walters. The character development was on point as readers may want to shake Gentry at times for being to accommodating that it threatens her budding romance with Gentry, to Gentry wondering if going through Arranged Hearts was worth the heartache. Good storyline that flowed. The narrators were on point and will keep readers engaged.

Overall good read.

Received audio version via NetGalley

If you enjoy the tv show Married at First Sight, then this book is your cup of tea! Giselle and Gentry marry sight unseen and they have this undeniable attraction and baby it was intoxicating!

Now that dang Clayton can go straight to you know where! The audacity of him, but in the same retrospect Giselle did not handle that whole situation correct from the beginning. Gentry was very patient with Giselle cause she was working my nerves!

Nonetheless, I’m excited for this series because I want to see who Arranged Hearts will match next!

Another well written book of the series. Each book is a standalone but I highly recommend reading the complete series.

Thank you to the author and NetGalley for gifting me this book in exchange for my honest review

3/5 stars It was a fun take on the married at first sight idea. I didn’t love how he was instantly remarking her physical attributes. I also thought the juxtaposition between the smut and the talk of God was a bit jarring.
Quick listen and the narration was incredible.

I enjoyed this book, it was cute and quick. It features an arranged marriage service that puts like-minded people together and I really like that concept. I also enjoyed both the male and female narrators of the audiobook. However, there were some things I didn’t like. The FMC decides to marry a stranger without telling her baby daddy, which I thought was a huge issue. This lack of communication from the adults leads to a third-act breakup. The MMC is also a bit egotistical, which I didn’t find appealing. I understand that these books are quick reads, so I’m not going to be too critical, but these issues did bring down the rating for me. I do enjoy the black love aspect of the books in this series and I plan to read more of Monica Walter’s books because the spice was on point! Thank you to the author and publisher for providing me with an audiobook ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I listened to this audiobook all in one sitting! I loved the FMC & MMC from the start. Their chemistry was off the charts! The book is based on an interesting arranged marriage concept that worked exceptionally well for these two. There was an unexpected issue that came up, threatening their relationship, but the book ended in a happily ever after. The narrators were both great & added a richness to the overall experience.

As someone who is in their 30’s and seeing how arranged marriages are becoming something more and more people are considering in American culture. Especially after shoes like Married at First Sight. This story really is a beautiful tell of how an arranged marriage can be a match made in heaven. Giselle island Gentry’s arraigned marriage couldn’t hav been more perfect, maybe with out the father of Giselles children interfering but otherwise there is no way these two couldn’t have been more perfect for one another. I literally couldn’t stop the audio as soon as I started. I loved that the characters are in their 30’s and they both are direct in what they need and want in their lives. I can’t wait to listen to the rest of the of the Arranged marriage series. . Thank you Dreamscape and Monica Walter for allowing me to read this ARC.

I was invested in this story from the beginning. I loved Gentry from the moment he entered the scene. Giselle worked my nerves a bit with her naivety when it came to Clayton. I liked how the author explored how Giselle let her toxic trait influence her actions to the point she was willing to walk away from Gentry. Having Giselle's mother, who is a psychologist, call her out on it in a therapeutic way was refreshing to see.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the audio ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I had an advanced listener copy from Dreamscape and I think the narrators did a good job. Benjamin Charles is always a joy and I think this was my first listen from Reina Mystique. The story was good; the chemistry was easy to grasp from Gentry and Giselle. I think Gentry was extremely patient with Giselle because she had too many chances to get her situation under control. Clayton really did the most and I think Giselle didn’t expect his behavior. But, this was a perfect example of why communication is so important. The spice between Gentry and Giselle was hot and I am glad they got it together in the end.

My rating is 3.75/5

I enjoyed the story enough as I love the concept. I’m not a fan of instant love however I do like how this is written. The interview process and hearing their answers is a nice addition.
The one thing I didn’t like was way Giselle allowed Clayton to manipulate her. This was cringy at best how she was allowing him to dictate her relationship with her husband. It was clearly all about him and she was too blind to see it. His reasoning for the craziness didn’t match the actions. He clearly wanted her.

The audio narrators make this enjoyable. Both narrators are faves and I’m glad they brought this story to life.