This was an audiobook. While I very much enjoyed the story, I didnt vibe with the narrators. The times I felt they took away from the story was when they were speaking as the other MC. Despite that the speaking voices of the individual MMC and FMC was good. And the story was written well also. This was my first book by Kay Shanee and ill be back. The plot twist was wild! But im happy about the happily ever after. I wouldnt have handled the ex girl/baby mama the way he did so that left a bad taste in my mouth but how he handled the current situation, gives him grace. This arranged marriage concept was a trope I didn't know I needed. I'm here for it so much so I have 5 other books I also need to read.

Desire by Kay Shanee is a part of the Arranged Hearts series and once again the matchmaking company strikes gold with Desire Chambries and Aziel Harris. Desire currently works as a teacher and Aziel is the current mayor. Desire decides after being stood up, joins Arranged Hearts hoping to find her true love, while Aziel, is tired of the numerous women and his image taking a hit based on the media. His assistant secretly signs him up with Arranged Hearts and once he learns of it, she spins it to convince Aziel it will change his image in time to run for a second term. Arranged Hearts interviews the two and identifies they are a match and the wedding is set. Once Desire and Aziel meet at the altar and marry, they set out on a journey getting to know each other, raising Aziel’s three-year old and building a home. Will the media, the past and business threaten their growing relationship, readers will need to pick up this installment to find out.

I loved Desire and Aziel’s journey. I finished this listen in one day! Aziel was a loving single father and loved hard. Imagine his and Desire’s surprise when they realized Arranged Hearts found them to be a good match. Desire’s nurturing nature was an added plus with Aziel’s daughter. Desire was a good match for Aziel and could hold her own with the media and Aziel’s assistant. Even though they met at the altar, Aziel was determined to ensure he made Desire his and was a true alpha male. He took care of what was his and made sure to show his affection for Desire. I loved their relationship and Desire’s interaction with little Azaria.

Overall good read and would recommend.

This was such a great romance! The story was very interesting and the characters were very well developed!

Girl when I tell you this one kept me ENTERTAINED!!! Beginning to end. I love how many strong and opinionated women are in Aziel’s life. He was always having to deal with his ba first before approaching them and I appreciated seeing that. Aziel is the mayor and father to a young girl when he is arranged to marry Desire via a service they both sought out (that’s what all these have in common). It’s not a 5 ⭐️ read for me because I don’t like ppl with mental health disorders being vilified.

Aziel Harris and Desiree Chambes Started out this book on fire. All I could hear in my head, as I read this was the song Super Freak by Rick James. The love and interactions were evident between them. I felt as if I was along for the journey of love and relationship with them. The narrator was a perfect fit for the storyline; it helped me to envision the characters and scenes. Also, the developments of characters in storyline was to die for.

This is one of those situation where I will only focus on how good 85% of this book was and ignore that heavily weighted 15%. I mean truly Desire and Aziel worked beautifully together but finding out about his past actions....really did put a damper on things. Yes, I understand the predicament but I didn't like the actions he felt forced to take. Writing wise the ending felt like an easy way out of not having to take ownership for manipulative actions.

However that aside, I loved the banter of their family and how dedicated they were to making this marriage work. The ease of which their family unity worked and how quick he was to put Tammy in her place about his wife.

Thank you, NetGalley, for setting me up with the ALC of Desire by Kay Shanee. This was my first dive into Kay Shanee's world, and let me tell you, it hit me with some major "Married at First Sight" vibes, which happens to be my guilty pleasure (I mean, bring on the new season already!). Unlike the show's couples, who usually take things slow, Aziel and Desire wasted no time! The story zoomed by, but hey, no complaints here. The narrators did an amazing job bringing the story to life, but umm, Aziel, *sigh* left me feeling pretty baffled and he did not make it to my book bae list.

His statement on their wedding day:
"........from this day forward, it's me, you, Ria and the seeds I plant in your womb"

If someone said stuff like that in front of my family on our special day, I'd feel really embarrassed and weirded out. It's totally not cool for a Mayor, or anyone for that matter, to make those kinds of comments in front of family on the wedding day. Aziel seemed way too fixated on "planting his seed" and Aziel's womb, which made me super uncomfortable. His vibe came off as fake, and I ended up tuning out of the conversation after just two hours. Everything became related to sex and I am no prude, and I am a huge fan of spicy romance books, but, he was rubbing me the wrong way. I also found it inappropriate to criticize his child's mother due to her mental health issues or postpartum struggles.

Despite this, the cover of this book is indeed stunning and angelic and I truly cherished the relationship Ria and Desire established.

I really liked the twist with this one! Especially since they were both checking for each other on the low either way.

It was a really great time, and I enjoyed the intrigued of what was happening with the plot and enjoyed that their love prevailed. Also loved that the kid was in the conversation the whole time, and although there was plot around the kid, she wasn't used as a pawn for the marriage, so I appreacited that wholeheartedly.

The writing was really great and the narrators did a wonderful job.

Thank you to Dreamscapes Media and Netgalley for an audiocopy.

This is my fourth book in the series. All books in this series are stand alone books. The only common thread is that all of the couples meet through Arranged Hearts. This time Aziel (mayor and single father) is matched with Desire (preschool teacher of his daughter and former law student). They've been attracted to each other all along, so they are thrilled at the wedding when they discover that they had been matched to each other. As in the other books, the physical attraction is instant, but the couple has to learn to trust and depend on each other. I enjoyed the development of their relationship because although Desire is serious about the marriage from the beginning, Aziel is reserving judgement until he gives the marriage a try (his motives aren't completely pure). However, they do get their happily ever after.

I have loved this series they are short but very entertaining and spicy. Also it just cute seeing how the men treat their new wives and handle their every want and need. I also loved how in this book he had a child already and seeing Desire’s relationship grow with the child.

From the very beginning I enjoyed the relationship between Desire and Mayor Aziel Harris. From the way he was checking out Desire and she wasn’t trying to hear none of it! Desire is a preschool teacher and just so happens to be the teacher of the Mayor’s daughter Azaria.

Both decided, for very different reasons at first, to seek Arranged Hearts services. To Aziel’s surprise he was matched to the one woman he can’t stop thinking about. I loved watching this love story unfold, though Aziel definitely had me on the fence. His decision making without consulting his new bride was cringy but overall he won me over.

The narrators really brought this story alive and I couldn’t stop listening once I started. I would absolutely recommend this book and others in the Arranged Heart series every chance I get!

I loved the relationship and the passion that Desire had for her students especially Azaria. I loved this book because it proved that you never judge a book by its cover and Aziel was not what everyone imagined he was. The male narration was okay but the female had a lisp and specific words sounded slurred. There wasn’t much inflection between characters and that took away from the book. The narration for the spicy scenes weren’t as good.
The book was a 4.5
Narration was a 3.5

I loved the FMC & MMC from the very beginning. They had incredible chemistry and already knew each other in another setting. This book series is based on an interesting arranged marriage concept and is each book is written by a different author. Their familiarity did not take away from their relationship. This was a quick, great read & I encourage steamy romance readers to add this one to their TBR! The narrators were great.

Beautiful addition to the Arranged Hearts series! I loved the characters, their chemistry oozed from the pages. I had an advanced listeners copy from Dreamscape and the narrators were solid bringing the story to life. Good read for me.

First, I absolutely loved both narrators—they did the damn thing!

Desire was a fun, quick addition to The Arranged Hearts series, and I actually liked Aziel (and his name!) and Desire a lot! The way they balanced each other out and communicated well was a breath of fresh air. While this series is intentionally insta-lovey and fast-paced, Desire was extremely predictable, and this is the first ever novel where I felt like I guessed every twist and turn accurately because it was laid out so plainly lol, and that was off-putting for me and a bit disappointing. I also did not like the spice in the beginning—I don't know why authors are writing things like "my honeypot" and "loins," but it feels very urban romance circa 2009 and I'm not here for it! However, the rest of the spice was enjoyable and not cringe to read! Overall, Kay Shanee is a great storyteller, and I had such a great time with this story!

3.75 ⭐️s
3 🌶️
🚨 Audiobook pub date 8/20/24

Thank you to Dreamscape Media & NetGalley for providing an ALC!

What a choice! Overall it’s a cute and fun story with lots of drama and fluff as well as spice however one of the narrator is super slow which really played a lot into the enjoyment of this. Also the vocabulary is a real choice, leaving me cringing in some parts, and lastly the use of mental health to villainize a character was unnecessary. It was a good backstory until the conclusion was she was a terrible person because she was just crazy and in an institution.

Sometimes a horrible person can just be horrible.

Aside from that this was very cute and sweet with an excellent play on an arranged marriage of convenience, however I would proceed with caution.

This has been my least favorite book in this series, and it was very much having to do with the way it talks about the ex's pregnancy. How he talks about this daughter's mother postpartum. It gave me the ick and it made an easy 4 star to a 2.5. I can't do it. It was ick.

I got an alc of this book on NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Each book in this series just gets better and better, Each story is displaying the emotional maturity we should all have when in a relationship. This story is definitely one of my top favorites,I love that Desire already knew Aziel. Also the fact that they had been secretly wanting each other made their arranged marriage that much more steamy if you will. Also his one had a bit of a thriller element because someone is sending threading messages to Desire and when you find out who is behind the messages, you’ll be ready to fight….like Desire. Kay did a wonderful job at this story, I look forward to reading more from this author.

review:
Wow! I loved this story!

Desire and Aziel's story was great. Listening to the audio book narrators give these characters voice made it that much better to hear it play out.

The family dynamic and the I don't play about mine mentality of Aziel makes a girls knees weak and the way he talked whew 🥵🤤. The heat index on this one was 5🌶! Don't listen to this one in public 😂

feedback:
the only thing I questioned was the part of the book/ audio where they said who gives this man to this woman twice... it should be who give this woman to this man...

This story of the Arranged Hearts series was good and unique compared to the others. Kay Shanee had an interesting approach to this series that was appreciated. She wanted to remind some of us that the man you least expect could become your husband. Never count anyone out!