I received this book for free from in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Axe-Identally Married by Daphne Elliot on October 28, 2024
Genres: Age-Gap Romance, Body Positive character, Contemporary, Fake relationship, Forced Proximity, Marriage of Convenience, Opposites attract, Small Town & Rural, Sports Romance
Pages: 370
Format: eBook, Kindle Unlimited, Paperback
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I used to be a good girl.
That is until I woke up in Vegas married to a former hockey player who also happens to be my best friend’s ex.
Cole Hebert and I are opposites. I’m the new town doctor, a rule follower, and five-five on a good day. He’s the six-seven bad boy currently doing court-ordered community service.
I’m struggling to earn the respect of the people in our hometown, and he’s doing some soul searching after an injury ended his hockey career. We’ve already drunkenly said I do, so we agree to a marriage of convenience.
Forced to live together, we slowly become friends. I see a side of Cole I never knew existed. He coaches kids’ hockey, knits for the entire town, and loves snuggling while watching Jeopardy.
Soon, we’re growing closer, and the way the hockey-playing lumberjack worships my plus-size body and obsessively calls me his wifey has me embracing my inner bad girl and tearing down all my carefully constructed walls.
Our feelings eventually burn as bright as our passion, but the small town we both love is harboring dark secrets. After a shocking discovery, we learn there are those who want us silenced forever, and we’re forced to risk it all to protect our happily ever after.
Author’s Note: Axe-identally Married is a marriage of convenience romance featuring a sassy plus-size doctor and a cinnamon roll hockey player with a heart of gold. If you enjoy opposites attract, flirty banter, possessive heroes, wood-chopping, meddling moose, and small-town hijinks, you will not be disappointed.
Welcome to Lovewell, Maine, where the moose outnumber the people and you can’t swing an axe without hitting a hot, grumpy lumberjack. The books of the Maine Lumberjacks Series are ALL standalones but are most fun when read in order!
Honesly, for being skeptical about this couple; Axe-identally Married is my favorite book in the series to date and a perfect romance. ~ Sharon – Simply Love Books
Reviewer’s note: I “found” Daphne Elliot back in August and have been reading her backlist every since. I had good intentions of reviewing all of her books for the blog but as many as I’ve read I’m not sure I’ll get to review all of them although I will go and rate them on Goodreads. That said; I have enormously enjoyed Lovewell Lumberjacks series and am currently enjoying the Maine Lumberjacks series. As always with a series, there are some books I love and some that miss the mark for me, but overall both a stellar series and I highly recommend them. Axe-identally Married is the third book in the Maine Lumberjacks and while they can be read as a standalone romance; there is a big ongoing suspense plot that started during the Lovewell Lumberjacks series. IMHO you should start with the Lovewell series and then continue on with the Maine series so you understand everything that is happening with these two families.
When this couple was teased at the end of the last book in this series Pain In The Axe, I’ll admit I was skeptical. Cole is the half brother of Hebert brothers; an ex-pro hockey player who hasn’t made the best life decisions over the last few years and he’s always felt like an outcast. Willa on the other hand is the small community’s only family doctor; a role she stepped into when her father suffered a massive stroke and her plans to “live life” before returning to her small hometown to take over her father’s practice were upended. These two are polar opposites, or so it seemed. Cole the immature, golden boy, who never takes anything seriously and Willa the quintessential good girl, straight A’s student who never stepped a toe out of line, but when in Vegas for the engagement celebration of Cole’s oldest brother to his ex-girlfriend and Willa’s best friend, they begin to see each other in a different light and then fueled by luck at the tables, tequila, and a pair of 70 year olds egging them on; they get married by Elvis and then things get really interesting.
The way these two fell into a friendship so easily, the fact they decided to stay married so Willa’s reputation wouldn’t be harmed, and so Cole could be seen as something more than a trouble maker just added to the allure of their relationship. Cole is attractive as are all his brothers but Willa has body issues, major body issues that she’s worked hard to shed so she doesn’t believe that Cole can find her attractive. They decide to be friends, live platonically, and honestly I loved that they did because they had time to really get to know one another and not be blinded by just the physical, something I think they both needed. They also shared their fears, hopes, and dreams, and were there to give each other advice and comfort when it was needed and that made their bond even stronger.
I loved watching Cole work to put his past behind him; the way he poured himself into helping the town by coaching a pee-wee girls hockey team after his success at being in charge of the town festival. I liked that he knew he wanted more in life and was trying to figure out his next steps with Willa there to help and cheer him on. He was driven to help figure out more pieces of the puzzle that plagued his family following his father’s crimes and arrest. I thought he showed great maturity in working to repair his relationship with his brothers. Most of all I loved the way he supported Willa in all ways. Best of all Willa saw so much in Cole that others didn’t, either because he didn’t let them or they just wanted to paint him in an unfavorable light.
Honestly, for being skeptical about this couple; Axe-identally Married is my favorite book in the series to date and a perfect romance.
About Daphne Elliot
In High School, Daphne Elliot was voted “most likely to become a romance novelist.” After spending the last decade as a corporate lawyer, she has finally embraced her destiny. Her small town steamy novels are filled with flirty banter, sexy hijinks, and lots and lots of heart.
Daphne is a coffee-drinking, hot-sauce loving introvert who spends all her free time in her garden. She lives on a small farm in New England with her husband, two kids, two dogs, twelve backyard chickens and a hive of Italian honeybees.