GRR Reviews ClickandWed.com Boxset, Books 1 - 3 (Cli by Bonnie R. Paulson

ClickandWed.com 1-3 tried to make the idea of a modern mail-order-bride work (marry someone sight unseen) and for the most part, it works, but the story seems to lack a certain spark

Book 1: With this click I thee wed -- She's a lonely divorcee whose own family doesn't want her and her ex treats her like a doormat, not only turning the entire town against her (even though he's the one cheated), her ex is suing her for emotional abuse. He's a rancher who stands to lose his parent's house and ranch, and had his heart broken when he realized his now ex-wife married his prestige, not him. Yet the pair somehow got married when she got drunk and clicked on "I do"... Now she's flying across the country to meet her husband for the first time... Can this work, even when it was so... crazy?

Somehow, the evil douchebag didn't get his karma. The tale didn't quite have the spark of "strangers got married" stories of other authors. It just feels too... detached somehow. 3/5

Book 2: I_do.com -- A young doormat woman, pushed by her family into EVERY decision (as if she has no will of her own), was emboldened by her best friend into taking the biggest chance of her life... She walked out of her wedding to a man she does not love (and earned a hard slap on her cheek from her mother, who then disowned her), and went off to meet someone she had not seen... and be wedded by proxy... basically a modern mail order bride! Can such a romance work?

The new husband is okay, and there doesn't seem to be any karma for the parents either. it's all about her getting a spine. And while it has the character arc, it didn't quite have the touch of other authors like Kirsten Osbourne or Merry Farmer who also wrote books based on similar premises. The husband was kinda boring. 3/5

Book 3: DIY Vows -- the BFF of the previous novel's heroine (the same woman who paid for the setup) is going to be matched with someone in SF/Oakland, with a top compatibility score... 99.5%. But he's actually just betting with his brother on a dare, even as he's fixing up his mother's historical building in Oakland... or trying to. He is being stretched too thin, as he can't do both at the same time. She's a handywoman who can't wait to get out of her stupid town, and she's setting up her own "The Home Doctor" renovation / fix-up contractor business when it's clear the guy she matched does NOT want a wife. So she tried to keep her "kinda-wife" and the "Home Doctor" identities separate, even as she fixed up his house. What she didn't know is he knew she's both... and he's falling for her... hard...

It's mental games: she's playing some, he's playing some, they pretend they don't know about each other's games but they do... Somehow, I failed to see how that translates to romance. But at least the plot was pretty good. 4/5

All in all, average series. It's certainly innovative, but seem to lack that certain spark, whether angst or comedy or other.

Category: Contemporary

Primary Plot: N/A, collection, three books about modern equivalent of mail order bride finding their love with a mate they never met...

Tropes: marriage, mail order bride, collection, different worlds, disguise, jilted, weird will, arranged marriage, family pressure

Overall Rating: 3/5 (average of 3)