OstensiblyA

I really liked this book through the first half. There was a lot of potential to the story.I enjoyed most of these characters. I liked Jilly O'Hara and the health issues that derailed her life seemed different to me. A set of problems that it would be interesting to explore, especially when it came to the culinary empire she was trying to build. The same goes for Walker Hale and all of the issues he had after returning from Afghanistan where he did two tours as a Marine until he and his amazing chocolate lab, Winslow (who truly steals the show), were injured. The two of them navigating these issues, while trying to forge a relationship, not to mention geographic differences could have been enough drama and plot for the entire book. Yet, in the second half of the book we kind of forget all of this for this incredibly silly fake-real wedding they have solely to comfort an old woman before she goes into the hospital for tests. Er, okay. Why focus on this other woman's health problems when our Heroine has severe health problems that could present a problem? And even though it was silly and I rolled my eyes too many times to count, if they were going to do this farce of a wedding why in the hell did it have to be an actual, legally binding marriage? That makes absolutely no sense. And really the repercussions of it being legal aren't explored beyond a single point that kicks off my next issue with the book. Then we're given contrived drama in the form of a seriously lame, clichéd plot that, again, had me rolling my eyes. Of course he is. Of course. A conversation is overheard. Giant, stupid, unsupported assumptions are made. People forget that they've only known each other maybe a week. Childish actions are taken. More nonsensical character actions and decisions are made. And an ending that leaves a bunch of questions unanswered or dangling.The book could have been really compelling if it kept on the track it was on in the first half. A lot could have been done with Jilly's health problems. That could have provided the drama. Instead, it became a mess of lame story we've seen over and over and dropped pretty much all of the promising plot elements that got me invested in the story. I just don't understand why this was the route taken. Or why the title and synopsis make it seem like the wedding was a big part of the plot when really it didn't come until after the first half of the book and was kind of just a blip event that the story moved beyond pretty quickly.The book still gets three stars for how much I liked the beginning and for Winslow who I fell in love with just as much as Jilly.