Published by Embrace, Entangled Publishing Genres: Contemporary, New Adult, Romance
Format: eARC
Fallon needs help with her grandmother’s expenses, and her pretending to be my fake wife is a way we can make that happen. She’s not my biggest fan, but we can help each other and then go our separate ways. That she’s beautiful and I enjoy spending time with her–doesn’t matter. When all of this is done, she’s heading home to America, and I’ve got a company to run.
Straight Up Irish is the first book in the Murphy Brothers Series from Megan Vernon.
Connor needs a wife if he wants to help save his family’s billion-dollar pub empire. There’s just one problem: He never planned on marrying. So, he needs someone who understands that this is just another business deal. He doesn’t do commitments. And his brother’s executive assistant Fallon Smith, fits the bill.
Fallon needs help with her grandmother’s expenses and her pretending to be Conner’s fake wife is a way they can make that happen. She’s not his biggest fan, but we can help each other and then go their separate ways. That she is beautiful and he enjoys spending time with her doesn’t matter. When all of this is done, she is heading home to America, and he has got a company to run. A fake wedding a a whole lot of whiskey. What could go wrong?
Oh my goodness I swear this is the best romance I have read so far in 2018. I had so much fun reading this book. First you will fall so in love with Fallon and Connor. Connor is such a playboy and has been with a lot of women. He has no intention of changing his playboy ways, ever. However the death of his father has brought him back to Ireland and the clause in his father’s will is about to blow his future into the water. Fallon came to Ireland from America on a one off chance when she applied for a job as the assistant to a Pub company. She had to get away and is in a mess with all her grandmother’s bills for her nursing home care and her student loans from getting her MBA. Her boss Jack is also not the nicest guy in the world and lately she has been having to contact his middle brother Connor to keep him from missing important meetings and schedules. Everything changes when the will is read and Connor literally runs into Fallon. This is the beginning of all the fun that this book holds in store. These two could not be more different and yet they just work. But their fake wedding is a business arrangement…..right? I loved every second, ever interaction, ever touch, and every single second of this book. Add in Fallon’s grandmother who is precious and her best friend Leah and your going to have a ball. This is one you do not want to miss.
This was my first Megan Vernon book. I am so happy that I discovered her and this book. The way she writes will have the worlds playing in your head like a movie you never want to end. I can not wait to read about the other two Murphy Brothers Jack and Sean. I need those books in my life asap. However I am going to say that Connor has stolen my heart and I am just not so sure that any of the other brothers can succeed in stealing it. These three men couldn’t be more different if they tired and I am so excited about this series!
Then flipped to a new sheet. “Whereupon my death, my three sons, Jack, Connor, and Sean will each inherit their equal share of thirty-three and a half-percent of the family franchise upon the day all three of their marriage certificates are certified by a priest and again by my solicitor Thomas O’Malley, six months after the day of their nuptials. If all three of them are not married within a year of my death, none will be able to get controlling interests, and the board may offer each son’s ownership stake to the highest bidder.”
Every hair on the back of my neck stood on end. Marriage? Thre three of us? Within a year? All of that to get the company? That couldn’t be right. Da never said anything about that. Sure, he was a loyal family man, who never married or even dated after Mam died, but I didn’t think he would do something like this.Especially when the board was a bunch of crotchety old men who smoked too many cigars and were probably half the reason Da got sick in the first place.
My oldest brother Jack leaned forward in his seat. “Thomas. I could be wrong here, but is this stating that each of us has to be married and not just married, but married for six months? And this all has to happen within the year? That can’t be right. Da never even re-married or had a serious girlfriend. He used to say the pub was his only wife after Mam.”
Thomas sighed, pushing his glasses up. “You young men have done a fine job in your positions in the company, but your father also knew you were still sowing your wild oats. He wanted to make sure you settled down a bit, so the company didn’t suffer. This was his way of seeing to that.”
There has to be a clause that can get us out of this, right? I don’t even have a girlfriend, let alone a girl I’d want to marry by the end of the year.” Sean said.
I wanted to ask Sean what he even had to do with this company since he hadn’t taken an interest in anything but rugby. I know Jack had brought up more than once about eventually buying out his portion and now with us all having to be married, or none of us got the company, which put a damper on that one. Before I could ask any more questions, Thomas cleared his throat.
“Boys, I’d like to say there’s another option, but that’s what it states in the will,” he said, standing up and placing the papers in his briefcase. “You can try and get your own solicitors or a judge to dispute this, but I’ve been doing this for longer than you’ve been alive. Once this will is set and notarized, it’s legally binding.”
“Does the board know about this?” Jack asked.
Thomas nodded solemnly. “Ah, they’re aware of the clause, not all of the details, but some have already made comments about a buyout for a third of the company.”
I clenched my fists without even thinking, my gut twisting at the thought of someone else taking over the business.The one Da had built from the ground up, but Jack and I had worked to keep it a well-oiled machine on both sides of the pond. A bunch of old men with one foot in the grave would just run the franchise into the ground along with all our hard work.
Da put a lot of hard work into the enterprise. What he built. What he wanted our family to have. That wasn’t just going to disappear because of some marriage clause, I couldn’t let it.
“Can’t we just find some girl, see if she wants to get married for a few months, then divorce with a nice little settlement? Isn’t that what they do on those American reality shows for publicity?” Sean asked, staring between all of us.
Thomas shrugged. “I guess there’s nothing in the will that says you can’t, but how do you think the board would take that? Moreover, your Da would probably roll in his grave if he heard you married a girl just to get the company. Your mother was the love of his life and the reason he was able to make this company what it is today. He just wants the same thing for you boys. Not some random fling.”
“I’m sure there are worse things we could do,” Sean muttered, buttoning and unbuttoning his suit jacket.
“If we have nothing else to discuss, then I best be heading back to the office. You’ll call if you need anything and let me know as soon as I get to meet the future Murphy girls,” Thomas said with a tight-lipped smile.
We walked him toward the door, but none of us left the room.
Jack was the first to speak as soon as Thomas rounded the corner and was out of sight. “What the hell are we going to do?”
Sean shook his head. “I don’t know. This wasn’t at all what I was expecting. Hell, I guess I’d better get on a dating app or something.”
“This isn’t a joke,” Jack growled.
I put my hand on his shoulder, trying to calm the beast a little, but his nostril’s flared. “Calm down, Jack. We’ll figure this out. We always do.”
His dark blue eyes didn’t move from the empty hallway. “This isn’t about deciding where to put a new pub in America or marketing expenditures. This is marriage. This is our company. Our future.”
I nodded solemnly. We all knew what was at stake here and the only way to solve our problems was with a wedding. Something I never even thought I would be thinking about. Now I had no choice. I was going to be a married man by the end of the year, and so were my brothers, no matter what it took.
Thank you all so much for posting! I really appreciate it!