The Marriage Contract By Shay Davis
A Review By: VJJ
Boring. Invisible. Pretty for a plus-size girl. Those were all the things I felt about myself, thanks to my chosen career as an accountant and society’s depiction of the perfect female. For once, I wanted to be something - no, someone - different. So, I booked a trip to Vegas for my birthday. Then, in walked Soul Matthias, treating me and my body as anything but ordinary. He lit a fire inside of me. However, it wasn’t real.
Player. Bad boy. High-risk. That’s what the blogs depicted me as. That’s what baseball owners banked on to lowball my contract extension. I didn’t care about social media, but I definitely cared about my money. I had to get my act together. Then, in strutted Alexa Livingston. A breath of fresh air, someone completely different from what I had ever been used to. But what we had wasn’t real. It was just a marriage contract. Or was it?
Review Notes:
Audio Book Publication Year: 2021
An installment in a Series? No
Narrator (s): Wesleigh Siobhan; Emmanuel Ingram; Winston James; Elle Cleviden; and Madison C. Marie
Story: The moment Soul and Alexa met, their attraction was insatiable, setting off immediate sparks. Albeit drunk from champagne, their chemistry is not fake and could be heard and felt emanating through my speakers and pages as the narrators acted out each scene in this “indecent proposal”, only this proposal entails more than one night, it comes with benefits that will have any woman ready to sign on the dotted line.
Soul is sweet, very experienced, has that BDE, and treats Alexa like a Queen with respect. He gives her the assurance of comfort and safety that she can trust in him because he is a stranger after all and he’s learning that not all women are after his money or fame. While Alexa, is not as experienced as Soul, she is her own woman who allows herself to be open to the possibility of him, but holds him accountable, teaching him how to treat her, not accepting anything less, and definitely not like the groupies he’s used to bedding. Alexa demands respect and Soul loves her for it.
They have a natural rhythm between them and I enjoyed the ease and comfortability of their conversation with each other throughout the story and allowing insight into their inner thoughts. Both want more but are hesitant to express their feelings, allowing doubt and hurt to fester. Our author is exploring the importance of communication in any relationship and while they are comfortable in all things, they do not admit what they feel for one another and are afraid to admit to themselves that there’s more between them than money.
Navigating being strangers who are thrust into a voluntary agreement becomes less about image for him and less about money for her. Soul has lit a fire of desire in Alexa and the sex is off the rails, which is tastefully done, not over the top with the right amount of eroticism and they cannot get enough of each other. Alexa takes all that she can from him mentally and physically while pouring herself into him, and she understands this is temporary, but with each moment they fall harder.
Alexa and Souls are changing within themselves and in turn, are changing each other feeding the need to have someone care for you unconditionally, and learning the things they didn’t want or desired are now becoming the things they cannot be without…Love. Not even the skepticism and jealousy of family and friends could stop what was happening between them and I was so proud when Alexa finally stood up and checked her hating disrespectful sister, she has endured her ridicule far too long.
With feelings on high, their time comes to an end, it becomes clear life would have to go back to normal, but what is normal? Neither recognized their old life anymore nor life without each other. Will Alexa leave and will Soul let the best thing in his life go because surely a handsome rich man and a regular everyday woman could never fall in love…right?
This was a fanciful read by Shay Davis, who created lovable characters in this feel-good story that is arousing to the mind and sizzles in your soul where all the romance resides. It was entertaining and engaging from the prolong to the end. The story flowed nicely with an interesting plot and theme that was depicted and narrated portraying enticing scenarios demonstrated and articulated very well.
Narration/Performance: The narrators brought the thunder in this full-cast starring Wesleigh Siobhan as Alexa; Emmanuel Ingram as Soul; Winston James as Andrew; Elle Cleviden as Mama; and Madison C. Marie as Candace, who gave outstanding performances in their own right portraying their respective characters impressively. They breathed life into them demonstrating a range of emotions while showcasing their acting talents allowing your imagination to visualize every moment through their verbal articulation. This was beautifully executed, narrated, and very well produced.
Reading Recommendation? Yes!
Rating: 5 (I need another one!)
Content Warnings? No.
