Curious by Leslie McAdam Blog Tour

I’m desperately attracted to my husband.
Which wouldn’t be a problem, except he’s straight.

What happened is, my longtime crush/hero got badly injured saving me from my evil ex-boyfriend. When I found out he (my hero, not my ex) didn’t have health insurance, I did the logical thing: I proposed. To my surprise, he said yes.

I knew that Camden wasn’t interested in me like that. This deal was always meant to be temporary—just until he healed and could get his own insurance and I found a place to stay, since I’m not moving back in with my ex. No feelings involved.

Except Cam kissed me at our wedding ceremony, and ever since, we can’t seem to stop kissing. He says he’s curious what sex with a man would be like, but I don’t want to be another straight guy’s experiment.

Still, Cam is so kind and beautiful, with his dark eyes and tousled curls shoved into a backward baseball cap. His patience makes me want to throw out all my carefully crafted rules. And don’t get me started on how his first instinct is to protect me…

But I’m scared if I open my heart, I’m going to get hurt. Again.

Can I risk telling Cam how I feel before our deal ends? Or should I let him go and lose the best (fake) relationship I’ve ever had?

Curious is a stand-alone contemporary M/M romance novel with a marriage of convenience and bisexual awakening. It features Shelby, a receptionist who’s never met a vision board he didn’t like; Camden, an internet-famous contractor; and a hasty wedding for medical insurance reasons. Happy ever after guaranteed.

Don’t miss our reviews of other books in the IOU series!
For book one, Ambiguous, click HERE.

 

 

Book 4
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Everyone in the room is looking at us, just the way we were looking at the couples before us.

I regulate my breathing. My ankle hurts, but I set that pain to the side. My cheeks are burning, and my hands are trembling. I’m glad my brother is here. I’ve set my crutches down and taken hold of Shelby’s hands. They’re clammy, and I’m trying to warm them up. They’re also steadying me.

But then he looks up at me with those liquid brown eyes, and my chest feels light. My pulse races, and my mouth goes dry.

After asking us a few more questions, the clerk begins the ceremony. “Do you, Camden, take this man, Shelby, to be your lawfully wedded husband, in sickness and in health, for richer and for poorer, to have and to hold from this day forward until death do you part?”

“I do.” I say, and I squeeze Shelby’s hands. He gives me a small, genuine smile.

“Do you, Shelby, take this man, Camden—”

Holy ____, I’m getting married. I don’t know why it took this long for it to sink in. Something about that fact makes me giddy, and I want to burst out laughing, but I rein it in. Shelby says, “I do,” and I let out the biggest breath. Part of me—the part still traumatized by Leah—worried that he’d say no. I want to hug him for saying yes. For not humiliating me.

“You may exchange rings, if you have them.”

“Oh. Right.” I pull the two bands out of my pocket, and my fingers tremble all over again.

Reaching over, I again take Shelby’s soft, tan hand in my work-roughened one, and my jitters vanish when he looks up at me, an expression of wonder on his face, his eyes brimming with tears. He swallows, and I want to hug him or something.

Instead, I place my ring on his finger.

It looks good there, and this possessive feeling—that Shelby is mine—rushes through me, even if our situation is temporary.

For now, at least, he is mine.

Shelby slips my ring onto my finger. I’m not used to wearing jewelry, but it feels right. Like it’s always been there. And I like being able to give Shelby some stability… for now.

We hold hands, and I can’t tell if he’s supporting me while my ankle is busted, or I’m supporting him on this wild adventure. Maybe we’re supporting each other.

“…and you may kiss your husband,” the clerk says, and I have to keep from doing a double take.

Of course, I knew this was a standard part of the ceremony. Heck, I just watched a couple go through this exact process. And I have no problem kissing Shelby—even in front of an audience—but, like actually being married, the reality of it hadn’t gone through my brain.

 

 

 

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Angie – ☆☆☆☆
At first, I wasn't sure this book was going to work for me. The first few chapters were questionable. Is there a lot of farfetched stuff happening in this book? Yes. Are there some inaccuracies in this book about roofers, obtaining marriage licenses, etc? Yes. But was it a good book in the end? Yes! I instantly loved Shelby, how can you not? Cam was a sweetheart from the get-go. Besides the stuff that I found inaccurate or farfetched, I still enjoyed the book. I loved watching Shelby and Cam, and how their relationship progressed. I wanted to throttle both of them for not being more communicative about their feelings, but I enjoyed them nonetheless. There was angst at the beginning of the book but after that, the book was sweet and mushy.


Shannan – ☆☆☆
Curious is the fourth installment in the IOU series. I did read this as a standalone without issue.

Shelby thought he had found the one, until he found out that his one was also someone else's husband, and she didn't know her husband was hooking up with men. That turned into Shelby being abused by his now ex. When Camden, Shelby's coworker’s brother, sees him disheveled and bruised, Camden rushes to his aid. Camden hurts himself pretty severely in the process. Shelby feels terrible that Camden got hurt defending him. Camden knows Shelby has nowhere to go and offers his pool house to him until he can find a place of his own. After an urgent care appointment, Camden has more wrong with his ankle than he can afford without healthcare so Shelby, feeling terrible about the situation, offers to marry Camden (his long-time crush) to get him on the insurance policy as fast as possible. What starts out a marriage of convenience quickly turns into more than either of them expected.

I thought this story had tons of potential, but it just didn't come through for me. Camden was patient and was very up front about his feelings and intentions. Shelby, on the other hand, was very “he likes me, he doesn't like me.” He was so back and forth and had so much angst. I know the author gave a warning in the beginning to "suspend reality" for the sake of the story BUT I just couldn't with Shelby's character. I was pulled from the story so many times with his inner monologue. Bi-awakening is one of my favorite tropes, but this one just wasn't for me.

 

 

 

USA Today bestselling author LESLIE MCADAM is a California girl who loves romance and well-defined abs. She lives in a drafty old farmhouse on a small orange tree farm in Southern California with her husband and two children. Leslie's first published book, The Sun and the Moon, won a 2015 Watty, which is the world's largest online writing competition. She's gone on to receive additional literary awards and has been featured in multiple publications, including Cosmopolitan.com. Her books have been Top 100 Bestsellers on both Amazon and Apple Books. Leslie is employed by day but spends her nights writing about the men of your fantasies.

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Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of Curious (IOU #4) by Leslie McAdam to read and review.