Running Mate: A Sweet Marriage-of-Convenience RomCom Paperback – March 10, 2022

Leah, Leah, I felt like you totally played with my emotions ;) this is a story that I will come back to and reread, because even if I cried a little (ok, maybe a little more than a little) I was moved to where I wanted and needed more of this romance.I love marriage of convenience stories, however I typically read those as historical fiction and they make a lot of sense there. I was pleasantly surprised at how she worked it with this story, is it realistic? I mean, maybe not? But don’t tell me I have to read realistic stories. However, maybe politicians have done this before… that actually wouldn’t shock me. The deceit could be pretty realistic.Here’s one of the reasons I really liked this book: the heroine wasn’t a complete idiot and the flake. I feel like in every romance book I’ve been reading lately, it’s always the girl who is flighty and not as committed as the guy. The guys are always so patient and the perfect gentleman. I loved how kind Odette was, but she also didn’t let him string her along. She was a strong female lead whom I really liked and admired.Madden, he was flawed. He was also charming, charismatic, and understandably hurt. His examples and previous experiences of relationships have kind of clouded his vision. I really loved watching him work through his struggles—what kind of person says that? By that, I mean, I enjoyed seeing him overcome his struggles after seeing him fight through them. He has a strong character arc.That’s the heavy part of the story. There is so much lighthearted banter and fun dialogue throughout the story. I love the sense of humor that you can see Leah Brunner has by the way she writes. Her references to pop culture throughout made me laugh. And then the small nod to Pride and Prejudice. I love that. And lastly, I would have to agree with “There’s nothing like being married to your best friend.” Seeing them fall in love and develop that special friendship, it gave me all the heart eyes.As a hopeless romantic, I highly suggest this read. I probably had it read in about a 15 hour period (darn sleep) because I just wanted to know how Odette and Madden’s story went. I’m excited to see the other future releases that come from this author, her debut made a splash that I found absolutely delightful.

I'd been wanting to read Leah Brunner's books for quite awhile. She actually sent me a physical copy of Running Mate several months ago when I won a contest. I own all of the ebooks in this series as well.I finally decided I was going to give them a try. I don't enjoy politics and so that was probably one thing that had caused me to hesitate starting this series. Running Mate was am enjoyable, easy read. I started and finished it in one afternoon.I love the marriage of convenience trope and it is rare in contemporary books,for obvious reasons. This was a fresh take on that plot line. There were a few issues with believability, but that's too be expected. Overall I enjoyed the story and look forward to continuing the series.Yay for another redheaded heroine!Content warnings: closed door sex scenes between married individuals, loss/grief

Marriage of convenience in a contemporary romance? I have been intrigued since I heard about this book since that is not an easy combination to pull off but the author totally made it work. This book was absolute fun!The political twist was also intriguing to this once-upon-a-time political science major and it was so unique! Madden is running for Congress but Kansas voters are unlikely to vote for a bachelor. Though they haven't seen each other since high school, when Odette walks back into Madden's life, sparks fly and he knows she is the one he wants to marry but how on earth do you convince a woman to marry you for the sake of politics?There was so much growth in their relationship as they learned to communicate and trust each other. Madden especially had his own issues to work through. And oh my, the flirty banter and the romance is so very swoony!!! Seriously sigh-worthy.I stayed up late to finish this but I don't even care - every minute of lost sleep was totally worth it. Loved, loved, it and will definitely be reading everything else this author writes!(Note: There is a fade to black/closed door scene after they are married - nothing graphic and very tasteful and I would consider this a "sweet" and "clean" romance.I received a complimentary copy of the book but a positive review was not required.

This was a really great story, and I absolutely loved the plot and the chemistry between Madden and Odette, but it was ruined by all the missed punctuation, capital letters in the middle of a sentence, and duplicate chapters. It's really hard to get lost in a book when you've got to--yet again--skip through pages of a duplicate chapter that already happened. Then it stopped happening, so you can relax and dive back in, then it happened AGAIN at the end of the book. It literally said The End, then gave us two duplicate chapters, then finally the epilogue. It's sad that such a unique story got bogged down with errors that could've been easily avoided with a simple read through.

I really enjoyed the sizzle and yearning, angsty moments between the MCs. The dialogue was great as well. There were some moments that made me laugh, especially the family group texts. This was a fun read, with some serious moments as well. There was no language, and it was clean (no on-page sex).

This books brings an old-fashioned perspective to marriage, Madden and Odette have an unconventional love story but it ultimately ends with love and a much wanted pregnancy. I absolutely am enjoying Leah Brunners books so far! ☺️☺️😉

This author was new to me with this book. I love a good Rom-Com, in fact, it's my favorite genre! I love that the books and the rest of the ones in this series are sweet, clean, and fun! Her books are the type that once you pick them up they're so hard to put down because they're so engaging. It's like reading a great hallmark movie with so many more details! She does a great job with character development and continuing the continuity within the rest of the series! I highly recommend these books and can't wait to read more from this author!

Personajes planos, historia predecible desde capítulo 1, no hay altibajos que valgan la pena. Leía solo un párrafo de cada página y entendí la historia total de tan predecible. Demasiado rosa

3.5⭐️This story had a lot of fun elements, and the banter was stellar!The family dynamics between Madden and his brothers were utterly hilarious!Odette is a sweetheart, and Madden… well, I found him “madden-ing” at times, but they were cute together. I do wish we had gotten more time of them figuring out their relationship as they only got married at the halfway point. But as a marriage of convenience I suppose it made sense.Also, THE INFLATABLE LLAMA. 😂Content: mild language & innuendo; physical attraction; closed door romance

Loved the way Odette and Madden's relationship develops. The hot and cold from Madden's side is a little maddening, but true and relatable. There are no over-dramatic characters, making a scene. Loved the way Madden handles the "no secrets" speech.Awesome for a debut novel. Looking forward to Sophie's story.

This was really a pleasure to read. I thoroughly enjoyed it to the very end! The characters are interesting and relatable, plus it uploading your emotions. Truly a hot to read!

I started this romance because I love fake relationships. Plus, we're in a world where you have to be careful with appearances; elections.I have to admit that I have a mixed opinion, because on the one hand I liked the way the beginning unfolds, but at the same time, I didn't like the speed of things. I really think that the author would have won if her romance had been a little longer, because she could have developed things in depth. I admit that now I'm still at a stage where I don't understand how the male character fell in love... I also didn't like some of the behavior of this character. Odette is relatively endearing, but nothing more.That said, I loved the family dynamics of the book; I loved seeing some of the events involving Madden's sister. Besides, I could read that the next volume would be hers. I think I will still read this installment, as I really liked the character of Madden's sister and her brief history.In conclusion, I would recommend this romance more to characters who want to quickly read a story without getting caught up and have a good time.N.B.: For French speakers, this story reads very easily and in a few hours, it can be read. The vocabulary is really accessible and from the beginning.