Mail-Order Groom, a debut romantic comedy novel by Cindy Flores Martinez, was inspired by the author’s own Polish ancestry and is based on her screenplay and movie project of the same title, which she shopped around Hollywood, New York, and other parts of the world.
A sweet romance about an American woman who marries a stranger from Poland after her fiancé leaves her right before the wedding.
Lisa is about to marry her first real love and have the wedding of her dreams, but her world is shattered when she finds her fiancé, Jeff, in the arms of another woman. When he calls the wedding off, Lisa is heartbroken.
In a twist of fate, she meets Krzysztof Zielinski from Poland on Mail-Order-Grooms.Com. He needs to marry an American woman so that he can stay in America, and he’s willing to pay money for it. His reason for needing to stay is what tugs at Lisa’s heart and convinces her to say “I do” to him. After all, it’s going to be strictly a business deal. She won’t even have to live with him, and marrying another man would be the perfect revenge on Jeff.
Lisa races to the altar with her stand-in groom, but she soon learns that she actually does have to live with him. Things become even more complicated when she finds herself falling for him, and he’s not planning to stay in America forever. Will Lisa’s heart break all over again or will she find love and happiness in the end?
MY REVIEW
Mail-Order Groom takes a typical trope and puts a new, unexpected twist on it. When Lisa finds her fiancé in the in a compromising situation just days before they are to wed, she gets even in a most unusual way. She finds a groom online, then proceeds with the wedding as planned.
A sweet, easy read, the humor in this story kept me turning the pages. I’d like to have gotten to know Krzys better and think he could have added a deeper element to the book. The romance that develops between him and Lisa carries the last part of the plot along nicely.
I thoroughly enjoyed all the facts about Poland interspersed throughout the story, and some of Ms. Martinez’s colorful secondary characters were priceless.
At times I struggled a bit with Lisa almost adolescent attitude, and there were parts of the story that confused me. Still, for a fun, engaging summer read, grab a copy of Mail-Order Groom and settle in for an enjoyable experience.
EXCERPT
“Here, let me help you with that, honey.” I took Krzys’s fork from his unsuspecting hand and wound a heap of linguini around it in the most romantic way I could. “Here you go, baby.” I raised it to his lips, oozing affection, but I bumped his front tooth. The metal clanged, and a few slippery strands of pasta dropped onto his lap. “I’m so sorry.”
“It’s all right.” He checked his tooth. Thankfully, it was still attached. He grabbed his fabric napkin from the table.
“Let me clean it up.” I set the fork on his plate. “It was my fault.” I pulled the napkin out of his hand and unfolded it, but I paused as I stared down at the spilled food, which was lying across his leg. When I had agreed to marry Krzys, touching his leg had not been a part of the plan. Why had I volunteered to do this?
I glanced around the room. The photographer was watching, and so were a few of the guests. It was too late to back out now. I mustered courage and draped the napkin over the pasta.
Krzys surprised me with both of his hands over mine. He guided my open palm onto the napkin, gave me a firm squeeze, and helped me gather the food. The sensation made me flinch. To be honest, I wasn’t used to another man’s touch. For so long, I had only ever gotten that close to Jeff. I hadn’t dated very much before him. I guess I had been too focused on college and on my developing career. Being this close to someone else was so odd. A nervous feeling rose up inside of me.
Krzys leaned closer to me. The delightful scent of his aftershave inundated me the way it had on the day I almost crashed into him at the bookstore. It really was a wonderful fragrance, and the heat of his body made me feel strangely warm.
BUY LINKS
Giveaway – Ebook of Mail-Order Groom
Rafflecopter code – a Rafflecopter giveaway
A BIT ABOUT CINDY
My name is Cindy Flores Martinez. I was born and raised in a suburb of Los Angeles. I have an MFA in Creative Writing with an emphasis in Screenwriting. I have been a screenwriting instructor, screenplay consultant, script reader, and screenplay collaborator. My debut novel, Mail-Order Groom, which was inspired by my own Polish ancestry, started out as a screenplay and movie project.
I spent years shopping it around Hollywood, New York, and other parts of the world and had two well-known actors, one of them Academy Award nominated, interested in portraying the lead character’s parents. After not finding the success I wanted, I officially canceled my film production company in November of 2009 and embarked on the journey of turning my screenplay into a novel.
CONNECT WITH CINDY
Website – http://www.cindyfloresmartinez.com/
Twitter – https://twitter.com/AuthorCindy
