I love an enemies to lovers, but Grayson was mostly just a dick. Maybe it was the fact that Jovana was in love with him from the start, for literally no reason other than he gave good D. To be fair, I’m sure people have fallen in love for less.

The spice was hot and kinda angsty, there wasn’t really a third act break up, fake dating/marriage of convenience vibes, billionaire playboy changing his ways. It was a nice, quick read that didn’t make me think too hard or get too emotionally invested in the plot.

Thanks to #NetGallery and the publisher. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Genre: Romance
Format: Digital
POV: Dual
Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️ /5
Age suggestion: 18+

Mr. Wicked was a typical grumpy/sunshine romance. I’ll be honest and their chemistry didn’t do it for me but the side characters were fun and entertaining. I enjoyed the banter in this book though I felt like some of the emotions of the characters were all of the place. Overall this was a fairly quick read for when you are in the mood for that grumpy trope or a fake marriage trope. 3.5 stars for me.

Marni Mann has become the queen of romance. This book is another installment in the Hooked series, this time following Grayson.

The popularity of the Hooked app has made its founders some sort of celebs, which makes dating difficult. This suits Grayson as he is completely against commitment even though he is head of the marriage/long term relationship part of the dating app.

A chance meeting of a waitress and a PR crisis takes us through some of my all time favourite tropes.

Grumpy sunshine, fake dating, millionaire, and lots of spice.

Fans of Marni will really enjoy this.

Mr. Wicked by Marni Mann
(Hooked #2)
(ARC - Release date 4/23/24)
My summary: Grayson Tanner is one of three founders of the super popular dating app, Hooked. Gorgeous, rich, and having built his life around nothing more than one night stands, he swore off love a long time ago. Other than a one night stand with the sweet and sassy Jovana Winters, who he can’t stop thinking about, he’s never had a desire to see the same girl twice. After celebrating the successful international rollout of their app, Grayson finds himself in a PR scandal that’s threatening his company’s profitability. The only way to save the company is to get married to prove the app works, even though this forever bachelor long ago decided he’d never get married—but the gorgeous and romantic-at-heart Jovana may just change his mind.
••••••••••••
Genre: Spicy, contemporary romance
My thoughts: Oh man. I really enjoyed this one from start to finish. Grayson and Jovana made the pages sizzle. I ached for Grayson to give in to his feelings and was totally rooting for Jovana the entire time. This book was the perfect blend of sweetness and spice. Jovana’s charm and Grayson’s surliness was an enjoyable combination. And I can’t wait to get Holden’s story in the next book.
My rating: 4.3

What if your biggest nightmare becomes your reality?
Grayson Tanner wouldn't touch the words commitment and dating with ten foot pole let alone apply all that to himself. When a scandal that rocks all the hard work of the business that he created with his best friends he has no choice but to do things that he thought he would never do.
The ultimate bachelor has to pretend commit to a girl and just not that, he has to get engaged to her and then get married, all while the world watches all his moves. He has to become the walking talking advertisment of Hooked app.
The only saving grace is that the girl is his one night stand from months ago and he is low key obsessed with her body. But will they be able to pretend for one year or Jovana is going to fall in love with him while also keeping a secret from him that may or may not destroy everything.
A must read if you love age gap spicy romance, grumpy commitment phobe billionaire, obsessed with love heroine and making the guy fall in love, pretend relationship then this is your jam!

This book was a fun read if you’re into alpha-holes and grumpy/sunshine. Sometimes MMC’s that are that grumpy are annoying, but when I’m in the right mood, I eat it up! Grayson and Jovana meet while she’s waitressing at a bar, and have an instant connection. They have one hot night together, he tells her that he doesn’t want to see her again since he “doesn’t do relationships”, and she flips him off and walks out of his life. Months later something happens that requires him to ask her to be his fake wife for publicity, and as they navigate this, things begin to alter in their relationship.
I enjoyed this story, and give it a solid 3.5/5 stars.

Quick read - spicy and entertaining, but not a stand out for me. I preferred the first book of the series.

Grayson is part creator/owner of Hooked, a successful dating app. Despite being a chronic playboy and not believing in monogamy, he is responsible for the marriage branch of the app. So when a video of him goes viral claiming to not believe in marriage, the app takes a hit and the pressure is on to change his public image. Jovana believes in true love and feels instant sparks when she meets Grayson. But a one night stand leaves her feeling hurt and bitter. When approached by Grayson with the prospect of a mutually beneficial marriage, she can't say no. He warns her to not fall in love with him, but she just can't stop herself. Can she convince him to give love a try or will she end up with a broken heart again?

I think Grayson was a little too much of an asshole in contrast to the insta-love from Jovana. I wondered why she even liked him at all lol. Maybe if there had been more angst or jealousy on his part it would have felt more satisfying. Jovana was much too lenient with his behaviour. Overall, minimal angst in this story and the "secret" reveal at the end felt like a blip in the story.

Tropes:
- grumpy vs. sunshine
- marriage of convenience
- reformed playboy

Marni Mann does it again. I loved her Dalton Family series, so when I received this eARC I was thrilled. I knew all of her books I'd previously read were fantastic so I had high hopes for Mr. Wicked, and let me just say, she delivered. Fake-dating, contract marriage, grumpy/ sunshine, with a dash of territorial (but not in a bad way) hero, this book checks so many of my trope boxes! Our sassy, spitfire of a heroine, Jovana, takes absolutely no crap from our grumptastically sexy hero, Grayson. The growth and character development that he goes through is as endearing as it is frustrating. There were several times where I wished I could grab Grayson and shake him while yelling to get his head out of his rear, but really, when don't we want to do that to most men? As always, Marni brought all the spice. The dedication alone told me that our delicious, Mr. Grayson would have a wicked tongue, in more ways than one. Marni flawlessly blends spice and plot together to give her readers the right dose of smut alongside a compelling love story. Jovana and Grayson are a perfect match for each other, whether he wants to admit it, or not. The witty banter, the sexy talk, the steamy kisses, all of it is just a seamless blend that leads to a great book. 4.5 stars to this sexy contemporary romance.

This is Grayson and Jovana’s story. A one-night-stand gone wrong that turns into a marriage of convenience.

There was a lot to like about this book. Forced proximity, grumpy-sunshine, jaded and cynical hero. I also really liked how strong-willed the Jovana was, not letting Grayson get away with how he was treating her (read: pushing her away because he was scared of his own feelings)

I will admit, I wasn’t sold on their banter and chemistry with their first meeting, and I found their dynamic a little too insta-lusty for my taste (this is on me, though and it’s why I don’t usually relish books that start with one-night-stands). As their relationship developed, however, I really liked seeing how their dynamic shifted.

This was my first book from Marni Mann, and I definitely plan to check out more from her.

Loved reading the mesmerizing and engaging romance story. When scandal affects Grayson's app Hooked, he has to have a fake marriage to save Hooked for him and his friends, but his fake wife, Jovana, is the woman he had a passionate one night affair. Read the highly recommended, wonderfully written, and a must read riveting love story. Can't wait to read the next story by the amazing author, Marni Mann!

I honestly loved this book and highly recommend it and the book before it. I love gray and drake so much. I loved the tension and angst.

Marni Mann is killing it with the Hooked series. I loved Easton and Drake so much, so I was thoroughly looking forward to Grayson's story. This book was high angst and tension, constantly waiting for Grayson to revert back to his playboy ways. I did think his internal was struggle was almost too much for the story line, toeing the line of being believable that he would ever settle down. But Marni did a really great job with the plot twist at the end, solidifying their love story. The chemistry was off the charts, love me a good, reformed playboy! I cannot wait for book 3!

(arc review) Mr Wicked - Marni Mann
Rating: 2.5 stars

I really wanted to enjoy this book but it fell pretty flat. I think it had a collection of tropes that I really enjoy such as the marriage of convenience trope and side characters that seemed interesting.

However, the main thing that made this a lower star read for me was the two main characters. I couldn’t stand either of them. The main male character had an awful attitude and came across as very immature for someone who was meant to be 30 years old.

The main female character, I can be slightly more lenient towards as she is 22 but some of her behaviour was very questionable.

The end of the book picked up and featured one of my favourite tropes in romance books which redeemed it.

Overall, I didn’t enjoy this specific book however I would check out some of Marni Mann’s other works as I don’t think one book is enough to judge this author.

I genuinely loved this book! The perfect amount of spice mixed with love that made me really root for them.

The only thing that bothered me was how Grayson was always “roaring” when it didn’t feel like he was actually talking loudly. For that I deduct a star.

But this was a fun little romp!

I really enjoyed this book. I love the simps Marni turns her heros into, and I love that Grayson was called out for it in this book. I also liked the way she had Grayson and Jovana come from opposite backgrounds. I thought that made the 'meet the parents' part of the marriage of convenience extra interesting to read.

I liked Grayson, I liked his backstory, I liked how he had to turn himself around and he fall hard and fast for Jovana. I didn't love Jovana, though. I felt her strength in many aspects of her personality throughout the book, but she seemed to fall at his feet a bit towards the middle. That didn't fit her personality to me.

My absolute favorite part, though, was the shift from 2nd to 3rd act. The story is moving along like you know what's going to happen, the BAM. And this moment was what hooked me. I loved the (plot- not spice) ending so much!! The spice got to be too much for me here, though, and it felt like filler instead of the juicy content we had been getting.

Overall, I love the pace and length of this book. I love how Marni is developing the male characters and their friend group, and I love the tropes she chose here. Even though I had a couple ick moments I felt like overall this was a good, fun read and I look forward to Holden's book!

This book definitely has all the grumpy, billionaire man you could ask for. Grayson is basically the epitome of that description. He is known for sleeping around and not having any girl around for breakfast. Once it's over, he never speaks to them again. There is past trauma for him that caused him to be this way but he is just the jerk (that's the nice word) who cares about no one other than himself. He also co-owns an app called Hooked that's made for hooking up.

Enter Jovana. She is what I would call a hopeless romantic but also a complete bad-ass on her own. She has grown up with her parents being so incredibly in love and aims to find love exactly like that.

They both meet at the bar that Jovana works at and they have a one night stand. Of course, Jovana tries to separate out her feelings but has a hard time and when Grayson basically ghosts her she gets all upset about it.

So many things happen for these two and it was so nice to see Jovana put Grayson in his place often and keep him on his toes. I love a book with a really strong FMC and I always love a grumpy man. This was a really nice and spicy romance with exactly what I needed in it.

Jovanna was truly likeable and had a heart of gold, I was definitely rooting for her to get what she wanted. However, in the beginning it was hard to believe she wanted Grayson because he was such a complete and utter selfish jerk. I had a hard time getting through the first few chapters because he was so over the top self-centered. Once he calmed down and actually treated Jovanna like a real person, the book was much more enjoyable for me. Cute story, felt a little rushed once he owned up to his feelings.

Oh so sexy and yet oh so cute. This was such a great read. Hot sex, business battles and a slow tipping into emotions and love. Under the tough exterior and crassness, we discover tenderness and a heart. The book is written i. An engaging style and clips along at a fair pace making this a perfect book to read curled up in pyjamas with a lovely glass of wine.

4⭐️
4/5🌶️

Mr Wicked, a fun grumpy/sunshine story.
It was an easy and well written story.
I rooted for Jovana to get her happily ever after, she is a very loveable person and I enjoyed the amount of faith she had but still wasn’t a compleet simp.

The story wasn’t super original, but I thoroughly enjoy it and highly suggest it for when your in the mood of a steamy romance with HEA

This was a great grumpy/sunshine with a HEA. I’ve never read anything by this author before but will definitely have to read more. Spicy and had great main and supporting characters.

Thanks to Net Galley and Montlake for the temporary ARC to review.