Who'd Have Thought by G. Benson

Who'd Have Thought by G. Benson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I think most people have read this, not really but let's pretend, so I'll not work too hard on a review.

So - characters: Sam (41 - I do not believe ever explicitly stated, but is 20 years older than brother, and 15 years older than Hayden (though I've a vague recollection of Hayden, at some point, noting that she was six years older than Jon, but that might be a faulty memory)) and Hayden (26 - for some reason I always think people are 26, let's pretend this is accurate since it corresponds to the age gap between Sam and Jon, and between Sam and Hayden); doctor and nurse; lily white (with red hair, emerald eyes, and pale skin with freckles) and mixed race (Latina and whatever pops was - there was an impression given that he was some form of non-Latino).
Side Characters of Note: On the friend side - Sam apparently has none, though everything is from Hayden's perspective so not sure; on Hayden's side we get Luce (an individual, as it is put in the book, born in the body of a female, but is in fact agender).
On family side we get: more distant that Luce & Sam; Sam brings in Jon (important to the story to note: gay man of around the age of 21), and in the distance barely seen, but felt heavily, are Sam's parents. Hayden brings in: Javi - 4 year old nephew, Sofia - slightly older sister (and mother of Javi), Abuela - 71 year old grandmother of Sofia and Hayden Alexandrja (hmm, spelling there probably off), and Paolo - Sofia and Hayden's mother - there's a much hated father, but never seen.
On work side: reoccurring characters of little actual substance (like Trisha and 'twitchy intern'), and those with slightly more than little actual substance - like Clemmie - 'coffee girl' and Luce's crush.
PLUS: Frank the cat (Hayden's fat cat)

POV: Solo from Hayden's perspective.

Plot: For reasons which are kept secretive throughout much of the book - Sam desires to find someone to marry, specifically a woman - an arranged fake relationship - but not for green card purposes (the only thing she'll admit up front). For this arranged relationship, 40,000 (20,000 when start month of dating; 20,000 when marriage occurs month after dating started) upfront, and $200,000 in a year or 'however long it takes' (pfft).

For reasons which become quickly realized, though still somewhat hidden until later in the book, Hayden has money issues. And sleep issues. And likes wandering the internet in the early morning hours - where she happened to see an advertisement for an arranged relationship with 'lots of compensation'. She, 'jokingly', replies to that ad. Whereupon it is revealed that the ad had been placed by someone from the same hospital she works at - and, even worse, someone she hates. Still --- the arrangement proceeds.

Reasons for my less than highest ratings: I liked what occurred in this book, found it funny, liked the romance, for the most part, liked the cat to an extent, but something was keeping me from rating this higher than I did. It finally hit me why - I did not really like Jon (who kept popping in and out of Sam's apartment without warning), the family dynamics on display (and here I'm more talking about Hayden's family not Sam's, weird I know), and, while it somewhat pains me to admit, I didn't really like the one friend Hayden seemed to have (having just one friend, by the way, seemed vaguely out of character for Hayden). *shrugs*

On the other hand, I thought in between rating and writing review, that there's a good chance I probably would rate this book higher after a reread. Possible, I suppose.

Rating: 4.5

January 3 2018



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