The Running Mate // Book Review Extra Salty

 Ok, this is all over the place because RAGE but enjoy!

 

 Running Mate is by Leah Brunner (also published under A Love Unexpected???)

When making it to congress means faking a marriage… fake it til’ you make it takes on a whole new meaning.

Apparently, the conservative mid-western voters want more than my brains, connections, and good looks to vote me in as a congressman.
I thought I had it all, but missed one glaring requirement: a wife to make me look like the all-American family man Kansas wants.

The lovely Odette Hastings seems to fit the bill. She’s a wholesome small-town girl, and conveniently in need of cash. I’ll give her the money to take care of her elderly parents, and she’ll be the political arm candy I need.

We both win, right?

The only problem is Odette is a little too beautiful, a little too intelligent, and much too distracting. I have to keep my eye on the prize. Even when I’m starting to think there might be something I’d rather have more.

 

Ok. Did I expect it to be the most amazing mind blowing book ever? Eh. not really? 

Did I expect some cute marriage of convenience // fake dating scenes? Some shippable characters? Yes

If it had some banter or some "political power couple" and maybe a couple scenes where they're doing something "cute/romantic" like eating dinner and whispering to each other, but they're actually talking politics? I would have been ecstatic. 

But I went into this not expecting to have any strong feelings about this book and boy oh boy did I. Unfortunately, these emotions were closer to rage and disappointment...

 

 

 

So the Main Character (MC) is running for congressman. (I have already forgotten his name. I'm going to call him Matt because he is a surprisingly generic piece of white bread.) Remember: Mat** wants to be seen as a man with family values! And he's annoyed at the beginning because "I have family values! Rude!"

The story progresses and I am already annoyed because A.) the characters have no chemistry B.) They keep fighting over...nothing?*

*Ok, but. Something that is seen by another person (AKA me) COULD be a big thing to the couple. So if they got super upset (which they did) and then resolved the issue, I would have been on board with it. But it felt like every time one of them would get upset and it would cause an issue, but they wouldn't resolve it? The characters would be like, "Yes! I got super upset...but it is nothing." LIKE WHAT

**I've decided he only deserves one "t"

So anyway...Mat has a sister. This sister, Sophie, is married to a Army soldier (honestly, the only couple I shipped in this book because Sophie was awesome and clearly loved her husband a ton. Husband was deployed right before the beginning of the book. Sister finds out she is pregnant!  And she's sad he won't be there for most of the pregnancy but they're making it work! They're happy and excited!

And then! The husband is killed in action. 

And it feels like Matt and Odette's reaction is:

Like, Mat and Odette are fighting over something dumb, again, because they both A.) DON'T COMMUNICATE and B.) get butt hurt about things? Not to say that you can't be upset about something but it'll felt a little like the "I can't tell if they're upset with me or if I'm just hangry and reading into things wrong" except their reaction just goes straight to "OH NO. SHE/HE HATES ME." and its always because they're misreading the situation? 

Anyway, they were not talking to each other and then they get the news that the sister's husband has been killed. They cancel everything and fly to North Carolina to be there for the sister. And there's just...no emotional impact on either of them? I mean, she'd never met her brother-in-law, but she had bonded with the sister a good deal. IDK what his excuse was??

And its a moment away from everything where they both think a little bit about idk what (I want to say, "life is short and imaging losing a loved one, but I didn't see much empathy for the sister. No "this would be horrifying and heartbreaking and *cries*" feelings.) and they figure out their problems.

 But HE DIDN'T NEED TO DIE FOR THAT TO HAPPEN? He could have just been hurt. OR they lose contact with him in the field even. That could have still prompted a "oh no! what if they lost him?" and a lot of stress. 

Also, her father is literally sick. They could have had a close call with him at the hospital and the couple could have seen how her mom reacted to it and had the same reaction.

Also, it kind of annoyed my evil little Slytherin heart (beyond the killing him off for the plot when he didn't need to die), is that his campaign manager...the same man who was like, "We have to show you care about families and its important enough for you to have a fake wife." wasn't like..."Let's at least release ONE article explaining where he is and what happened to his brother in law." 

So *AHEM* in short, DO NOT WRITE THAT THE MILITARY PERSON IS KILLED BECAUSE YOU KNOW IT WILL ELICIT A STRONG EMOTIONAL REACTION FROM READERS AND THEN NOT SHOW THOSE EMOTIONS IN THE BOOKS

BECAUSE YO. IF PEOPLE ARE SAD IN THE BOOKS, YOU'RE EXPERIENCING THEIR PAIN AND ITS LIKE YOU CAN STEP AWAY FROM IT. IF NOT, YOU JUST DUMPED IT ON ME!?

And then, she made Sophie the main character of the second book's romance and if that's not the icing on the mud cake, then I don't know what is. 

-MK