Marriage on Madison Avenue focuses on best friends Audrey and Clarke. They've loved each other since they were children, but strictly in a platonic way. When meddling parents and gossipmongers go a step too far, they decide the best way to get back at them is to pretend they're engaged. But as their charade continues, they begin to realize that the only ones they're fooling may be themselves.
This story is oh so charming and cotton-candy sweet, perhaps even more so than the other two books in this series. It's light, fluffy, never too serious, and comes with its own happily ever after. But that sweetness comes across as a little superficial at times. The two main characters are fairly bland, and their personalities don't ever congeal into real three-dimensional people. I kept waiting for something to happen that tugs at my heartstrings or makes my heart skip a beat, but nothing really did. The reading experience felt pleasant throughout, without any uncomfortable or exciting moments.
Perhaps the reason this story never became more than superficial to me is that there's some distance between the reader and the characters. We are never brought into their minds to fully understand their thoughts and feelings. Instead, there's a lot of telling, but not a lot of showing. It's never clear why Audrey and Clarke started seeing each other as more than friends, other than we are told that it's so. For a romance, this story is also completely without heat or urgency, giving it a sterilized feeling. There are no blush-worthy moments at all, as every single possible one has been sanitized out.
In the end, this was a mostly enjoyable end to a fairly pleasant series. To say there is anything more than that would be overstating it. But it's fun to indulge in an escapist read every now and then, something that doesn't demand anything from me intellectually or emotionally. And this fulfills that just fine.
Readaroo Rating: 3 stars
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