REVIEW: "The Marriage Pass" by Briana Cole
It’s definitely a good thing that I got married young because I really fucking sucked at being a girlfriend.
During my dating days, I could never get out of my head.
When I would enter a new relationship, I would start off deliriously happy — drunk on new love and infatuated with the prospects and possibilities that came with it. But that euphoria would quickly fade and, in its place, would form a deep well of worry.
I would become so concerned with whether or not the relationship would work out that I couldn’t even enjoy it. And the more I would worry the more certain I would be that the relationship would fail — because all I had ever experienced were failed relationships. This worry would eventually become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
In the decade and a half since I gratefully exited the dating pool, I have engaged in some self-reflection. Though I fervently hope that I never have to date again — and probably, honestly, never would date again even if that meant spending my dying days surrounded by stacks of books and cuddling with a cohort of cats — I wanted to understand why I was such a deficient dater. And all of this thought has led me to a few concrete conclusions.
I have decided that I was horrible at dating because, in romantic relationships, you inherently have to accept the fact that you cannot be in control. You can only ever make up 50% of a romantic duo. This means you can only, at best, control half of what goes on.
And that is not something I am okay with.
Given my absolute obsession with maintaining a firm handle on most situations — but particularly situations in which I most open myself up to emotional injury — I would absolutely not be able to engage in an open relationship.
I would never have the emotional fortitude to allow my husband to spend the night canoodling with another woman. No way, no how.
But had I ever maintained some illusion that I would be able to give my husband a proverbial hall pass, reading The Marriage Pass, the first book in a new series by Briana Cole, would have entirely disabused me of this notion.
Because, in this novel, a couple bent the rules.
And 👏🏽 shit 👏🏽 got 👏🏽 messy.
Dorian and Shantae’s relationship has never been perfect. In their early days of dating, the only thing reliable about Dorian was his unfaithfulness.
When he decided to put a ring on it, though, he committed himself to being a one-woman man. And, though he hasn’t been perfect, he has held fast to his resolve to only have sex with one woman: his wife.
As their one-year anniversary approaches, Dorian gets an itch he doesn’t intend to scratch. But then, almost serendipitously, Shantae presents him with an anniversary present that will change everything.
She gives him a hall pass.
A free opportunity to go out and do whatever — or, in this case, whoever — he wants.
The prospect of a tawdry romp is, admittedly, appealing, but Dorian initially scoffs at Shantae’s offering, arguing that nothing good could come of such a thing.
His reluctance evaporates, though, when he sets his sights on someone he would like to use the hall pass on. The object of his lust is Shantae’s sister, Reagan. Not only does her familial connection to his wife make her a… less than suitable candidate, but also there are other things about her that should give Dorian pause.
An unwed mother who is constantly in and out of jail, Reagan is absolutely not someone that Dorian should quite literally fuck with. Unfortunately, though, he cannot resist the temptation of this forbidden fruit.
Little does he know, though, that taking a bite of this apple will turn out to be the worst mistake of his life.
This novel, my first by Briana Cole, literally oozed sex. It felt raunchy and wrong in the best kind of ways. Similar in both salaciousness and sexually explicitness to 50 Shades of Gray, this novel will absolutely leave readers blushing.
A bonus element, that came as a surprise to me, was the twistiness of this novel. Though marketed as a thriller, Cole peppered in the mystery, leaving readers guessing until the very last chapter. And, when all was revealed, the solution was as satisfying as it was surprising.
Reading this book does, however, really require readers to suspend their disbelief. Pretty consistently throughout the book, characters made decisions that were so appallingly bad that it is a bit difficult to imagine a rational human actually making those choices.
In fairness, though, books do belong to their readers and, as such, the difficulty I experience viewing these choices as reasonable is definitely impacted by my own experiences. During my short dating history, I was never driven by my most base instincts.
I don’t pretend to be particularly well traveled in the world of love and lust, but I just, personally, never assumed that men looking at women were quite so preoccupied with their sexual urges. Admittedly, though, there could be men out there who are. Men who do think with a head, but not the one on their shoulders.
Fortunately, I will never know. Because, unlike the characters in this novel, I have no intention of throwing a hand grenade into my marriage.
A compulsively readable romp that isn’t for the faint — or prude — of heart, this novel earns 4 out of 5 cocktails.
Do you like dating? While I have never enjoyed it, I do understand that there are people who — somehow — find the whole prospect enjoyable. Tell me how you feel about dating in the comments, below.
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*I was provided a gifted copy of this title by the publisher*
