Married to Secrets by Kelsie Hoss | Book Review

Thank you to NetGalley, Kelsie Hoss, and author Kelsie Hoss for providing an ARC copy of Married to Secrets in exchange for an honest review.

This was my first book from Kelsie Hoss, and I was absolutely not expecting to love it as much as I did. I went in thinking, “Okay, marriage of convenience, billionaire romance, secrets, sure, let’s see what we’re doing here,” and then suddenly I was fully invested, emotionally nosy, and acting like these people’s fake marriage was my personal business.

Married to Secrets has the kind of setup that can easily go very tropey in a flat way, but this one worked for me because it had heart underneath all the billionaire chaos. Yes, there is money. Yes, there is a marriage arrangement. Yes, there are secrets doing what secrets do best: causing problems while everyone pretends they are totally fine. But the emotional core is what made the book hit. It felt romantic, dramatic, warm, and messy in that “I know this is technically a terrible plan, but please continue” kind of way.

I especially loved how easy it was to root for the characters. The romance had that soft-but-angsty pull I love, where you can feel the walls coming down even when both people are trying very hard to act normal about it. Spoiler: nobody is normal. That is why we are here. The chemistry worked, the stakes were fun, and the emotional moments landed in a way that made this feel like more than just a shiny billionaire fantasy.

What surprised me most was how quickly I cared. This could have been a cute, predictable little “fake marriage but oops, feelings” situation, and honestly, I would have still had fun. But instead, it gave me warmth, tension, vulnerability, and just enough drama to keep me turning pages like I had been personally invited to supervise the bad decisions.

What worked for me:
– The marriage of convenience setup was fun, addictive, and immediately readable.
– The emotional core made the romance feel warmer and deeper than I expected.
– The chemistry had that perfect “this was supposed to be fake, please explain the feelings” energy.
– The secrets added enough tension without making the story feel exhausting.
– The plus-size heroine representation felt refreshing and easy to root for.

What didn’t fully work for me:
– Some parts were a little dramatic, but honestly, that is what I want from a romance so I don’t know why I’m complaining 😉
– I occasionally wanted characters to communicate faster, but then we would not have a book.
– The billionaire setup requires a little suspension of disbelief, but I happily packed a bag and went along.
– A few moments leaned trope-heavy, though they still worked for me.
– I now have to add Kelsie Hoss’s backlist to my already-disrespectful TBR, which feels personally inconvenient.

Tropes and vibes:
Billionaire romance
Plus-size heroine
Forced proximity
Fake marriage, real feelings

Who should read it:
Read this if you love marriage-of-convenience romance, billionaire stakes, plus-size heroine representation, emotional secrets, and men who have the resources to be dramatic on a much larger budget. Married to Secrets was such a fun surprise for me, and I love when a book sneaks up and fully wins me over. Five stars for the fake marriage, the feelings that were absolutely not fake, and the fact that I went in casually curious and came out ready to read more from Kelsie Hoss.