A Different Husband

Robeson Family

by Christine Michelle

COURTNEY
I always thought Beckett was the man who I would marry. He had been my everything since we were 10. We were engaged by the time I turned 22.

Then, one day, he came to me with a plan to help save his cousin’s inheritance. It would make me the villain of the story in everyone else’s eyes. It would also mean that walk down the aisle would happen with the wrong man.

Still, Beckett asked. I granted him this crazy scheme, played along, and quickly learned that he had agreed to it because it freed him from me for a little while. I never knew he wanted out. He never let on until I had a different husband's ring on my finger and was forced to watch from the sidelines as Beckett carried on with other women.

Flynn was the shoulder I leaned on, and we grew closer as a result. Eventually, Beckett began to notice me again, but somewhere along the line, things changed. When I saw my future, he was no longer the man wearing the ring that matched my own.

FLYNN
My cousin won our mutual best friend’s heart long ago.
I’d hated him for it then.
I hated him for allowing her to marry me ‘temporarily’ even more.

I’d always been a little in love with Courtney, but watching as the light left her eyes when her fiancé threw her away and paraded other women in front of her made me want to show my beautiful new wife what it was like to be with the right Robeson man. I wanted to bring her light back. The only problem was, I had to do it before my cousin realized just how badly he had screwed up by letting her go in the first place.

*A Different Husband is the third book in the Robeson Family Novels, but it is a standalone story. The Robeson Family Novels can be read in any order. There is no cheating by main characters, despite the arranged marriage.

Genres: Marriage Of Convenience, Friends To Lovers, Romance, Contemporary, Marriage, Surprise Pregnancy

191 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 6, 2025

About the author

Christine Michelle runs on coffee and giggles as she writes her angst-fueled romance stories (motorcycle club, rockstar, paranormal, college, & other contemporary as well as women's fiction and marriage in trouble novels).
She is a mom to four humans (2 girls, 2 boys – all grown now).
When she's not writing books, she enjoys reading, drawing, hiking, or feeding her soul with live music at concerts.
Christine is a traveler and has lived all over the USA (and other parts of the world). She currently lives in San Antonio, Texas with her two fur babies.

Reviews

[Mairi Swan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story was so intriguing that caught my eye and I fell into it with excitement. But I didn't get what I expected unfortunately. It felt rushed and very superficial. It lacked depth in the characters and that's a shame.

[Raffaella · Rating 2 out of 5]

Short and very low angst.
The premise is very puzzling.
Heroine has been with her fiance since they were in high school, they are getting married in a few weeks and he asks her to swap with his cousin. Basically she marries his cousin because the guy needs a bride for his inheritance, just for six months.
In exchange for the favor, the cousin will grant them a cabin and some insurance money.
The heroine is appalled but then accepts. Which doesn’t make a lot of sense if you’re not in a Lynne Graham book of the late 80s. This kind of things doesn’t happen nowadays.
Whatever.
The cousin is the hero, he’s been secretly in love with the heroine forever but she’s always been with his cousin so he stayed behind, and now that he has his chance, he wants the marriage to work.
When the heroine realizes that her fiance was cheating on her and is already having sex with ow, plural, she decides she will have a real marriage with the hero.
But of course things are not so easy.
The ex comes back and wants the heroine.
She doesn’t want him.
She sees her hubby having lunch with a woman and thinks he’s cheating on her, while he’s pining for her all the time. Basically a lot of trust issues for this new and hurriedly made couple, but they are in love with each other and all is well in the end without a lot of drama.
- safety. Of course the hero had some other women, but no one serious.
The heroine was with her fiance for years, so no one was celibate here.
- he falls first. He pines for her.
- she wasn’t in love with him in the beginning, which I liked because for once it’s the hero the one that is in love with the heroine.
- I liked than all the family, both hers and the hero’s and her ex, are all by her side and blame the fiance for being an ass and a cheater.
There’s not much more to say, it was short and fun.

[JillyB · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sweet and funny

Ahh, sometimes you just need a sweet love story to take you away for a few hours. Flynn, the hero of the story finally gets the woman he has always loved. The heroine, Courtney, finally gets a man worthy of her love. People say change is good. In the case of Courtney getting a new love, change was very, very good!

A Different Husband

The latest offering from Christine Michelle is a sweet, funny love story. There is plenty of drama in the book, but the drama between the 2 mains is pretty low key and is dealt with quickly. There are a couple of moments of angst, but overall I would put the story low on the angst meter. I think that mainly comes from the fact that we know our hero Flynn is very much in love with the heroine Courtney. He has had to stand by(not celibately) for years while he watches his detestable cousin, Beckett, Courtney’s fiancée treat her more like a loyal lapdog than the queen she is.

Overview: Beckett and Courtney have been together since middle school. They were each other’s firsts and onlys(well her only for sure). They are both now 25 and 2 weeks away from the wedding of her dreams. The one she has planned for years. Beckett, decides to flip the script. He tells her he wants her to marry his cousin, to help the family out. The cousin is the only one to inherit from the dead grandfather as long as he marries before 30 and is married for 6 months. Beckett tells the h that if she marries his cousin then they will be able to get the cottage in the will and probably some money. Plus, Flynn the cousin needs some financial help for his dad. Meanwhile, Flynn has always been on the sidelines of the Beckett/Courtney love for the ages affair. He has been in love with Courtney for just as long as Beckett, but has never crossed that line. He didn’t even cross it when there was a chance in high school when Courtney and Beckett were having problems. Now Courtney is confused and bewildered that the love of her life would ask her to do this, but she is thinking that it will be just a moc and her and Beckett will still be each others main. She is willing to make the sacrifice. She has barely said she would do it, and Beckett starts living the bachelor life. Meanwhile, Flynn, is happy he gets his chance with the h even though he is worried of coming in 2nd best. When Courtney finds out the real truth about Beckett’s plan for temporarily marrying off his fiancee to his cousin, she decides to give her marriage to Flynn a chance. She finds out on her wedding night that Flynn is bigger and better than her ex in many ways 😉

Basically, the rest of the story we find out more about Beckett and believe me he never does endear himself. I will say his character gives the reader some eye rolling opportunities for sure. There is also some drama with the parents of the h and Beckett’s parents. Flynn’s parents are good! We see Bea and Mina from the previous 2 books, but one needs to remember that their stories are unfolding around the same time as this. So, it isn’t like a bonus epilogue for them. Our hero and heroine in the story have a couple of hiccups and/or misunderstandings along the way. But the author doesn’t drag them out. I think that works in this story. I know dragging it out is what normally causes the angst, but I really like reading about this couple as it is done and wouldn’t want that kind of drama for drama’s sake. It would have probably come off as contrived that way.

There is some spicy times with our couple and a sweet look into their future! I felt happy after reading this. Oh, and I loved when an author introduces different things to me, In this case it was the musical artist Anson Seabra One Day Less for the first dance between h and H.

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing

I believe this is my second book of this author and enjoyed it as much as the previous one.

I liked that this a different type of story and was very good and refreshing.

What if the man you were in love with since your early teens and best friends prior to that turned out to not be the soul mate and forever love you thought? But turns out to be toad disguised as a man?

And what happens if husband you married for convenience to help him get his inheritance, turns out to be your dream partner and you never knew?

Read this book to find out as you navigate the drama, angst, OW troubles and THE steam as the characters move towards their HEA!

[I’m a Paula too… Thompson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overreacting as usual…

Courtney keeps on overreacting when she hears snippets of conversations, and goes off half-cocked, getting hurt in the process. This is the type of FMC that drives me nuts. She never stops to just ask what’s going on. I’m not impressed by her at all.

I like the MMC though. He’s pretty great, but honestly Courtney is such a silly woman that she’s single-handedly driven my rating down to three stars. She’s not awful but she’s not too bright…

The other books are ones I liked better than this one. Just my preference…

[Birty · Rating 4 out of 5]

An angsty romance

Flynn marries the love of his life when his cousin Beckett convinces him to marry Beckett’s fiancé, Courtney. What starts out as a marriage of convenience ends up being true love.

My biggest issues were lack of editorial monitoring and too much drama with Courtney. She was always accidentally easy-dropping but only hearing/seeing part of the story and then running off. For a career woman, she was very immature.

Have read other books by this author and they were pretty good.

[Angela Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was better than I thought it was going to be. But also, less than I wanted it to be. I liked Courtney and Flynn and enjoyed watching them navigate a marriage that neither was expecting. I think the author does a good job of accurately portraying emotions in her characters, but her plots aren't always the best. But this was a good book. as we're the others in the series.

[Existentialboredom · Rating 1 out of 5]

Low rating because 1) this seemed expensive for a relatively short book and 2) I couldn’t work out why CM made this FMC a supreme dummy.

[Serena Books · Rating 3 out of 5]

’Agradecí a mis estrellas de la suerte el poder casarme con una mujer que había sido amiga de toda la vida. Ella era perfecta.





•Mi opinión puede contener Spoilers.
•Esta destinada a ser un descargo personal no para que alguien más lea pero si lo haces y te ofende, me disculpo porque sé lo que es que te guste un libro y otros lo critiquen.



A Different Husband de Christine Michelle Serie Robeson Family libro 3

Argumento:

COURTNEY
Siempre pensé que Beckett era el hombre con el que me casaría. Lo había sido todo para mí desde que teníamos 10 años. Estábamos comprometidos cuando cumplí 22.

Entonces, un día, vino a mí con un plan para ayudar a salvar la herencia de su primo. Me convertiría en la villana de la historia a los ojos de todos los demás. También significaría que caminaría hacia el altar sucedería con el hombre equivocado.

Aun así, Beckett preguntó. Le concedí este plan loco, seguí el juego y rápidamente supe que había aceptado porque lo liberaba de mí por un tiempo. Nunca supe que quería salir. Nunca lo dejó ver hasta que tuve el anillo de otro esposo en mi dedo y me vi obligada a observar desde la barrera mientras Beckett seguía con otras mujeres.

Flynn fue el hombro en el que me apoyé, y como resultado nos hicimos más cercanos. Finalmente, Beckett comenzó a notarme de nuevo, pero en algún momento, las cosas cambiaron. Cuando vi mi futuro, él ya no era el hombre que llevaba el anillo que coincidía con el mío.

FLYNN
Mi primo se ganó el corazón de nuestra mutua mejor amiga hace mucho tiempo.
Lo odié por eso entonces.
Lo odié aún más por permitir que ella se casara conmigo "temporalmente".

Siempre había estado un poco enamorado de Courtney, pero ver cómo la luz abandonaba sus ojos cuando su prometido la abandonó y desfiló con otras mujeres frente a ella me hizo querer mostrarle a mi hermosa nueva esposa lo que era estar con el hombre Robeson correcto. Quería devolverle la luz. El único problema era que tenía que hacerlo antes de que mi primo se diera cuenta de lo mal que la había arruinado al dejarla ir en primer lugar.



Mi humilde opinión:

Romance con matrimonio arreglado, amor no correspondido y drama familiar.

Beckett era un idiota de primera, sugerir a su prometida que se case con otro, su primo, por dinero? No podía creer lo que le estaba pidiendo a Courtney! Pero la aplaudí cuando ella le dijo a Flynn que se casaría con él para ayudarlo pero su condición era no darle a Beckett ni un centavo, nada de lo que pedía. Pero yo estaba equivocada, Beckett no era un idiota de primera era un cara dura de primera con lo que hizo en la despedida de soltero, sus infidelidades, presentarse en la iglesia acompañado de otra mujer para impedir la boda y más. No paraba de asombrarme.

Flyn siempre estuvo enamorado de Courtney pero ella solo tenia ojos para Beckett, lo que me gustó de él es que le dijo sus verdaderos sentimientos justo después de dar el sí y que mientras ella lo quisiera cumpliría sus votos, fue honesto en eso. Courtney por otro lado enseguida se dio cuenta que estuvo prometida con el hombre equivocado y no dudó en darle una oportunidad a Flynn.

A ver… me pareció rápido su cambio de opinión. Primero estaba enamorada de su prometido planeando la boda de sus sueños, cuando este la traicionó y engañó, pasó de tener el corazón roto a estar feliz casándose con el primo? Se olvidó rápidamente de Beckett, su novio de mucho tiempo, aunque era un desgraciado. No me cayó bien que sea tan voluble o tonta respecto de un hombre. Cómo no se dio cuenta que la estaba engañando? Era bastante evidente. Y cómo dejó que él la tratara tan mal como novia? Flynn era su amigo, no hubo ninguna incomodidad cuando pasaron los limites, cómo ella nunca se dio cuenta de la atracción que sentía por él o la de él por ella? No sé, me hubiera gustado algún tipo de proceso aquí de pasar a un extremo al otro. Lo que rescato es que Courtney no le dejó pasar una mas a Beckett.

La historia hubiera ido mejor si no tuviera una serie de malos entendidos o suposiciones, Courtney corriendo lejos de Flynn ante un “no es lo que parece”, pasar de sentirse feliz casados a regresar para tratar todo como un arreglo. Me volvieron un poco loca pero aparte del drama y el escandalo familiar, la historia estuvo bien con su parte linda y divertida.

[Bree · Rating 3 out of 5]

First of author. Writing style has great potential and easy flowing, plot is interesting.

This was a cute story. I was kind of confused though in the timeline. I've noticed the second book of this series was of BEA's, the older sister of hero.This is the hero's story, the final book.

Here in this book, there was this chapter where BECKETT, ex fiance of COURTNEY, the heroine, was urging FLYNN, the hero, to attend his "supposedly" bachelor party, originally for Beckett, heroine's ex fiance. As I understood, in two days after this party, the wedding of hero and heroine would be taking place.

Also in said chapter, KY, the hero of book 2, the BEST FRIEND of hero's eldest sister BEA, WAS STILL JUST HER BEST FRIEND, NOT YET HER HUSBAND as I understood from what I've read. LAW, Bea's supposed boyfriend at this time, was mentioned that he won't be able to attend said bachelor party, due to a work trip. KY was invited and he wasn't in good terms with LAW. It wouldn't be wise that both guys would be in said bachelor party of hero, as told in the chapter.

So how come, two days after supposed bachelor's party, the day of hero and heroine's wedding, BEA and KY were already husband and wife🤔?? Confusing. Did I miss anything? I haven't read the books before this. Did Bea and Ky marry two days before the wedding of the main couple? A few excerpts below.... from hero's POV...


“What are you doing here?” I asked Beckett as I stood in the door, and didn’t offer him a chance to come into my place.

“I came to take you to your bachelor party.”

“My bachelor party?” I asked, completely taken off guard by the thought.

“You’re getting married in two days. Every man needs a bachelor party before he gets hitched.”


Ky is coming?” That wasn’t something Ky would have done for Beckett. I didn’t think they liked one another.

“Yeah. As soon as I told him that it was your bachelor party now, he said he’d be there. Your sister’s boyfriend couldn’t make it though. Something about a work trip.” Beckett shrugged his shoulders. It was honestly for the best that Law couldn’t make it. He wasn’t a big fan of my sister having a male best friend, so putting him and Ky in the same place, with alcohol, and where Bea wasn’t around to stop a fight would have been a horrible idea.

FLYNN: (next chapter two days after supposed
bachelor's party)

I stood in the room that had been set aside for the groom to prepare for the wedding.


"l'll go check and make sure the guests aren’t making puddles in the church,” Ky, my eldest sister’s husband and my best man, announced.

[BAG of Books · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't know whether to rate this high for the imagination, or rate it low for the ridiculousness, so I rated it in the middle.

Courtney is going to marry her childhood sweetheart, now her fiancé, Beckett, in a few weeks. Instead, Beckett presents her with an idea to marry his cousin Flynn instead. Flynn is 26 years old, and should have been able to access his trust fund since he turned 25, except for the fact that he's not married. Now his family business is in trouble, and he would use his trust fund to invest some cash into the business, if he could access the money.

Strangely, Courtney's biggest objection is that if she has her dream wedding with her arranged husband, then she won't be able to have her dream wedding later on, when she divorces Flynn and marries Beckett. But she agrees to do it. She thinks, if Beckett doesn't fight it, why should she?

So, she finds out that it was really all Beckett's drunken idea. Flynn didn't even know Beckett was going to ask Courtney to do it. But Flynn agrees to do it, mostly because he's been secretly in love with Courtney for years. But he couldn't ask her out because she's always been dating Beckett.

Courtney also finds out that while Beckett was formulating this plan, he was talking to other women, so he'd be ready to start dating them once Courtney agreed to marry Flynn. As far as Courtney knew, it was a temporary marriage on paper until she could divorce Flynn and get back together with Beckett. And there wasn't supposed to be any sleeping with other people. So she considers lining up OW ahead of time to be cheating.

[TheReaderVert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Miscommunication Galore

Story started out so angsty but definitely sweet. I figured what a set-up and I'm a sucker for arranged marriage trope. Well the couple was that unrequited love, he fell first and hers was kinda sorta was crushing on him but never thought or acted on it because he was her finance's cousin. The writing had that old school quaintness to it but the biggest drawback with this story is the constant miscommunication. First time a poorly overheard conversation I'm like ok. Whatevs but it happened again and again and by the fourth or fifth "I overheard the wrong thing, got the wrong impression, and ran away" came about I was thoroughly over it.

[Sanchi Bansal · Rating 2 out of 5]

Characters were too bland and the story line was a bit repetitive. It felt as if I was reading another Wattpad novel. The basic details were just glossed over, like we got that Flynn is quite rich but never knew what his job was.

Beckett was like a character from 20th century who can pledge his unconditional love but also sleep around. What's surprising is that most of Courtney's well wishers (including Finn, the MMC, her BFF, her father) were aware of this but never let her know about it. If it hadn't been for Beckett asking Courtney to marry Finn, they would have let her marry someone who had been cheating on her for almost 10 years if not more.

[Self Besotted · Rating 5 out of 5]

loved this book!

I loved both the MMC and MFC! They’re both so sweet and loyal but suck at communication. It was so great to see them learn together to communicate and grow as a couple. The author did an amazing job with her storytelling to really draw the readers in and feel like they’re there with the characters all along the way.

There were a few errors that need to be corrected. Usually with glaring errors, I will knock a rating down by at least 1 star. However, this book is worth the 5 stars.

[Jess · Rating 3 out of 5]

Besides some editing errors I did like this book. Like the other one with ky and bea I felt the emotional angst missing but these are also really short books so I’m still giving it the benefit of the doubt. h marries cousin instead of her fiancé to help with his inheritance. The original fiancé wanted this so he could sleep with other women in the meantime. Original boy is a total douche bro. Courtney stayed with Flynn and they have a HEA. Dual pov. Not cheating by the mains.

[Mrs J · Rating 4 out of 5]

Courtney is getting married to her middle school sweetheart in two weeks when Beckett her fiancé proposes that they should help his cousin and her friend Flynn to navigate around inheritance stipulations by her marrying a different husband.

Eventually Courtney agrees, but before the wedding she realises the real motive behind Becketts plan.

Another great Robeson Family drama: slime ball ex-fiancé, betrayal, drama, misunderstandings and family revelations.

[Vivian Brennan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good Story But ……

I don’t usually give spoilers warning, however the storyline about changing and marrying your fiancée’s cousin at the already planned wedding in 2 weeks and there being no fallout out to it seemed incredulous. The fact that nobody questioned it seemed ridiculous. In my opinion that side should have been explored more. The rest of the story was good but not to the usual level that I’ve come to expect.

[Rita · Rating 4 out of 5]

this book seemed promising enough to be 5 stars but it dragged on more than necessary in some parts. i got irritated too bc the author literally forgot the previous book’s storyline for the first few chapters??? and then repeated a back-and-forth exchange verbatim directly following it the first time, not to mention the continued spelling/grammar errors littered throughout. short and sweet, though

[Monica · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wanted the angst I've come to expect from CM, and it looked like it would have been filled with angst in the beginning, but it had nothing to really hook my attention after the wedding. FMC got over the relationship like it was never love and didn't mourn and MMC loved her but I didn't feel an ounce of sorrow from him that he was going to lose her when the wedding would go through.

[Kesha]

The characters seemed a little juvenile? And underdeveloped I think?

And I think there were a few mistakes - cause first I think Law was brought up as the sisters boyfriend, but then it was she’s married to Ky- which is what happens in the book that I think is before this book? So the timeline doesn’t make a whole lot of sense

[Cassandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved Flynn and Courtney, they were so good together. I loved Courtney's loyalty and I loved that Flynn was all in and he knew once he had her to hold on. This is typical Christine Michelle where there is outstanding OM Drama and light OWD and messy so if none of that appeals to you, please don't read.

[Mona · Rating 1 out of 5]

The writing at the beginning was good and I thought the premise was interesting but soon after the mcs wedding night, everything just tanked. It was as if I was reading the rough draft or like the bones of a book that needed more in the development of the main characters relationship, more angst, and more dialogue, with this maybe the spice wouldn’t have felt out of place.

[B Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was such a sweet conclusion to the Robeson Family series. Flynn is a a perfect amalgamation of sensuality, fierce protection and tenderness. I love how he cherishes Courtney and how their foundation of friendship builds a lasting one of love.

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

A different husband

Well she definitely traded up, i really enjoyed this story although strange how everyone just rolled with the change in groom two weeks out from the wedding. This only works in fiction and it worked very well indeed.

[Lisa Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars

I have loved this series ❤️ Christine Michelle is an amazing author who writes such great stories. I am glad that Courtney and Flynn figured it out and got a HEA
Thank you Christine for another great read 👏

[Bella · Rating 2 out of 5]

Plot was new for me and it was interesting, but what I didn't like it was too short. Ike there were gaps like why Beckett cheated on Courtney, why her mother cheated her father with other man etc etc...A/c to me it needed details to develop a strong relationship b/w Flynn and Courtney.

[Kelly Taylor · Rating 2 out of 5]

For these books to work for me the antagonist can’t be pure evil and the H can’t be pure good. It’s just too predictable when it’s that cut and dry. I found it to have too much dialect and declarations and nothing to happen to back that aswell.

[Elly · Rating 3 out of 5]

No angst and kind of boring.

[Tina Turcotte · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Different Husband

Love always seems to find it's way to the people who deserve it the most. This is a MUST READ book!

[Iva Beth DiLoreto · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it

This book is everything. I laughed, I laughed until I cried, I cussed out Beckett. This is definitely none of my favorite Robeson Family books