Imperfect Match by Jordan Castillo Price

He sauntered down the center of the banquet hall, hands in pockets, his stiff black-on-black caterer’s uniform angling harshly over elbow, shoulder and knee. The sort of guy whose appearance would remind you to lock your car, anyhow.

Isn’t there anywhere else you can work? I’m running out of time to get my speech together.Īnd I need to make sure this place is ready for the big day. I know, I know, hoarding all the glamor jobs for myself. Two years in the planning, and there was no speech. There’s nearly three hundred people on the guest list, and you’re worrying if one wedding lackey overhears you practicing your speech? At this hour, he’d figured the place would be empty. Well, maybe not menacing, but at least unexpected. A menacing figure was backlit in the doorway. Lee squinted toward the back of the hall to see who’d corrected him. Happiness and Hope, and welcome to this, uh…heartwarming celebration where my cherished sister, Emma, has been united in wedded bliss to her perfect match, Harold.ĭamn it. Happiness and Hope, and welcome…welcome? Thank you for coming? He wrote Happiness and Hope in his notebook, crossed it out, then wrote it again. Just a bunch of blathering about fertility and duty. According to his research-and Lee adored research-the twenty-third century had been rife with pithy, quotable sayings. Lee cast his gaze across the empty hall and wished he could dredge up some semblance of enthusiasm for the speech he’d be expected to deliver tomorrow. WEDDINGS WERE SUPPOSED to be happy occasions. If you like journeys of self-discovery with a futuristic bent, you'll love this complete standalone story of character-driven adventure. When defying the Algorithm will cost everything-family, home, and even livelihood-is Lee strong enough to take another path? He longs for the freedom to choose not only his own partner, but his own destiny.

But it’s definitely a shock to taste his lips. The seedy District is governed by different standards-different expectations-so it’s not exactly a surprise that Roman isn’t married. The waiter lives in the Taxable District, a run-down neighborhood that’s only a brief train ride away, but feels like another world. Pairing with his own chosen match seems inevitable…until, at his sister’s wedding, he meets Roman. Because once he graduates, the Algorithm must be triggered.Įveryone in Lee’s family has allowed the Algorithm to match them with a spouse. He’s switched his major repeatedly and stalled on his Master’s thesis, but there’s only so much longer he can hold out. It’s the reason he’s still in college, regardless of his good academic performance. Lee Kennedy’s destiny is controlled by the Algorithm. A man whose future is assigned - A heart that yearns to be free.

Imperfect Match by Jordan Castillo Price