Tag Archives: fake dating

Jan23

Love, Hate & Clickbait by Liz Bowery

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Love, Hate & Clickbait by Liz Bowery

Bowery, Liz. Love, Hate & Clickbait. Harlequin, 2022. 336 pp. ISBN 9780778311898 $15.99

***

Political campaigner Thom is convinced that his employer, the governor of California, will be the next POTUS, and is only in the job for how far it will launch his own career. He vehemently dislikes his co-worker, data analyst Clay, who comes off as smug (Clay thinks Thom is pretentious). When the governor makes an off-handed remark about her lack style because she doesn’t have enough gays on staff, there’s an uproar. What do you do when you can’t spin it? subvert the narrative. Clay and Thom are caught in an intense argument during the fallout, and a reporter snaps and posts a photo that makes it look like there’s about to share a heated kiss. The governor offers a promotion and raise to both men if they agree to fake-date throughout the campaign–and things escalate from a few gads about town, and spending a LOT of time together, and eventually getting off together under the guise of being the only options for the time being. When the governor demands a proposal at the Santa Monica pier, they gamely go along; how far will they take it, and at what cost.

At the beginning of the novel neither are out; in fact, Thom breaks up with his girlfriend in chapter one, choosing work over her; Clay’s preferences were very subtle and not disclosed until at least midway through the novel. When Thom realizes that he is in fact attracted to Clay, the subject is dispatched in about a paragraph that he’s open to whatever and it’s NBD, really. Thom is distanced from his family, and it’s never resolved, and pretty sad. Homophobia and bullying are barely addressed. A side plot with Clay’s first tech start up and some challenges with his current project are not fully resolved, except he settles when charged with a lawsuit. The narrative exposes problems with fame, politics and clickbait, but doesn’t take a strong stance in analyzing.

This book is terrific for wonks! I had to look up a few things, including stump speech, body man and pork. While in most cases I discerned from contact, I found Political Dictionary really helpful. The writing is sharp, funny, and set firmly in present day, and there are some really lovely moments of introspection, witty banter, and steamy sex…but the lack of character development and Thom almost always being terrible made this a 3-star instead of a 4-star book for me. It was a fun read and very entertaining.

Love, Hate & Clickbait might be a read-alike for Red, White and Royal Blue or Not The Plan, for those who like their romance with a side of politics.

I received a free copy of #LoveHate&Clickbait from #NetGalley.

Jan22

While We Were Dating by Jasmine Guillory

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While We Were Dating by Jasmine Guillory

Guillory, Jasmine. While We Were Dating. Berkley, 2021. 352 pp. ISBN 9780593100851 $16.00

***1/2

Ad-man Ben Stephens gets to lead on a pitch to a technology company because of a travel snafu–he’s aware that he did most of the work on the presentation: and knows he will get the least amount of credit from his firm, being not only young but a person of color. He rises to the occasion in spite of being flustered when the talent–beautiful and bodacious Ocsar-nominee Anna Gardiner–shows up; she and her smart manager wrote veto power into her contract. Ben gets the gig contingent on Anna’s request that he be the lead producer on the phone commercial they’re going to make.

To Anna’s delight, Ben is a safe, respectful person for the cast and crew and sensitive to institutionalized misogyny in many small moments, in part from his brief stint as a back-up dancer. Ben and Anna share similar interests and sense of humor, and they hit it off. When Anna’s father has a health scare and she can’t get a flight home, Ben offers to drive her. Bonding happens during the road trip, filled with requisite tunes and snacks. They get to the hospital just as her dad is checking out, and Ben has to pretend to be her driver. Crisis averted, there is #JustOne!Bed at the hotel and she sleeps with him, NOT because she feels she owes him anything, but because they genuinely like and respect one another. Her manager thinks Ben might be the perfect foil to pose as her boyfriend until her most recent film premieres, Ben good naturedly agrees (he’s not looking for anything long term and only his therapist seems to see a problem with his reluctance to commit), but then …. falls in love.

Subplots include Anna’s management of her anxiety and how fame and celebrate strain mental health; Ben’s discovery that his absentee father had a third child, a sister who found him through a DNA matching service–should he tell his older brother Theo? He wants Theo all to himself, and there might not be enough love to go around!) and the power struggles in the superficial film industry over race, color, size, gender and popularity. Each protagonist has a wonderful support network: a best friend to confide in, and family is really important: Ben is close to brother Theo, and his girlfriend Maddie, a stylist, saves the day. Anna, too, has a loving brother and parents who might not always understand her, but support her completely.

I didn’t find this as compelling as Guillory’s first novel, and am trying to pinpoint why. I struggled to get through this, didn’t write a review right away, wanted to provide one to boost my NetGalley completion rate, couldn’t remember a thing and had to re-read it… and slogged through it again. While We Were Dating has a lot going on, and the writing and characters felt simplistic. The author absolutely elevates important issues to the forefront for the romance readership without being didactic, using humor and empathy. The red carpet details were fun–and the publicist realities and paparazzi behaviors are abhorrent and terrifying. I like celebrity/regular person pairing but do find them very … fanfiction-y.

I received a free advance reader’s review copy of #WhileWeWereDating from #NetGalley.

Jan11

Love and Other Flight Delays by Denise Williams

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Love and Other Flight Delays by Denise Williams

Williams, Denise. Love and Other Flight Delays. Berkley, 2023. 432 pp. ISBN 9780593441077 $18.99

***

This group of three interconnected stories set at an airport had good intentions, but I had trouble keeping the characters and their timelines straight. Chapters alternate male/female points of view.

In “The Love Connection,” risk assessor and romance novelist Bennett falls for the business manager of a pet grooming business near the gate he always flies into in Atlanta. She’s unsure she wants to have a long distance relationship and they have witty banter and a series of compelling dates on his layovers.

In “The Missed Connection,” a weather delay sends Ben’s best friend Gia, chemist, to the airport bar on New Year’s Eve where she asks a cute stranger to pose as her husband to gain herself a seat. By midnight, they’re dancing and kissing. Fast forward three months, and Felix turns out to be A.F. Ennings, the new colleague joining her work team–the one she dislikes through their correspondence. When they get sent as ambassadors together to tour multiple universities, the forced proximity brings some grudging respect and rekindles their mutual admiration.

In “The Sweetest Connection,” best friends Silas and Teagan both work at the airport; he in and she at an upscale chocolate boutique. They’ve been in love with one another for years but haven’t taken the leap. Silas hasn’t told Teagan yet that he’s broken up with his long term girlfriend. Teagan’s about to leave for a semester abroad in France, and has discovered a traveler’s pro/con list on whether to make feelings known and make the leap from friends to lovers. It never occurs to her it might be Silas’s–but she engages his help in trying to solve the mystery, convinced it must belong to a friend, co-worker, or regular traveler. This was my favorite story. Their story moves back and forth in time, and then crosses paths with the other stories.

Elements of the story reminded me of Love, Actually. I did have to pay close attention to how everyone was interconnected. The plotting and pacing are excellent, and if anything, I wanted longer stories about each set of characters, and could see peripheral characters getting their own spinoff.

I received a free advance reader’s review copy of #LoveAndOtherFlightDelays from #NetGalley.

Jan11

The Love Match by Priyanka Taslim

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The Love Match by Priyanka Taslim

Taslim, Priyanka. The Love Match. Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing, 2023. 400 pp. ISBN 9781665901109 $19.99

****

The wedding scene in the opening chapter reminded my of the many receptions at the Knights of Columbus hall that I attended in my childhood–except at 18, my parents were encouraging me NOT to date, but to focus on my studies, sort of the opposite for Zahra, who still lives at home, works in a Pakistani tea shop, and has deferred her admission to Columbia to help support her family, since her dad has passed away. Her well-meaning mother has another idea: if Zahra makes a profitable match, the family will benefit. She uses WhatsApp to connect to the Auntie network, a circle of female friends and relatives looking to arrange the marriages of their daughters, and they come up with smart, wealthy and well-connected Harun Emon. The two teens are ambushed when their families set them up at a joint dinner. Harun appears to want to be there even less than Zahra, but both respect their elders and want to please their impossible to please families, so they agree to eight dates. Meanwhile, Zahra has a real connection with Nayim Aktar, the new dishwasher at the teashop. He is world traveled in a way that Zahra longs to be, and wants to be a musician like Zahra wants to be a published author. He is also a poor immigrant with no family and no reputation. They sneak out of a work a little early one night so she can work on a story and he can work on his music… but then she has a TGI Friday’s date where she and Harun cover a duet, and it’s fun. They bond over their losses (his girlfriend, her father) and they decide they are friends, at least, until they have a falling out. Everyone who’s ever read a fake dating novel knows where this is going, right?

I loved the Bangladeshi traditions set against contemporary culture: double standards, good Muslim girls who avoid pork and alcohol but sneak out on dates (or date other girls), and the juxtaposition of following your dreams and pleasing your family. I felt another pass from the editor would have elevated the novel. Lots of telling to set the scene at the beginning, the Auntie text thread would have been great at the end of each chapter. The book hits its stride about a third of the way in.

Pride and Prejudice references are not far off; Amma wants to make a good match for her daughter. “It is a truth universally acknowledged among Bangladeshis that a guest on one’s doorstep must be in want of at least two helpings of curry” is a very funny nod to Jane Austen’s most famous work.

At first, I was annoyed at having to look up so many words I didn’t know that were not described or defined in context, particularly, food and dress. And then I got over myself and started Googling–it is not the author’s job to do the work of white people to explain other cultures, and I now know what a bodna, janamaz. I made a quick adjustment to shari for sari and saa for chai, and understood bedisha to be an insult before I looked it up. I loved all the pop culture references: Frozen, Gilmore Girls, Kabhi Khushi Kabhie, Legally Blonde, Amar Jaane Tomake Dhake, Jane Austen, Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande, Billie Eilish, Olivia Rodrigo, To All The Boys, Bridgerton (season two), Great Gatsby, even a subtle Star Wars allusion when Harun says he should call Zahra General instead of Princess when she takes charge of rearranging their arrangement.

This is truly a love letter to the Bangladeshi diaspora in Paterson New Jersey, describing the personalities, shops, culture and geography of the town that’s home to a large Bangladeshi population. Stereotypes exist in part because they are true, and Taslim vividly portrays the marriage market, arranged marriage, passive-aggressive parenting, generational culture wars, and class hierarchies. Overall this was an authentic, satisfying read, with a great plot twist at the end.

I received a free advance reader’s copy of #TheLoveMatch from #NetGalley.

Jan6

Unfortunately Yours by Tessa Bailey

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Unfortunately Yours by Tessa Bailey

Bailey, Tessa. Unfortunately Yours. (A Vine Mess #2). Avon/Harper Voyager, 2023. 384 pp. ISBN 9780063239036 $18.99

**1/2

I picked this up, read the first two chapters and put it down — August and Natalie were just too mean to one another. When I realized this was a companion book to Secretly Yours, and after re-reading It Happened One Summer, I decided it was worth another chance.

Natalie Vos has come home to Napa Valley fired, broke, drinking too much and not engaged anymore. She had a hot moment with Navy vet and former SEAL turned vitner, August Cates, back in Secretly Yours, but since their one-night stand didn’t turn into something, and it turns out he makes terrible wine, they snark–nastily–at one another. (Side note: I couldn’t remember the details of their previous encounter, and a recap would have been helpful). They cross paths again at a wine competition she’s judging, are mean to each other when she doesn’t like his wine, but he’s still desperately attracted to her brains and beauty. He needs her help with making drinkable, profitable wine, and she needs to be employed and married to get access to her trust fund to finance an investment deal back in New York. They decide on a marriage of convenience–but no sex. Okay, just orgasms for her. Okay, just oral for him… the lines keep getting drawn in the sand and smashed through because of their off the charts chemistry. The sex is a little rougher and a little spicer–August is a consummate dirty talker and not squeamish about rimming, and his new wife goes wild for it.

In general, the characters are not as three-dimensional, likeable or mature as Hallie and Julian. I think I liked the cat the best, though I don’t believe it sat docilely through their wedding ceremony. Some depth of story comes from Natalie’s character growth and desire to make something of herself independent of her famous family, and August’s commitment to honor his fellow soldier’s vineyard dreams. They do seem to have each other’s back as the story progresses: she won’t allow her mother to insult him, and he is very protective of her. Her family’s dismissal of her is frustrating, and so are August’s self-deprecating remarks about his own intelligence.

Those close to them see through their sniping to their true love… but it was hard to watch people who cared about one another be so unkind. An emergency near the end of the book puts August in a life or death situation to force them to reveal their feelings, and it just felt a little too contrived. The pacing is fast and not terribly believable, either. August’s calling Natalie “Princess” reminded me of Han Solo calling Leia “Princess,” and then that’s who I imagined them as in my head, and it didn’t jive with how they are described in the book. Also, August is so exaggerated in his physical stature I actually couldn’t picture him at all.

I received a free advance reader’s review copy of #UnfortunatelyYours from #NetGalley.

Jan2

The Spanish Love Deception by Elena Armas

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The Spanish Love Deception by Elena Armas

Armas, Elena. The Spanish Love Deception. Atria, 2022. ISBN 9781668003275 $16.99.

****

Catalina needs a date to her sister’s wedding. In Spain. And her ex and his fiance are attending. Desperate for a date, the least-likely prospect ever–her annoying, humorless, cold, (handsome) colleague Aaron–volunteers to go with her. They’ve rubbed each other the wrong way since his first week at InTech, the engineering consulting company they both work for. She says no, but… then she’s is voluntold to put on a full day fair for prospective clients (since women know all about party planning and socializing, ugh, misogyny) and Aaron doesn’t come to her defense in a meeting. He DOES step up to help her plan the event though, and after a bout of stubbornness, she accepts his offer. In return for being her date to her sister’s wedding, she agrees to accompany him to a social engagement, which turns out to be a bachelor auction to raise money for an animal charity. Then they’re off to northern Spain, where there is #JustOne!Bed, a Wedding Cup to compete for in the bachelor/bachelorette party games, and much drinking. They present a united front that fools her ex, her family, and themselves. The physicality of their relationship is sultry, slow and sexy.

Enemies to lovers works best for me when the characters are not out and out mean to one another. There is snarky banter and bad feelings but it turns out these two have just been misunderstanding one another from their first meeting. Lina’s attraction is slow growing and confusing, made more complicated by Aaron’s recent promotion.

I loved the Spanish phrases sprinkled throughout (generally easy to decipher in context when left untranslated) and Spanish cultural and geographical details, deftly defined within the structure of the narrative. Also we get a hint of Lina’s coworkers crush on her cousin (a teaser for Rosie and Lucas’s story takes place in The American Roommate Experiment).

I received a free advance reader’s review copy of #TheSpanishLoveDeception from #NetGalley.

Jan2

The Bodyguard by Katherine Center

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The Bodyguard by Katherine Center

Center, Katherine. The Bodyguard. St. Martin’s Press, 2022. ISBN 9781250219398 $27.99

*****

Executive Protection Agent (EPA) Hannah Brooks is having the worst week ever. On the day after her mother’s funeral, her boss grounds her from work and her boyfriend breaks up with her. Like a shark, she needs to keep moving and is desperate for a gig that will help earn her a promotion heading up the new London branch of the firm she works for, so she can’t say no when her next assignment is protecting a reclusive movie star who’s returned home to his parent’s ranch to help care for his mom. Hannah will be the primary agent for handsome Jack Stapleton, who decides that to avoid upsetting his world-class worrier mother, recovering from surgery for cancer, Hannah must pose as his girlfriend. And the next thing she knows, her cheap off-the-rack business suits have been traded in for embroidered sundresses, and his mother wants Jack and his cute new girlfriend to come stay at the ranch through Thanksgiving. For a month. And there’s #JustOne!Bed.

Jack, it turns out, has a local stalker and needs to avoid the paparazzi; he also has a brother who believes he’s the cause of their other brother’s death. Hannah’s issues to work through include her alcoholic mother who put up with abusive boyfriends (it’s no wonder Hannah learned to protect herself with a jujitsu class as a teenager). They are both trying to honor last requests of loved ones.

Hannah might look perfectly ordinary, but can kill a man with a corkscrew, pilot a helicopter, and blow away a line of bottles with a shotgun–shooting from her hip. Having never experienced a cozy family, the Stapletons are a breath of fresh air for her. Guarding a celebrity client on five hundred acres consists of gathering wildflower bouquets, making fish tacos for the family and looking for fossils on the banks of the Brazos River. It’s a paid vacation for someone who hasn’t taken one in eight years, except she’s also always on. The forced proximity breaks down Hannah’s usual client boundaries: she answers some of Jack’s questions, he answers some of hers, and as they begin to get to know one another, the lines between real and pretend begin to blur. And then pictures of them surface, and a stalker decides Hannah is a more of a threat to Jack’s well-being, and she gets pulled off the job.

The unexpectedness of Hannah’s career and the lengths the author clearly went through to research her topic make the EPA details authentic and honestly, fascinating. The characters are wonderful and leap off the page. Hannah’s ex Robby is an oblivious asshole (HE TOLD HER SHE WAS A BAD KISSER!) and nearly not to be believed; insult to injury, they work together, and he’s part of the surveillance team (it’s delicious that their boss Glenn, who exudes exasperation, tortures Robby by forcing him to watch Hannah falling for and being loved by someone else). Co-worker Taylor–that Hannah thought was a friend–isn’t, but tries to do the next right thing after sleeping with Robby.

The eventual kisses are more soulful than steamy, and the relationship is consummated behind closed doors.There is a lot of wit and laughter in the face of weighty themes of grief, forgiveness, accountability and abuse. And the writing. The WRITING. It slips into the profound amidst the drama and awkwardness with lines like “I think just because you can’t keep something, doesn’t mean it wasn’t worth it. Nothing lasts forever. What matters is what we take with us.” To everything we’ve lost. And to what we hold onto, indeed.

The cover art is gorgeous; the depiction of shaggy-haired jack look slike Ryder Lynn from Glee, and Hannah’s red cowboy boots are spot on. I’m generally not a fan of yellow, but the spill of wildflowers across the front to the back cover is lush and vivid.

With it’s chemistry, suspense, banter, ranch setting, kick-ass female lead, and all the feels, The Bodyguard is a great readalike for fans of Something Wilder by Christina Lauren (fun aside, Center references The Honeymooners as if Jack has starred in a movie version of the book, and quotes it–I love when things get meta).

I missed this in NetGalley and borrowed a copy from my local public library when I saw it on the new book shelf (I’m so happy we buy romance now!)

Dec30

The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood

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The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood

Hazelwood, Ali. The Love Hypothesis. Berkley, 2021. 384 pp. ISBN 9780593336823 $16.00

*****

Awkward, sweet, lonely Olive is working towards her Ph.D in biology, and her research focuses on early detection for pancreatic cancer. When her best friend Anh falls for Jeremy, the fellow grad student that Olive has been sort of dating, she’s more than happy to step aside, but Anh won’t believe her until Olive invents a fake relationship. Desperate for proof when she lies about a date, she spontaneously kisses Dr. Adam Carlsen in a hallway. Who kindly kisses her back, says he didn’t have a chance to consent (even though she asked) and teases her with a Title IX threat. It turns out the professor, known for being antagonistic, unapproachable, and maybe even down right mean due to his rigorous approach–has a sense of humor, is passionate, and has an ulterior motive of his own. His research funds are frozen, because he has no roots at Stanford and has been deemed a flight risk; having a local girlfriend might convince his funders he has no plans to bail from CA. The two plot out a series of coffee dates, get to know one another, and inevitably become friends. When Olive gets invited to present on a panel at a conference in Boston and her friends make alternative housing plans under the assumption that she will room with her “boyfriend” — you can guess what happens next.

Science + romance is often a win-win for me–the author perfectly captures the pressure (and broke-ass-ness) of graduate school, and the academia and research details give depth to the story and shouldn’t be lost on anyone who completed their required high school biology lab. This romance also gently pokes fun at itself with a healthy awareness of fake dating and just one bed tropes, Hallmark movies and bad YA novels. The characters are the best of stereotypes: fit, smart and beautiful people, but real; Adam is practically Clark Kent, in a pushing a giant truck out of the way moment. They are also healthily nuanced, with very human flaws, backstories with a dose of trauma, and sometimes unsavory behaviors (lies and deceit!). They are also very funny, and seem to share the same sense of humor (she teases his about his age, he calls her a smart ass). Every word of the book serves to further the plot and build character. The sex is languorous, as in goes on for chapters–vulnerable, detailed and includes check ins and consent, but not condoms. Finally, I think Olive is of a orientation not often represented: she doesn’t feel attraction, and cannot engage in physical intimacy unless she completely trusts her partner and has developed emotional intimacy. And when she is able to be unguarded and honest with Adam, he is gentle, respectful, and responsive to her demisexuality.

Triggers for some may include parental loss, sexual harassment, and misogyny, none of which is far fetched, gratiutous, or rewarded; in fact, a villainous and dastardly colleague, but he gets his comeuppance in very satisfying way.

I received a free advance reader’s copy of #TheLoveHypothesis from #NetGalley last year, devoured it, and forgot to write a review. It was just as excellent on the re-read through Libby.

Dec26

The Plus One by Mazey Eddings

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The Plus One by Mazey Eddings

Eddings. Mazey. The Plus One. St. Martin’s Press, 2023. 304 pp. ISBN 9781250847041 $16.99

****

“She’d known him her entire life, but this felt like the first time she was ever really seeing him.” *swoon*

Childhood nemeses decide to fake date for a wedding in Mazey Edding’s latest romance novel. Thankfully, they annoy the crap out of each other more than are mean or true enemies. When Indira walks in on her boyfriend Chris in a compromising position with a blonde and a jar of peanut butter, she grabs her stuff and her feral cat and crashes with her brother and his fiance. Both doctors themselves, they are hosting their old friend (and her sparring partner) Jude, on leave from a doctors-without-borders type stint that he’s doing to get a free ride through medical school. The time with GHCO has left its mark: sleepless nights, low energy, tension, survivor guilt, and little laughter now make up the once fun and funny Jude. Dira, a psychiatrist, slowly comes to recognize Jude’s behaviors as suffering from PTSD from the atrocities he’s witnessed. While her training and background are handy, she doesn’t see her role as fixing him.

The cheating ex is the cousin of a groom and in the wedding party, so not only will Dira have to make nice, but of course, one-up the asshole. Enter Jude, who finds being around her comforting, and they decide it’s a win-win to act as supports for one another at the upcoming nuptials and many prep sessions and outings leading up to the wedding. They don’t talk about the fact she remembers their last hug before he went away, and he remembers the details of her cheesesteak order. Finding her old journals leads to her sharing some of what she wrote about him, and them reminiscing the occasions he was chivalrous instead of just a teenage douchebag.

The novel features forced proximity, only one tent!, relentless roasting, naked people getting walked in on (accidentally), hurt/comfort and fake dating, along with were real mental health and grief issues that are handled beautifully by imperfect adults. Snippets of Dira’s own therapy sessions are interspersed and are wonderfully reassuring for all of us that self-awareness is a huge part of coping and healing.

I received a free advance reader’s review copy of #ThePlusOne from #NetGalley.

Dec25

Practice Makes Perfect by Sarah Adams

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Practice Makes Perfect by Sarah Adams

Adams, Sarah. Practice Makes Perfect. Random House/Ballantine, 2023. 352 pp. ISBN 9780593500804 $17.00

***

Florist Annie has had a series of bad dates and is lusting after her brother’s fiance’s hot tattooed bodyguard Will, who is in town to provide security for Amelia and brother Noah’s upcoming wedding. Will kindly offers to help Annie with practice dates to boost her confidence, and they fall for one another along the way…but convince themselves the other would never actually be interested. After all, Annie loves romantic books and movies and has a thing for pirates. Will is a thrillseeker who fears not being loved back. She wants a committed relationship and white picket fence, and he hesitates to put down roots and is unsure of his assignment once this gig is done. They do hit it off, and the kissing and foreplay is luscious (the consummation happens behind closed doors). A misunderstanding about what the other really wants is their undoing.

I really loved the whole cast of characters, though they mostly seemed to good to be true. The small town setting is charming, but it’s not wholly believable the whole town would vote on the future of Annie and Will’s prospective relationship. There’s a nice sibling moment with Annie and Noah where they process the loss of their parents. The wedding happening in the background adds color and drama and alluded to When in Rome, the first book in the series.

I received a free advance reader’s review copy of #PracticeMakesPerfect from #NetGalley.