e-Audio, 08:12:55
Narrated by: Khaya Fraites
Release Date: July 15, 2025
Published by: Books on Tape (Berkley)
Read from: July 14-17, 2025
Stand-alone
Source: The Publisher’s App (I received a free e-ALC from the publisher and their app. This did nothing to influence my review.)
Content Warning: Sexual Content, Pyramid Schemes, Gaslighting, Black Mail
For Readers Interested In: Adult, Audio, Auto-Read Authors, Own Voices, Racial/Ethnic Diversity, Romance, Sick/Caregiver SceneRomance is the biggest scheme of them all in this laugh-out-loud romantic comedy from beloved author Alexa Martin.
Emerson Pierce loves everything about being a kindergarten teacher except the painfully low salary. It isn’t until she hears about Petunia Lemon—an opportunity to sell makeup products, make some extra money, and meet a group of skin-care aficionados—that she begins to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Sure, it sounds a little too good to be true, but what’s the worst that could happen?
Investigative reporter Lucas Miller didn’t always have a chip on his shoulder…until his wife joined Petunia Lemon, drained their savings, and filed for divorce. Now he’s a little bitter, a lot single, and determined to expose the company. After infiltrating their largest convention yet, the last thing he expects is to lose sight of his mission for one night with the gorgeous woman at the bar.
When Emerson and Lucas learn that she’s his daughter’s teacher, they decide to ignore their scorching chemistry. Until things with Petunia Lemon turn downright diabolical and Emerson turns to Lucas for help. They work together to bring the company down but can the two come out on top in this pyramid scheme of love?
*MY THOUGHTS*
I gotta say, Alexa Martin has made her way to my auto read authors. With every book I’m more and more invested. And this one is no better. That opening scene was not what I expected at all. I liked it a lot.
One thing I’ve noticed in these MlM/Pyramid Scheme books, is the characters are all the same LOL Literally none of them are ever happy and none of them do this job ethically lol It makes me laugh every single time. And this one was no different. In this one tho I was mad af. She just kept getting deeper and deeper in it even though she also kept saying it was culty. She confused me with this every time. What was the point of doing all this if you knew it was terrible? She had people pleasing syndrome that was truly messing up her life.
The romance was cute! And I gotta say it….. That one night stand scene was hawt! I was listening to this on my phone while I was folding laundry and the kiddo was on his tablet and let me just say I dove on top of it to turn it down. I really need to start reading the synopsis because I was not expecting THAT at the beginning of the book lol Anyways, I thought they were really cute! And the fact that he’s a single dad made him even more cute in my eyes. Because he was a pushover for his little lol And as it turns out he was the same way for Emerson too. I also loved that even though they were enemies at first, that they worked it out and we actually got to see them together during the book. If you’re looking for a slow burn, this isn’t the book for you.
The ending tho was too abrupt. I was hype getting to see what happened to that one person, but we don’t actually see it. They figure things out and then its over. And I was over the fact that she did all these behind the scenes things, but we don’t see it. And like I know this was the secondary plot, but I thought that was hella important and that we should see what happened. I know people act like there’s a “page count” for romance, but when the alternative is just cutting off the ending, I’d rather you go over because you’re showing us and not telling us.
This was a fun book. I had never thought what it would be like to actually start selling something from one of those types of companies, so I was a little skeptical going into this. But I needn’t have worried. Alexa Martin has a way of writing that just feels like I’m watching a movie. And this one is not other.
Overall, I give this
