e-Audio, 10:09:54
Narrated by: Emma Ladji & Teddy Hamilton
Release Date: March 25, 2025
Published by: Books on Tape (Berkley)
Read from: March 15-17, 2025
Stand-alone
Source: PRH Audio (I received a free e-ALC from PRH Audio App and the publisher. This did nothing to influence my review.)
Content Warning: Sexual Content, Medical Content, Abandonment, Gaslighting, Emotional Abuse, Medical trauma
For Readers Interested In: Romance, Fat Leads, Dual POV, Racial/Ethnic Diversity (Black and Asian), Foodie Fiction, AdultA lottery ticket + donuts = love in this steamy new fake dating romance from beloved author Denise Williams.
Who needs love? Not Sybil Sweet. After years of bouncing from job to job in search of something that feels right and from man to man in search of something special, Sybil is embracing her role as the directionless, floundering member of her family. All she really wants now is a little financial stability and carb comfort. Lucky for her, she’s got just enough in the bank to buy a lottery ticket, and the late-night donut store is open.
Kiran Anderson abandoned his dreams of becoming a doctor to take over running his family’s bakery, and after two years of fighting a losing battle to save the place, he’s exhausted and broke. But when a whirlwind of a woman sweeps in late one night, flirty energy gives way to more…until she runs out the next morning, leaving behind her winning lottery ticket.
Lucky for Kiran, his attempt to return the ticket looks like a grand romantic gesture and goes viral, sending sales through the roof. In an effort to keep the store afloat and to get Sybil’s family off of her back, they agree to fake a relationship for three months. Even with hundreds of millions of dollars, finding each other might end up being the sweetest bit of luck for both of them.
*MY THOUGHTS*
I feel so bad reviewing this. For all the time I was so excited about this and told people to read it, I was appalled with the outcome. This is probably my least favorite Denise Williams book because of this one thing that happened. And maybe I’m being too harsh, but I guarantee, if you think that, you haven’t read this yet lol
So the reason I didn’t like this was the ending. And I mean it was the end, end. There was only like 35 minutes left in the audio. But Lordt it was so dumb. And to blame it on ADHD’s blurting? My ADHD was offended. And I know everyone’s ADHD isn’t the same, but like bffr. She’s a grown adult. If she didn’t know not to do what she did, that’s on her. I think that was more of a common sense issue tbh.
Ok so other than that terrible ending, I also didn’t like the main characters. The FMC had little to no character growth. She was a mess the entire time. And to be so anxious about the money and not knowing what to do with it, I was surprised that she didn’t immediately get a financial advisor. Maybe it was because it would have messed up the plot and the ending conflict because they would have said not to say that crazy bs. And the MMC was ok, but he let her do too much. And like that ending? None of them were mad enough for me.
The romance was ok, but also a little disappointing. I thought the one night stand was hella promising and it was going to make their banter throughout the rest of the story top tier. And it did. And her carefree ways went well with his stern over the top ones. But she did way too much at the end. And in my opinion, I just don’t feel that they should be together. Their fake dating always felt fake and it just didn’t give the fun fake dating vibe that I love. I thought it would be fixed at the end, but that obviously didn’t work either. It…. was a lot.
Overall, I give this
