e-Audio, 10:31:13
Narrated by: Angel Pean
Release Date: April 9, 2024
Published by: Berkley
Read from: March 24-25, 2024
Stand-alone
Source: PRH Audio App (I received a copy of this e-audiobook from the publisher in exchange for a just and honest review. This did nothing to influence my review.)
TW: Grief, Parent with a Chronic Illness, Mention of Death of a sibling
For Readers Interested In: Realistic Fiction, Contemporary Romance, Racial Ethnic Diversity, Texas Local Reads, Black Love, AdultWith three months until liftoff, a struggling event planner and a sinfully hot astronaut must decide if their fake relationship is worth a shot at happily-ever-after.
Risk-averse event planner Amerie Price is jobless, newly single, and about to be evicted. With no choice but to gamble on her shaky start-up, the last thing she needed was to run into her smug ex and his new, less complicated girlfriend at her favorite coffee shop. Panicked, Amerie pretends to be dating the annoyingly sexy man she met by spilling Americano all over his abs. He plays along – for a price.
Half the single men in Houston claim to be astronauts, but Vincent Rogers turns out to be the real deal. What started as a one-off lie morphs into a plan: for the three months leading up to his mission, Amerie will play Vincent’s doting partner in front of his loving but overly-invested family. In exchange, she gets a rent-free room in his house and can put every penny towards her struggling business.
What Amerie doesn’t plan for is Vincent’s gravitational pull. While her mind tells her a future with this astronaut is too unpredictable, her heart says he’s exactly what she needs. As their time together counts down, Amerie must decide if she’ll settle for the safe life—or shoot for the stars.
*MY THOUGHTS*
I have to be real with you……….. I didn’t find not a single thing wrong with this book. I loved this so much. I was listening to it any time I had a moment free. I let my son tear up my house because I was so into this book. It’s been a long time since I actively liked a book that was set in a place that I know very well.
Ok many of y’all know that my favorite trope in romance in Fake Dating. I love when they first decide that they’re going to lie and the way the person they’re lying with just decides eff it fine. And this one was even better because she decided she was lying to her ex. Those are my favorite because the exes are usually terrible people. And ol dude in this one definitely was. I also like fake dating because I like when they finally come to the realization that they actually do like each other. The denial is just ahh I can’t explain it, *chef’s kiss* For this one, the denial was so good. It’s always funny when everyone knows about it but them. And this one is no different. Idk how she didn’t see it, but whatevs lol
The next thing that made this book was the characters. Y’all I don’t know the last book I read where the FMC was this dramatic. And I say this solely because of the freaking way she acted during the grand gesture lol I was panicking for her. And ain’t no way she did that in a freaking evening dress. But I guess to be someone’s fake girlfriend and to trick his whole family and plan entire parties, you have to be dramatic in some ways. As for Vincent, he seemed so quiet. Definitely gave nerdy vibes. And I was here for it. And this man was very loud when he needed to be. (“Good eggs.” LORDT) And let’s be honest, this man did a story time……. I have seen what I needed to see. As a librarian, that legit made my heart stutter. I loved them so much.
The romance between the two of them was some of the cutest I’ve read in a long time. I loved seeing them fall for each other. And I want to especially say thank you to Easton for their very real chemistry. They immediately just fit together. I knew she was smitten from the nap she took on his sofa in the office. Just to be near him was enough. And this seems stupid, but I really liked the way he spoke to her. She mentions many times that science is not her strong suit and she doesn’t know much about the things that he was really interested in. But he was so patient and kind with her. He never made her feel less than for asking what something meant. He was smart, but he wasn’t overly smart, and if he was, he didn’t hold it over anyone’s head. I don’t know why I loved that so much, but I did.
I also loved the way she portrayed us Texans. FINALLY a book set in Texas where we don’t walk weird because we ride horses all day. FINALLY a book where we we don’t all have a super deep accent and talk with a slow drawl. SHE EVEN MENTIONED THE SALT WATER SMELL IN THE AIR. She has to actually be from Houston. Only people from here actually can tell the difference in the smell in the air. It’s unusual to talked about in a good way in today’s media lol Also, fun fact, she mentions a library that has him in to like do storytimes in Clear Lake and in my head I just kept picturing our library being the one that she was referring to. Does any of this have anything to do with the story? No, but it’s just another way I connected to this story.
This book, this book. There is no way this review did this book justice. I laughed, I got mad, everything with this book. The characters were amazing, the romance felt real, and just ugh it felt so real and I HOPEEEE y’all love this as much as me. Etta Easton deserves all that’s coming to her. And I’m not just saying that because I hope she goes to visit one of our libraries lol (No seriously, can we use a romance as a Gulf Coast Reads pick? Asking for a friend lmao)
Overall, I give this
