e-Audio, 11:36:26
Narrated by: Patti Murin & Jon Root
Release Date: May 14, 2024
Published by: Gallery Books (Simon & Schuster Audio)
Read from: May 17-20, 2024
Stand-alone
Source: S&S Libro FM (I received a copy of this e-audio from the publisher and Libro FM in exchange for a just and honest review. This did nothing to influence my review.)
Content Warning: Sexual content, Emotional abuse, Classism, Cancer, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Infidelity, Medical content
For Readers Interested In: Realistic Fiction, Adult, Romance, Set Outside the US, Fake Dating to a Wedding, Cover WhoreChristina Lauren, returns with a delicious new romance between the buttoned-up heir of a grocery chain and his free-spirited artist ex as they fake their relationship in order to receive a massive inheritance.
Anna Green thought she was marrying Liam “West” Weston for access to subsidized family housing while at UCLA. She also thought she’d signed divorce papers when the graduation caps were tossed, and they both went on their merry ways.
Three years later, Anna is a starving artist living paycheck to paycheck while West is a Stanford professor. He may be one of four heirs to the Weston Foods conglomerate, but he has little interest in working for the heartless corporation his family built from the ground up. He is interested, however, in his one-hundred-million-dollar inheritance. There’s just one catch.
Due to an antiquated clause in his grandfather’s will, Liam won’t see a penny until he’s been happily married for five years. Just when Liam thinks he’s in the home stretch, pressure mounts from his family to see this mysterious spouse, and he has no choice but to turn to the one person he’s afraid to introduce to his one-percenter parents—his unpolished, not-so-ex-wife.
But in the presence of his family, Liam’s fears quickly shift from whether the feisty, foul-mouthed, paint-splattered Anna can play the part to whether the toxic world of wealth will corrupt someone as pure of heart as his surprisingly grounded and loyal wife. Liam will have to ask himself if the price tag on his flimsy cover story is worth losing true love that sprouted from a lie.
*MY THOUGHTS*
I’m not going to lie, I saw this and was excited about it, but I said I would wait for it to come to the library, BUT THEN I heard it was Fake Dating and to a wedding and I IMMEDIATELY downloaded it. That’s absolutely one way for me to download it as soon as possible. And I’m going to be cliche here, but I’m definitely glad I did. I was in such a weird mood around that time, but this put me in such a good one.
Ok so the first thing is the writing style. I haven’t read something that made me actually laugh out loud like this in such a long time. This book was unexpectedly hilarious. Idk if it was the way she just felt so uncomfortable or what, but I could not stop laughing. But I will say this was a good way to discuss class systems. I’m glad the two MCs were aware of the amount of money the MC had and that he still thought to treat people as people. Because I can assure you, there are people out there that don’t do that.
The characters in this were brutal tho. I don’t know the last time I hated a character more than the MMC’s mom and dad. I KNEW he was a terrible man, but because the wife stayed I wasn’t trusting of her either. I still don’t know how Liam came from them. Even his two brothers were terrible so I was hella impressed by Liam. He like came out of nowhere lol The wife also might have been the most terrible of the two. At least the dad was terrible out-loud. He was just terrible to everyone. The mom was like giving out small remarks to everyone and trying to say it all nice like no one would catch on. It was terrible.
As for those that I did like, Anna. Lol I only liked Anna. She was hilarious and called them out on their shit. And she was so good natured and nice. And the way she took care of her dad was amazing. At first I hated that she was with that family, but then I realized she was probably the only one who was going to tell the truth about them. Because Lordt knows that’s what they were scared of. Now Liam I liked him, but I thought he took too long to stand up to that man. I’m glad he finally got it together tho. The romance was great tho. They worked well together. But this whole plot was hella weird. Are there really people out there that would do some shit like this? This was literally the first time ever I ever said out loud “yte people ish.”
I do wish that there was more talking about the setting tho. I LIVE for seeing those places in books and the way this cover looked, I would have loved to “see” what the island and the place they were staying was like. More than just the basics. I wanted something like what color the water was and the way the sand was hot on their feet. I know this is probably just a me thing, but the place where the book is set being described really helps with my imagination. I haven’t been many places, so I use books to travel.
This was a fun one. I didn’t know how much I needed this pick me up until I had it in my hands. So if you need me, I will be trying to find more fake dating to a wedding until I feel better. It’s the micro-trope to end all be all.
Overall, I give this
