This entire story was a slow, smoldering burn, and the romance simply magic. ~ Leigh – Guilty Pleasures Book Reviews
BLURB
Finding a good roommate through a classified ad isn’t as easy as it sounds.
I was starting to lose hope.
Until a knock at my door came and God answered my prayers.
Except…uh…wrong prayer, God.
I’d definitely requested the big guy find me a drop-dead gorgeous man on more than one occasion…just not as my roommate.
Declan Tate talked me into interviewing him anyway.
While he was amusing and charismatic, I wouldn’t have been comfortable living with a man, so I regretfully declined.
Then cupcakes showed up at my door—freshly baked by Declan and just as sinfully delicious as he was.
You could say he was persistent.
I eventually folded. It wasn’t like I had another viable candidate anyway.
Plus, I was interested in someone else. And Declan was into another woman. So it wasn’t like anything would happen romantically.
After he moved in, the two of us became the best of friends. We even started to give each other advice on getting our crushes to notice us.
Eventually, Declan concocted an idea: we should pretend to be a couple to make our love interests jealous.
I was hesitant, but went along with it anyway. To my utter shock, his crazy plan worked.
Now I was dating the supposed man of my dreams, and my best friend had the woman of his.
But there was one problem.
I couldn’t stop thinking about Declan.
Those feelings we were trying to fake?
Yeah…I wasn’t pretending anymore.
This story was perfect. It had just the right amount of sweet, sexy, angst and tears. I loved everything about this book, except the fact that these authors don’t typically re-visit their characters, so I’m left knowing I will miss these people that I’ve grown invested in.
Not Pretending Anymore was the kind of book that I read in one long sitting and then all of a sudden realized where I was. I became so immersed in Deacon and Molly’s lives, and hated for it to end. Sure, it had the “fake romance” trope, but it was done in a way that didn’t make it feel old and tired. It was fun and sad and once again, Penelope Ward and Vi Keeland created characters that were too good to be true.
Looking for a female roommate, Molly decided to give Deacon a chance despite his obvious failure to meet her main criteria. And right from the start, you can’t help but fall in love with him. Deacon is kind, funny, giving and just a sweet, goofy-sexy guy. Molly falls for his charms immediately and the two of them hit it off with the best chemistry and friendship imaginable.
Building a strong foundation first before any romance even entered the picture, this entire book was a slow, smoldering burn. These authors are one of the few that I don’t mind reading where I know that it will be low on sex, but the romance and friendship will be so perfect that I don’t even miss it. Molly and Deacon learned to like each other before they started to love, and it was equal parts gut wrenching and exhilarating to watch them struggle with their feelings. There was heartbreak and honesty and no easy way out in the writing of this book which made the emotions all the more poignant because they were so believable. No characters was truly awful and I had sympathy for them all as they got caught up in the orbit that Molly and Deacon created. Like everything else these two authors write together, the chemistry was just magic and I loved every second I spend with them.
Penelope Ward is a New York Times, USA Today and #1 Wall Street Journal bestselling author of contemporary romance.
She grew up in Boston with five older brothers and spent most of her twenties as a television news anchor. Penelope resides in Rhode Island with her husband, son, and beautiful daughter with autism.
With over two million books sold, she is a 21-time New York Times bestseller and the author of over twenty novels. Her books have been translated into over a dozen languages and can be found in bookstores around the world.
Vi Keeland is a #1 New York Times, #1 Wall Street Journal, and USA Today Bestselling author. With millions of books sold, her titles have appeared in over a hundred Bestseller lists and are currently translated in twenty-five languages. She resides in New York with her husband and their three children where she is living out her own happily ever after with the boy she met at age six.
book, except the fact that these authors don’t typically re-visit their characters, so I’m left knowing I will miss these people that I’ve grown invested in.
