by: Karen Booth
Series: Little Black Book of Secrets
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: June 28, 2022
Publisher: Harlequin Desire
This socialite left her fiancé at the altar and now she needs a fake date to a wedding! What could go wrong? Find out in the third Little Black Book of Secrets novel by Karen Booth!
It started with one simple request:
“Pretend to like me for three days.”
Canceling her own million-dollar wedding made socialite Alexandra Gold infamous. Now the only way to avoid going alone to the wedding of this season—and keep vicious gossip account Little Black Book of Secrets quiet—is to bring a fake date. The almost-perfect candidate: architect Ryder Carson, her brother’s best friend. Ryder’s off-limits, yet tempting, despite their recent history. And as the celebration heats up, so do the sparks. But is it only a matter of time before Little Black Book reveals their secret?
From Harlequin Desire: A luxurious world of bold encounters and sizzling chemistry.
How to Fake a Wedding Date is the third and final book in Karen’s Little Black Book of Secrets series. The series is about three childhood best friends and a social media account going after the three and others who all share a link. From the romance standpoint, this is a standalone read, however, the mystery of who is behind the social media account plays out over the course of the three books.
How to Fake a Wedding Date finds Alexandra “Alex” Gold in desperate need of a date for her best friend Chloe’s wedding that is being held at the family estate of her other best friend Taylor. Generally, it wouldn’t be a big deal if a person didn’t have a date for a wedding. But Alex isn’t just any old person. After calling off her own wedding mere days before it was to take place, Alex has been hounded by the tabloids and given the nickname “Trust Fund Tornado”. The last fourteen months have been hard for her. Trying to get back into the dating pool is all fine and dandy until the men figure out who she actually is and think of any excuse to get away from her. In her eyes, having a date for the wedding would show that she is fine and has moved on.
When Alex confides in her older brother Daniel, he has the perfect solution. He offers up his best friend and business partner Ryder Carson as tribute. Daniel figures Alex is safe with Ryder and that Ryder can use the wedding as an opportunity to meet and connect with Chloe’s uncle Geoffrey who they have been trying to meet with. “Pretend to like me for three days.” ~ Alex has no idea that Ryder doesn’t have to pretend at all. Ryder is very much attracted to Alex, but his relationship with Daniel and the Gold family is too important to him. He feels that he owes them everything and doesn’t want to jeopardize what he has with them.
Alex who has been attracted to Ryder for some time now plans on using this time to convince him that they should be together. Immediately, I was a little put off by Alex pushing Ryder so hard for a relationship or to bed him again (yes, there’s a story there) when she knew about the bro code and how Ryder feels bad about risking his friendship with Daniel and their business together. She doesn’t care. Like she literally doesn’t care about that, she just wants Ryder and the consequences for him mean nothing to her. Somehow Karen managed to pull Alex from the dark side and make her likable. And of course, Ryder gives in to his attraction and forgets about everything except for him and Alex. When these two are together, they’re really amazing. Alex brings out a different side of Ryder and he just simply makes her happy, without having to pretend she’s someone or something else.
One of the reasons I was looking forward to this story was the mystery of who was behind Little Black Book. For me, the mystery and reveal fell flat. I was expecting more of a climactic reveal than what I got. Friendship and romance are what drove this story. I’m not sure if I can say that Alex grew during the course of this book, but you did get to see her vulnerabilities and truths shine through. It actually made me like and feel for her. Ryder definitely grew throughout the course of the story. He had a couple of moments that really made him hero material and one in particular that made my heart soar.
If you’re into stories with tropes galore How to Fake a Wedding Date definitely has you covered. Karen has thrown everything in. There’s best friend/sibling, forbidden love, friends to lovers, fake relationship, a curvy heroine, and only one bed.
~ Favorite Quotes ~
“If it’s meant to be, it’s meant to be.”
“The person you’re meant to be with will find you. I promise. Don’t give up hope.”
**Received a copy of the author and voluntarily reviewed it.**
Rating: 5
Purchase How to Fake a Wedding Date from:
The Little Black Book of Secrets Series:
The Problem with Playboys ~ Review
Black Tie Bachelor Bid ~ Review
You can read an excerpt of How to Fake a Wedding Date and my interview with Karen here.
When she’s not creating hunky fictional men and the women who test them, she’s listening to everything from Otis Redding to Duran Duran to Superchunk with her college-age kids, honing her Southern cooking skills (she makes some mean collards), or sweet-talking her astoundingly supportive husband into whipping up a batch of cocktails.
Karen is co-founder of the 4500+ member Seasoned Romance Facebook group, devoted to the promotion of romance with characters 35+. She has been a finalist for RT Magazine’s Series Romance of the Year, RT Magazine’s Gold Seal of Excellence, the National Excellence in Romance Fiction Award (NERFA), the Booksellers’ Best Award, and the Holt Medallion. Her books have been translated into seventeen languages.
Places to find Karen Booth:
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