Summary
Let me just say this — fake dating the cocky movie star was not my idea. Especially since he’s my former roomie and, gulp, my secret ex.
But my agent tells me I have no choice since I’m ridiculously overdue with turning in the next big blockbuster love story to my publisher.
Not to mention, ahem, writing it.
Falling for the smooth-talking English hottie once upon a time — fine, twice — were huge mistakes that I shouldn’t repeat, but pretending to like the guy who broke my heart is my only chance at saving my job.
That is, as long as no one finds out that every date we go on, every smile we flash each other for the cameras, and every hot, desperate kiss on the streets of Manhattan is absolutely fake.
Except…it’s not. At least for me.
And he can never know…
Excerpt
I have a dirty little secret.
Everyone thinks they know why my pen ran dry. The answer seems obvious if you catalog the public events I was at the center of—and people do that frequently.
He’s the guy who was dumped on national TV by the chicken dude. No wonder TJ Hardman’s in a funk. I mean, could you write an epic love story if that happened to you?
The evidence does seem to add up. Exactly one year ago, my face went viral as the ouch, that’s gotta hurt guy when the dude who ran a chicken café said “see you later” to me on a New York morning show.
But the day my keyboard went silent was a couple of months later, when I got on a plane in Los Angeles and flew away from the swooniest guy I’ve ever known.
I haven’t dispelled the rumors, though, because the public story suits me. It hurts less than the private tale that exposes my deepest hopes and dreams. My dreams of Jude. Dreams that died when I packed my suitcase and left him, returning to New York.
So, what’s my dirty little secret?
I’m both the public guy who got dumped on TV, and I’m the private guy who walked away from America’s newest heartthrob. I see Jude’s face on the sides of buses, on tops of taxi cabs, on my TV, on my phone, on my social media. He’s everywhere, with a smile that charms millions—but it charmed me first.
That man is also lodged somewhere deep in my heart and soul.
He’s the reason I’m stuck. Somehow, though, I’ve got to figure out how to write my way out of this heartache. But some stories often surprise even the writer, and Jude’s return to my life is the plot twist I didn’t see coming.
Review
(audiobook) We get the fun and sweet ending we were expecting, so what’s not to like? I liked it, I just wish there had been more challenges. It seemed obvious from the start how it would end. And I don’t mean the happy ending–that I of course expected from a romcom–but the various events that led to it.
We left Jude and TJ, at the end of the previous book, both in need of good publicity and/or appropriate inspiration. The solution is a fake relationship. Knowing how their previous attempt at a relationship ended–i.e. not well–they are quite reluctant. But they have little choice in the matter.
And they mess up quite a bit at the beginning! That was most of the humor in the story. They are really bad at faking, even though they clearly aren’t really faking. The pressure and various advices they receive don’t help. The whole set up is a bad idea right from the beginning, and that’s what makes it so entertaining.
Here comes the long awaited communication that clarifies what went wrong in the first book, yay! You have to wait for a bit still. Repressed emotions and latent resentment don’t make for a good opening in a conversation, thus they only reveal the reasons behind their past argument when similar situations emerge. It takes time to talk it all out.
It doesn’t keep them from enjoying a bout of fun in bed. Sexy times are hot, but nothing I haven’t read before. Even TJ’s proposition isn’t that surprising. It doesn’t mean I didn’t like it though!
I’m not sure I’m all in with the way artistic creation is described here. Be it TJ’s books or Jude’s involvement in acting, it relies heavily on the artist’s real life, for inspiration or motivation. Sure, it’s important, and not being in the mood hinders creativity, but it puts too much weight on happiness in my opinion, when drama and tragedy can be as much a source of inspiration. Actually, what bothers me the most is that it’s a theme in the story, and I don’t think it deserves the spot.
There are a lot of subplots too, and sometimes it feels like it’s all over the place. In fact, after the main story about TJ and Jude, we get a short story about side characters. And then the prequel for a spin-off story. That’s a lot. And not enough at the same time, as the short story felt rushed.
It’s still a good book to listen to, because the full cast narration is on point. The main narrators know their job and perform perfectly. The other narrators may have too many characters to play at times, and with kind of similar voices for some of them, which made it confusing sometimes. There’s a delectable cameo that I wasn’t expecting and it’s almost too perfect. The narrators for the short story do a great job too, in duet, though I felt they didn’t bring as much sexy as I expected. And the prequel is exciting, even in dual narration, both narrators being amazing.
Quickie
- Series: Hopelessly bromantic duet #2 (directly follows book 1)
- Hashtags: #MM romance #celebrity romance #second chance romance #enemies to lovers #fake relationship #actor #writer
- Triggers: N/A
- Main couple: Jude Graham & TJ Ashford
- Hotness: 3/5
- Romance: 4/5
- + satisfying ending
- – but a bit too sugary for my taste
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