Thank you to NetGalley and Entangled Publishing for an ARC of this book. All opinions in this review are my own.
This book appealed to me, not due to the cover or title necessarily, but due to the concept. Fake dating trope? Sign me up! I am really working hard at expanding my reading palate (so to say) and read more traditional romantic books, and thanks to this book I don’t feel so bad about that decision. I am not one who likes mushy-gushy romance, I need the characters to really work for the relationship and have a foundation before the couple forms. Stefanie London did not let me down in terms of character development & I was truly rooting for Monroe and Ethan throughout the book.
This was a pretty fast read for me, and I found it enjoyable the entire time. Watching Monroe’s growth after coming out of divorce where her husband cheated on her, finding herself again after feeling like she lost herself, was something I feel is universally relatable – which was paralleled in Ethan’s journey in finding his heritage. The underlying themes of figuring out who you are, what you want out of life, and how to come back after tragedy, are things that anyone of any age can understand and relate to. The fact that this book is slated partially as a fake dating troupe sells it a bit short I think, for while that was the reason I picked the book up, the reason I kept reading was the life lessons and “finding oneself” moments that struck a chord in my own life.
Overall, this book is very good. If you are looking for a romance where the romance is built on emotional and psychological connection as opposed to just physical attraction, the couple builds each other up and helps the other become the best version of themselves, then don’t sleep on this gem.