Duke Hendricks is grumpy, infuriating… and my new fake boyfriend?!
I never figured running out on my Hollywood wedding in search of true love would put me on the tabloid hit list, but with my reputation up in smoke, I need to lay low for the summer in Blackberry Cove. The quirky small town would be the perfect spot for a relaxing summer… if it wasn’t for the hunky local craftsman cursing my name at every turn.
Duke’s shaping up to be the bane of my existence — and the object of some unwelcome late-night desires. I’m determined to keep my distance… until the paparazzi catch him sucking snake venom from my thigh at the worst possible time.
My inner thigh.
Now I’ve got an(other) epic scandal brewing, and the only chance to turn my career around is pulling off the Oscar-worthy performance of a lifetime:
Faking a relationship with the man who can’t stand me.
Who says I don’t suffer for my art? The rules should be simple, but it turns out, Duke’s hiding a heart of gold under all that flannel. You can’t fake chemistry like this, and soon, those staged PDAs are turning into sizzling secret hook-ups. But between small-town gossip, rapid paparazzi, and Hollywood drama, Duke and I might be heading straight for a very real heartbreak.
Can we change the script and find our happily-ever-after?
Hollywood starlet Avery loved the Cape when she was there filming so when she cancels her wedding, she decides that’s the best place to lay low. Almost immediately, she’s annoyed by one grumpy local, Duke Hendricks, not for the first time. They clashed before when she was in town so why would this time be any different? But when Avery is hiking and bitten by a snake, she’s thrilled to see her cranky nemesis nearby and grateful that he was willing to suck out the venom. Too bad for Avery, there was a paparazzi lurking nearby and the pictures suggest something far different happening in the secluded woods. The last thing she needs is more publicity, so when a friend in PR suggests Avery and Duke fake-date to improve her image, she agrees and to her shock, so does Duke.
On the surface they seem to be opposites in every way but the more time they spend together, the more they find they have in common. The banter between these two is excellent, from the snarky and hilarious beginning and it only gets better as things heat up. It doesn’t take long before they’re both falling, but her life and her career are in LA and his whole world is clear across the country. Do the city girl and the country boy have something real or is this just a summer fling?
I love a good fake-dating story and these two did not disappoint. This is a fun enemies to friends to lovers that made me laugh but also packed plenty of heart, heat and steam. The characters are likeable and real so they pulled me in from the first pages and I liked everything about their story. I’d like to thank the author and Give Me Books for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
