How in the world was I supposed to not fall in love with her How How was this friendswithbenefits arrangement simultaneously the most wonderful and the most painful thing to ever happen to me
SO cute! This was an adorable, sexy, sorta foodie, fake dating romance.
Avery is the owner of a new, but struggling luxury restaurant, and Holly is the star of a restaurant renovation/fix it show.
With a rival restaurant owner both trying to buy up Avery's place and take over Holly's show, they end up in a fake dating scheme to drum up interest in both Avery's business and the show.
There's always something easy and breezy about the way Seabrooke writes, especially the way she builds relationships.
The writing is light, but from the beginning we get such a good foundation and buildup for their romance.
There's so much great tension and chemistry between them, and it stretches out just long enough, I LOVE it in romance books when people cook for their love interests, and since both these ladies are chefs.
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. Avery is freaking adorable, an absolute sunshine girl, Holly is my favourite kind of book girlfriend: caring, likes to tease, but gets really intense in the bedroom.
I liked the subplot with the villain though he was a little onenote and how Avery being trans wasn't a huge part of the story, but how it nevertheless tied into her confidence and optimism about life.
I had a few nitpicks it's never the best sign when I find myself wanting to edit a book while I read it.
Nothing major, just some overused words/terms and some awkward phrasing, It was a very easy read, but it could have used some more polish, Like I said, the villain was a little one dimensional, and it made the story a little simplistic But I'm not mad at the way it all turned out.
This is a celebrity romance, which I generally don't really like, but honestly, half the time I forgot that Holly was famous, and I was grateful for that.
I'm just never really a fan of conversations about fame, and when they did come up in this book, I liked how it was handled.
This was just a delight reading it just made me real happy! I could readmore pages of these ladies.
It felt like a sigh of relief deep inside me every time our lips met, and I needed it to never stop.rep: bi trans mc, bi mc, nonbinary side character This was really cute and hot.
Ive wanted to read this one for a while and I blasted right through it, Both leads were very likeable, and the romance was fun and steamy and sweet all at the same time.
Its my first from this author but it wont be the last, I am running out of ways of saying, "Lily Seabrooke has done it again," and honestly, it's a great problem to have.
I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to receive an ARC of Seabrooke's newest book, Fake It comingAugustand I devoured it in a single three hour sitting.
It was wonderful.
Avery Lindt has come to Port Andrea to open her dream restaurant, She's confident, optimistic, and ready to make it work, except no one's coming in, Customer patronage has slowed to a crawl and Avery isn't sure how to make it work, she's only sure that she's going to try, despite a sleazy buyout offer from local YouTube celeb and restaurant owner, Mike Wallace.
This is Avery's dream, and she's not about to give that up for a man and his overinflated ego.
Holly Mason's career is starting to stagnate, She's bored with her television show of helping floundering restaurants, and the audience can see it, As her popularity drops, her agent cooks up a scheme to help get her reinspired, or at least add a little excitement to the show: helping Avery's restaurant back into the black AND adding a smidge of Avery and Holly fake dating to rehab Holly's cold and distant reputation.
What follows is a sweet, romantic, and steamy journey from friendship to more than that.
Both characters come with their own history, their own depth, and Seabrooke takes us through how Holly and Avery navigate it all, being open and honest mostly about their pasts, ideas for the future, and whether or not things will work out between them.
Seabrooke's writing is, as always, an engaging mix of flirtatious and serious, Both main characters are fully fleshed out, and the secondary characters around them all have lives of their own, sometimes much to the surprise of the main characters!
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, and I highly recommend this and all of Seabrooke's writing.
If you've never read before, it's a great place to start, and if you're already a fan of her books, then you'd be silly to miss this one.
Note: I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Im a huge fan of Lilys books and I am so happy she finally wrote her first story with a trans lead.
Its actually also the first trans story for me and again so happy about it,
I fell in love with Avery right away, Her situation with her restaurant looks so hopeless from the outside and she actually knows as well that not much goes in her favour.
But what I love so much about her she doesnt show it on the outside at least most of the time.
Even if she gets hurt over and over again, she keeps on fighting, And how she does it with a feistiness and sassiness is not only amazing its also quite hot.
Holly the TV star and celebrity chef doesnt know what hit her when she meets Avery for the first time.
While she only wanted to see who the woman is that stood up against her horrible ex, she didnt expect this instant attraction.
Which goes both ways.
When Hollys agent Tay I love them so much has the perfect idea another great inspirTAYtion that Holly brings her show in Averys restaurant and they start fake dating the big fun begins.
Not that the story wasnt already funny before because it totally was, But witnessing them spending more and more time together is just even better, Especially because they both try to keep their distance which of course is a lost cause,
And oh my god I think some scenes were actually the most erotic and hottest I have ever read from Lily.
Huge compliment for that. I mean Lily always writes the sweetest stories and she totally did that again, But this was a new level together with this heat, I definitely needed to cool down for quite a bit,
I wont say more about what happens next because right you just have to read the book.
Its another wonderful read by Lily with characters I loved, And I dont only mean Holly and Avery, No also Tay is just amazing and hilarious, If you are ever looking for the perfect friend it would be them, and then there is Liv Averys work colleague but also friend, She definitely will surprise you at some point in the book, And I was amazed once more by Avery how she reacts to this surprise,
And of course because this is bookin the Taste of Port Andrea series Im already looking forward to the next book.
Im secretly hoping that Liv will find her happiness there,
I received an ARC of this book via booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
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