Quick Facts
- Release Date: May 29, 2020
- Page Count: 423
- Publisher: Independently published
- Kindle Unlimited? Yes
Despite the lack of an original story premise, I enjoyed reading this book and recommend it to those looking for a light, steamy romance. Courtney and Kaede’s chemistry was off the charts and provided ample amounts of sexual tension without overdoing it
Synopsis
My Big, Fat, Fake Engagement, by Lauren Landish, is a brother’s best friend and fake relationship contemporary romance. Kaede McWarren, co-founder and co-owner of the One Life gym, has found himself in a bit of a pickle. The only way he’s able to keep his deal with the prospective gym investor is if he can somehow thwart the ridiculously obvious advances of the investor’s daughter, Missy.
In a move of sheer desperation, he blurts out that he’s engaged. Not to just anyone, but to Courtney Andrews, his best friend/gym co-owner’s little sister.
Type-A, corporate barracuda Courtney sees this as an opportunity to explore the crush she’s had on Kaede since she was a teenager. As sparks fly and Kaede and Courtney grow closer, they quickly find their “fake” engagement is turning into anything but fake.
Review
My Big, Fat, Fake Engagement is the second book in Lauren Landish’s series and can be read as a stand-alone novel. What I enjoyed the most about this book was the organic progression of Courtney and Kaede’s relationship. They both had crushes on each other for several years, but recognize that they never truly knew one another before now. They don’t claim to have fallen in love until a few weeks into their “fake” relationship, which is a refreshing change from the one-week-turned-love scenarios other romance novels seem to thrive on.
Despite the overall engaging story, I didn’t feel that Courtney and Kaede were particularly relatable characters. Essentially gym rats, they spend a seemingly inordinate amount of time working out and, at one point, chastised themselves for ordering a pizza. I’m all for physical fitness, and good for them for hitting the gym more often than I do (ok, WAY more often than I do), but I just couldn’t help but feel their fitness standards were unrealistic, and their issues were personally unrelatable.
I also felt a distinct lack of originality in their backstories. That is not to say Courtney and Kaede weren’t well-written and well-developed characters, I just thought the overall premise was unoriginal and overdone in contemporary romance. Kaede was the handsome football star in high school who turned into a ruthless businessman, and Courtney was the rich socialite playing the Ice Queen in order to prove herself at her father’s company. I liked that Kaede did not come from money, but even this became fairly stereotypical when his perceived insecurity about his humble beginnings comes to the forefront.
Summary
Despite the lack of an original story premise, I enjoyed reading this book and recommend it to those looking for a light, steamy romance. Courtney and Kaede’s chemistry was off the charts and provided ample amounts of sexual tension without overdoing the balance between serious and sexual. I thought the book was longer than a typical romantic comedy but never wanted to rush to get through it. Overall, I’d say you know what you’re getting with this book. It was enjoyable, lighthearted, and sexy, and is definitely worth picking up!
Link to Author’s website: https://www.laurenlandish.com/
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