A party girl and a grumpy British CEO fake a dream European honeymoon for a reality TV show that could save their travel agency—and give them both a new lease on life (and love)—if only they’d take the chance.
Rebecca “Bex” Daniels has just lost everything: her father, stepmother, and beloved stepsister all died in a freak train accident, leaving her completely alone in the world and responsible for her family’s travel agency. Only a few months after the tragedy, her father’s UK partner, the straitlaced Theo Porter, reveals that the business is about to go under. Their only hope? A reality TV deal her father brokered before his death…with a slight rebrand: Now, Bex and Theo are to pose as newlyweds, exploring the world on an extended honeymoon.
Bex and Theo couldn’t be more different—but though they initially clash, once filming gets underway, Bex discovers he’s also amusing, protective, and kind, the sort of man she’d want to be married to in real life, if she thought for a second she deserved him. As for Theo, he can't help but be swept up into the brilliant whirlwind that is Bex, but ever since his brother died, a real relationship is the last thing he wants.
As Bex and Theo flit across Europe, from Capri to Paris, exploring sundrenched villas and remote fjords, they can't help but notice their walls coming down, and their arguments begin to feel a lot more like foreplay than fighting. But they each carry around more than enough emotional baggage, and they'll have to contend with public scandals, crushing grief, and their burgeoning fame before they can decide if they're ready to ride off into the sunset once the cameras stop rolling.
Elizabeth O'Roark writes books that don't hesitate to tackle heavier subjects, and this one is no exception.
I think this was what appealed to me most about this story, it felt real and the bad things really made the good seem stronger and more real.
Fake dating is one of those tropes that just don't feel like they would work in real life, but for some reason work really, really well in fiction. So, I was all in when I saw this author wrote a fake dating. And, is often the case, the author took the fake relationship to the next level, but managed to tell the story in a way that made it make sense.
Theo and Bex meet due to a personal tragedy in Bex's life that also impacts the business Theo co-owns with Bex's family. There are a lot of spoilers involved in saying what happens next and how they get there, but I can say that I loved the character development in this, the way both of them learned things about themselves and each other and how it both made them better people and developed their relationship.
By the end of this one, I was cheering for them as a couple. I liked both of them and I think as a reader, you fall a little in love with each of them the more you get to know them.
