From Author Kimberly Readnour comes a fake dating sports romance in the anticipated new Cessna U Hockey series! This new, star player, ordinary girl, college hockey romance leaves you laughing while sizzling the pages. Because we all know that when it comes to the charade of hearts, love scores the winning goal.

Blurb:

My life is a mess. The last thing I have time for is to fake date Blake Morton, the arrogantly charming captain of the hockey team. But with my grandmother’s looming rent and a paycheck that’s playing hide and seek, I have little choice but to accept Blake’s bizarre proposition: pretend to be his girlfriend.

The deal is simple—no strings attached, just play the part and collect the payment. Easy, right?

Wrong. Emotions don’t play by the rules, especially when you’re teamed up with someone who’s supposed to be nothing more than an arrangement.

I come from a world where every penny counts, while Blake has everything—a sizable trust fund and effortless talent. Yet, as our charade deepens, so do the glimpses of vulnerability behind his perfect facade, and the more I fall for the real Blake.

My job was to fend off distractors, not become one. As lines between reality and make-believe blur, I’m left questioning: Can my feelings withstand the ultimate test, or will they prove to be the most compelling distraction of all?

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Download today on Amazon, Apple Books, Barnes & Noble, Google Play, and Kobo!

Amazon: https://amzn.to/3PrCeg5

Apple Books: https://apple.co/491fNoX

Nook: https://bit.ly/49X5ymK

Kobo: https://bit.ly/4akrlox

Google Play: https://bit.ly/43G70HV

Kimberly’s Store: https://bit.ly/DekeMe

*****

Review:

Readnour could easily have leaned too heavily on the rich boy/poor girl dynamic here but she does a good job of balancing it. Blake may be privileged but he isn’t snobby and has several moments of recognizing his good fortune, as well as understanding Amanda’s perspective and her pride. Finding himself drawn to her strength and spirit, he soon wants more than a few fake dates.

Amanda has worked hard to get where she is and doesn’t really have a lot of time for Blake or his troubles. But her big heart doesn’t let her just leave him struggling. One good deed quickly leads to another and before she knows it she’s more involved than she expected.

It’s not all smooth sailing. There are mean girl moments and family drama, as well as doubts about what the other is feeling – it did start with a fake date, after all. But they actually, and somewhat surprisingly, talk to each other pretty darn well. It’s refreshing that Readnour didn’t go that route (of course, they have enough troubles without miscommunication being one of them).

This is the first book by this author that I’ve read and I enjoyed the heck out of it. Her writing is easy, her characters are enjoyable, and the story has the right amount of angst & heat. The pacing was perfect too – the beginning is a quick introduction to the characters with a lead up to their agreement, it doesn’t take all that long for them to start to realize that things may not be as fake as they thought, and then we move into their issues on their way to a HEA. I did feel like I’d have liked a little more about where they go next but I’m hoping since it is the beginning of a series we get a bit more of their relationship as we move through the rest of the stories. Which I’m definitely looking forward to reading 🙂

*****

Author Info:

Kimberly Readnour lives in the Midwest with her husband and a very snuggly cat.

Having a true passion for romance and HEA’s, she took the leap from the young adult genre to romance and never looked back.

Kimberly worked as a Registered Nurse for fifteen years before hanging up her stethoscope. When she isn’t running her own business, you can find her tucked away writing.

Connect with Kimberly 

Website: www.kimberlyreadnour.com  

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