Book Blurb:
He’s my best friend’s brother. My billionaire boss. And now… my fake husband
I walked into his restaurant needing a paycheck.
Now I’m his fake wife.
And if I’m not careful, I might just fall for the man I hate.
James Hamilton is grumpy. Emotionally unavailable. Impossible to reach.
He’s also my best friend’s brother.
The man who broke my heart without even trying.
Now he’s a world-famous chef. Well known for his brilliance.
Working for him is my chance at the career of my dreams.
But when he calls me out in front of his entire staff.
I decide to leave.
But James stops me with an offer I never saw coming.
A marriage of convenience to secure the future of his culinary empire.
In return, he will pay off my debts and help my family.
I should refuse.
Instead, I say yes.
His rules are simple.
This is a contract.
There will be no feelings.
No expectations.
No future.
I agree to keep things strictly professional.
But the longer I share his home and answer to the title of his wife, the harder it is to pretend this is just business.
And when he lets me see the man behind the reputation,
I start to wonder if this fake marriage is the most real thing I have ever known...
*Hambright PR ARC/ALC *Best friends brother *hate to love *Boss x employee
*Grumpy/Sunshine *Former Military MMC *Curvy FMC *"My Wife" *Marriage of convenience
*Billionaire MMC *Wounded hero *PTSD *OCD *Found family *close proximity
*Kitchen boss *emotionally guarded MMC *Virgin FMC *spice *Slow burn *mutual pining
*MMC is a bit unhinged and obsessive *Check trigger warnings
Thoughts:
Harper (FMC) is down on her luck and out of work looking for a job for a lengthy period of time she's thrilled to have an interview at a very popular restaurant in the city (London) and it couldn't come at a better time she needs to pay her bills and she is also helping her sister and neice as they live together... what's not great about the job is the owner/head chef of the restaurant is James Hamilton.
Harper and James had a brief encounter 5 years before but it left a lasting impression on both of them, James was still in the military at the time and emotionally unavailable... he is also her best friend's older brother but that didn't stop her from having a magical night with him that she's carried with her all these years later.
Only in the kitchen he is a grumpy, ice cold chef who doesn't cut her any slack just because they had a night to remember... in fact he pushes her harder than any of the other staff in her position. While he's harsh he is also fair he understands the value of keeping hard working staff but if anyone steps a toe out of line he is quick to show them the door...
Harper needs a job but she has just about had enough of dealing with the Grump in the kitchen and she's going to give him a piece of her mind... only the staff member that shares to social media decides to film and post it... worst part is it's going viral and James gets a call from his investors saying that unless he can turn this around they are going to pull the money out of his restaurant... that can't happen this is his life he has an easy solution... it was a lover's quarrel and they are engaged to be married soon... this will also fufil his grandmother's ultimatum of not giving him his inheritance unless he can get married in the next 6 months... now to just get the girl to agree.
Harper at first is against the idea but she needs a job and he promises to help her family financially, which would make things a lot easier... it will be a real marriage, even though he's a bosshole she can't help but still have feelings for him after their night years ago she felt something real and she thought he did too... the hardest part will be not falling in love with her make believe husband, and no one can no about their arrangement.
This is my first book by this author and I got a chance to read the ARC and listen to the ALC so I was swapping back and forth but I feel that I enjoyed it so much more listening to it... while both narrators did a great job, the male narrator could read me the phone book and I would applaud him at the end and ask if he could read it to me again! I need more audio books by Shane East immediately 💓
This was a sweet journey of a man who felt broken down by life events learning to let others in, he felt the need to control everything so he wouldn't feel out of control even to the point where he free dives for fun... but pushes Harper away because he is so drawn to her to the point of feeling out of control so it unsettles him.
Harper is a ray of sunshine and puts up with way more than most would from this brooding man. James is hot and cold with our girl but we can see from his side how he has been slowly falling in love with her but not admitting it to even himself... and taking her hair ties that she keeps losing. Our couple balanced each other well and were able to be there for each other in smaller and larger moments.
If you enjoy slow burn to the extreme, marriage of convenience, Best Friend's brother, Grumpy/sunshine, boss x employee, and guarded hearts you might enjoy picking this one up.
The ending set things up for the next story and I have added it to my TBR list.
Negatives for me -->
This is where the ALC was really helpful, while I didn't dislike the story I felt a lot of parts were repetitive and drawn out about 200 pages could have probably been cut and it could have made the story that much better.
The Slow burn was sloooooow.
I was at times rooting for Harper to tell James off sooner... or again... he really was a big bully (think like Gordon Ramsay level).
The internal repetitive monologue shows that both of our leads are falling in love with the other one but due to the pre-nup clause of no feelings involved they have about 450 pages of will one of them finally tell them they love the other one so we can move forward with this story!
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