The Real Deal
A Novel
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3.9 • 29 Ratings
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- $20.99
Publisher Description
Get ready for your next favorite romantic comedy, THE REAL DEAL, from #1 New York Times bestselling author Lauren Blakely!
April Hamilton wants you to know she hasn’t been on GigsForHire since that time she sold her futon after college. She doesn’t even spend that much time online. And even if she did, she would not be looking up personal ads. But going home alone for her family's summer reunion is an invitation for every single relative to butt into her personal life. She simply can’t handle another blind date with the butcher, the baker or the candlestick maker from her hometown. So when she finds the GigsforHire ad for a boyfriend-for-hire, she’s ready to pay to play.
Heading Home and Need a Buffer? I’m the REAL DEAL.
Theo Banks has been running from the past for years. He’s this close to finally settling all his debts, and one more job as a boyfriend-for-hire will do the trick. He’s no gigolo. Please. He’s something of an actor, and he knows how to slip into any role, including pretending to be April’s new beau -- the bad boy with the heart of gold.
Even if it means sleeping in close quarters in that tiny little bed in her parents’ inn. Even if it means spinning tales of a romance that starts to feel all too true. What neither one of them counts on is that amid the egg toss, the arm wrestling, and a fierce game of Lawn Twister that has them tangled up together, they might be feeling the real deal.
She only wanted to show her family once and for all that she had no need to settle down.
He didn’t expect to have the time of his life at her parent’s home.
They didn’t plan on loving every single second of the game.
But can a masterful game of pretend result in true love?
Customer Reviews
The Real Deal
The Real Deal by Lauren Blakely
Ahh! I love me a good fake relationship book!
Neither Theo or April are in the market for a relationship: April needs a fake boyfriend to get her well-meaning family off her back and Theo is trying to make enough money to pay the piper. When April answers his (hilarious) ad and they meet up to sort out the terms of their faux-relationship, it’s immediately evident that these two won’t last without some conditions being broken.
April has been burned by men far too many times and the last being used as ‘the other woman’. She’s not a man-hater at all, but she is on a firm dating diet and is putting all her energy into getting the one particular job she’s after. Theo has had it hard. After his parents passed away, he and his brother were sent to live with an uncaring aunt and essentially left to fend for themselves. He’s not a woe is me kind of man. He’s just doing what he must to get his and his brothers lives sorted out, without any complications. April and Theo were perfect together and I’m so glad they worked through their pasts in the way that they did.
This book was FUN! In fact, I read with a smile the entire time. From April’s family practically pushing her into the arms of every available man in Wistful to the swoony ’remember whens’ murmured between two people who are desperate not to cross the line, The Real Deal was a real delight.
*I voluntarily read an early copy of this book.
**Reviewed by Melinda for Joandisalovebooks Blog.