Fake for Him

Disappointing for me but may be fantastic for others

Fake for Him is the first book I have ready by Caleb Borne. As this is a new to me author I was not sure what to expect. But I decided to pick it up because the book description looked like it could be an interesting read. It is the story of Jasmine “Jas” Skey and Richard Westerfield Jr., you just got to love the Junior thing as that sets up his father perfectly right from the start.
I thought this book had a solid story-line with a number of different things happening at the same time. The characters started out good characters but for me Jas just deviated a hard left into territory that she would never have gone, given how her character was initially written. Then add in a number of detail inconsistencies that drove me crazy and had me flipping back to confirm what I thought I had remembered. But then the ending was just not there for me at all and I was disappointed. But I did like the writing style of the author and based on reviews for previous books I will be trying this author again. This is only my opinion so I recognize that other readers will love this book so you need to make you own mind up if you decide to pick it up.

Audible. Also available via KU, can add audio with whispersync discount.

This is my first book by Caleb Borne and my first experience with Rodney Falcon as a narrator.

Richard Westerfield is the son of the former governor of Illinois and Jasmine Skye is his younger sister’s best friend. Rich is trying to get out from his overbearing and criminal father’s control while Jasmine is fresh out of college trying to find her way in the world. This story is a unique and intriguing mix of best friend’s bother (or little sister’s best friend), Cinderella, & fake-marriage tropes. Sometimes it’s executed really well, other times the inconsistencies kept me from being truly invested. I had a huge issue with the prologue, a major plot inconsistency, the abrupt ending (see spoilers at the end), but overall I’d give it 3 stars.

Rodney Falcon’s narration was excellent. At times, it’s possible he’s the reason I didn’t DNF. While not a complaint about him specifically, I think that this would have been better with dual narrators. Since chapters are first person POV and there was no change in Falcon’s voice when a chapter was from Jas’s POV, sometimes I would get turned around thinking it was Rich’s POV. To be clear, Falcon did give all the character *dialogue* unique voices/inflections/genders, but narrating the regular text was all in his normal, albeit sexy, voice. None of this would make me hesitate listening to him in the future. Solid 4 stars.

*** SPOILERS ***
– I wish the prologue had been left out. It didn’t really add to the story and a 17yo purposefully standing naked & erect in front of a 12yo isn’t intriguing/sexy it’s actually a crime. For good reason.
– Noah’s death is announced on the evening news. The text clearly states that Jas saw/heard it. Yet somehow it isn’t mentioned until weeks later when other family members (who somehow missed the news) are shocked by the revelation. Jas appears to be just as surprised as everyone else. I don’t know why the news broadcast was included ~ if just created a massive inconsistency that could have been eliminated by removing one sentence.
– Noah’s info dump at the end was sort of abrupt and I wish the author had spent more time allowing some of it to be discovered by the characters.
– Erin taking over the company is ridiculous. Nothing in her character description or behavior at all supports this. She’s only received her Bachelor’s in the last few months and hasn’t spent a single minute working at this multi m(b?)illion dollar company she’s now going to run?
*** END SPOILER ***

I received a free copy of this audiobook and am voluntarily leaving a review.

This is so much more than what I thought it would be. A suspenseful romance, dirty business, family issues and political aspirations. At first I wasn’t too impressed. Then I just realized they were setting up the story. Because really….the good stuff comes later! Don’t listen to the synopsis. That just gives a brief and I mean brief sample of what the book is about. There is so much more!!

This story impressed me! The author weaves each character and drew me along. I like multiple characters but for different reasons. Some are fun others are smart and devious and some are sexy as well. I would hate to belong to this family since I would always be checking my back.

This is a first time author for me. I enjoyed this immensely and will keep an eye out for others. I did listen to this on audio and as always Rodney Falcon nailed it!

OMG Richard & Jasmine’s story my the start of listen i couldn’t turn it off, This is full off action plus twists and turns, secrets through out. They have sizzling HOT chemistry, Want to no more well i total recommend it. Rodney you total brought it Richard and Jasmine story to life, Loved it Caleb Borne

It seems that there a lot of “Faking it” romance stories being released at the moment and I have to say this one of the better ones. In this story we meet Jasmine who is working class and Richard who is from a rich family. When Richard asks Jasmine to be his fake wife she accepts and then they start to realize that they have quite a lot of chemistry between them. There is a lot of social class disdain from Richard’s family, but for the most part Jasmine is a strong character and very likable. There is obviously some deceit in the plot, you can tell that just by the title of the book. The twists and turns and the author’s writing style meant that the story was interesting and engaging, the characters seemed to jump off the page. I’m looking forward to the next installment in this series. This is an enjoyable and an easy to follow read, I’d encourage those readers who enjoy romance stories to pick this one up.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

A rich boy and a poor girl, how can they ever be together? This story has a lot of ups and downs. Just when you think things are going their way, something happens. A lot of twists and turns, but I really didn’t understand the ending. Will there be a second book that will explain? I look forward to finding out.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

This book has so many facets to it I had to stay on my toes to keep track of what the story line was. I’ll be honest, I found it to be a bit wordy in the beginning. Then it gets very interesting.
Jaz and Richard are re-introduced as adults (they had been around each other during childhood) and the hint of a further ‘” something” is in the air. And what a “something” it turns into! WOW. What a roller coaster ride this story is.
The story line is full of intrigue, twists and turns, angst, love, heat, good guys/bad guys, and HEA. What more can you ask for from a good read? Not much in my opinion. This book very much hit’s it’s mark! I voluntarily reviewed an advance copy of this book for an honest review.