So before we dive in here – I think I should tell you that Jenna Benson hasn’t been laid in a year. Yeah…a whole year. She was dating a guy who turned out to be such a douche bag that she actually moved away from her home town because the story he’d spun for everyone was that she just wasn’t good enough. But, anyway, that’s not the point of the story. Jenna’s brother is getting married in a … getting married in a couple of weeks and his best friend in the whole world, Adam, (who’s just got out of the Navy by the way) is coming to crash at her place for a while and they’re going to be driving home for the wedding together.
I suppose I should mention that she knows Adam since she was 9 years old and has been crushing on this guy her entire life (not that she’d admit it of course). She hasn’t seen him in 8 years though. She gets home and he’s just let himself in (more like broke in to prove how little security the place has) to her apartment.
“Adam?”
His smile was slow, lazy, and still of panty-dropping quality after eight years.
His eyes were unreadable, as he swept her from head to toe. “Jenna Benson, aren’t you a sight for sore eyes.”
Jenna gulped, already concerned with the way his smooth baritone made her stomach clench … her outrage at finding him in her living room had already vanished. Angel—her cat, perched beside Adam on the couch—spared her a glance and purred. The cat was relaxed and enjoying every swipe of Adam’s fingers. Then again, what female wouldn’t want to be stroked by Adam?
Adam grinned and gave Angel one last pat before standing up, “I love pussies.”
Jenna’s eyes were glued to him, entranced by his graceful movements. He was over six feet of pure muscle packaged in smooth, tanned skin and covered by military garb.
“Well, baby girl,” he said, using his old moniker for her, “Where’s my hug?” He spread his arms and smiled.
Now, that doesn’t mean that this is all one sided of course.
The second Adam wrapped his arms around Jenna, he regretted it.
Holy f***.
Why was his little Jenna so far from adorable and further along the spectrum of sexy? When had Jenna gotten so hot? He felt dirty hugging the girl he’d grown up with because, as she pressed into him, all he could think about were her breasts pressed against his chest. And Jenna had an amazing rack from what he’s glimpsed. He didn’t remember her having any boobs at all the last he saw her. He shouldn’t have made that stupid pussy joke because now he could see himself stroking Jenna’s pussy.
Ah! Hell. He wanted to power wash his mind with soap.
Think you know where this is going? Nope.
Because Jenna’s stupid brother has invited her ex to the wedding (they used to be friends, go figure?), and there’s no way in hell she’s going to turn up dateless.
Jenna knows there’s not enough time to meet someone that she would realistically be able to date long enough to justify taking to the wedding…so she begs Adam to be her fake boyfriend!
Bad idea, right? I mean there’s already enough sexual tension to cut with a knife…AND…Adam practically grew up in their house…so you KNOW there’s going to be a ton of maneuvering to do.
I bet you want to know what happens…because pretend can go to real pretty quick given the right circumstances…and there’s plenty that’s right between Adam and Jenna!
There’s family, drama, laughs, tension and a WHOLE lot of steam in this sizzlingly sexy, brand new, heart-melter of a romance!
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Jenna Benson doesn’t want to go home for her brothers wedding without a date. She needs to prove to her ex she has moved on and for some reason her brother invited him to his wedding. When her brothers close friend Adam arrives in town she lets him crash at her apartment. One hair brained idea later Jenna is trying to convince Adam to pretend he is her boyfriend at the wedding.
Adam can’t believe that Jenna has grown up into a beautiful woman, a woman he would like to do more with but is unwilling to cross a line. When he agrees to help her out he should have realized feelings would get involved. It doesn’t help that her brother is helping them add to the lie and everything is going haywire. Can these two stay strictly friends?
This was fun. Felt for Jenna because her ex is a jerk and you get why she is so desperate to show him she has moved on. Liked Adam a lot, he was a realistic character who I think had to give pause a few times when it came to Jenna. Entertaining story.
Self-conscious heroine, check. Big, bad, brooding hero, check. Cliche, check. Worth it? check. So fun, great ending. I even picked up the Novella which was perfect addition to this story.
So while I enjoyed this book, it’s not my favorite of Raquel Belle’s work. There’s an Alpha hero, a heroine who’s trying to figure out life on her own, a smarmy ex who we all would love to throttle once we are actually introduced to him and a semi-clueless brother. While there’s some mild hijinx, there’s nothing that really allows this to stand out from others in the “Brother’s Best Friend” trope. So if you’re looking for a quick and pleasant read, I would recommend this.
First off, I swooned incredibly hard over Adam. Former military, super hot, super sweet (even though he has some skeletons in his closet that he’s battling) – he’s a complete package. And then there’s Jenna, who needs to get her mojo back in more ways than one. Bring her childhood crush Adam back into the picture, and sparks absolutely fly. While both characters spend most of the book battling through their individual pasts so that they can get to better futures, they were also fighting through expectations and stupid older brothers (sorry, Noah) to get to the love they both deserved. While this book wasn’t as long as other books I’ve read, it packed just as much of a romantic punch as others that are twice as long. It was swoony, it was sappy, it was a page-turner, and it was awesome.
I received an advanced copy of this book, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to have read it before it went live. It was a great book!
This is the second book that I have read by Ms. Belle and I really enjoyed it. This a best friend’s sister/friends to lovers’ romance and it was done so well. Jenna came back to her hometown after her ex started to tell a story about her not being good enough. Adam needs a place to stay for Jenna’s brother’s wedding so he is going to stay with her. Jenna finds out that her ex is bringing a date to her brother’s wedding so she asks Adam to help her out. How long before the fake relationship turns into a real one? You will have to read the book and find out.
I received an ARC of this book and I am voluntarily leaving a review.
Jenna and Adam have known each other since she was 9 years old. She’s had a crush on him forever, but he’s best friends with her older brother and thinks of her as a sister. Her couch was offered to him by her brother/his best friend upon him leaving the Navy. He sees her and realizes she’s not a little girl anymore and knows he needs to keep his hands to himself because of his friendship with her brother and how close he was with her family.
Jenna is dreading going home for her brother’s wedding because he invited her ex boyfriend to the wedding. She had to leave town to start over because of how bad the breakup was and how people thought of her.
Asking your brother’s BFF to be your fake boyfriend and go back home with you for a week of wedding festivities…whatever could go wrong? Whatever could go oh so right?
I enjoyed the plot, the characters and the author’s writing style. This was a fun and enjoyable read.
I received an ARC copy for an honest review.
I liked Adam’s character. He was the strong, silent, alpha type who was also sweet and gentle. I also liked Jenna. She was sweet and shy, yet fiesty, strong, and independent. at
Although Bryce tried to tear down her self esteem, she managed to ride above him. Bryce was a slimeball and got what he deserved.
I thought Adam and Jenna were a good couple with lots of chemistry. They shared a number of funny moments. They made each other better and happier. I appreciated the fact that the book was not full of angst. Adam and Jenna did the dating/mating dance for a decent amount of time; not too much, and no instalove. If I was going to be really picky, I would have liked to see them spend less time circling each other and more time as a couple.
I also liked Jenna’s friend Ashley. I liked her personality.
Her brother Noah had typical idiotic, clueless brother ideas, but it was obvious he loved his sister.
The sex scenes in this book were not too much. Enough detail to provide a little heat, but not so detailed it wanders across the line to erotica.
This was an enjoyable read that left me feeling lighthearted with a smile on my face. I would give it 4.5 stars. If it had an epilogue, it would be 5 stars for me.
I voluntarily read and reviewed the Advanced Reader Copy of this book.