Let me just say — none of this was supposed to happen. I didn’t expect the letter to go viral. I didn’t think anyone would figure out who Dear Sexy Ex was. And I especially never thought he would find out about it. Yeah, bit of a miscalculation there.But see, I need the money to fund my brand new venture. And Dear Sexy Ex, well, it turns out he needs me to save his business. By becoming his fake … business.
By becoming his fake fiancée.
Yup, that’s the pickle I find myself in — pretending to be madly in love with the charming, brilliant, and utterly infuriating man known as Dear Sexy Ex.
Only, it’s not an act. And he can never know.
Dear Sexy Ex-Boyfriend is a standalone romance you can escape into! The other standalone romances in The Guys Who Got Away series include The What If Guy and Thanks For Last Night!
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Dear Sexy Ex-Boyfriend is the cutest, dreamiest friends to lovers, fake engagement romance. I loved this book!! It had everything I need in a Lauren Blakely book – flirty banter, amazing characters, heat and a lot of heart. Plus, a sexy brit that will absolutely make you swoon.
I adore the relationship between Summer and Oliver. Friends since they were young there is a natural closeness to them. It’s obvious how much they like being with each other. The tension that builds as they attempt to remain only friends while pretending to be engaged is everything. My heart hurts and melts simultaneously for Oliver and his reasons why he couldn’t pursue anything with Summer.
Lauren Blakey has never let me down. She continues her amazing streak of charming, entertaining, heart happy stories with Dear Sexy Ex-Boyfriend. I wholeheartedly recommend picking up Summer and Oliver’s story.
What a fantastic read! Lauren Blakely does it again with “Dear Sexy Ex-Boyfriend”, the first book in her new rom-com series, “The Guys Who Got Away.”
Oliver “Ollie” Harris and Summer Clarke have been friends for half of their lives. Having experienced some of the most difficult times in their lives together, Oliver and Summer shared a special bond. Their connection was strong. Not only did they shared the best part of their lives with each other, but also the worst. I loved both characters very much.
Oliver was somewhat reserved. Don’t get me wrong – he was a very confident and charming lawyer. Underneath that charm, however, was a very caring man. Oliver was loyal and wanted just wanted to do all he could possibly do for his clients.
Summer was a breath of fresh air. She was optimistic and independent and was working hard to achieve her dream. She was funny and witty (which sometimes got her in a little trouble) – or into a lot of trouble (like a social media uproar that threatened the reputation of Oliver).
I absolutely loved this book. It was so much fun to read. The chemistry between Oliver and Summer was hot. There was no real tension or drama in this story. This was one of those stories that was extremely enjoyable. The relationship between the two main characters developed so effortlessly and I loved witnessing that.
Lauren truly never disappoints. The more stories she gives us in this amazing world she has created, the more in love I fall with her characters and stories. I definitely cannot wait for the next book in this series.
I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I have to quote one of my favorite parts in the book. The moment, the realization.
“And Summer’s my best friend. I’ve known her for seventeen years. She’s been by my side through everything. I know how to make her laugh, I know how to comfort her when she cries, I know what makes her happy – the park and exercise and her grandmother and trying new things – and I know her dreams. And I want to help her achieve them.
“But I also think maybe a part of me knew I had feelings for her and just didn’t see what was in front of me. After all, I never wanted to invite Emily to prom. I only wanted to go with Summer.”
Lauren Blakely’s “Dear Sexy Ex-Boyfriend” was a cute, sweet, and fun story featuring endearing, well-developed characters and a well-crafted friends-to-lovers romance. Main characters Summer and Oliver were beyond adorable together, and their witty banter kept me laughing for hours. I also enjoyed the story structure that provided flashbacks to earlier moments in their friendship throughout the first half of the book. These vignettes made it clear that Oliver and Summer had been fighting their attraction for a long time despite the fact that they were obviously perfect for each other. I completely understood their reasoning – each was afraid of losing a close friend if the romance didn’t work out – but it proved to be a risk worth taking since they ended up so much happier in the end.
The secondary characters in this story were also wonderful and added a tremendous amount of depth and humor to the narrative. It was great fun to see Jason again, this time as Oliver’s cousin, and I enjoyed meeting their friend Fitz. Summer’s brother Logan was an interesting guy too. I am very excited to read Logan’s and Fitz’s stories later this year!
Overall, I adored “Dear Sexy Ex-Boyfriend” and highly recommend it for all fans of contemporary romance and romantic comedy. I look forward to the next book in the series!
*ARC provided by the author via Candi Kane PR. All opinions expressed are my own.
I loved watching Oliver and Summer fall in love or realize they have been in love with each other..this book gave me all the good feels
Fabulous! Just fabulous! I don’t know how Lauren Blakely succeeds on writing such consistently humorous,warm hearted, life affirming books without missing a step! Each book is a nugget of gold and totally irresistible. Both Summer (perfect name ) and Oliver/Ollie are delightful. They are both naturally witty, nurturing, caring people whose friendship group is equally attractive and so much fun, as well as Maggie, Jane, Roxanne and Stella. Add in the friends to lovers scenario which is a personal favourite!
This book is a complete and utter treat. I loved it and want you to too!
Audio Review
What a great listen. Oliver and Summer have been friends since they were children and always gotten along great. When they both need each other to help their businesses what starts out to as fake turns out to be it was real all along and just needed a little push to make them realize how they truly felt.
Shane East and Andi Arndt are great as Oliver and Summer and Joe Arden gives us a treat as well. Love the duet style too.
This was fun and sweet and gives us all the feels and I really enjoyed it. I highly recommend it.
4.5 stars
Dear Sexy Ex-Boyfriend is the first book in The Guys Who Got Away Series. This is a friends to lovers trope.
I love the start of this new series & feel good romances! This is Oliver and Summer’s story. They grew up together and have been friends since Summer’s mother used to drive them both to school together.
Oliver and Summer end up starting a fake engagement because of a contest letter that Summer wrote. They just don’t realize they love each other until they get caught in their lie. Of course all their friends and family know what they don’t know!
I love their story! Now I can’t wait for the next feel good book!
This was a funny, sexy, and sweet romance. The tropes in this book are childhood friends to lovers/best friend’s sister/fake boyfriend/fake fiancé. This was a quick, enjoyable rom-com. It has super-steamy moments, emotional moments, and lots of laughs. The characters were great. I loved the rapport, the strong bond, and the witty banter between Oliver and Summer. They had great chemistry and a beautiful friendship. Their backstory was touching and emotional.
When Oliver and Summer pretend to be engaged, they have to put on a show for social media followers. This means public displays of affection. This ignites a spark they’ve both been trying to deny. Will that spark become a flame? Is either of them willing to cross the friendship line and risk the possibility that they could ruin 17 years of friendship?
This was a quick, light-hearted read, funny, and swoony read with just the right touch of emotion. I really enjoyed it and recommend reading it!
4.5 stars
Book 1 in the new The Guys Who Got Away series and it is such a great start. Loved this brother’s best friend/friends to lovers/fake fiancé romance (three of my favorite tropes). Oliver and Summer have been friends for almost 20 years and have always been there for each other when needed. This story was everything that I didn’t know that I needed right now. I had a smile on my face the entire time I was reading it. I love watching people who have feelings for their friends dance around the subject. They are so scared that their friend may not feel the same so they are just happy to have them in their life even as a friends. Love always has different plans for them and I love when they finally see what was in front of them the whole time and get their HEA. Highly recommend. Great read.
I read an early review copy of this book and I am voluntarily leaving an honest review.
This was a really fun and enjoyable read! I read it in one sitting!This was a really fun and enjoyable read! I read it in one sitting!
I’ve only read one of Ms Blakelys books and that was at least three years ago. I’m kicking myself now after reading Dear Sexy Ex-Boyfriend for leaving it so long. I love a friends to more romance almost as much as I love a fake fiancé storyline so I was super excited about this book and definitely went in with high hopes.
Summer and Oliver have been best friends since school. They’re extremely close, they talk often and just ‘get’ the other one. Summer sets things in motion when she writes a letter that ends up going viral, leaving Oliver scrambling to keep his client. What starts as a misunderstanding soon turns into a fake relationship. But just how fake is it really? It’s so obvious these two already have a fantastic friendship and the more of their fake relationship I saw, the more I wanted it to be real.
I absolutely loved this book. The characters are fantastic and it’s a fun, easy read that’s extremely entertaining. I don’t think I put this book down once. This is the first stand-alone book in the Guys Who Got Away series and I can’t wait for the next book!
Dear Sexy Ex-Boyfriend
By: Lauren Blakely
Narrated by: Shane East, Andi Arndt, Joe Arden, Kit Swann
How much fun is Summer’s letter? Summer and Oliver are childhood friends who in adulthood have developed a deep friendship. So much so that they are each other’s dates when needed. When Summer writes a letter with Oliver in mind for a contest in hopes of a windfall for her gym, it goes viral and now their lives are changing! Friends to lovers, these two have chemistry coming out in spades. It’s so evident with their history how their feelings evolve, and it’s a very warm and flirty feeling. Blakely has such a talent for writing feel good stories, and this one came at the best time. I especially loved the integration of social media and how the internet must be stopped! I was smiling knowing how true that can be! This one will make your heart sing and you will go an tweet about how much you loved it!
I can’t say enough good things about the pick of the narration team for this story. Andi Arndt always finds her character and gives her the exact personality the author intends. I love her connection with the story. Shane East is just so swoonworthy as Oliver. He pulls out all the stops. And the cameos by Kit Swann and Joe Arden just enhance the performance. It’s always good to hear them, and a treat when they pop in!
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I really enjoyed this book. The trope of friends to lovers is one of my favorites and this story delivered it brilliantly.
Summer is an independent woman with a full life. Family, friends, work and her plans to open her own business. This is why I loved her, because she was a strong, self assured woman. The only time she she got stupid was when Oliver kissed her and even that she hid well! Oliver and Summer have been friends since they were teenagers, so they have a close relationship and know each other well. The witty banter not only between them but with their friends was amusing. I laughed out loud at the text messages.
This book was witty, smart and clever. The story line flowed naturally and it was an easy and enjoyable read. I would definitely recommend this book!
I voluntarily reviewed this book after receiving a free copy.
This was such a breath of fresh air when it comes to what I’m reading these days.
It wasn’t dark, it wasn’t heavy, and it didn’t hurt. And that’s the best part of it.
Summer & Oliver have been friends for what seems to be their whole life, always there for one another, in all aspects of life.
Whether they were just friendly or helping each other escape potentially ugly situations, they had each other’s back.
A little unrequited love, a little bit of swoonworthy hero, a lot of mix up and some laugh out loud moments pushed this book firmly into 5 stars.
I genuinely enjoyed the experience.
Dear Sexy Ex-Boyfriend is not what you expect at all in the best way. This is not a second chance romance. Oliver and Summer never officially dated. They have been friends since high school; always helping each other with whatever is needed at the time. So, when Summer is asked to write a letter for a dating article, it is assumed she is speaking about Oliver. Everything begins spinning out of control after this. Oliver is forced to ask her to pretend to be his fiancée. There are many cutesy moments played out in front of prying eyes. But, things start to feel real too quickly for them. You could tell these two had an incredible connection. They were both easy to like. All the secondary characters were great. I especially enjoyed Oliver’s friendships with his guys. The story felt different than other friends to lovers, fake relationship books. I found it original, sweet, and fun. I’m looking forward to the next book in the series. I would definitely recommend this one.
*I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
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For those like me, who loves a good rom-com, Lauren Blakely is definitely our queen!
In a combination of best childhood friends and fake fiancé, Dear Sexy Ex-Boyfriend left nothing less than amazing.
Summer is an extrovert, optimistic, a half full glass kinda of person, and she dreams of setting up her own gym for the elderly.
Oliver is a successful, realistic, cocky and handsome (obviously) lawyer, and extremely attached to Summer, his long time best friend.
Both have an incredible relationship and daily presence in each other lives, and the book shows in a fun and sexy way, how the lines of this super well-built friendship begin to blur in something much deeper.
It was sweet, fun, hot and a swoon reading. No dramas here and with a perfect HEA!
I highly recommend!
ARC Reviewer
5 completely adorable and funny stars!
For the love of cupcakes, y’all, Oliver and Summer are the most adorable “non-couple” ever! Blakely serves up a ridiculously cute rom-com (that I’d totally watch!)in Dear Sexy Ex-Boyfriend.
Summer and Oliver have been best friends since grade school so they of course (duh!) have a prom pact to act as the other’s significant other when the situation calls for it. And the situation definitely calls for it when Summer accidentally pens an open letter making Oliver look like a horrible boyfriend, which of course goes viral in this strange internet driven world we live in. Now to make it up to him, she has to pose as his fake fiancé for a few weeks. Easy peasy, right? It was supposed to be easy, I mean, they know each other better than anyone. Only maybe they didn’t realize all the secrets their hearts kept from them along the way because all this fake stuff…feels awfully real!
This book was so sweet, it made my teeth ache! I loved all the characters (not just Oliver and Summer) and adored their banter. I read the book in one sitting and my only upset was it wasn’t longer! Bring on the next one!
AnnMarie – Alphas Do It Better Book Blog
When I started to read this book it was a instantly hit! It was everything I didn’t know I needed, funny from the prologue, witty, flirty, romantic and had the most amazing side characters. I loved them all. This best friends to lovers romance quickly become one of my favorite books of the year.
Summer and Oliver have known each other since they were teenagers, and have been best friends since then. Their dynamic is so refreshing, I absolutely adored their relationship and it was super fun to read their evolution and realization that they loved each other deeply.
Summer is a strong, funny and stubborn girl, but I loved her drive to conquer her business. I felt a good jealousy of her and I wish I could be friends of her too. And she had a crush on her best friend since forever but always hide the feeling.
I swoon hard over Oliver. There is no way I can tell everything here, but he is amazing. I’ve got my heart broken when I read what happened to his sister, Phoebe. And that only made his friendship with Summer even more special. He is a good heart lawyer who is willing to do everything to help his firm and his clients.
That’s where they start a fake fiancé ruse. And everything was perfection I freaking loved so much. I need to tell what happened with the book, one of the twitter post in the book described Oliver perfectly as: “That British lawyer? The one who looks like Tom Ellis and Chris Hemsworth had a love child and Harry Styles donated his hair to their baby?”! Come on… this is perfect. And when Oliver and Summer shared their first kiss, his reaction activated the perfect song in my head: Watermelon Sugar by Harry Styles. And now I can’t stop relating this song to them!
I’m so happy with this book and I’m utter happy that Logan and Fitz will have their own book. I hope to see more from Amelia, Logan’s daughter, she is so cute! Oliver and Summer are perfect together and this book is a must read.
Dear Sexy Ex-Boyfriend was the spicy hot read I needed in my life right now! Lauren Blakely writes some of the best in romantic series and her latest offering does not disappoint. It pulls you in from the beginning and keeps you there until the very last word. She has a magic in the way she writes her stories.
There was the perfect balance of funny and spice. You just can’t help but fall in love with her characters. Her characters draw you in and have you rooting for them. The chemistry between Oliver and Summer leaps off the pages. Friends to lovers is not my go to trope but Blakely does it so well. You will find yourself smiling along.
I am always all in for a story with great banter. I often judge how much I enjoy a story based on the banter. (let’s just say it was phenomenal in this story). Summer and Oliver are some of the best characters.
Summer, feisty, sassy, independent woman, you kind of want to be her.
Oliver was totally swoon worthy. He really has all the words and the sexy to back them up.
This was a 5/ 5 read for me. It was a fun quick and flirty read. It might be my new favorite from Lauren.
Summer and Oliver were exactly what I needed today. The connection they had at the start of their story was only a small taste of what was to come with them.
The banter between was fun and made me giggle several times and I loved how they kept that same banter when their relationship moved beyond best friend/best friend’s little sister status. I absolutely adored these 2, the perfect amount of entertaining banter, giggles, steamy moments and feels.
I loved the secondary characters too and I’m really looking forward to Logan and Fitz’s stories.