Don’t trust lust at first sight. One woman chooses reality over fantasy in this friends-to-lovers romance, a steamy standalone by “an author to keep your eye on” (Katee Robert). Jacqueline: As an adult woman—and the vice president of a marketing firm—I shouldn’t be waiting by my office window to ogle the mystery man who jogs by every morning at 11:45. Sure, he’s a gorgeous, perfect specimen of … he’s a gorgeous, perfect specimen of the human race, but I can’t bring myself to hit on a total stranger. However, my best friend–slash–colleague Vince Carson thinks I should do more than talk to the guy. In fact, he’s borderline obsessive about “getting me laid.” (His words.) But the more time we spend together, the more it’s clear: The one I’m falling for is Vince.
Vince: Jackie Butler’s got it bad for some pompous, over-pumped A-hole who struts his stuff past her window. That doesn’t bother me. I know she deserves nice things. What does bother me is that she friend-zoned me big-time last year, so I can’t ask her out myself. But what if I set her up with Mr. Steroids? Then, when he breaks her heart, I can swoop in and save her like the nice guy I am. Everything’s going according to plan . . . until we share a ridiculously epic kiss. And suddenly anything is possible.
Look for Jessica Lemmon’s standalone romances with heartfelt HEAs:
FIGHTING FOR DEVLIN | FORGOTTEN PROMISES | SHUT UP AND KISS ME | EYE CANDY | ARM CANDY | MAN CANDY | RUMOR HAS IT
Praise for Eye Candy
“Friends-to-lovers story get your mojo going? Then, be sure to take a look at Eye Candy.”—The Romance Reviews
“This is the first novel in the Real Love series and what a great start. It’s enjoyable, frisky, and highly entertaining.”—What’s Better Than Books?
“Eye Candy is a humorous and sexy friends-to-lovers and workplace romance. Jessica Lemmon entertained with the dialogue and interactions among a strong cast of characters. Ms. Lemmon created a nice balance of friendship and romance with good character development. Fans of Liora Blake and Mari Madison will enjoy Eye Candy.”—Harlequin Junkie
“Such a cute romance between Jackie and Vince. A friends-turned-lovers story . . . I really enjoyed this one. Can’t wait to read book two, Arm Candy. I’m hoping [in that] one Davis will find love. I would recommend this one to my romance book friends.”—Island of Reading
“Eye Candy was a very realistic, cute story. I enjoyed the writing, the characters and real-life issues between the two main characters. Phenomenal read.”—Nay’s Pink Bookshelf (five stars)
“I liked this book, I loved Vince.”—A Crazy Vermonter’s Book Reviews
This standalone novel includes an excerpt from another Loveswept title.
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“‘Once upon a time’ always starts with bumbling, if you think about it.”
“That’s what makes the ‘happily ever after’ so worth it.”
I thinking reading a book by one of your favorite authors is one of the best things EVER to finish a really bad week. It just makes you feel good inside. Jessica Lemmon is indeed one of my favorite authors, and this book is probably going down as one of my favorites written by her.
Fans of friends to lovers? This is for you. You’re very welcome.
“Our fingers weave together like our hands were made for each other. Sappy, but no less true.”
These characters are just incredible, because they are flawed. These are not people who live a perfect little life – they have it just as bad (and good, and in-between) as you and me.
I adore Vince. What’s not to like? He has this great sense of humor, great taste in movies, he’s an amazing friend, he’s hot and he’s just a genuinely nice guy. A nice guy who was dumped by his ex-wife and needed to pick up the pieces of his life to go on without her.
Jackie is such a strong person and I don’t think she gives herself enough credit. She was cheated on by her ex. As a consequence, she’s shut herself off from the world, especially when it comes to dating, and men. The exception being Vince – her best friend, and someone who’s been there for her just as much as she’s been there for him.
What if one of them feels a tiny bit more than friendship towards the other? What if said person pushes the other into dating someone else in a weird (and frankly dumbass) plan to win the other in the end?
What if it actually works? What then?
“I still think you can do better.”
“Well, probably. (…) But you’re the one I’m in love with, so I guess I’ll have to make it work.”
More than friends to lovers, this is a book about letting go, and trusting. It’s a seriously heartwarming story about two people who need to take a leap of faith to reach their forever, which can include a lifetime of picking up the other’s wet towel from the bathroom floor. And so be it.
When you’ve been burned before, being able to openly trust another person is harder than ever. But not trusting, and not taking a chance, can often lead to missing out on certain things. And on love.
So happy I read this one! I need to read the rest of the series now.
Eye Candy is a sweet, sexy friends to lovers story. Jackie (Jacqueline) and Vince are friends and colleagues who share the title of VP of marketing. Both have been hurt badly by exes in the past, and aren’t really looking for another relationship. Jackie drools over a hot guy who runs past her office window every morning at around 11:45 and Vince decides he’s going to help set her up to talk to the guy so that “First, it’ll get her over the ‘no dating ever’ phase she’s mired in, and second, it’ll get her to see me as potential dating material.” Because, what Jackie doesn’t know, is that lately Vince has started noticing her as more than just one of his best friends. He’s attracted to her pretty, girl-next-door look and her classy sense of style.
Of course you just know that Vince’s plan is going to come with the potential to blow up in both their faces, but can their friendship handle it? Can they navigate the treacherous waters of a friendship turned lovers?
I like Eye Candy. It’s sweet and sexy and both Jackie and Vince are engaging, likable characters, especially Vince. I think it lagged a tiny bit around the middle, but I was still fully entertained by it. Now I’m very much looking forward to the next two stories in this series.
Eye Candy was my first read from Jessica Lemmon and I had such a fun time. Before I even get into the actual story, I just have to say that Lemmon made herself a new fan the second she referenced Hart of Dixie. I was already enjoying the book but I was sold at that point!
The banter between Vince and Jacqueline was fun, flirty and down right delicious. Add that to their building sexual tension and I was hooked from the start. Even if you didn’t read the blurb and went in completely blind, you can tell that it would end up with these two in love from the start.
Eye Candy is told in a dual POV that provides us with a lot of color on both of their feeling towards each other. Which I think added a lot to the overall storyline. We get to see where Jacqueline is looking at Vince a bit more and we get to see just how much Vince has been looking at Jacqueline. From the start, I wanted these two together. Sure, this book starts off with Jacqueline ogling that smoking hot man who runs past her window but it involves into so much more.
This is a fun friends to lovers romance that will suck you in from the start and having you laughing, your heart aching for love and you body tingling. It also sets up the next book really well. From the moment we meet Davis, I wanted more. I can’t wait to get my hands on his story.
I’m so glad I got to read this book and I think I’ve found a new author that will keep me coming back for more and more!
3.5 bumped to 4 because of snark! OK, Eye Candy is total Brain Candy. This is a fun and snarky best friends to lovers story that will have you smiling throughout the entire book.
Jackie and Vince are co-VPs at the same marketing company. They’ve been best friends since Vince’s divorce three years prior to the opening of Eye Candy. Jackie had been recently divorced when she first met Vince. Even though she found him to be eye candy, she knew he was off limits. He was very happily married. Then suddenly, he wasn’t. Jackie knew what being the dumpee was like and she offered a shoulder for Vince to vent, sometimes cry, on. Before either of them realized it, they were spending Friday nights on the couch together, sharing beers and pizza, while watching movies. They were besties.
Then Hot Running Guy comes along and Jackie is suddenly smashing her face up against her office window to get a look. Every morning. Vince catches her, razzes her endlessly, and then realizes it really bothers him. Hmmm. What to do when Jackie comes to him for advice about how to meet Hot Running Guy? Hmmm. Vince can play this several ways. And he does throughout the book. It’s fun to watch the two dance around one another before they figure it out. But can they truly do what they each want without destroying what they’ve already got?
This series is going to be Brain Candy and pure fun.
I had never read Jessica Lemmon prior to Eye Candy and now I want to read all the books! Eye Candy is a charming, friends to lovers romance in the Real Love Trilogy.
Jackie Butler is a single, co-vice president at a marketing firm. She has been divorced for a few years now and is very unsuccessful at dating. Jackie can’t find anyone who measures up to what she’s looking for. She spends most of her time with her good friend from work Vince, who is also a divorcee.
Vince Carson is the other co-vice president, and Jackie’s friend. Vince has been in the friend zone for so long now, he thinks he’ll never get out. So when Jackie shows interest in a gentleman who runs past her work office daily, Vince convinces her to make a move. And when Jackie makes that move, everything changes. Vince has ulterior motives to get Jackie and the runner together…to make her see that Vince is what she’s been looking for all along.
Jackie and Vince are so wonderful together. They are playful, fun and downright sexy! While good friends, there are so many trials and tribulations they have to go through to make a relationship work. Some issues can be worked out, yet some may make or break their relationship and friendship.
I love a good friends to lovers romance and this is definitely one of them! I am looking forward to book 2 in the series, Arm Candy which is the story of Vince’s friend, Davis!!
So much fun and snark in this friends to lover story! Jackie Butler is enamored with the man who runs past her window every morning at the same time. Who is he? What does he do? She knows he lives in her apartment complex and his name from his mailbox but that is all. Vince Carson is the co-VP with Jackie and they have been friends and lately he has been having more than friends feelings. Will his plan to help “coach” Jackie on dating bring them closer or push her to someone else? This story made me laugh and wince for the characters because they were really dumb but that is what happens when you don’t talk to each other. I definitely had a great time reading this one and look forward to the next one in this series.
I really liked this story, although I got a bit impatient about 2/3 in. It was fun and romantic. I would definitely recommend it, and I’m looking forward to the next one that comes out in the fall.
A very good read. I loved this and can’t wait for the other one to be released.
Jacqueline Butler is intrigued by the gorgeous guy who runs past her office window every day and she’s recently learned they live in the same complex. Her past is keeping her from allowing herself to be open to a new relationship.
Vince Carson has been so caught up in his friendship with his Co-VP it isn’t until he sees her interest in someone else that he actually sees her. He’s still reeling from the loss of his marriage and can’t seem to move forward.
This is a sweet story about two people who want the same thing but are afraid to take the next step because they bear the scars of their pasts. I really liked the development of the story and watching the characters grow. The transformations were beautifully written. I enjoyed discovering more about the characters as the story unfolded rather than being given most of it upfront.
I found the flow of the story worked well and was well-developed. I found the characters to be realistic.
This is the first book I’ve read by this author and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Everyday at 11:45 a.m. heaven is bestowed upon Jackie Butler’s eyes, a shirtless blonde god jogs past her office window and gives her eyes a treat and speeds up her heart rate…. but as of yet he has no idea she even exists. She’d love nothing more than to be the girl in his life, but working up the courage to talk to him is a whole other story. She has been burnt bad, and so her love life has been on hiatus, but with a little encouragement from her best friend and co-VP things might be back on… with a little coaching of course. With the help of Vince, her best friend, she finds a way to lure Mr. Sexy Jogger in, but once she has him she realizes, she might have lured in the wrong guy, and one that she really wanted was located in an office beside hers all along!
Vince Carson has watched his best friend pine over a jerk jogger for the last few months and as much as it irks him, he wants her to be happy so he tries to help her out and land the man that has captured her interest. He would much rather have her pining over him, but she doesn’t seem to see more than friendship with him, so it’s pointless in holding out hope… right? Little by little he teaches her what it takes to land her man, but once she has him, Vince’s urge to come between them grows stronger. and before long he is creating ways to steal her away from the dumb jock. Then by sheer luck the dumb jock makes a critical mistake, and breaks Jackie’s heart, and guess who has the opportunity to swoop in and save the day…and mend her heart.
I loved these two SO much, from the moment I met them I didn’t want to leave them until I had devoured every delicious word of their story… and wow what a tasty little treat it turned out to be!! One of my favorite tropes is friends to lovers and I have to say this one definitely ranked high among my list of favorites, it was sweet, sexy, and so much fun to read!! I highly recommend you pick up this book, once you’ve finished you will dying to get your hands on the next one in the series… I know I am!! Be prepared for a steamy, heartfelt and highly enjoyable literary adventure!!
For the first time in my Jessica Lemmon reading history, I didn’t give one of her books 5-Stars. Dude. I’m as shocked as you are. I know that it’s really not that big of a deal, I gave this one 4-Stars. That’s close to the same, right? It is but at the same time, it’s no where near the same.
I don’t think that there was any ONE thing that made me shake my head and say nope to a five star rating. The concept of the book was interesting … you have these two friends … Jackie has hard-core friend-zoned poor Vince and she’s interested in this sweaty buff runner dude. Vince (being the genius that he is) decides that he is going to help Jackie get said sweaty buff runner dude and Vince thinks that he’ll be there to pick up the pieces when Jackie’s heart gets broken. Which, if we’re being honest, is a depressing thought. Pretty sure it would just be easier to tell Jackie that he likes her rather than pushing her towards another dude but hey, who am I to say what would be easier … I have ovaries and common sense. Most of the time. Anyway, so I don’t need to tell you how things worked out with Jackie and sweaty buff runner dude.
I liked the characters okay. I actually liked Vince more than I liked Jackie. I don’t know if it’s because I felt badly for Vince and his idiotic ideas or what. Come on, who doesn’t love an underdog. I did find myself both rolling my eyes and rooting for Vince during each sentence. Jackie kind of annoyed me … I just wanted her to make out with Vince and his sexy tattoos already.
Maybe that’s what my issue with the book was … it wasn’t the book itself, you know, the meat of the story … no, not Vince’s meat, you perv. The foundation of the story was amazing. Maybe it was my frustration towards Jackie and her tunnel vision for sweaty buff runner dude. Honestly, we’ve all been there, I’m sure. You have a close friend that you don’t see as being a sexual entity who happens to be made for you and you only focus on the handsome shell of a man that for some reason, you just have to have but then you get it and you realize that you don’t want it.
Anyway … if you could read between my random tangents, I liked the book. It was good. Because Jackie is a blind donkey, I didn’t LOVE the book but it was one that I would read again. Maybe I just need to give it a couple of months and give this one a shot again. I don’t want to break my 5-Star rating streak for all Lemmon books, right?
* I received this novel in exchange for an honest review *