Working at Bliss, Sarah Harrison deals with all sorts of—interesting clientele. Yet no one sparks her interest more than Jared Gaines, the ultra-rich, ultra-sexy businessman who frequents her shop, buying delicate little “gifts” for the women in his life.But one day, Jared sends her a gift from Bliss. Then another—and another. So when Sarah walks into his office demanding to know why he can’t … he can’t stop sending her gifts, he makes her an offer she somehow can’t refuse: be his fake girlfriend for the weekend while attending his brother’s engagement party.
Next thing Sarah knows, she’s in San Francisco, pretending to be in love with Jared. Not that it’s a hardship. Once you get the man away from the office, he’s much more relaxed. Sweet. Funny. Even…thoughtful? Oh, and sexier than ever, of course.
Their pretend relationship feels very real, very quickly. Soon Sarah’s in over her head. Could what she and Jared share turn into something real? Or is it all actually…fake?
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Fake Date by Monica Murphy is the second book in her Dating series. This is the story of Sarah and Jared who first met at the high-end lingerie store where Sarah works. Part of her job at the store is to meet with clients and help them choose their lingerie purchases. Her meetings with Jared are guaranteed to be tense, filled with innuendo, and a frustrating turn-on. Not that either one will admit that. When Jared starts sending Sarah gifts she calls him out on his inappropriate behavior and gets invited to his brother’s engagement party in San Francisco. What ensues is intense chemistry, mixed feelings, self-doubt and wonderful romantic tale. Enjoy!
I 100% thoroughly enjoyed Fake Date. It was such a fun, sweet read. I loved Sarah who was a young woman with a huge amount of responsibility on her shoulders. Despite her age she had no qualms putting Jared in his place. Jared is a brooding, standoffish millionaire who keeps his family at arms length because of the past. When he meets Sarah at Bliss lingerie he’s quite taken with her and loves to get a rise out of her. When he asks her to be his fake date for his brother’s engagement party he is hoping that the attraction could be a lot more than fake. Can he let go of the past and show Sarah that he can and will man up or will their relationship go no further than their fake date.
**Received ARC through NetGalley. Voluntarily reviewed **
Sarah Harrison lost her parents in her first year of college. That meant she had to quit to take care of her younger brother and sister and become a parent to them. It certainly hasn’t been an easy road for her, but one that was necessary. Trying to make a living to support them without a degree, she gets a job at a lingerie shop called Bliss. Now years later, she is one of their most trusted employees. Most of her customers are women, with a few men. One in particular, Jared Gaines, is handsome and infuriating! For the past six months he’s been making appointments with her, assuming he’s buying for all his mistresses or one night stands. Sarah feels like he can’t stand her since he’s always so rude to her. One day when she returns home, Sarah finds a package from her store and it was sent by Jared. The actual lingerie she sold him that same day. She’s never been so confused in her life, what does this mean. However, that becomes the first of many gifts from Jared. Feeling the need to confront him at his office and return his gifts, Sarah decides to go before her shift at Bliss.
What she didn’t expect was his proposition. Jared needs her to be his fake date at his brother’s engagement party. After much convincing, Sarah agrees. Now she has to pretend to be his actual girlfriend. Pretending never felt so good.
Jared has had it bad for Sarah for months. Asking her to be his pretend girlfriend is a brilliant idea, if he could only convince her to make it more permanent.
This is actually a 3 and a half star rating. I’ve always enjoyed Ms Murphy’s books. However, this one just wasn’t one of my favorites. The dialogue between the two, was off, for me.
I received a copy of this arc in exchange for an honest review
Fake Love Fun.
Fake Dating seems to be the way of life. Never let them know exactly what you are feeling…
Jared appears to be a Ladies Man. He frequently purchased gifts for the women he was seeing. So when Sarah receives a gift from him, she is not impressed.
This gift starts the two off on a Fake Date to Jared’s brother’s engagement party. This causes them to spend time together, get to know each other, and learn about the other.
Fake love to Real love is definitely a great concept and I love how the characters progressed. This is a great read when you want to read about that new relationship story.
It was a meh read until I hit the 34% and then it got funny and entertaining, and the characters were adorable.
Sarah works in a lingerie shop called Bliss and for the past six months, she has been a personal shopper for Jared Gaines. He comes in once a month and buys very expensive pieces for the women he’s dating, or as Sarah calls them to get a rise out of him, his mistresses. They enjoy a hate and snarky flirtation, with Sarah teasing him, getting a rise out of him, and Jared behaving like an executive jerk with a total lack of humor. You notice they are both addicted to their love-hate sessions.
Eventually all this bickering turns into foreplay and Jared invites Sarah to be his date at his younger brother’s engagement party in San Francisco, two hours away. Sarah is intrigued and attracted so she goes. During the trip, they’re both in for surprises, as both characters have secrets, and when revealed, it changes their dynamics dramatically.
During the first half, I didn’t love the female character Sarah because she dithered all the time between pursuing something with Jared or not. She accepted gifts from him, then attempted to return them. She accepted to be friends, then reneged. She depended on her girlfriends support and counsel all the time before making a move. However, once she accepts the fake date and observes Jared with his family, she decides to help him with this family. She’s all heart and selfless and very wise. Jared is the same all the time: clueless; and when scared or tired or bored, acts like a jerk. He needed a lot of couching and Sarah was up to the task.
It was an entertaining read with humorous moments and lovable characters. The second part made up for the slow beginning.
Fake Date is the second book in the Dating series by Monica Murphy
The only thing that I didn’t like in this book was Jared. Yeah, it’s a major thing to not like, but I didn’t hate the book. I just had a strong dislike for him. His way of approaching Sarah was not a good one and I wasn’t sure what to think of him in the beginning. He is very arrogant and I don’t feel like I understood what was driving him for most of the book. Sarah is much more likable and logical, even if she was letting her siblings get away with pretty much everything. And speaking of siblings, I found myself having the same problem as I did in the first book. There is not much interaction between the main characters and the siblings. I think that the only reason Sarah spent so much time with Candice is because Candice is going to be the heroine of the next book in the series. Another question I have is about Jared’s net worth. I got the impression that he wasn’t very loaded, but people seem to think that he is.
Overall, I liked the book and I could get past Jared’s weirdness, so it wasn’t that bad. I would recommend the book!
Thank you to Social Butterfly and the author for an advanced copy. All opinions expressed are my own.
Fake Date
By: Monica Murphy
*REVIEW*
I’m torn about Fake Date. I did like the overall idea and most of the characters. The thing I didn’t like was the male lead, Jared. He’s the sexy brooding mysterious billionaire who frequently comes into the lingerie shop where Sarah, the female lead, works, and buys lingerie for his mistresses, presumably. One day, Jared sends some lingerie as a gift to Sarah, and he keeps sending more. Granted, she has met Jared in person, but she knows nothing about him. If a male acquaintance, purchasing lingerie mind you, sent this to me, I would call the cops because he’s obviously a creepy pervert. The premise is cute, and I understand its appeal; however, I just couldn’t make myself believe that any woman would think this is okay. Sarah does, though, and she agrees to be his fake date for a wedding. Jared sends inappropriate stalkerish gifts, so you go away alone somewhere with him??? Nooooo! Sarah is a grown woman with a lot of responsibility, but she does something stupid like this? It’s not believable enough for me. The story lost me after this because I could not connect with Sarah or the situation. Jared continued to be a jerk, and it was just too much ridiculousness. I did finish the story. I’m bummed because I wanted to like it so much more than I actually did. Unfortunately, I couldn’t squeeze enough reality out of the story to make it plausible and fun.
This book is a great read that you should not pass up. Sarah works at a lingerie store and she has a certain customer by the name of Jared that comes in and he is bothersome buy so handsome. Jared has been making purchases frequently but when he sees a chance to grab Sarah attention he goes for it. He needs a date for a family function and tag she is it. Sarah banter with her friends is funny and makes you want to be part of the friend group. The banter between Jared and Sarah is exciting. I found him to be a little mysterious at first and its interesting to see their relationship change. This is a great read all the way . It has a great flow to the story and well developed characters and cant wait for the next victim in The friend group!
Wow, I absolutely feel in love with Monica Murphy’s new romance Fake Date. The story is a witty and fun take on the fake girlfriend romance with strong lead characters who both may be a little broken but are perfect for each other, they just don’t know it yet.
Sarah Harrison is doing everything to make ends meet for her and her younger brother and sister, working at Bliss a lingerie shop is doing just that. As a personal shopper she has to pick out lingerie for her clients and her worst is Jared Gaines the rich but rude client who seems to buy unmentionables for his mistresses every other week. When the tables turn however and he sets his sights on Sarah everything changes and now he asks for her tobehsi Fake Date for his brothers engagement party. The question now becomes is this weekend away real or just a lie.
Jared Gaines doesn’t get close to anyone not even his family but the young and very beautiful Sarah Harrison has gotten under his skin like no else has in a long time. Determined to get to know her Jared thinks going away together is a great opportunity that is until Sarah turn his world upside down.
The Dating series is fast becoming my all time favorite of Ms Murphy’s and that is saying a lot. The characters are vulnerable but also very strong in how they are and I loved that. Told in dual POVs we get to see both sides of the story which is great. There are also fantastic secondary characters both whom we have met before in book 1 but also Jared’s little sister who I believe has a book other own coming up. That being said this is definitely Jared and Sarah’s book and it’s a page turner from the start.
This was a pretty cute little story, and I really like the cover of the book as well. There was the whole hate to love bit at the beginning. The whole build up though was pretty sexy. And the chemistry between Sarah and Jared was hot. Both families were really good ones, and I enjoyed their parts in the story. Sarah’s friends were also fun, and I think I need to go back and read book 1, as well as looking forward to reading more of their stories in future books. It was a quick, easy read, with lots of steam and romance all around. Honestly I liked that even the people we thought would be the “bad guy” were actually just normal people when given the chance to give their side.
This is becoming one of my favorite series. I like the setting of Seaside/Monterey. I especially like how the heroines in the series are strong women who support each other. This time, we get Sarah, who works at Bliss, a lingerie store. Her romantic interest–well, the attractive guy, but a jerk–is Jared. Of course, you know from the title that there is a “fake date” involved, this time to an engagement party in San Francisco. The couple has to work through some family-related stumbling blocks and, as usual, there are a few misunderstandings, but there is a HEA. Overall, it is an enjoyable book with good characters, and I look forward to the next in the series. This review was written based on a complimentary, digital ARC of the book.
I loved everything about this story!
Enemies to lovers is my favorite trope and I was dying of happiness while I was readi g Fake Date because of how well done the hateful/flirty banter between Sarah and Jared was. We have scenes full of hatred, hilarious ones, and of course, scenes that made my heart burst and had me swooning all the time. Their connection is undeniable and their chemistry is explosive. The build up in their relationship is real, and all I wanted was for them to finally realize and accept how they belong together.
Cute, funny and sizzling.
3.75 stars!
Sarah Harrison works at Bliss, an upscale lingerie store. Jared Gaines is a regular customer and Sarah is his personal lingerie shopper. Jared buys a lot of lingerie for his “mistresses,” but when he sends a matching set to Sarah, she is baffled. Certain the gift is a mistake, Sarah confronts Jared only to be blindsided with a tempting proposal. Being his fake date to his brother’s engagement party would give her the opportunity to get away and explore San Francisco. So, even if it’s strange to spend the weekend with a guy she barely knows, she accepts, and is whisked away for a weekend.
I love pretend relationships and I loved the plot for Fake Date. Sarah and Jared seem like complete opposites. Where Sarah is friendly and warm, Jared is cold and closed off. When he shops at Bliss, they love to get on each other’s nerves, and as much as they like to pretend they are not attracted to each other, there’s no hiding the lust they both feel. I knew it was only a matter of time before they caved and I was excited to see how the story would unfold.
Sarah tries to hold her ground and ignore Jared’s charm but there is just something about him she can’t ignore. The attraction is undeniable and the banter is entertaining. The already present sexual tension from their appointments at Bliss only intensifies when she is with him for the weekend, and when the fake date turns real, sparks fly.
“I’m playing with fire, I know I am. And I’m either going to enjoy the heat this weekend or I’m going to get burned.”
But Jared has been hurt in the past and permanently tearing down his walls may be too hard for Sarah. When a secret comes out Jared and Sarah hit a bump in the road and they must decide if their new relationship is worth fighting for.
I liked Sarah from the get go. Hardworking and selfless, she is a good person, and she is good for Jared. She lightens his mood and makes him relax in a way he hasn’t been able to in a long. There were times when I thought she was a bit immature and out of touch with certain things but I have to remind myself that she is in her early 20’s and she hasn’t experienced a lot since she’s been taking care of her siblings for several years.
It took me a little longer to warm up to Jared. He was so hot and cold in the beginning that I almost got whiplash. However, after a while he shows us what’s beneath his mask and I can understand where he is coming from even if I don’t always agree with his actions. He can be so great to Sarah and he definitely brings on the swoon at times, I just wish he let the sweet side come out more often.
“I want you to be my date for life.”
Overall, Fake Date is a funny, sexy romance, and I can’t wait for more from the Dating series. Candace’s story, Holidate is coming soon!
3.5 stars–FAKE DATE is the second instalment in Monica Murphy’s contemporary, adult DATING romance series. This is thirty four year old, acquisitions billionaire Jared Gaines, and twenty four year old, lingerie sales clerk Sarah Harrison’s story line. FAKE DATE can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story line is revealed where necessary.
Told from dual first person perspectives (Jared and Sarah) FAKE DATE focuses on the building relationship between thirty four year old, acquisitions billionaire Jared Gaines, and twenty four year old, lingerie sales clerk Sarah Harrison. For close to six months Sarah Harrison has been the go-to personal shopper for businessman Jared Gaines, a man whose taste in lingerie is exquisite and expensive. Believing Jared is nothing more than a manwh*re with numerous mistresses Sarah remains overly professional in the face of her unwanted attraction to a man she doesn’t like. When gifts of lingerie, expensive shoes and flowers arrive at Sarah’s door, our heroine battles between head and heart believing Jared is treating her no better than the women he leaves behind but Jared need a plus-one for his brother’s engagement party, and Sarah is the perfect woman for the job. What ensues is the fake girlfriend but building romance and relationship between Sarah and Jared, and the potential fall –out when Jared’s secrets all but destroy Sarah’s faith in a possible happily ever after.
Jared Gaines doesn’t do relationships; having been burned in the past, Jared refuses to fall in love, having hardened his heart to romance and love. Meeting Sarah Harrison sparks something deep within our story line hero, something Jared struggles to accept or acknowledge. Sarah Harrison has raised her younger brother and sister since the death of their parents four years earlier. Having spent no time on herself Sarah battles with Jared’s offer of a fake relationship knowing that her heart has already started to fall for the man who struggles with family and friends. Watching Jared falter with basic social skills, Sarah quickly discovers that Jared has closed himself off from said family and friends.
Jared’s personality and actions will be difficult to accept for many romance readers. Oft-times immature and cold, Jared struggles with ordinary and everyday social encounters including his treatment of our story line heroine. Demanding and petulant, almost child-like in nature, Jared steps over the line on one too many occasions, and Sarah must remind him about his poor behaviour, and treatment of other people, and herself.
The relationship between Jared and Sarah begins as a business arrangement wherein Sarah becomes Jared’s personal shopper at Bliss Lingerie. Jared’s attraction to Sarah finds our hero ‘using’ Sarah to ‘shop’ for his many ‘women’, only for Sarah to discover that she has been the only woman for several months. The $ex scenes are passionate and intimate but mostly implied, without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.
There is a large ensemble cast of colorful secondary and supporting characters including Sarah’s sister Andie, and their brother Brent; and Sarah’s co-worker Bethany, and boss Marlo; Jared’s brother Kevin and his fiancée Rochelle, their sister Candice, their father Marcus Gaines, and his wife Mitzi. We are reintroduced to Sarah’s friends: Caroline Abbott ( Save the Date #1), Stella, and Kelsey.
FAKE DATE is a story of family, grief, acceptance and love. The premise is entertaining; the romance is seductive; the characters are energetic but Jared’s actions and behavior are questionable and problematic.
If you haven’t picked up FAKE DATE by Monica Murphy, you definitely need to!! An absolutely sexy and very bossy hero, a witty and relatable heroine, lots of lingerie, and a fake date. You seriously need this book in your life!!
Peeps I loved this book. I even liked it better than Save the Date. There was something a bit naughtier about this book. Sure it had some smexy times in it but its the job that Sarah has and how Jared interacts with her that set the tone and mood of the book. Selling upscale lingerie can’t be easy for anyone but when you have a client that buys it for his so-called mistresses and then being on the receiving in of those gifts. What’s a girl to do?
Jared is positively AWESOME in the book. I read from Ms. Murphy that she actually had to tone him down and honestly, I would have liked to have read that version. He is not a very nice person in the book but there was something about him that I couldn’t shake. I liked that he was subtle in his pursuit of Sarah. The hate/love banter between them at the beginning of the book is priceless. You know going in that the trope is a fake relationship but Ms. Murphy does a great job of putting a different spin on it. Both Jared and Sarah come from different backgrounds but still feel the pain of losing a parent that has shaped them into what they are now.
Jared still acts like a sullen teenager when it comes to his family. I get that, truly I do, but it’s not until Sarah is thrown into the mix that he realizes that he just needs to grow up. And the whole ex-fiance bit? Again, honestly, I found that I bit contrived for me. Plus, the fact that Sarah didn’t hear it from Jared made me mad. On the flip side, I found the ex-finance actually nice to Sarah. She could have a been a diva but she wasn’t. Jared didn’t even blink an eye when Sarah told him about her siblings which I thought was a bit weird but also endearing. It made no difference to him in the end. I would have loved to read the scenes when they met though. A teenage girl meeting Jared? Priceless.
Sarah is a great character. She was a hard worker but also overwhelmed at the same time. She never gave up and with the help of her besties, she got through it. I loved the besties. Protective but at the same time, hilarious. The feelings that she had for Jared were genuine. Hate and love are two very powerful emotions and I felt like Sarah really enjoyed Jared coming into Bliss every week. Would she ever admit it? Nope, but it doesn’t matter. She just didn’t understand why HE liked her. Getting these two on the same page was a blast.
These two were perfect for each other. They balanced each other out and I really wished the book was longer. Yes, I enjoyed it that much. The grouch and the beauty. At least that’s what I’m calling them. Ms. Murphy knows how to write a seemingly mismatched couple and makes it work. Jared and Sarah don’t disappoint and I can’t wait for Jared’s sister’s book next month. Maybe I’ll get a little follow up. Please?!?!?!?!?!
I thought this was cute from start to finish and read this pretty much in one sitting. I loved the back and forth between Sarah and Jared, and how just below the surface feelings weren’t quite so antagonistic, despite their outward behavior towards each other. I have to admit I was a bit skeeved that he was going into Bliss seemingly to purchase lingerie for his lovers while feeling some type of way about Sarah, until it all began to click for me what he was actually doing.
I have nothing but respect for Sarah, being the one to step up and take care of her two younger siblings after the untimely deaths of their parents; and at a relatively young age, she’s not been able to be the typical twentysomething who can just let loose and have a fantastic time with life. I love that she’s got a great support system in her close group of friends who give her sound advice and will also poke fun at her out friendship and love.
Jared works for the family business although he does his best to avoid his family, with the exception of his younger sister Candice who pretty much inserts herself into his life. He’s blunt to the point of being rude, and Sarah seems to be the one to call him out on his behavior. One thing I did wonder about while reading this was if Jared was always as rude as he is, or is that a manifestation of the loss of one parent, the subsequent second marriage by the surviving parent and what happened with his previous relationship.
As with the formula for these stories, there’s always the buildup to what’s going to happen to throw a curveball into the budding relationship and that does happen and I can say it’s definitely all on Jared; no one should be blindsided the way Sarah was (unless it’s the story’s antagonist, they always deserve that).
4.5 stars!!
This author never disappoints!! This book was fun and sweet, with just enough angst to shake things up. Jared and Sarah were absolutely adorable and won my heart from the very beginning.
Sometimes you just start a book and you know immediately that you’ll love it. That’s what happened to me with Fake Date. The first few pages and Sarah and Jared already had me under their spell and the more I’ve read the better and more emotional it got. I was totally rooting for Sarah and Jared. This book is definitely something else! I fell totally in love with the characters and their story. It’s not one of those overused fake relationship books, no it’s real.
Sarah and Jared were two amazing characters. Sarah is sweet, independent, loyal and even a little stubborn. And Jared… Well he’s Hot! Hot and sexy, and also mysterious, generous and even at times a little bit frustrating but damn did I love him. He was just the perfect hero. And together they were just the perfect couple and I loved their story.
Fake Date came out even better than the first book. And it’s definitely better than I thought. I never imagined that I’d fall so in love with Sarah amd Jared, but I did, and believe me it’s worth the ride.
Fake Date is a beautiful and heartfelt story and I can’t wait what’s coming next in this series.
Fake Date was one of those books that will have you smiling like a fool, this was such a sweet read. Sarah and Jared had this instant connection that left me smiling, swooning, and loving every second of it. Jared is the type of guy that knows what he wants, he doesn’t hide nor run when things get hard. Sarah was just amazing, I loved her right from the start, she has the biggest hear and I love just how she takes care of her siblings.
These two were amazing, I loved the way Monica made us fall for each character and their story. Another must read from Monica Murphy.