“When I kissed you last night, I wasn’t pretending.”Everly Dalton is a walking, talking, martini-drinking dating disaster. Forget kissing frogs. She can’t even get past the first date. But at work, she’s a badass—the longest-running assistant billionaire Shepherd Calloway has ever had. Her coworkers wonder how she handles the big bad wolf—and never gets bit. Shepherd Calloway isn’t interested in …
Shepherd Calloway isn’t interested in being anyone’s sugar daddy. Tired of women who only want him for his money, he swears off dating, determined to focus on running his empire. Until his gold-digging ex hits him where it hurts, putting him in a difficult position.
His solution—to have Everly pose as his live-in girlfriend—is obviously crazy. But the timing is uncanny. It just so happens Everly needs a favor from her boss—a big and awkward one—and this could ensure everyone gets what they want.
Besides, Everly can totally survive a few months of faux romance.
Except there’s a problem. Shepherd is supposed to be a single-minded, unemotional robot boss. Not an actual human with a heart and morning wood. Between the awkward bed-sharing and tingly fake dates, lines are blurring. And as Everly gets to know the real Shepherd, she discovers there’s more to the man behind the bank account.
And faking it gets all too real.
Faking Ms. Right is a hot, STAND-ALONE romantic comedy.
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Too much fun!
I loved every single word of this book! Everly Dalton falling in love with her cold boss should have been stale and redundant, but Claire Kingsley made it new and fresh and oh, so hot!
There was nothing I did not love about this book, and this couple. The secondary characters were fun and supportive, the conflict was imaginative, and the resolution was the swooniest thing ever!
OMG, I floved this book! Everly is a beautiful, sweet, likeable, smart optimist with a touch of sarcasm. Shepherd seems like a cold, emotionless robot but we quickly learn he is so much more. I adored this book. Love the glimpses of the Kingsleyverse and Shepherd’s family and Everly’s friends, oh so perfect. Loved, loved, loved!!
Everly Dalton is billionaire Shepherd Calloway’s assistant. She has seen the revolving door of women who want to sink their claws in him…one of them is his ex, Kim…
Their boss/employee relationship is in perfect…she does her job, and does it well. He appreciates her keeping him organized…even if he doesn’t let her know. He is a grouchy man, she is a happy woman who would love nothing more than to make him smile.
Everly agrees to fake date him, just so he is “off the market”.
“Oh my god, I was in bed with my boss.”
Shepherd is determined to keep this as “business” as possible.
“I was an addict, and she was my secret dealer.”
Faking Ms. Right (Dirty Martini Running Club book 1) was full of moments of heat, heartbreak, love, and emotions. The storyline was perfect! All of the characters were fantastic! I loved this book a lot and would completely recommend it! 5 stars from me for Author Claire Kingsley!!!
Refreshing! Love that Everly was so sunny and so professional and optimistic… loved all the characters..excellent job!!
Sweet! Sexy! And laugh out loud funny! What more could you ask for?!
4.5 stars for Faking Ms. Right by Claire Kingsley. This is book 1 in the Dirty Martini Running Club. I have read a few books from Claire Kingsley and this book is one of my favorites. I am a big fan of romantic comedies and this one hit just the right spot. It had some serious moments and had some moments that had me laughing my ass off. I loved every second of it. Everly had been Shepherds assistant for three years and she has never thought about him in any other way than as her boss. HE never showed any emotion or anything to anyone in the office. Shepherd has never really thought about Everly as more than his assistant. That all changes when he needs a woman to pretend to be his fake girlfriend. In comes Everly and damn does he notice her now. He needs Everly to pretend to be his live-in girlfriend to keep away his ex-girlfriend. What happens when feeling start to change. This book was great , I can not say enough how much you should read this book. I loved every second of it.
A great start to the series…
I’m a sucker for a millionaire/billionaire hero. If you add in that he’s an aloof, arrogant and bossy hero, you’ve caught me hook, line and sinker. I really enjoyed reading Faking Ms. Right and I finished the story with a big goofy smile and a sigh of contentment. I met and was intrigued with Everly and Shepherd when I read the prequel, Everly Dalton’s Dating Disasters. This poor woman has faced some horrific first dates and I completely understood her initial reticence in looking for love. Shepherd comes across as an unemotional robot who’s working life takes precedence to everything. When Shepherd needs a favour, he does not hesitate to call on the most capable woman he’s acquainted with, his assistant, Everly.
At first, I was a little icy towards Shepherd, but to be honest, he was just as icy back. He doesn’t want me to get close to him to see if he has a gooey inside. As times goes on, we get to know Shepherd better and realise that his iciness is really a protective shell. With a winning smile, strawberry shampoo and a wee bit of heat, Everly manages to melt his hard shell.
I found Faking Ms. Right the perfect mix of humour, sigh-worthy loveliness and sexy hot shenanigans. Everly’s friends are an absolute CRACK UP. I can’t wait for them to get their own stories. Shepherd’s family, especially his Dad were lovable and at times, it was hard to believe they were related. Shepherd’s ex was a psycho chicken and I hated every scene we had to deal with her and her beautiful butt. There was a wee bit of conflict and frustration but it never overtook the storyline and I knew that Everly and Shepherd were always going to make it to the end and beyond.
Claire Kingsley is quickly becoming one of my favourite contemporary romance authors and I’m going to check out her backlog. Her writing flows well, characters are engaging and sexy times HOT without being OTT.
I really enjoyed Faking Ms. Right and if you haven’t tried Claire Kingsley yet, this would be a great introduction. If you’re a fan of office romances, and quite partial to a rich, handsome and bossy hero, I highly suggest giving this one a go.
Shephard, is a man who is swearing off women.
All they do is use him for his money.
He has just broken up with his latest fling and sent her off on a nice vacation.
The only problem is, she went after his father, who happens to own a resort.
Everly Dalton, is an assistant for the illusive Shephard Calloway.
She had survived three years. No one has ever done that.
She is like a breath of fresh air.
Everyone loves her with her bright smile and captivating personality, what’s not to love.
When her boss asks her to step in as his girlfriend she does it.
Her sister has her sights set on Shephard, as possibly being a sperm donor, and asked her, to help broker the deal.
Everly, has had one dating disaster after another, so when her boss asked her to move in, because his father will be moving in with him also due to financial woes and cancer and along with seeing his ex who he believes is just using his dad to get close to him, she figures why not. It can’t be any worse than her dating disasters.
Only one problem, when Shephard starts to feel, he lets his guard down with Everly.
Everly, also can’t help but fall for the real man Shephard is showing her that he really is.
This is a happy ever after story with a great storyline. It has all the feels.
Looking forward to the next one.
I need to begin with how much I adore Everly’s character. She’s funny, sassy, and doesn’t take any crap especially from her boss. I found out this week that there’s a prequel to this book all about Everly Dalton’s Dating Disasters which of course I bought right away! I’m hoping to squeeze in between my next ARC.
A terrific read! Great beginning to the Dirty Martini Running Club series. I added this book to my re-read list!
Everly has a horrible boss. She knows how to handle him and has been for three years. She’s quite proud of the fact that she’s his longest running executive assistant for Shepherd Calloway. Everly needs to figure out how to tell her sister no. Especially with what her beloved sister Miranda is asking of her. A late night phone call changes everything. She sees her boss in a completely different light. Sadly, he’s no longer the gorgeous, boring, robot.
Shepherd needs help–immediately. He was looking forward to attending this event as a single man–until he’s introduced to his ex as his father’s new girlfriend. He needs a smart sexy woman on his arm–five minutes ago in order to keep his ex away from him. He knows the gold-digger is only using his father to get back with him. That woman doesn’t know the meaning of “no.” He orders his assistant to the venue dressing sexy. Over the line–possibly…okay completely. Desperate times. Everly shows up in a sizzling hot red dress that shocks him. More so, she’s charming. Oh yeah and saved his butt. He can’t get her or that dress out of his mind. He hates to ask more of her but he does –for his father. One of only two men, he would do anything for. His father is going through enough without dealing with the fight with a gold digger. Besides as brother pointed out, his father never keeps the young ones for more than a few weeks. Let him have his fun while he can. That means pretending to be with Everly. The more time he spends with Everly outside of the office the more he develops feelings for her. At least, he thinks those are feelings. He’s never truly been in love before. He has to ask his older brother advice on what that’s like. Their entire relationship is fake.
How can he convince her to make it real?
I first “met” Everly Dalton in a series of bad date shorts in Ms Kinglsey’s newsletters and loved her. (By the way, they have all been compiled into a free prequel book, Everly Dalton’s Dating Disasters. I highly recommend reading it. The stories are hilarious!)
Everly’s dating life may be a series of horrendous first dates, but at work she is the best assistant Shepherd Calloway has ever had. He usually scares them off within weeks but Everly has kept his life running for three years. When he finds himself in need of a pretend date, she is his first call. And after getting bad news about his father’s health, they continue the ruse with Everly moving into his home.
Everly and her boss aren’t friends, but she feels protective of him, especially with all the gold-digging women using him for his name and his bank account. She agrees to help him out. She is surprised by the side of Shepherd he keeps hidden, and he likes the color she brings into his life.
I loved this book. Everly and Shepherd are fantastic together, their families are lovely, and Everly’s besties Nora and Hazel are #bffgoals. I am so happy that Everly finally has her happily ever after.
Faking It So Good!
“She glanced over her shoulder and smiled. The sun had nothing on Everly. She lit up the entire f***ing world. My world in particular.”
-Shepherd Calloway.
It’s no hidden secret that I’ve been a long-time fan-girl of Claire Kingsley and her books. I was super excited about the heroine of the funny and very witty dating disasters newsletters getting a book that would focus on the journey of her very own HEA. And what’s not love about our heroine, Everly Dalton? She’s sweet, smart, kind, adorable, self-sufficient, and so, so, so long overdue to receive the love and attention of a good man. She also needed to actually make it past the first date! LOL! I think we can all agree that after so many disastrous dates, this heroine deserved EVERYTHING! The poor woman has had to “kiss” a lot of funky, “frogs.”
Enter Shepherd Calloway—her boss of all people! He’s the total opposite of our sunshine girl, Everly. I think the nickname “Stone Cold” would accurately apply here. But we all know what they say about opposites, right?! Hmm…mmm!
Now getting into the first bit of the story, readers are reunited with our favorite girls from the Dirty Martini Running Club-Everly’s besties-Nora and Hazel. These ladies always enjoy sipping martinis, having fun, and listening to juicy details of Everly’s latest dating disaster. Whenever they got together, readers know they’re in for some good soundbites from their loaded conversations.
But then, Everly’s sister needed a big favor from Everly—and it was a doozy! This was the kind of favor that made my own hairs on the back of my neck stand at attention! She wanted her to do what now?! And I’m thinking: “Not n-o, but h-e-l-l no!” This little favor set my nerves on edge a little, but I had to trust that CK would work out this little scenario as the story moved forward, and not make me hate her sister for putting our sweet Everly in such a tight spot.
Anyway, back to our hero, Mr. Calloway. I love that there was another side to Shepherd. He had his reasons for coming off cold and unfeeling. This is one of my favorite types of heroes. I always got the feeling that there’s more to the man once you’ve delved deeper and revealed the psyche. Just as I suspected, there was so much more beneath the surface of Mr. “Stone Cold,” and Everly-with all her warmth and sunshine-was just the woman he needed to melt his heart.
I really enjoyed this book because it wasn’t quite like other fake relationship stories I’ve read. Usually, as I’m reading, I’m in such turmoil over who or what will mess things up for the “fake” couple. Will it go too far for them to get back together? Will I even want them back together?! However, everything about this story was sweet, romantic, and sexy–I loved every minute of it! Even the little bump in the road had me like “aww!”, instead of my usual “oh, no he or she didn’t!” As usual, CK really did her thing with Faking Ms. Right. I was not disappointed at all with the way things turned out, and I’m absolutely looking forward to seeing what she does with Everly’s best friends, Nora and Hazel.
I have a confession to make. I have a lot of books by this author on my TBR. I even own several based on other reader recommendations. But this is my first book by this author. Now I know that I will be moving her other books up the list and reading them soon.
This billionaire boss-fake engagement book certainly follows the tropes,yet felt fresh. Everly’s character was one to fall completely in love with-pure sunshine. Shepherd was a complex and layered character that the reader meets a little at a time. Together they are a complete swoon-fest. The heat between these two is C-R-A-Z-Y. I really loved how they built trust and the roles that extended family play in their love story. Shep’s dad is really a cutie.
I could not stop thinking about this book after I finished it. In fact, I barely slept last night. But in the end, isn’t that a mark of a good book?
Laughing out loud
Such a funny and sweet book. Absolutely cackled with the clever writing and turn of phrase: baby batter, peek-a-boob!
Couldn’t put it down.
The story is told from two different perspectives. Evelyn and Shepard are two very different characters who find each other through `adverse circumstances`.
I liked the mutual attraction, the inner conflict and the creeping thing about falling in love with each other. The sexual vocabulary was sometimes a bit ‘crude’ for me, which made the sex scenes a bit ‘wooden’. But that’s a matter of taste. I am sure that not all readers will be bothered by it. The family cohesion that sets in towards the end of the book was also nice.
After smashing through Everly Dalton’s Dating Disasters I cracked straight into FAKING MS. RIGHT. Poor Everly has no luck in the dating game but after the collection of funny stories in her dating disasters, she swears off men. She’s uber efficient in the corporate world working for the staunch Shepherd Calloway, but he gets himself into a situation where he asks Everly to be his fake live-in girlfriend and she agrees. She doesn’t expect to discover the emotional man behind all the money and falls for him with all her heart.
Claire writes a delightfully funny story with a strong girl gang. I love a good girl gang and this one is called the Dirty Martini Running Club! I really enjoyed the perfect mix of funny and heartfelt moments.
This audiobook was narrated by two of my favourites. Jason and Emma give us all the emotions mixed in with the comedic moments. Both are easy on the ears and are always a winning combo.
Love this story. It’s funny, entertaining, the characters are so much, it’s hard not to fall in love with them. This book entertain me from page one, this book will definitely be reread and listen to the audiobook again.
Everly may have the worst dating life of anyone on the planet, but she has her awesome girls, and she totally rocks it as the personal assistant to the very dour Shepard Calloway. Then one day he asks her for a favor, and life as she knows it changes in some ver unexpected ways. So much fun and heat in this book, phew! (Fans self)
LOVE this book!!!!
I seriously loved everything about this book from Everly’s optimistic sunshine to Shepard’s dark and broody. They’re the perfect compliment and when they finally get together?!?? It’s so hot and explosive and absolutely everything!
I think I have read everything she has written. I need another book.
This was the first book I’ve read by Claire Kingsley, but it certainly won’t be the last! I loved every single thing about this book. It was reminiscent of one of my all-time favorite romances (“Pretend You’re Mine” by Lucy Score) in several ways: fake relationship, dating the boss, a heavy build-up to a super sexy love. But it was also a story all its own. There were so many funny bits. Between the love story and the comedy, there was a perpetual smile on my face the entire time I was reading it.
I absolutely loved both main characters. Especially the way Everly wasn’t afraid to make the first move. That’s something I don’t see very often in romance novels. Actually, I loved all the side characters as well (except for Svetlana). The part between the siblings at the end was where I teared up.
I’m looking forward to more books in the series. Until then, I will keep swooning over “Faking Ms. Right.”