A sinfully sexy new standalone romance from #1 New York Times Bestseller Lauren Blakely I’ll say this about Christian — he made one heck of a first impression. When I first saw the strapping man, he was doing handstands naked on a dock along the canal. His crown jewels were far more entertaining than anything else I’d seen on the boat tour, so I did what any curious woman would do — I took his … would do — I took his photo. I might have looked at the shot a few dozen times. Little did I know I’d meet him again, a year later, at a secret garden bar in the heart of the city, where I’d learn that his mind and his mouth were even more captivating. But given the way my heart had been trampled, I wanted only a simple deal — No strings. No expectations.
Our arrangement worked well enough until the day I needed a lot more from him…
***
Let me just say, this whole part-time lover thing was her idea. I’d have gone all-in from the start, but hey, when a gorgeous, brilliant woman invites you into her bed, and only her bed…well, I said yes.
But then, one hysterical phone call from my brother later, begging me to find myself a wife so grandfather’s business stays in the family, and I need a promotion with Elise. Turns out a full-time husband suits her needs too, and a temporary marriage of convenience ought to do the trick, until we can simply untie the knot…
As long as no one finds out…
As long as no one gets hurt…
As long as no one falls in love…
But our ending was one I never saw coming.
more
Part-Time Lover
By: Lauren Blakely
Narrated by: Shane East, Vanessa Edwin
Special Edition
I don’t know where Lauren Blakely gets her ideas, but each book seems to be better than the last! An impossible feat, this book is the perfect escape. Christian and Elise first meeting is far from conventional. A year later, they meet again, and the chemistry we saw is still there. This couple is not looking for anything serious and love is certainly not part of the equation! Until it is….Elise is a strong, independent woman who has been deceived in the past. I love her determination and fierce loyalty to those she loves. Christian is the perfect compliment to her. When it comes to those he loves, he will do anything to protect them. The banter between these two is priceless, and the choice of places for their dates original and fun. I love that the book is about fate, is low drama and a listen that is just fun!
Christian is performed by Shane East, and his accent is one you can’t help but fall for. His warm voice and comedic timing is wonderful. Vanessa Edwin is amazing as Elise, and I just love her voice. She has a young, flirtatious sound and she tunes into Elise’s energy perfectly. This duet narration is so much fun and the bloopers were just icing on the cake!
https://adbl.co/2BBUa4s
What a lovely story. I was so excited that Christian was getting his own story, because with his goal to be a kept man, I just needed to know more about him. Christian was a big, sweet, swoony surprise. He knows what he wants, makes no apologies for going after it. He truly believes in fate, and that makes him even more swoony. I love him at this point!
Elise is an amazing woman living in Paris running her business. She and Christian share a strong attraction to one another. Having had her heart broken, Elise understandably is protecting it. But, how do you resist someone like Christian: gorgeous, smart, accomplished, very comfortably well off.
In this refreshed tale, Shane East and Vanessa Edwin bring everything to life in living color! I could see, smell, and taste so much in this story. It’s a testament to Lauren’s great ability for details, and you feel the emotion with Shane and. Vanessa.
I didn’t consider this book a second-chance story, but more of a second chance at a first chance. I loved this story very early on, and it just got stronger as the story unfolded. I always love to see who Lauren will insert from previous books, and my wish was granted for this one. I won’t spoil it, but those who follow Lauren and her cities, you should be able to narrow down to a few people.
Part-Time Lover is Lauren Blakely’s next brilliantly sexy and fun standalone romance. I have loved and fallen for every one of her books, and know that I want to love her words in peace. No kids. No chores. No husband not until later anyway. Ok, back to these part time lovers. If you read Wanderlust then you have already met them as friends of the couple. If not, it’s fine, this is a standalone but I do suggest reading it, it’s everything.
One year ago, Elise saw a Viking of a man on a dock with his cock out. Yep! For reals. Doing yoga while a boat tour was in the canal. She would never forget it. She had both the visual in her head and on her phone. They were supposed to meet that night but it didn’t happen. She didn’t think she would ever see him again. That was until fate stepped in and now he was here. Being his charming and blunt self. She loved it but couldn’t let him know that. He has to work for her affections. No. She didn’t want him to fall in love but she didn’t want to give in easily either. She wasn’t about to get hoodwinked again by a man.
God. Christian wanted her. He knew it without even seeing her fully from his dock. She was bold that afternoon. He wanted to see her that night and when it didn’t happen, he was had to let it go. But now that they were both in Paris? He wasn’t going to let her just walk away. He could tell she liked him but her walls were way up. He wasn’t going to push. He just wanted to get to know her. He knew she was witty, smart, strong, and sexy as fuck but he wanted more. It wasn’t just all about sex even if they did say if they went there wasn’t going to be expectations. He was fine with that. He would be her Friday night lover. Until, she became his wife with an expiration date.
Christian and Elise’s relationship is not all hearts and flowers but it’s still very romantic and beautiful. They have their passions and one of them happens to be seeing each other happy. Even if they know it couldn’t be forever. She wasn’t ready. He enjoys being a bachelor. But what if? What if fate has been working on overdrive for these two. Will they fall for their spouse or sign on the dotted line on divorce papers when everything is said and done?
Overall…I adored this story!! It has the perfect blend of laughter, sweetness, sexiness, beauty, and passion. It also has amazing sights, angst, and intrigue. The characters are not only like-able but love-able. And well, lick-able too. Yum!
Quotes:
“I enjoyed the rubies and emeralds in Rosenborg Castle, but I like these crown jewels even better,” I say.
“Don’t ask for my heart. It’s not for sale.”
“You say you don’t want to be consumed, but I’d love to consume you with my mouth.”
I loved this book and Wanderlust (the first book). The characters were fun, I love the setting (Paris), and lots of steamy romance. I love Lauren’s writing style and the way the romance is realistic without a lot of angst, but still interesting.
I enjoy Lauren Blakely but this wasn’t one of her best books. Light entertainment not worth rereading.
I could say that this is a predictable man meets woman who needs a fake wife to save his grandfathers company from the clutches of his brothers ex-wife and it was. But I loved it, the characters in this book of a chance meeting between strangers followed by a set of coincidences that lead to them meeting up again were so lovable and hilarious. The sex was hot and the story line was sweet and funny. What starts out as a simple deal with no strings attached to save the family business turns into an unexpected beautiful romance that neither one expected. This is a really funny, sweet and wonderful read.
Lauren Blakely is a one click for me and this one was no exception. I absolutely love Shane East’s narration so I was in when I saw he was narrating. While I didn’t enjoy this one as much as her other titles, it is still worth a listen.
I really enjoyed this story. The accents on the Audiobook are amazing!!
This is a fantastic romance about fate and second chances! Elise is an expatriate living in Paris. She has erected walls around her heart because of a disastrous previous marriage. She first “meets” Christian when she is on a boat cruise in Copenhagen. Christian in out on his family’s deck by the river doing nude yoga. As the boat passes him, they converse and he asks her to meet him at a local club. Because there are two places with similar names, they both go out and miss each other. This is just first of chance meetings, one year later, they meet officially when their best friends fall in love. This is the beginning of a great flirtation and eventual great love. I loved both Elise and Christian and all of the secondary characters. I also loved the pacing of the relationship. They had initial chemistry, but because they took their time to get to know each other, their loved grew organically.
Part-Time Lover has been one of my anticipated reads and I’m so happy to report it was a good one! Christian and Elise meet in an unusual set of circumstances and it was one for the books. In all the books that I have read their meeting takes the cake. Hand down. Sadly things didn’t work out as planned and they aren’t reintroduced to each other until a year later. Once this happened it was all systems go!!
Christian and Elise are both like minded and what starts out as a “no expectation” deal turns into something more. This was such a delicious slow burn and I loved how open and honest the characters were with each other. I loved the banter between the characters as well. Elise was a spitfire and I loved how she was able to hang with Christian.
Honestly, it’s been a few months since I’ve read a Lauren Blakely book and I’ve fallen in love all over again with this author’s words. Blakely’s description to detail is amazing. I felt like I was in Paris and at all of the places she described. This was a very well written book about taking a chance on love again after being burned at the stake. I highly recommend this book by Lauren Blakely.
A very good book of love and care for some coupes, that fits their life way of life.
Good summer quick read that keeps You laughing.
I love this book!
There’s nothing I love more in the summer than a funny, but still swoon-worthy romance to distract me from the fact that my children are home ALL DAY. This book was exactly what I needed to escape the screaming and fighting for a few hours of much deserved ‘me time’. It is an entertaining read that kept me turning pages well past my bedtime.
So, if you’re like me and at the end of your summertime rope, I would highly recommend grabbing a book (this one in particular) and hiding in a closet where your children can’t find you.
I’m sure they’ll be fine.
I loved this book. I loved the slow build up at first of the two main characters. It kept me turning page after page until they finally spent a first steamy night together and then I still couldn’t put it down! I saw myself in Paris in Copenhagen and then in NewYork. I am a new Lauren Blakely fan! I can’t get enough of her books.
I love Lauren Blakely’s books. She always brings it with a fun story and characters you just can’t help but root for. Not to mention the humor in her books.
I mean seriously, how can you not be instantly pulled in by the blurb alone:
I’ll say this about Christian — he made one hell of a first impression. When I first saw the strapping man, he was doing handstands naked on a dock along the canal. His crown jewels were far more entertaining than anything else I’d seen on the boat tour, so I did what any curious woman would do — I took his photo. I might have looked at the shot a few dozen times. Little did I know I’d meet him again, a year later, at a secret garden bar in the heart of the city, where I’d learn that his mind and his mouth were even more captivating.
I mean seriously?! How can I NOT want to read that!?!?!?
Needless to say, Christian lived up to that paragraph and I absolutely loved him. Shane East did an awesome job bringing him to life. And while I also enjoyed Grace Grant’s performance, I had to give a little “nooooooo” every time it switched from Christian’s POV to Elise’s. I just kept wanting to listen to Shane East’s portrayal of Christian.
I loved how the friendship developed between Christian and Elise, and even more, I loved watching them fall for each other when they were adamant that hearts not be involved.
I loved that Elise was quickly willing to jump in and help Christian’s brother after his wife turned into satan. Oftentimes in books with a marriage of convenience, it’s the person that needs it giving the one they’re asking for a favor the hard sell, bartering and making all kinds of promises to get the person to agree. But it wasn’t like that here. Elise was the one that actually came up with the plan and she was the one to convince Christian to go along with it and that she wanted to help. And I loved that.
And since I’m on the subject, I LOATHED Erik’s wife. Like, I wanted to push her off a cliff with cement shoes. She was the worst.
Overall though, this book is definitely a keeper and must read! Go meet Christian and all his awesomeness!!!!
This is such a great book. The story is fabulous and the narrators work great together. You will definitely want to listen to this.
I love Lauren Blakely books, I mean who doesn’t. This is a typical marriage of convenience story, but the setting is incredible and the way Elise and Christian work together and interact is amazing. I think my favorite part of the story was the beginning (lust at first sight) and the ending (juvenile corruption). I love that history is repeating itself and there is no shame in it.
As for the narrators, they work really well together. The story was engaging and the American combined with the British was a great combo.
Fun reading
I listened to the audio of Part-Time Lover and thoroughly enjoyed it.
If you have read Wanderlust, you have already met our protaganists Elyse and Christian – I had forgotten our first sighting of Christian until I was listening, and it made me laugh all over again.
I adored this kinda-second-chance-friend-to-fake-lovers-to-more story.
Christian is some kind of man. I mean, he is a man’s man and very confident in himself (as you will see when you meet him). Sexy. Studly. Adorable. Flirty. But he is so much more than that too.
The narrators really brought the characters to life. I have not listened to a Shane East narration before, however I will make sure to do so in the future.
Fun, flirty and sexy, I was swept away with this story.
Can’t wait to see what Ms Blakely brings us next.
I loved the smart, humorous dialogue!