Get ready for your next favorite romantic comedy, THE REAL DEAL, from #1 New York Times bestselling author Lauren Blakely! April Hamilton wants you to know she hasn’t been on GigsForHire since that time she sold her futon after college. She doesn’t even spend that much time online. And even if she did, she would not be looking up personal ads. But going home alone for her family’s summer reunion … going home alone for her family’s summer reunion is an invitation for every single relative to butt into her personal life. She simply can’t handle another blind date with the butcher, the baker or the candlestick maker from her hometown. So when she finds the GigsforHire ad for a boyfriend-for-hire, she’s ready to pay to play.
Heading Home and Need a Buffer? I’m the REAL DEAL.
Theo Banks has been running from the past for years. He’s this close to finally settling all his debts, and one more job as a boyfriend-for-hire will do the trick. He’s no gigolo. Please. He’s something of an actor, and he knows how to slip into any role, including pretending to be April’s new beau — the bad boy with the heart of gold.
Even if it means sleeping in close quarters in that tiny little bed in her parents’ inn. Even if it means spinning tales of a romance that starts to feel all too true. What neither one of them counts on is that amid the egg toss, the arm wrestling, and a fierce game of Lawn Twister that has them tangled up together, they might be feeling the real deal.
She only wanted to show her family once and for all that she had no need to settle down.
He didn’t expect to have the time of his life at her parent’s home.
They didn’t plan on loving every single second of the game.
But can a masterful game of pretend result in true love?
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Loved this story! It was easy to embrace both April and Theo right from the start (although I’ve not met a LB character I dislike). The chemistry between Theo and April is crazy hot, and not just the sexual chemistry. The dialogue was smooth, the story moved at a good pace, the banter between April and Theo was sometimes funny, a bit of snark here and there, sweet and flirty. Ms. Blakely has given us another fun couple to just sit back and relax and enjoy their story!
Oh where do I begin? I have to admit, while I enjoyed The Real Deal, I didn’t truly love it until somewhere around the midway mark and then my affection for Theo and April’s story grew more with each page. Perhaps because it is written for a different publisher, but there was a subtle difference in this book than previous Lauren Blakely books that I’ve read and it sort of made me miss the signature writing style that I’ve come to adore. However, I did find the groove and once we got to the burn portion of this delicious slow burn, I was fully on board (it helps that one of the first sexy time scenes we get is reminiscent of one of my all time favorite scenes in one of my all time favorite books, A Court of Mist and Fury). I loved all of the characters and all of the relationships (familial, platonic, romantic, and otherwise) featured in the book – but since such a big part of April and Theo’s characters involved them being emotionally detached, I found it hard to bond with them until they succumbed to their feelings for each other. That being said, I truly did love their story and look forward to seeing more in this style from the author. One of my favorite parts, however, is an allusion to one of her previous works – though this delightful Easter egg didn’t make an appearance until very late in the book (and if you aren’t familiar with Blakely’s works you may just miss it), it truly enhanced the whole reading experience for me. 5 out of 5 wine glasses.
Equally fun & naughty, this book has everything you could want in a rom-com and more!! Theo is a charming, social chameleon with a slightly shady past who uses his talents by hiring himself out as a pretend boyfriend. April is the aspiring artist who hires him to get well meaning family off her back with their unwanted matchmaking attempts. Both characters are smart & quick witted, effortlessly weaving together stories of their make believe past. They fight their attraction, but the chemistry leaps off the page & you know that this couple is destined to be together. This slow burning romance makes for a cute, light hearted & hot summer read.
This book reminded me of one of my favorite movies. I think I swooned for most of it. April and Theo had a lot of chemistry that started soon after meeting and it kept heating up…even if it was supposed to be “fake.” I loved the family dynamic, especially the interactions between Theo and Mr. Hamilton. Mr. H. made me laugh, and I loved that Theo could roll with the punches. I definitely recommend it.
Trying to make it in the Big Apple is hard enough, but when successful and independent April has to go back home for her family’s annual family reunion, she decides she needs to go in equipped for battle. Being on a self-proclaimed man diet and sick of being set up by family, April decides to go in to the reunion fully equipped.
To put it simply, Craigslist describes Theo as a “boyfriend for hire.” He will attend any function, in a purely platonic manner, to help aid women of New York who may be in need of a plus one or a buffer for that matter. The boyfriend for hire gig also helps supplement his income while tending bar.
The moment they meet to discuss the job they are both instantly hit with an intense attraction that is beyond physical. But, with the love of April’s welcoming family, the quaint small town, and the stories they both make up to keep the rouse going, will they be able to tell what is real and what is make believe?
I have read nearly every one of Lauren’s books and I have to say that this book made me feel so many wonderfully exciting and swelling emotions, that I just didn’t want the book to end.
I could read dialogue between these two characters for years to come and never get tired of them or their story. Theo, is by far one of my favorite all time book boyfriends!
This was not only a great way to escape from the summer heat, but it made me believe that maybe, just maybe, The Real Deal could be out there for all of us.
“5/5 Beaming Brains!” – Laura, http://www.litupmymind.com
This was so incredibly sweet, fun and flirty! A seriously entertaining and heartwarming read!
A NYC artist hires a fake boyfriend on Craig’s List for a family reunion and gets more than she paid for! Theo is a bartender struggling to pay off a family debt by selling his acting talent. He can be whatever you need. Hot? Personality? Sensitive? Bad Boy? Hell Yes!!!! April has carved out a successful niche as a body painter and loves everything about living in New York City. Burned one too many times, April is taking a break from relationships. Unfortunately, her family is constantly trying to hook her up with hometown boys in their efforts to bring her back to their small hometown. April hires Theo for five days to accompany her to her family’s annual renunion. Neither of them are looking for romance but Cupid has other plans! Lauren Blakely combines immediate attraction + humor + hot sex to create a hilarious swoon-worthy story that captures your imagination and makes you fall in love with the characters!
I think I’ve made it clear that I am both a fan of the fake boyfriend trope and Lauren Blakely. So, when I saw a Lauren Blakely new release about a fake boyfriend on NetGalley? It felt like my birthday and Christmas all rolled into one. I about broke my finger 1-clicking that bad boy so fast. And I’m soooooo glad I did.
As with all her books, the banter between main characters April and Theo is all kinds of sweet and hilarious and hot. This author has a real talent for realistic, fun, flowing dialogue that very few others have. I enjoyed the hell out of every single back-and-forth between them.
This is also a rom-com that is actually FUNNY. You’d be surprised at how many books I’ve found being marketed in the rom com category that aren’t funny in the least. That kind of false advertising should be illegal. This book’s blurb calls it “Sophie Kinsella meets Jennifer Crusie”, and I can’t disagree. (And just so you know, I think Jennifer Crusie is a GODDESS, so that’s high praise)
The meddling family in this one wasn’t as annoying as meddling families can be in rom coms. The characters were all well fleshed out and interesting, and they clearly only had April’s happiness at heart, so their meddling was forgivable.
But while April was a great heroine that I can’t complain about, the real star of the book was Theo. He was smart and ridiculously hot and selfless in how he took on his brother’s burden without even being asked. He was also alpha without being a jerkwad, and the fact that he was so proud of April’s success and not at all threatened by it moved him from “good book boyfriend” territory into “all-time BEST book boyfriend” territory. Seriously. He’s THAT awesome.
Long-story-short, this is another winner from an author I adore. It’s the perfect beach read: light and fluffy, but still emotional, sexy, and sweet. It’ll give you all of the feels without breaking your heart. Can’t recommend this one highly enough.
Full disclosure: We received an ARC from NetGalley, free of charge.
The Queen of Rom Com has another hit on her hands! I could not put this one down! Theo and April were amazing characters – I love them both! Five stars for this awesome read from Lauren Blakely!
I am sporting a big toothy grin with a side of doopey glee. The Real Deal has a snort inducing ad for the perfect guy. Don’t mock me! I’m serious. I laughed my butt off (if only) reading that ad and personally would have gone to find said stud if April hadn’t.
The Real Deal is super cute with instant chemistry and off the charts storytelling. You can’t help but be drawn into the story.
Yet again Lauren delivers characters in the form of Theo & April that worm their way into your heart!
April needs a man to travel back home for her family reunion, she’s tired of her family always trying to set her up with men at home just so she’ll move back! Throw in Theo, her pretend boyfriend for the week, hot guy with a past he’s trying to keep a secret, but he’s falling for April, can he trust her to open up to her and have her not walk away fro him?
Follow their story in this rom-com by Lauren, that I’m giving 5 Real Deal stars to because it gave me butterflies in my belly! All the feels, make sure you grab this one!
4 Stars
Review by Morgen
Late Night Reviewer
Up All Night w/ Books Blog
The Real Deal is a stand-alone romantic comedy by Lauren Blakely, a New York Times and Wall Street Journal Bestselling Author. This story is about family and the lengths you’d go to be able to please them and make their life easier.
Theo is a bartender as well as professional arm candy. He can be anyone, whether it be a loving boyfriend who wins everyone over, billionaire extraordinaire, nerdy coworker who is just a friend, or the bad boy. He’ll be whoever you need. To him it comes easy, he’s confident and sure he can tackle any role.
April is kind, compassionate, caring, understanding, fiesty, and independent. She paints people for a living. She knows it may sound weird at first, but there’s nothing she can imagine giving her the same amount of pride and joy. She comes from a small town and her family doesn’t really understand her career choices. They want her to move home and settle down with a nice guy.
April has a family reunion coming up so she decides its best to bring a fake boyfriend to show her family she’s happy in the big city. From the moment Theo and April meet you can feel the connection between them. They fight it and try to keep their relationship as professional as possible while they’re pretending to be together.
The story is captivating, their witty banter and easy chemistry set the pages on fire. With each touch it gets harder to ignore. The more she gets to know him the more she wonders if it’s all fake. Her last relationship ended badly and it hurt her. She’s been on a dating diet ever since. It only makes her question herself more. Rooming with a guy she barely knows for a few days under her parents roof, what could go wrong?
The characters have great development while still keeping a little mystery at the same time. The story has a great flow and the pacing is great. I loved all the jokes. They were placed well throughout the story and really hit the mark. What pulled me in most was how perfectly they complimented each other but how hard they fought that connection. Theo has always kept these fake dates professional and doesn’t want to ruin something he is so good at and enjoys so much. She is career driven and doesn’t want any distractions. Neither one has much faith in love, they would rather focus on achieving their goals. I would definitely recommend this for anyone that enjoys a few jokes with their angst.
April Hamilton needs to have a boyfriend to bring home to her parents, and she needs it desperately. So when her only chance bailed on her, she turned into GigsForHire on Craiglist. Not that she spent so much time looking for what she wants, the friend who bailed on her has vouched for a certain guy, and reading the ads that was listed – it had taken her interest (and mine too!). Desperate times call for desperate measures, it’s better to do this than attending her family’s summer reunion by herself and getting matched endlessly by everyone.
Heading Home and Need a Buffer? I’m the REAL DEAL.
Theo Banks is the real deal. He had been running the business for years, and he’s almost done doing it. He just needs to settle some debts, and then all done. He’s no gigolo. He doesn’t sell his body. Only his services (that sounded dirty in my head now) as a pretend-boyfriend (much better). He has a past, past that he didn’t want to share with his new client who seemed to seeped her way to his thoughts, and to his groins.
I definitely love this book. I liked both Theo and April. Theo wasn’t really perfect, and he wasn’t the usual rock star or millionaire that would sweep you off your feet. But he’s charming and he could easily disarm you with his looks and his words. He didn’t have a stellar past, but he’s trying to make the best out of it in the present. I love the two of them together – their banters, and their talks about their supposedly “relationship” felt really real.
Lauren Blakely sure knows how to push your buttons and make you swoon. The Real Deal is hilarious, sweet, and sexy that would send tingle to your toes.
It pains me to say this but I’m not sure what happened that I just couldn’t connect with the story. Maybe it has to do with the fact that I read a super emotional story before I started this and the humor was lost on me because of it. But despite that I did find things I liked about this book. I liked that she had an unconventional job. I like his ability to adopt to any situation he’s thrown in since early age. I even liked her family trying to set her up with men so she would return home. I think if I re-read it in a couple of weeks I will have a different opinion about this story for now it’s a 3,5* for me.
***Review copy requested and reviewed on behalf of OMGReads Blog***
The Real Deal by Lauren Blakely is a fun and flirty story. April Hamilton needs a boyfriend to bring home to meet her parents so that they will get off her case. Luckily for her she finds Theo Banks’ ad. Theo is an expert at exactly what April needs. Coming across as the real deal boyfriend, but just pretending, really well.
The idea of this story is reminiscent of the movie, The Wedding Date, but these characters are very different. While there was an immediate connection between them, dealing with April’s crazy family gives them real experiences with each other and as the lines between pretend and real start to blur we get to see April and Theo really grow and blossom together.
Overall I had a lot of fun reading The Real Deal by Lauren Blakely and recommend it if you are looking for a fun, fake to real, romance story. The characters really connected and brought the whole thing together.
(I voluntarily reviewed an advance review copy of this book I received for free from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my open and honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.)
This book…was fantastic! Pretty sure I have a girl crush on April. She’s one of those quick-witted, smart, creative women and I was instantly drawn to her. Theo was equally charming, sexy and smart and funny to boot, I love me a funny man. I devoured this book. The witty comments, just the way the two interacted, their back and forth banter, it was sassy and flirty and had me smiling from ear to ear because it was just fun to read! You could literally feel April and Theo’s connection dripping off the pages. Plus it helps that the author has a way of writing that keeps you glued to the pages making it so hard to put the book down.
I could go on and on about how much I enjoyed this book. Really, April’s family was as spunky as her, they had me cracking up with some of their dirty talk, I know I would’ve been blushing if I was in April’s shoes at some of the things those ladies said. Too funny! I think April is one of my favorite book characters I’ve read in awhile. April and Theo might just be my favorite book couple this year as well. They both draw you in and though their backgrounds are quite different, Theo’s is utterly tragic and heartbreaking in certain aspects, I’d say they most definitely found soulmates in each other in the short amount of time it took for them to get to know each other.
Ms. Blakely definitely knows how to spark a fire and keep it crackling, because this book was a freaking slow burn like no other. When I finally get the blaze I’d been waiting for, I was not disappointed. There were quite a lot of steamy scenes, and a few of them didn’t even involve “hula-hooping” *wink wink*. Both April and Theo have quite the vivid imagination and I thoroughly enjoyed their tale-spinning. How they would switch back and forth between stories and real life…loved that. Awesome summer read and I will most definitely be reading more by this author in the near future. Her writing is addicting and I’m a new-er fan. So good!
#B2BKristina
Do you remember when you read The Real Deal and fell in love with Theo and April. Remember how they were so perfect together and how they played out little scenes about remembering things they had done together…things they had never done together but that fed the little lie they were telling her family? It was freaking awesome!
I absolutely loved Theo and April. Their chemistry was instantaneous and despite the deal they had going neither of them could keep things platonic for long. This was a low angst read with plenty of mature humor that had me smiling the whole time.
April hired Theo to act as her boyfriend during a family reunion that is chock full of competitions. The games aren’t the problem, the problem is her family is determined to set her up with one of the locals so she’ll stay in Wistful where they all live. Finding Theo was the perfect solution even if their “remember whens” and their pretend relationship did start to feel very real.
This was a very upbeat read with some incredible secondary characters and plenty of laugh out loud moments. The steam is sizzling although this couple don’t get down and dirty until 80% into the story. That doesn’t mean there isn’t teasing and tension…lots and lots of tension.
So, remember when I gave this five stars because it was exactly what I wanted, when I wanted it and it left me with the best feel good feeling one can expect from a book? Yeah, I remember that too.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book provided by NetGalley and St. Marin’s Press. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
When April Hamilton’s plan for her family’s reunion falls through, she ends up hiring an unknown guy to play the part of her boyfriend in front of her family.
Theo Banks has always struggled to make ends meet and the boyfriend-for-hire gig comes when he needs it most. What he couldn’t foresee was the attraction to the witty, beautiful girl who hired him for the long weekend.
In the spirit of “The Wedding Date”, Ms. Blakely delivers another smart and sexy story about an unseemly couple falling in love during a weekend visit to a small eastern coastal town with the backdrop of close knit family, amusement park rides and silly games.
True to Ms. Blakely’s style The Real Deal is a fun, fast read, filled with laughter and romance. Whether you are already a fan or new to her books, you are sure to enjoy April and Theo’s story.
I absolutely loved everything about this story! It is a unique and funny, slow burn romance, between two fascinatingly flawed characters, who aren’t looking for love. April hires Theo to be her fake boyfriend for a family reunion so she can avoid the dates her family will push on her. From their very first meeting, their clever banter weaves a fictitious, yet romantic tale of how they met and fell in love. It continues throughout the story until neither can tell what is the real deal or the fantasy. But before the weekend is over, the fake stories and all the secrets begin to weigh heavy on them both. I loved the chemistry between April and Theo, they connected instantly, really seeing and understanding each other. They had me totally swooning and rooting for their HEA! The quirky relatives and the wacky family contests, also added a lot of fun and entertaining moments. Ms Blakely is a master at witty banter, and clever storylines with heart and this is definitely the Real Deal!
4.5 The Real Deal is absolutely adorable! April and Theo are trying to fake their relationship, but they can’t fake their fantastic chemistry. I love well they play off each other and their slow burn. I really like the build up with their story and enjoy the storyline a lot! Theo has a very interesting background and I really liked what that element added to the story. These two were so freaking cute together and I just adored their story!