⭐⭐⭐⭐
Fake relationships, done well, are so much fun. Casting
Lacey, is most certainly a fake relationship done very well. The two MCs
are so real and their banter is so much fun.
Quinn Kincaid is the star of TV’s highest rated legal drama.
She has figured out that she is gay and want to come out. However, she wants to
out herself in a planned and controlled manner. While there is no pressing
urgency for her to do it, she wants to be true to herself and feels that coming
out will be better and more effective if she has a girlfriend. Since she doesn’t
have anyone currently, her publicist identifies Lacey Matthews, star of a
daytime soap, winner of some awards in the past, thrown out of her serial when
she came out and wandering the audition wasteland for work, as a potential fake
girlfriend. The NDA and contract are signed, and Lacey is cast in the role of
Quinn’s girlfriend.
The author writes two lovely characters. In fake
relationships, the person seeking the fake girlfriend/fiancée/anything else is
usually self-centred, gruff, ice-queenish and requires work for the other half
to reach. In this, Quinn is soft, vulnerable, confused and very, very likeable.
Lacey is hurt by the rejection at work and subsequent dumping by the ‘love-of-her-life’
and angry by her circumstances. The character backgrounds and trajectories are
so well-mapped that you can completely understand both of they and genuinely
like them both.
Most of the book is slow-burn and you get completely drawn
into and invested in their growing feelings and building relationship. Their
interactions and banter are a lot of fun. The separation, when it comes, is not
forced at all. It is understandable and flowing with the story. We just wish
that Lacey was more forgiving at this point in the book and Quinn didn’t have
to kill herself so much to even get a response from Lacey. But then, we are
romantics.
This is definitely one helluva good read in this genre.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
