My instructions were simple: scour the city for a fake fiancée who’s not my type at all. Have her on my jet Monday morning, dressed appropriately for a yacht vacation.
I need a woman believable enough to convince a certain client that I’ve changed my playboy ways…yet nothing like the supermodels and socialites I usually have on my arm.
Somebody too annoying to tempt me—no emotional entanglements, thank you very much. This is business only.
If she’s unfazed by my looks and wealth, all the better.
Should be easy. Right?
Apparently not, because my people go and hire Tabitha. My hairdresser.
What were they thinking? Yes, I said annoying, but I didn’t mean her, the most frustrating woman in the world.
Tabitha is sunshiny. She has a pet hamster. She loves Hello Kitty, and she gets under my skin like nobody else.
As if that’s not bad enough, the minute we step on deck, she thinks that certain people on the yacht are up to something shady—based completely on her soap opera knowledge.
She won’t listen when I tell her she’s being ridiculous.
But as the days go by, I find that we’re actually having fun. And our fake kisses are heating up. And suddenly her wild theories aren’t sounding so strange after all…
Title: The Billionaire's Fake Fiancée
Author: Annika Martin
Series: Billionaires of Manhattan (Book 4)
Pages: 360
Genre(s): Contemporary, US, Billionaire Romance, Romantic Comedy, Romcom
Hot Buttons: Tabitha has an upsetting childhood with a father who ignored her and a mother with a severe mental illness/drug addiction<-- highlight to reveal (may contain spoilers)
Release Date: 28th April, 2020
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I’ve never read Annika Martin before but since finishing this book I’ve already gone on a backlist blitz, grabbing up everything she’s written before I became aware of her and her writing.
This book is written in first person, present tense with chapters written from the viewpoint of both Tabitha and Rex. This works really well as we find out more about the characters - especially Rex - and the way the chapters are divvied up, I was often chomping at the bit to find out what the other one thought of certain situations and scenarios. As such, I absolutely rattled through this book in no time at all.
I always think it takes a very skilled author to bring a quirky character to life in a story without making them a parody, or so wholly irritating that they make your teeth hurt. Tabitha was neither of these things. She liked sparkles, Hello Kitty, soap operas and froufrou pink drinks - and she owned that fact with no apologies. Next level basic. I love it! But if you think that’s all she is - you (and Rex) would be so wrong. She’s got hidden depth and she’s hella smart to boot. And not forgetting that she’s so funny. The way she deliberately rubbed Rex the wrong way whenever she could just killed me. It gave me a delicious little evil thrill to watch him squirm!
As much as I loved Tabitha, I loved Rex just as much. Again, it’s a real skill to make a grumpy, broody, asshole like Rex come across as a decent guy. Even better than that, was to know how Rex was feeling and to watch him come to the realisation that everything he thought he hated were actually all the things he loved most about Tabitha. It’s not about changing her; it’s not about loving her despite her quirks, it’s about realising she’s everything - just the way she is. I’m not doing justice to how wonderful it was to watch his slow descent into love - without ever losing his own brand of grumpy grumpiness! And let me tell you that taunting and teasing a grumpy man to lose control and throw his girl up against the wall and take her - is everything you need to read to get your very own kicks.
As well as the love story, we have the added bonus of the strange goings on aboard the yacht. Is Marvin a fake long-lost nephew? Who is following Rex and Tabitha? Who is trying to sabotage whom? Back in the day, I used to watch Days of Our Lives and this reminded me of all the ridiculous situations that you can’t help but love. It’s super fun and I laughed out loud on more than one occasion and yet it never gets to that slapstick stage where it becomes ridiculous. Even non-soap opera fans will enjoy the fun!
Honestly this book was everything that I didn’t know I needed. It’s hugely entertaining, crazy funny and deserves way more than the 5 stars I can give it. I loved Tabitha and Rex - so much so that I’m still thinking of them and want to read about what they’re up after they get their happily ever after. Finding out that one, maybe two, maybe even three, of Tabitha’s friends have their own books (Most Eligible Billionaire, The Billionaire’s Wake-Up-Call Girl and Breaking the Billionaire's Rules) gives me happy chills - and I’m seriously hoping that Noelle and Malcolm Blackberg (who are only in this book for barely a hot second!) get their own book, too (Woop - they do - it’s called Return Billionaire to Sender!). Seriously, this book is everything and Ms Martin, you’ve got yourself a new fan!
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AUTHOR BIO!
She’s
worked a surprisingly large number of waitressing jobs, and has also
worked in a plastics factory and the advertising trenches; her garden is
total bee-friendly madness and her most unfavorite word is nosh or
possibly fob. A NYT bestselling author, she has also written as RITA
award-winning author Carolyn Crane.
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AUTHOR LINKS!
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