Ready. Set. Faux.
Holden James picked the worst time to have a meltdown. His chance to audition for his favorite game show, Madcap Market, should have been a moment of triumph—a glorious, loving homage to his adored mom, who died six years ago. Instead, he’s destroying the minibar in a grim Los Angeles hotel room…recently dumped, partnerless and sliding into a crushing black hole of anguish.
But the hotel service in abject misery is sublime. It even comes with an unfairly fit and sexy (smart-ass) concierge who arrives at the door with pizza, Monopoly and deliciously distracting forearms.
All Holden knows about Leo Min is that he’s beautiful and unexpectedly sympathetic, and the chemistry between them is beyond. Maybe it’s even enough to convince everyone, including the show’s casting directors, that they’re a real couple. All they’d have to do is crush the competition, win the huge cash prize and all of Holden’s problems—his broken heart, his buried grief, his complete lack of money and direction—will be fixed.
Of course, reality doesn’t quite work out that way. But love is an entirely different game…
Source, Buy (AD)
Fake Dating – my all-time favorite
I stumbled over this book on Netgalley while looking for some more picks for this year’s pride month. Not that there is any time of the year that I’m not down for a wholesome queer love story. That is especially true, when fake dating is one of the tropes. I hadn’t heard of the author before reading this book. Now, I will certainly keep an eye open for his next publications as this one was so much joy. Both main characters brought baggage into their encounter but act wonderfully to resolve it together and individually. In less than 8 hours, Mark Sanderlin takes us through their happiest and darkest moments and engages us in an emotional rollercoaster.
Love is on air
Holden’s love life quite drastically breaks apart next to his chance to fulfil his promise to his late mom—competing in a TV game show, she raised him on. Coincidences (or fate?) bring him in contact with Leo and into a clever scheme. Do they have a chance at winning? And at putting Holden’s more-than-once broken heart back together? Their relationship starts very tender and friendly, supportive without any ulterior motives. As soon as they realize their common benefit from a faked relationship, they nonetheless do not spiral into the “this is only fake, nothing real” train wreck. They allow their connection to bloom, and I loved every part of them falling for each other. The plot was well structured and only confused by a random chapter from Leo’s pov, which added to the aim to make him more three-dimensional next to his own last, rather depressing relationship.
More serious topics
The book is nonetheless not only meet cutes, more hilarious scenes and a happy resolve. For a resolve, it takes conflict and especially Holden has quite some to figure out. I loved how his initially terminated relationship eventually comes back to show him things about himself. Even more, I adore how he takes a step back to figure his own things out first before getting emotionally too involved. The chances that another person will wait for you to come clean with yourself only proves their worthiness of you trying to make it work for real. The author gives a content warning about grief and off-page loss, which is certainly accurate to consider before reading. There is nonetheless also a hopeful undertone and openness to this whole topic.
In conclusion,
I listened to this wholesome story in less than three days. I enjoyed the protagonist’s banter, their more serious talks, and of course their sexual encounters. The author combines emotional themes with the joyfulness of falling in love again and the eventual reward of daring to face another person as much as own’s one troubles. You should definitely give this heart-warming, entertaining story a shot.
