The Almost Romantic

How to Date Your Fake Husband

By: Lauren Blakely

Narrated by: Vanessa Edwin, Teddy Hamilton

Length: 8 hrs and 7 mins

Publisher's summary

Fake engagement. Real marriage. Both have an expiration date in this spicy marriage of convenience romantic comedy standalone from #1 NYT Bestselling Author Lauren Blakely performed in duet by Teddy Hamilton and Vanessa Edwin!

“Marry me.”

They were the last words I expected to say to my fake fiancé, but I’m the kind of guy who doesn’t back down from a challenge. Pretend I’m engaged to my gorgeous and talented business partner to secure a business deal?

No problem. Agree to a no-touch rule even though she’s been driving me wild since I met her?

Challenge accepted.

Resist grinning like a damn fool every time that same big-hearted, sunshine-y woman laughs with my little daughter?

Done. So, yeah, when my fake fiancé’s vindictive business rival threatens to expose our make-believe romance, I can handle that too. I’ll prove our engagement isn’t fake–by marrying her for real. A marriage with an expiration date at the end of the year.

But that’s when I run smack dab into the biggest challenge ever–not falling madly in love with my wife.

©2034 Lauren Blakely Books (P)2024 Lauren Blakely Books

One of my favourites

From the first page to the last I was invested in Gage Archer and Elodie Starling’s story. Full of humour, laugh out loud moments and sizzling chemistry, this book will draw you in and you won’t want to put it down.

What starts out as a fake relationship quickly turns into a marriage with real feelings. The banter and camaraderie in this book was witty and I found myself through most of it. The relationship with Gage’s daughter, Eliza and his with Elodie’s sister, Amanda added an extra element to their story.

Both have struggled as single parents bringing up their charges and it was something that they bonded over and made their connection even stronger.

The Almost Romantic was an entertaining read with characters whose story I quickly became invested in. Vanessa Edwin and Teddy Hamilton were absolutely superb in their narration of this book. They captured the characters perfectly.

Sweet 🍫 & Spicy 🌶️ (NO spoilers, but tropes listed at the end of the review)

This was such a cute book with fabulous narration. But don’t let the illustrated cover fool you, this book has 6+ open door 🌶️ scenes!🔥

🎧 the audio was fabulous. It doesn’t get better than duet narration! This one was a little different though, in that the main characters were duet narration but the people in their respective chapters were voiced by that narrator. I.e Vanessa did the voices for everyone in her chapter (male or female) EXCEPT the MMC, teddy would jump in and do his part. Vanessa & teddy are both talented voice actors and did great as always. (A minor gripe- can we please pronounce “tamale” correctly? 😩 as a Latina it drives me crazy)

📗I LOVED a taller MFC. So rarely in romance novels are the female main characters above 5’3 or 5’4. Shout out to the representation of taller gals! Also, the therapy rep was a breath of fresh air 🩷 worth a credit/purchase? Yes! Lauren does it again. 👏

✨Tropes:
- Optimist/pessimist
- Single dad
- Single guardian “mom”
- Found family
- Marriage or convenience
- Fake engagement

🩷 Micro-tropes:
- “my wife”
- therapy rep
- tall FMC (5’9)
- business owners

SO CUTE and FUN!

Gage and Elody! Gah! They were so much fun together! They had a date, decided they didn’t want to mess up their business partnership with a romance BUTTTT of course couldn’t keep their hands off each other lol

Gage was holding onto some major relationship baggage from his first marriage but Elody just had a way of seeing things that helped him process that grief.

They started off as interested romantic partners to then business partners with a hint of romance to married to save her business to forever partners wit the help of their partners in crime lol (kids are amazing at times!)

It was so fun to watch Elody and Eliza form a mother daughter bond as much as it was fun to watch Gage and Elody form their bond.

The canter between them all was top notch! Aldo the girls and their spy seeking agenda was PERFECTION lol it’s just TERRIBLE that icky Sebastian went out of business 😂😂😂

The narration on this book was so eloquent and fun for my ears!

Teddy Hamilton is such a talented narrator and I thoroughly enjoy listening to a book where he is narrating.

Vanessa Edwin was absolutely perfect for this character. She very much made Elody alive in my mind and that doesn’t always happen for me. She is an amazing talent!

Amazingly!

The Almost Romantic - Lauren Blakely

Narrated by: Vanessa Edwin & Teddy Hamilton

My Review:
My Rating: ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Spice: 🌶🌶🌶
Pages: 376
Genre: Romance
Tropes: Forced Proximity, Fake Engagement, Marriage Of Convenience, Former Pro Athlete

Elodie is raising her 13 year old little sister and owner of a specialty chocolate shop. Too busy to date but she knows what she wants and will not settle.

Gage is a widower and raising his 11 year old daughter and owns a popular bar. Committed to expanding his bar and raising his daughter, he has no desire to date.

Needless to say they meet and end up going into business adventure together that necessitates they be a couple which leads to a fake engagement which leads to a quickie Vegas marriage that has a time limit.

Their banter will have you in stitches. I absolutely loved these two narrators and how they brought Elodie and Gage to life.

You should truly listen to this audiobook. This was my first Lauren Blakely book but definitely will not be my last!

Read this book, listen to the audiobook and find out how all the trickery works out for Elodie and Gage! I very highly recommend!

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❓ I’m discovering with right narrators I prefer audiobooks. I want a female and a male working dually bringing the characters to life. I’m loving audiobooks but picky about the way they are done. Do you listen to audiobooks?

The old school Blakely we know and love.

This book took me back to when I first started reading and listening to Lauren Blakely. Fun, flirty and HOTT. I am kind of over the fake relationship, its way over done right now, but this was really a great way to do it. Gage and Elodie are EXACTLY like their professions, cocktails and chocolate yummm. They meet and have one hot and steamy night, but during the evening come up with an amazing joint venture. They decide to have their night, scratch that itch, and get to business only. But when they meet the man who could make or break their new business, and he wants partners that are either married and happy or the same gender as to avoid “drama” they can do the only thing they can think of and be pretend engaged. Besides their own businesses and the complications that come with it, and now starting this new project, they both also have major responsibilities at home, Gage being a single father to a little girl and Elodie raising he sister. Thankfully both the girls get along really well which makes it even harder for Elodie and Gage to keep that line crispy and not start to blur.
This book was narrated by some of my favorite narrators and in duet! Teddy Hamilton and Vanessa Edwin just knocked this one out of the park. Teddy really embodied the suaveness of gage and Vanessa the fun and spunk of Elodie. This was such a fun book from start to finish, and there was even a little revenge on competing businesses, what more could you ask for?

so good

another one knocked out the park by the great LB ! 📚🎧✔️ her stories are amazing full of great banter and perfect narration

Almost Romantic

This is my favorite book!! Loved the characters, the story and the narrators!! Character development was great!! Thank you!!

Vanessa & Teddy: perfect pairing in duet!

The Almost Romantic is the third book in the How to Date series by Lauren Blakely. I'm loving this series and I couldn't be happier that this is Gage and Elodie's story! I have loved them since we met them and they are fun and sexy together. They have one hot night together before they decide to go into business together. Now it's hands off. But a series of events leads to them getting fake engaged and then fake married. Now they are living the lie that soon becomes the truth. Gage is a single dad and Elodie is raising her sister and they are pretending to be a family while working together. She's making chocolate, he's making cocktails and it's all just the best game of foreplay. This story has everything we love about romance: a swoony hero, a smart, sassy heroine, family, friends and chocolate! I had the pleasure of listening to Vanessa Edwin and Teddy Hamilton bring Elodie and Gage to life. They were the perfect pairing and in duet narration!

Marriage of Convenience Parent Trap Edition

This book was absolutely adorable!!! Elodie and Gage both are into each other from the first time they saw each other. Gage gets a package at his restaurant and when he opens it he sees it’s for Elodie. She sent there on accident while she was waiting for a Togo order. He brings it back and asks her on a date. The date was perfect. They had great conversation and amazing chemistry. During that date they saw a little hole in the wall spot for rent. They both thought it would be a great chocolate tasting (for Elodie) and paired with mixed drinks (for Gage). They set up an appointment to apply for that spot. The owner loves their love and offers them the spot. Problem is. They’re not in love. They’re just business partners to grow their own individual businesses.

Throw in their both single parents, both super busy in life and don’t want to get hurt. Problem is, their kids, family and friends make sure they do fall in love with each other.

The best!

The narration really makes this book amazing! Teddy and Vanessa were wonderful! I loved both AND the story!