by Jill Shalvis
Part of Lucky Harbor, book 8
First published 2013
Leah Sullivan returns to Lucky Harbor after failing out of pastry school and bombing on a reality cooking show. She needs a win in her life, but instead finds herself spinning lies. When she sees Jack Harper's mother Dee looking frail and worried, Leah impulsively claims she and Jack are dating. The fib is meant to lift Dee's spirits, but now Leah must convince her firefighter best friend to play along. Jack agrees to the charade, thinking it will be easy since he keeps all his relationships casual anyway. But as they hold hands in public and share fake intimate moments, the pretending starts feeling dangerously real. Jack has always avoided serious relationships to protect himself from getting hurt. Leah knows too much about his past and his flaws for this to work long term. Yet every staged kiss and manufactured tender moment makes them both wonder if they've been fooling themselves about being just friends. In a small town where everyone watches everyone else, Jack and Leah must decide whether their fake romance could become something genuine, or if best friends really do know too much about each other to fall in love.
Genres: fiction, romance, adult-fiction, contemporary-romance
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, fake-dating
Setting: Lucky Harbor
242 pages · Kindle Edition · Grand Central Publishing