The Decoy Date
Author: Mira Lyn Kelley
Series: The Wedding Date, book 4
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca (December 4, 2018)
Mass Market Paperback, 320 pages
SummaryFake relationship. Real feelings. Big problems.
Brody O'Donnel doesn't believe in happily-ever-afters—at least, not for himself. But he wants the best for his vivacious, beautiful friend Gwen Danes, and he's tired of watching her pine for a clueless man. Figuring a little bit of jealousy will motivate the guy, Brody proposes a fake relationship. It's an outrageous plan, but Gwen figures there's no harm in it—until they share a passionate kiss she never saw coming.
Suddenly, Gwen's fighting a growing attraction to a man she knows she can't have. After all, he's just faking it...isn't he?
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| Rating: 5 stars |
Review
Ahh, the fake relationship. This was a kind of refreshing take on the fake relationship trope in that it was also a rescuing her from Mr. Wrong take on it. How fun! I'm not usually much of a fan of love triangles, but since Gwen's love for Ted is so one-sided I figured it would all be fine... or would it?!
This book is told in the third person limited POV and alternates between giving a deeper look into Gwen's inner thoughts/feelings/motivations and into Brody's. I can't believe how just unbelievably GOOD Brody is (even if he does mess up and do A Very Stupid Thing a couple of times.... Oh Brody.) Gwen is also pretty dang great, and I just LOVE THEM TO PIECES. Brody's friends are also really fun, and I feel like I'd have loved this book so much more if I'd read the first three books in the series and gotten to know them more through their own stories. As it was sometimes they were a little much, and I think that's because to some extent the reader is expected to already be familiar with them and have built a certain level of affection for them. (But that MOLLY, oh my gosh, OK, I need to go back and read Molly's book.)
The Decoy Date is just an amaaaazing slow burn until suddenly it's not, and I was sitting there like "Uh oh, I'm only halfway through this book, what the heck is going to happen?!" Because you know there's not going to be 150 pages of Happily Ever After, so there is SOME BIG ASS DRAMA COMING DOWN THOSE PAGES, FRIEND. Oh my gosh, this book. BRODY. GWEN. YOU GUYYYYYYS. 3 Suffice to say that The Decoy Date delivers all the best bits of the fake relationship trope, right down to both of them falling hard for the other and being convinced that the other person is just playing their part. NNNGH, right in the feels. And then it gets WORSE FROM THERE! (Or maybe... BETTER.) And that's all I can say because no spoilers, so you'll just have to read the book and ride the Brody + Gwen Rollercoaster of Love.
This is the fourth book in The Wedding Date series, but it can be read as a stand alone. There are some spoilers for books in the earlier series (but I'm totally going to go back and read the earlier books anyway...)
This book is told in the third person limited POV and alternates between giving a deeper look into Gwen's inner thoughts/feelings/motivations and into Brody's. I can't believe how just unbelievably GOOD Brody is (even if he does mess up and do A Very Stupid Thing a couple of times.... Oh Brody.) Gwen is also pretty dang great, and I just LOVE THEM TO PIECES. Brody's friends are also really fun, and I feel like I'd have loved this book so much more if I'd read the first three books in the series and gotten to know them more through their own stories. As it was sometimes they were a little much, and I think that's because to some extent the reader is expected to already be familiar with them and have built a certain level of affection for them. (But that MOLLY, oh my gosh, OK, I need to go back and read Molly's book.)
The Decoy Date is just an amaaaazing slow burn until suddenly it's not, and I was sitting there like "Uh oh, I'm only halfway through this book, what the heck is going to happen?!" Because you know there's not going to be 150 pages of Happily Ever After, so there is SOME BIG ASS DRAMA COMING DOWN THOSE PAGES, FRIEND. Oh my gosh, this book. BRODY. GWEN. YOU GUYYYYYYS. 3 Suffice to say that The Decoy Date delivers all the best bits of the fake relationship trope, right down to both of them falling hard for the other and being convinced that the other person is just playing their part. NNNGH, right in the feels. And then it gets WORSE FROM THERE! (Or maybe... BETTER.) And that's all I can say because no spoilers, so you'll just have to read the book and ride the Brody + Gwen Rollercoaster of Love.
This is the fourth book in The Wedding Date series, but it can be read as a stand alone. There are some spoilers for books in the earlier series (but I'm totally going to go back and read the earlier books anyway...)
This sounds so cute! I love a good fake relationship book. Great review!
ReplyDeleteI am definitely reading this one after I finish the latest Bridgerton!!
ReplyDelete