4.5/5 STARS

TROPES:
-GrumpyXSunshine
-Small Town Romance
-Fake Dating
-NO THIRD ACT BREAKUP!!!

If you're looking for a book with major early 2000's rom-com vibes, read this one. Brittainy Cherry delivered. There is little to no spice, but honestly, this book doesn't even need it. The tension alone does it for me, and it's just a fun read.

In the small town of Honey Creek, IL, Yara Kingsley is ready for a crush a year after divorcing her horrible ex husband. Instead, fate keeps throwing Alex Ramirez, the new-in-town restaurant owner who seems to hate everyone and everything, into her path. He needs help with his new dog that his aunt left for him, and Yara, being the dog whisperer, is the obvious person to ask. She needs a fake boyfriend to keep her ex husband from aggressively pursuing her. So, they strike a deal. What happens when that deal turns to more and feelings start evolving that neither can ignore?

This book was wonderful. The way that these characters evolved throughout this story was wonderful. The banter between them was seriously hilarious, and I ate up the tension like it was Thanksgiving dinner. Alex and Yara had me blushing and cackling in just about every chapter. The cast of characters was diverse and even the side characters were well thought out. I found myself hoping for the sisters stories next, and Brittainy is definitely going to deliver.

Thank you Brittainy Cherry and Valentine PR for sending me an eARC of this! I loved it!

This book was incredibly adorable. I love a book that brings two people together by fate (or a little help from it) and this one was so well done. Yara's awful ex husband won't let her go and seeing him around town is just so exhausting. She's also exhausted from her new neighbor sparring with her at every turn. He is the grumpiest man she's ever met and everything she does is wrong in his eyes. From the way she is too nice to the way she handles her business, it's all wrong, and he's always letting her know about.
Alex is a man who is suffering tremendous grief and unfortunately, he doesn't know how to process it. His great aunt, who was his favorite person in the world, has just passed away and he is fulfilling her dying wish of opening a restuarant where she asked him to. The towns people don't like him coming in though, so it's been nothing short of a nightmare.
When Alex sees just how bad Yara's ex really is, the attraction he has been fighting turns into a protectiveness he wasn't expecting. They agree to fake date for her benefit and for his as well. There's a wedding he needs to attend and his ex will be there, so this is perfect.
They both say it's fake, but I don't think it ever feels fake to either one of them at any point in time. Since we get both POV we understand that they are both just as smitten as the other. This was a cute, clean read and I can't wait to read more about these sisters.

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OMG I looooved the enemies portion at the beginning! Alex was just so hateful and unnecessarily mean, but the chapters from his POV just made me want to hug him into submission. Yara’s description of him was spot on - a big dog who’s just a scared puppy wanting to be loved. And how can you not fall in love with that imagery?? Poor widdle puppy-man.

I truly hated how Yara was so easily walked all over by the townsfolk. Especially Mrs Levels. What a horrid woman. But back to Yara - I just don’t understand how she could make the unbelievably brave and difficult move to divorce Cole, something that undoubtedly took a LOT of backbone, and yet she couldn’t say no to a miserable old bat? I found that a bit bizarre.

Alex and Yara’s progression to friendship came very easily and they were so good for each other. She softened him, and he hardened her. The perfect balance.

My only real complaint was that there was zero smut. There were a few moments when I thought this is it! We’re getting our freak on! But we never got it. The pottery scene was such a tease! As was the fridge scene. Gutted.

It was sweet, a hint of romcom, a touch of hallmark, with some darker moments/characters woven in for the angst factor. But we got our HEA, they got their comeuppance (yay!) and for once I didn’t ball my eyes out at a Brittainy Cherry book. Save the tissues, save the trees! Or something like that.