From USA Today bestseller and Amazon top bestselling author Meghan Quinn comes a sizzling fake fiance billionaire romance that will leave your heart and pulse pumping and your sides hurting from laughing.
How did you two meet?
The quintessential question asked to every couple. And the answer is usually some bubbly, lovey-dovey tale of being struck in the bum by Cupid’s arrow.
My meet-cute (well not so meet cute) is slightly different. I was trolling a wealthy neighborhood in Beverly Hills, searching for someone to take me as their bride, you know, to make my arch nemesis jealous who consequently just fired me.
He was stomping around the block like some sort of gorgeous ogre, mumbling about a business deal gone wrong and attempting to finagle his way out of it.
And that's when we bumped into each other.
There were no sparks.
Not even a hint of blossoming love.
But next thing I knew, I was scarfing down free chips and guac, listening to this man lay out all of his problems, which led to his big ask...he wanted me to be his Vivian Ward, you know, from Pretty Woman - minus the frisky behavior.
We're talking about living in a mansion, intimate double dates, and pretending we were head over heels in love...and engaged. Can you imagine?
The absolute audacity.
But people do crazy things when they’re desperate. And I reeked of desperation. So, I struck up a deal.
My one big mistake, though...big...huge? I accidentally fell for the incomparable Huxley Cane.
I’ll admit I’m out of the loop when it comes to new book releases. Lately, I’ve been really into the romance genre and I usually just read what I find on the Audible app or on my recommended page. I’ve been in a bit of a book rut and I’ve mostly been re-reading my old favorites but I wanted something new. I’ve read a few books by this author and some I have really liked and others were just okay, but still enjoyable. I was hoping this would be one of the books I really liked, and luckily it was!
There are times when a book sneaks up on me and other times when you just start a book and now it's gonna be a good one. This one started off so crazy, that I knew it had to be good. We start off with both our characters in a bad situation. Lottie has just been fired from her job by one of her so called friends that did her dirty and Huxley is trying to land a deal with a very successful business man who wants nothing to do with him.
When Huxley runs into his dream client and his pregnant wife, he has the not so bright idea of not only telling him he has a fiancé but a PREGNANT fiancé as well. His wife, (I’m so bad with remembering names) is immediately interested in the prospect of hanging out with another pregnant women and invites them over for dinner. Now Huxley has to find a girl to convince to play his fiancé, and pretend to be pregnant. No biggie.
"Kelsey: Oh my God . . . you’re going to be murdered.
Lottie: No way. The dude is meeting me at Chipotle. He’s not going to murder me at a place where you have to pay extra for guac."
While Lottie is wondering how the hell she will put her life back together and where she will live now that she doesn’t have a job (she was supposed to move out of her parents house who are very eager to have her gone so they can have naked sexy time), she jokes how she wishes she could have her own Pretty Woman moment and find herself a rich billionaire who will take care of her. Just then she literally bumps into Huxley. As they get to making small talk, she rambles on about her Pretty Woman fantasy. Huxley convinces Lottie to meet for lunch where he convinces her to become his fake fiancé in exchange for her student loans paid off and a place to live (with him) while they carry out this charade. Very reluctantly, Lottie agrees.
As the title suggest, this was not a meet cute. It wasn’t love at first sight, and they didn’t really like each other very much. They argued and bickered, but when it was time to turn on the charm in front of Huxley’s dream client and his wife, they were very good at playing a real couple in love. A little too real. As Lottie and Huxley spend more time together, going on sometimes ridiculous double dates (like weird baby classes), the more they realize that maybe they aren’t faking their feelings and attraction to each other.
“I hope you have a sleepless night.”
“Sweet nightmares,” he replies back with such a level of snark that I think I might have met my match.
I’ll admit, this book made me a little nervous at times. It made me a little uncomfortable that she was pretending to be pregnant (she said she was very early, around 8 weeks so she wouldn’t be showing yet) and I felt bad for the actual pregnant girl who was being lied to. The whole time, I just kept wondering how the hell this could possibly end well. Because if he gets what he wants and lands the client, wouldn’t they notice if his fiancé didn’t actually have a baby? Even if they supposedly split up, they would inevitably ask about the baby???
Luckily, and not a spoiler alert since come on, this is a romance book and a happily ever after is almost a guarantee, but everything ends up working out in the best way in the end.
This book was exactly what I needed to read! I’ve been in a mood funk lately, and wanted a book that would just put me in a good mood. This book was so enjoyable and funny and sexy. It had that super rare quality in books where it was pretty steamy without being cliche or over the top. Lottie and Huxley had such great chemistry, I loved when they were flirting almost as much as when they were fighting with each other. Not only did they have great chemistry, but the supporting characters were all great as well. I really enjoyed the scenes with Lottie and Huxley on double dates, Lottie and her sister had such a cute relationship and her mom and stepdad were so funny. I got a kick out of how they were so excited for Lottie to move out (not in a mean way) so that they can enjoy more naked time around the house. And Huxley’s brothers were also great, I’m hoping this series can continue with their story, especially since one of them had the hots for Lottie’s sister.
“It is,” she says, and for the first time since I’ve known her, I take her hand in mine not because I’m putting on a show, but because I think she needs it.”
I listened to the audiobook version of this and really enjoyed it. Ava Erickson is a narrator that I have listened to a few other books from her. She does a really good job with all of her characters and does such a great job on converting their emotions. This is my first audiobook narrated by Aaron Shedlock, but I did look him up on Audible and he has soooo many books that he has narrated. I also thought he did a good job as narrator and would not hesitate to listen to other books narrated by both ot either of these narrators. A Not So Meet Cute was such a gem! It had it all, it was cute and funny and sexy and at almost 12 hours long, I listened to this in less than two days. I need more books like this!
4.5 stars
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