Rating: 4/5
Book Blurb: A faux summer fling seemed like the perfect solution . . . until they start falling in love for real. Teacher Stella Marshall’s summer break has just began, but the gossip is already sizzling: Luke Keegan’s back in town! Stella’s high school crush is all grown up and smolderingly sexy. She might even consider a fling with the former Navy SEAL, if she hadn’t already sworn off all romantic entanglements. But there isn’t a single thing she can do to stop the rumor mill whispering about her and Luke being together—unless . . . A showmance! Luke never thought he’d propose a fake relationship, but it’s the only way to stop the runaway speculation about their love lives. Pretending to date a woman as stunning as Stella is easy. Not actually falling for her is the hard part. Luke isn’t sure he deserves a hometown happy ending, when members of his SEAL team never made it back at all. But there’s real attraction buzzing between him and Stella . . . and he knows she feels it too. Could their faux summer romance lead to true love?
Review:
In the small beach town of Mistletoe, Maine, two people are about to find out that maybe faking a relationship can lead to really falling in love. Stella Marshall is a teacher who loves her job and can’t wait for summer to begin. But things are about to get a little bit off track when her high school crush has come back in town, cue, extremely handsome Navy Seal, Luke Keegan. Luke is trying to find himself after leaving the SEALs and dealing with PTSD and survivor’s guilt over the two members of his team that never made it back. He’s back in town to spend time with his brother and nephew and maybe see if Mistletoe, Maine is where he is meant to be. One thing both Luke and Stella have in common is that they’re both not looking for relationships after the one’s they had been in. Stella’s ex-fiancee had dumped her days before the wedding and now she’s sworn off relationships, except Luke just might be what tempts her to give them another try. When rumors start spreading like wildfire in this small town, everyone is convinced that Luke and Stella are dating, and Luke comes up with a proposal: they both pretend to fake date for the summer so that they’ll both be left alone by people who either want to date them or set them up with other people. Since neither of them are looking for a relationship, it should be the perfect idea? Except the more time they spend together the more they start to realize feelings may be blooming between them. This was the perfect cozy seaside romance read! Super cute and sweet and though its the second book in the series they can be read as a standalone!
*Thank you ReadForeverPub and Belle Calhoune for sending me an copy in exchange for an honest review*