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3.87 AVERAGE
3.87 AVERAGE
Crystal Kaswell examines romance from all angles and finds humor in the tragic, hope in the hopeless and redemption in love. She humanizes the love genre without fictionalizing the romance. Pretend You're Mine begins with a lie and quickly becomes an irresistible reality. With fresh eyes and an open heart, she keeps me in love, with love.
I liked this nearly as much as I liked Brendon and Kay's story. This is a classic friends to lovers where one of the friends is delusional about the other's feelings story. It was cute.
rcvd an advanced reader copy from the author for giving my two cents. we meet Ryan, tattoo artist, moping around after 1 yr catching his gf in their bed with another man only to receive a wedding invite. sheesh. we meet Leighton, Ryan's bff and secretary of sorts for the ink shop. Leighton has been in love with Ryan for 2 yrs and he hasn't had a clue but his brother dean knows. when Ryan tells them he was invited n that his ex called and he told her he has a gf...all bets are off. Leighton volunteers to be his pretend gf to make the ex jealous. Ryan reluctantly agrees only if he can build Leighton a website for her designs. she is going to fall down the rabbit hole bc of her feelings for Ryan. and he knows she wants someone but it isn't reciprocated...what a fool. the more Ryan makes penny jealous the more he develops feelings for Leighton. he wants her but knows shes in love with someone else. what could possible go wrong in their little pretending fiasco.
Codependent love
Friends to Lovers dual point of view
Has characters from the other Inked Hearts series which inform story, but are not essential. It is a stand-alone.
Ryan’s ex (longtime high school sweetheart) is marrying the man she cheated on him with in their bed. He swore he was over her and would bring a date to the wedding. In steps coworker/best friend Leighton to be the convincing lover without Ryan knowing she’s been in love with him for two years. Insecurities and communication cause issues.
Ryan just seems to move from one codependent relationship to another.
It was well written and constructed, key decision points were explained.
Friends to Lovers dual point of view
Has characters from the other Inked Hearts series which inform story, but are not essential. It is a stand-alone.
Ryan’s ex (longtime high school sweetheart) is marrying the man she cheated on him with in their bed. He swore he was over her and would bring a date to the wedding. In steps coworker/best friend Leighton to be the convincing lover without Ryan knowing she’s been in love with him for two years. Insecurities and communication cause issues.
Ryan just seems to move from one codependent relationship to another.
It was well written and constructed, key decision points were explained.
When Leighton's best friend Ryan's ex gf invites him to her wedding with the man she cheated on him with, Leighton offers to fake date him for 4 months to let his ex know he's over her. The only problem? She's madly in love with him, and he thinks she's in love with his brother. A journey of healing and learning to love again. Two great tropes meet and result in this. Great book and a great ending to this box set. Looking forward to reading more!
Crystal Kaswell examines romance from all angles and finds humor in the tragic, hope in the hopeless and redemption in love. She humanizes the love genre without fictionalizing the romance. Pretend You're Mine begins with a lie and quickly becomes an irresistible reality. With fresh eyes and an open heart, she keeps me in love, with love.
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is the third book in the series and they just keep getting better.I just loved the attraction between Ryan and Leighton I just could not wait to see them together she has been in love with him since she started working at ink heart but he has not gotten over his ex-cheating on him when the ex is cheeky enough to send him an invite to her wedding Leighton offers to go with him pretending to be his girlfriend this was a fantastic friends to lovers romance it was really well written and a great storyline that had me laughing out loud at times.
Pretend You're Mine is the story of Ryan and Leighton. Ryan catches his girlfriend in bed with another man and now he has received an invitation to her wedding. When the ex calls Ryan he says that he has a girlfriend and he will be bringing her. Worst case scenario - he'll ask his friend, Leighton. They have a wonderful friendship although Ryan has no idea that Leighton has feelings for him and he has trust issues which make committing to a relationship difficult. It's heartwarming to see how they work through their issues to come together.
4.9 stars
This book might be the best that I have read by this author. She writes with such intricate thought. Instead of writing a pretend girlfriend to shoe the ex you are over them, she instead takes that sub genre and flips it in a totally different way. I was expecting the tried and true way because I'm a sucker for those. However, this was soooooo much better. Her characters have depth. You learn all their idiosyncrasies and can get a better feel on the characters mind and how they are feeling. This is especially true with it being told in dual POV. As a reader I really appreciate that.
Leighton. This woman is fiery.i love that she is devoted to her best friend but keeps her true feelings hidden while she is there for him to heal from a bitter break-up. She was the personification of unrequited love. Something pretty much any person can relate to at least once in their lives.
Ryan. Good Lawd this man is swoon worthy. It's always hard to see the writing on the wall, so to speak, and in his case he couldn't see how a heartbreaking end was holding him back from the very thing he wanted. It was refreshing to see him vacillating in his feelings for Leighton instead of instant love.
Together these two had chemistry that was off the charts. It wasn't fast. It wasn't easy. It had angst. It made you smile, and your heart ache.
This series of standalones is fantastic. This one is my favorite so far though. Until Dean. I can already tell that's going to be my favorite since he is my favorite character.
This book might be the best that I have read by this author. She writes with such intricate thought. Instead of writing a pretend girlfriend to shoe the ex you are over them, she instead takes that sub genre and flips it in a totally different way. I was expecting the tried and true way because I'm a sucker for those. However, this was soooooo much better. Her characters have depth. You learn all their idiosyncrasies and can get a better feel on the characters mind and how they are feeling. This is especially true with it being told in dual POV. As a reader I really appreciate that.
Leighton. This woman is fiery.i love that she is devoted to her best friend but keeps her true feelings hidden while she is there for him to heal from a bitter break-up. She was the personification of unrequited love. Something pretty much any person can relate to at least once in their lives.
Ryan. Good Lawd this man is swoon worthy. It's always hard to see the writing on the wall, so to speak, and in his case he couldn't see how a heartbreaking end was holding him back from the very thing he wanted. It was refreshing to see him vacillating in his feelings for Leighton instead of instant love.
Together these two had chemistry that was off the charts. It wasn't fast. It wasn't easy. It had angst. It made you smile, and your heart ache.
This series of standalones is fantastic. This one is my favorite so far though. Until Dean. I can already tell that's going to be my favorite since he is my favorite character.