Rating: 4 Stars

Publisher: Jax Calder

Genre: Gay Romance

Tags: Contemporary, Christmas, Enemies To Lovers, Fake Boyfriend/Forced Proximity, Opposites Attract, Romance, Series

Length: 178 pages

Reviewer: Cindi

Purchase At: Amazon

Blurb –

Liam

I’ve landed my first big assignment with Elite, and it has the potential to be a financial game-changer, so I’m determined not to screw it up. All I have to do is pretend to be a wealthy CEO’s boyfriend on a sun-kissed tropical island for a week. How hard can that be?

Unfortunately, I’m met at the airport by an unexpected blast from my past: Matthew O’Conner. The nerd who lived next door to me growing up—also known as my lifelong nemesis.

This job just got a whole lot more complicated.

Matthew

My blood runs cold when I spot Liam sauntering through the airport doors. Of all the people in the world to show up to be my fake boyfriend for a week, why did it have to be Liam Jamieson? Mr. All-American Charm. The jock with a smile that melts everyone—except me. We’ve been at odds since childhood, trapped in an endless cycle of pranks and one-upmanship.

And now we have to pretend we’re in love? This is going to be a complete disaster.

Or is it?

It turns out Liam and I have both grown up since high school. And maybe, just maybe, we never actually knew each other to begin with.

note: this story was originally published in the Elite Connections anthology

Review –

I’m trying to get back in the swing of things, so to speak, with my reading and reviewing. I figured my best bet after so long would be to read authors I’ve read in the past and enjoyed. Jax Calder is one of those.

There are quite a few things about this book that should’ve kept me from reading it, regardless of who wrote it. I’m not a fan of fake boyfriends and forced proximity. I’m constantly, as I’m reading, waiting for the other shoe to drop when the truth comes out. The waiting for the other shoe to drop always pulls me out of the story, something that definitely happened here, unfortunately.

Matthew and Liam grew up next door to each other. To say they hated each other would be a major understatement. Matthew was the smart kid, the nerd. Liam was the typical jock. One little comment when they first met turned into years of pranks against each other. This wasn’t one of those books where one kid gets bullied and they don’t fight back. Quite the opposite. They both gave as good as they got. We’re not talking simple and harmless pranks. Oh no, these were elaborately thought out, and they gave their parents and school administrators fits.

I’ll throw this out there… I hate pranks. Seriously despise them. The only thing that kept me reading this was the fact that the pranks mostly happened when the two were younger.

Matthew and Liam haven’t seen each other in years. Neither even live in their hometown anymore. Matthew is this young tech phenom who recently opened his own company. Liam is a personal trainer whose dream is to open his own special facility.

Matthew’s company is going on a tropical work retreat. The resident bastard new Vice President of the company suggests they take their partners along. The VP, Paul, is a couple of decades older than Matthew and takes great pleasure in undermining him at every opportunity. I never really figured out what Paul’s game was as far as the trip and the partners thing with regard to Matthew. Everything else? Oh, that was easy to figure out. He couldn’t stand some twenty-something telling him how to do his job even when that twenty-something is his boss.

Paul should have been nipped in the bud early on. I’ll come back to him.

Matthew, not having a partner and knowing he needs one for the retreat, decides to secretly pay an agency for one. What he doesn’t expect is for his rent-a-boyfriend to be his biggest nemesis, Liam. Liam’s about as thrilled to see Matthew as he is him. Even so, Liam’s there, and there’s no getting anybody else at short notice so they wing it.

Well, winging it ends up with them dancing a little close – for appearances, of course – which leads to them playing around a little at their villa. The playing around turns into one hell of a full-on sexual relationship. When they’re not hooking up, they’re stealing kisses, holding hands, holding each other. Let’s just say that what was supposed to be fake turned real awfully quick for both of them.

Unfortunately, reality hits and they have to go their separate ways at the end of the week. Both are too stubborn and scared of rejection to say they want more. The way they do eventually come together is so freaking sweet.

I loved these guys together. It was obvious right off that all those long ago pranks had seriously affected each man, and not in a good way. Being forced together for a week has them both opening their eyes to the damage they both caused. It also helped them find ways to fix it.

As much as I liked Matthew and Liam together, there are a few things that kept me from rating it higher.

Paul. He was an ass every single time he was on page. Matthew was his boss, not some random coworker. Matthew had all the authority where Paul had only the amount of control Matthew was willing to give him. Matthew was a doormat and allowed the Paul situation to go on way too long before he finally put his foot down.

Something that bugged me… why not just tell everybody they grew up together? It was obvious they knew each other quite well, and knowing each other for so long would’ve made their relationship much more believable, in my opinion.

The waiting on the shoe to drop thing that I mention above. While it didn’t happen, I kept waiting for it. That kind of stuff makes my ADHD hyperfocus brain go haywire because it was always there when I was trying to read the story.

Overall, this is a cute enemies to lovers story. It took the guys a little while to get there, but when they did, it was super sweet. I may read The Revenge Game when it’s released, though I’m definitely not a fan of former bully main characters.

Note that I tagged this as Christmas/seasonal. I’m doing that because the most important part of the book (for me anyway) happens at Christmas. The rest of the story isn’t set during that time.