"She glanced over her shoulder and smiled. The sun had nothing on Everly. She lit up the entire f***ing world. My world in particular."
--Shepherd Calloway
It’s no hidden secret that I’ve been a long-time fan- girl of Claire Kingsley and her books. I was super excited about the heroine of the funny and very witty dating disasters newsletters getting a book that would focus on the journey of her very own HEA. And what’s not love about our heroine, Everly Dalton? She’s sweet, smart, kind, adorable, self-sufficient, and so, so, so long overdue to receive the love and attention of a good man. She also needed to actually make it past the first date! LOL! I think we can all agree that after so many disastrous dates, this heroine deserved EVERYTHING! The poor woman has had to "kiss" a lot of funky, “frogs.”
Enter Shepherd Calloway—her boss of all people! He's the total opposite of our sunshine girl, Everly. I think the nickname “Stone Cold” would accurately apply here. But we all know what they say about opposites, right?! Hmm…mmm! Now getting into the first bit of the story, readers are reunited with our favorite girls from the Dirty Martini Running Club-Everly's besties-Nora and Hazel. These ladies always enjoy sipping martinis, having fun, and listening to juicy details of Everly’s latest dating disaster. Whenever they got together, readers know they're in for some good soundbites from their loaded conversations.
But then, Everly’s sister needed a big favor from Everly—and it was a doozy! This was the kind of favor that made my own hairs on the back of my neck stand at attention! She wanted her to do what now?! 😳 And I’m thinking: "Not n-o, but h-e-l-l no!" This little favor set my nerves on edge a little, but I had to trust that CK would work out this little scenario as the story moved forward, and not make me hate her sister for putting our sweet Everly in such a tight spot.😬 Anyway, back to our hero, Mr. Calloway. I love that there was another side to Shepherd. He had his reasons for coming off cold and unfeeling. This is one of my favorite types of heroes. I always got the feeling that there’s more to the man once you've delved deeper and revealed the psyche. Just as I suspected, there was so much more beneath the surface of Mr. "Stone Cold," and Everly-with all her warmth and sunshine-was just the woman he needed to melt his heart.
I really enjoyed this book because it wasn't quite like other fake relationship stories I've read. Usually, as I'm reading, I'm in such turmoil over who or what will mess things up for the "fake" couple. Will it go too far for them to get back together? Will I even want them back together?! However, everything about this story was sweet, romantic, and sexy--I loved every minute of it! Even the little bump in the road had me like "aww!", instead of my usual "oh, no he or she didn't!" As usual, CK really did her thing with Faking Ms. Right. I was not disappointed at all with the way things turned out, and I'm absolutely looking forward to see what she does with Everly's best friends, Nora and Hazel.