Good dirty fun. I listened to this alongside some other more challenging things, saving it for when I a needed a hit of hot and simple romance. It delivered. I still find it weird how much I am coming to like sports themed romances (mostly hockey, but this one is baseball.) I like hockey and baseball, but you could not call me a diehard fan by any stretch. In life I have never been drawn to gym rat jocks - unless you count one long ago D1 swimmer who was also a lit major and listened to Captain Beefheart and Wire. But promiscuous jerky men felled by love apparently works for me. Who knew that deep down in my cynical heart I was a cliché? Oh well, I am cool with that.

One note, I listened to this, and while I really liked the male narrator, John Masterson, I was less impressed with the female narrator, Cassandra Myles. In parts she was weirdly wooden in her delivery, but that was far from the main problem. Myles sounds like she is 12 and that is off-putting when people are writing about having delightfully rough sex. Oddly, the only time her voice did not bug me was when she read the male parts since she dropped her voice a couple of octaves to do so. Sorry Cassandra! ( )

When a broken heart leads to a bad idea, Evie and Maddox find that faking it is the least of their problems. Hothead begins with an awkwardly volatile chance meeting that snowballs into the romance of the century. The problem. The lies get bigger, the heart falls deeper and what began as a means to end starts to become a realism that makes for extreme chaos. Ms. Rhys gives love a bad name that ends up feeling oh so right. Loved. ( )

coming soon.... ( )

REVIEW: “You have to take care of yourself before you can take care of anyone else…” Taken advantage of, deceived and betrayed, both Drew and Evie reluctantly agree to a fake engagement. Three months is a short time to fool the public and team management. However, maybe they are just fooling themselves. It is easy to get caught up in these complicated characters. The heat is tremendous and the verbal sparring adds some humorous moments. There was a lot more to this book than just a sports romance crossed with a faux engagement. This is my voluntary review of an Advanced Reader Copy of this book.

DESCRIPTION, NOT REVIEW: He's the hottest player in Major League Baseball, the most notorious playboy in all of Manhattan...And my fake fiancé for the next three months.

I was drunk-dialing my ex the night I met him.

Six-three, sexy as sin and so incredibly rude I could smack the asshole smirk right off his face. Long story short, we got off to a bad start. But when the tabloids interpret our sparring as Drew Maddox "groveling" with a "mystery brunette," his agent presents us both a proposal:

Shacking up as a couple this summer.

It’s an alleged “win-win.” I need to prove to my ex that I'm fine. Drew needs to prove to his team that he's stable. Thanks to his on-field brawling and never-ending lady drama, Drew Maddox has suddenly found himself on the trade block - which means he needs a fast, easy way to show the team that he's settled down.

Hence this fiancé thing. ( )

**I received a copy of this book from Hidden Gems Books in exchange for an honest voluntary review. All opinions are my own and not influenced by my source.**

I had an absolute BLAST reading this book!

It had everything I love in a good fake relationship romance: palpable chemistry, fun banter and genuine characters. It was easy to become addicted to this story.

I'll admit, I wasn't sure about Evie when we first meet her. She's still hung up on her crappy ex and making some questionable life choices. But that all changed when we get to her first encounter with Drew. Their chemistry was off the charts and I couldn't help but chuckle at their back and forth retorts. That's when I knew I was in for a great ride.

What I really loved about the romance of this novel was how it brought out the best in the characters. The first half of the novel is focused more on Evie and her learning not to define herself by her ex-boyfriend. I love how Drew gets her to see her self-worth and builds her confidence. And in turn, Evie returns the favour later on when we start to peel back the layers to Drew's character and she helps him see their is more to life and people. I love romances that help grow both characters and this one succeeds incredibly in that respect.

These two just work together. They have this great physical chemistry but they also get to know each other on a deeper level--one of my favourite things about the fake relationship trope. In a way this book read like a slow burn because we did get those heated moments between them but they took their time getting to know each other a little more.

And while this book had drama along the way, it all really worked well for his story. I never felt like anything was put in there simply for shock factor or to up the drama. Everything helps to reaffirm the characters development and progress the romance in a positive way.

This was my first Stella Rhys book and it certainly won't be my last!

Check out more spoiler-free book and series reviews on my blog SERIESousBookReviews.com as well as read book series recaps!

Full Review: TBP
Actual Rating: 5/5 ( )