The plan was simple: fake the wedding, save her career. Then she met the best man.
Vivian Whitlock’s social media empire is about to crumble. She’s closing in on thirty, and her fans are moving on to their ‘weddings and babies’ era. About to be dropped by her management team, she pretends she and her secret boyfriend are ready to take the plunge.
There’s just one problem: he doesn’t exist.
Enter Dominic James, a charismatic actor working at the idyllic Paradise Bay Resort. He’s got Broadway dreams and the perfect cover story. The two strike a deal—he’ll play her doting fiancé, and she’ll launch him into New York stardom.
But Vivian’s picture-perfect plan takes an unexpected turn when she moves into the beachside bungalow Dominic shares with his brother, Ben—an intense, fiercely-devoted single dad with no time for romance.
Surrounded by swaying palms, ocean breezes, and a precocious five-year-old who steals her heart, Vivian starts to wonder if she’s been chasing the wrong dream all along.
Is she about to lose everything she built—or finally find something that lasts?
Dear Ms. Summers,
Here’s another fun beach read from the Paradise Bay series. This one is a bit more convoluted than a standard beach read. Parts of it annoyed me but overall I enjoyed it.
Vivian Whitlock sort of fell into influencing and after almost ten years of hard work, she’s got tons of followers, lots of sponsors, and lives a pretty good life in New York City. But a late night post made in a desperate attempt to bolster her “views” was not her best idea. Now she and bestie Paige are overheard as they discuss how Vivian can save her career. Honestly the stars must have aligned for her to find that perfect someone to be her pretend husband. She gets something, he gets something, they both know where they stand so what could go wrong?
I actually like how all the various moving parts of the plot fit together. Actor Dom is willing to play his part in order to get a shot at Broadway which has always been his dream. True he’s gay but everyone will act according to the script and he’ll get a green card (though he’ll need to work harder memorizing Vivian’s life and their life together for their marriage interviews). Vivian’s cameraman/editor is in on the game but her marketing agents are … not? I think. But as getting sponsors is all they care about, let’s not worry about them.
Who we worry about is Dom’s brother Ben and his son Henry who stole my heart. Ben never planned on being a father but in a scene that could be from a movie called “2 Men and a Baby” he discovers he’s a father and his brother gives up his dreams for five years to help raise Henry. Ben is Not Pleased about Dom playing the part of a hetero groom (Ben wants Dom to find his perfect guy) as well as panicked at the thought of losing his backup for raising Henry. Yes, there are moments when Ben does come off as a teensy bit selfish but deep down, he really does want the best for his brother. Henry is not a plot-moppet. He is a delight. Ben, despite his moments of pure panic, is a pretty great dad, too.
The person who makes me silently scream the most is Vivian. As her mother (who triumphed over a bad marriage) tries to tell her, be your best single self but Vivian can’t stop chasing those “views” and “likes” and doubles/triples down on her mistake. Then once she finds Dom (a miracle) and begins to fall for Ben (he really is a good guy), she still won’t admit her mistake, change gears and live a true life. Lose her followers? Start from scratch? Oh, no. I get that her swag is fabulous but as the story progresses she admits that making “content” each day is a drag now and that’s before she paints herself into a corner for years with a husband who, though he won’t disappoint her the way her own dead-beat dad betrayed her and her mother, will not ever be “the man of her dreams.”
Will the truth of Vivian’s and Dom’s relationship remain a secret? Well, not really and when wisps of the truth begin to float across the internet, they trot out a lie that props up a nice feeling – which is that love comes in many forms and can look many ways – which is a great message. But still The Truth is obviously headed towards them like a freight train. Will they acknowledge it and step off or keep standing on the tracks?
Poor Vivian keeps her head deeply in the sand and refuses to communicate to the bitter end. About halfway through the book, we suddenly get a lecture from her mother to Vivian about how being single is fine and some drivel about “The Little Mermaid” all of which I wondered if this had been driving Vivian all along but no, she knows who she loves but she just won’t be honest about her feelings beyond wanting hot sex. Ben won’t say anything either so, yeah without family members pushing them together, I’m not sure these two would have found their way. I was happy that Vivian finally tells her father what she thinks of him and Henry is a doll but there’s a fair degree of frustration here. B-/C+
~Jayne
AmazonBNKoboBook DepositoryGoogle
Related
Jayne
Another long time reader who read romance novels in her teens, then took a long break before started back again about 25 years ago. She enjoys historical romance/fiction best, likes contemporaries, action- adventure and mysteries, will read suspense if there’s no TSTL characters and is currently reading more fantasy and SciFi.
