The Real Deal by Lauren Blakely
Released: July 10, 2018
Contemporary Romance
I Self Published

Reviewed by Mandi

I liked both the hero and the heroine, yet I didn’t really like the romance. Maybe they should have just been friends?

April, who lives in New York City and body paints people for big commercial campaigns, is dreading to go home without a date. Invited to her big family reunion, she already has several emails from family members who have men waiting to be set-up with her. She is desperate to find a date, so when her good friend recommends a “date for hire” she grabs at the choice. Her friend vouches for him and his good standing, so when she reads his silly Craigslist ad, she is glad he has been vouched for.

I can do the following things at your request. . . .

1. Openly hit on other female guests, including your sister and any girlfriends, wives, or great-aunts. Moms aren’t off-limitseither.

2. Start provocative and/or incendiary discussions about politics and religion. Preferably both, and ideally on the most inflammatory topics of the day.

3. Propose to you in front of everyone. I’ll even do it over the cake course and call you my sweet buttercream frosting girl.

4. Break up with you and then engage in a huge makeup lovefest involving (a) a ladder, (b) a megaphone, or (c) an announcement during a parade in your hometown. (Note: Public scenes aren’t new to me. I know the drill.)

And that’s just part of his list – he goes on from there.

Theo has realized that he is very, very good at role-playing. He can portray any kind of guy a woman needs. Rough and gruff? Professorial? One to bring home to mama? Just tell him, and he can transform. Working as a bartender by day, Theo has a messy past that is still catching up with him. He needs cash and needs it fast. When he gets April as a client, he is thrilled and packs his bag to go home with her for a few days as her fake boyfriend. He runs a strict – platonic business, and is surprised to be so affected by April from first sighting. Off he goes home with her, and quickly their fake relationship turns very real.

The good first – April is a cool chick. I love her profession of painting people. I love that her parents and family try to belittle it and she stands her ground and is proud of her work. She has good girlfriend relationships and is funny and open. Theo is also a good guy. Sweet, caring, and very charming. He has a sad past with his parents, and a messy past with his brother, and I liked learning all about him.

I think my main problem with this one is that April and Theo’s relationship never really felt fake. It felt like they fell for each other on first glance. Which is fine, but it didn’t play out well in the story. I got kind of bored with them because I could never tell if their flirting was genuine or fake. I wanted a little more angst or longing between them. There isn’t a lot of tension, and it made me lose interest. April’s family felt a little over the top and I didn’t have as much fun at the reunion as I thought I would. The romance felt too predictable to me and lacked.

This is a sweet story with cute characters but the romance never fell into place.

Grade: C

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