Synopsis
When her partner of over a decade suddenly ends things, Laurie is left reeling—not only because they work at the same law firm and she has to see him every day. Her once perfect life is in shambles and the thought of dating again in the age of Tinder is nothing short of horrifying. When news of her ex’s pregnant girlfriend hits the office grapevine, taking the humiliation lying down is not an option. Then a chance encounter in a broken-down elevator with the office playboy opens up a new possibility.
Jamie Carter doesn’t believe in love, but he needs a respectable, steady girlfriend to impress their bosses. Laurie wants a hot new man to give the rumor mill something else to talk about. It’s the perfect proposition: a fauxmance played out on social media, with strategically staged photographs and a specific end date in mind. With the plan hatched, Laurie and Jamie begin to flaunt their new couple status, to the astonishment—and jealousy—of their friends and colleagues. But there’s a fine line between pretending to be in love and actually falling for your charming, handsome fake boyfriend…
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Thank you to William Morrow for providing me a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
Review
Did you like To All the Boys I Loved Before? Would you like a more adult version of it? Then let me point you to If I Never Met You. This is clearly a fake dating trope, which I love, but there was something sweet about it that totally gave me TATBILB vibes.
The start of the relationship makes sense, Jamie wants to get ahead at work and Laurie wants to get back at her ex. As fake relationships go, this one seemed plausible, especially since the time frame seemed short. I also liked that they used social media to “prove” their relationship. This book wasn’t chock-full of awkward PDAs. Rather it was two people who spent time together, and really got to know each other. Jamie and Laurie were both great characters. Mart and strong and flawed in a real and relatable way. I liked the maturity that both of them showed.
I also liked how both of them seemed to see something different in both each other and themselves. I’ve read a lot of the fake dating trope and I don’t always “buy” the relationship. I had no trouble believing it in this case. This book is not without its flaws, however. I didn’t love the ending and did find that a little unbelievable, especially given how everything else felt so right. I also wish that we had gotten a little of Jamie’s perspective.
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