Fake It (Rule Breakers #2) by Jennifer Chance

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New grad Anna Richardson works hard—so hard that she’s given up having a romantic life. Anna has even convinced her friends that she’s dating an amazing guy—who they’ve simply never met. But now Anna has a wedding to attend and needs to produce the hottie she’s been lying about for the past six months. Enter Jake Flynn, her infuriating, motorcycle-riding, jaw-droppingly gorgeous neighbor, who’s more than willing to fake it for a weekend. In fact, Jake won’t be satisfied until things get real.

Though Jake is only playing the role of adoring boyfriend, he’s starting to feel the heat, and judging by Anna’s sweet blush, so is she. Letting chemistry this intense go to waste would be a real shame. Soon, though, the thin line between fantasy and reality fades. Jake may not be what every buttoned-up fast-tracker wants, but he’s sure as hell what Anna needs. And if she takes a ride with him, their adventure never has to end.

Type: Contemporary Romance
Heat: 3 out of 5
Rating: 4 out of 5

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Oh. How. Fun! Fake It was a blast! And had oh-so-many of my favoritest things! Yes I am totally using favoritest as a word! lol Pretend relationships, lust-worthy heroes, a heroine finding her way, hot lovin' and a little kidnapping along the way. How could a girl resist?!

The quick of it is that Anna's friends and family are nosy as hell and they want her dating and in love. Something...she's really okay skipping out on right now. And to get them off her back, well, she invents a man. And all's going well for 6 months until she's actually got to show up at her best friend's wedding...with said hunky man she's been "dating". Eep! Her plan is to convince someone to do a little role playing and become "Dave" for the weekend...Enter one oh so sexy neighbor she's been fantasizing about for months--that she's never had the courage to approach-- and that might have just been doing the same thing over her.

"Okay, then." Anna's fantasy was already taking place in her head as she closed her eyes even more tightly, focusing hard. She could almost smell the guy's heady, masculine scent drifting around her--not cologne, not aftershave, just the pure, perfect scent of manly guy bathed in heat and spice and sunshine. And she would look over at him, smile seductively, and purr the perfect line.

"C'mon," she murmured, trying it out. "A weekend at the beach, all the sun and surf you can handle, it's yours for the taking. And so am I." She sighed a little, liking the sound of the words as they rolled off her tongue. "Wanna run away for the weekend?"

"Well, hell. Why don't we make it a year?"

Anna jolted upright, nearly falling off the bar stool. She caught herself the moment before she crashed into the man--the grinning square-jawed, leather-jacked, hunk of man--who had most assuredly not been there thirty seconds ago.

Pretty much everything. I really enjoyed so many aspects of this one.

• My absolute favorite storyline--Fake Mates--It's just so fun to watch that pretend relationship become something more. I loved that they were neighbors and had been checking each other out for months--even if they'd not actually met before taking on a weekend away for her friend's wedding. 

• A drool-worthy "bad boy" hero... that's really a total softie and can make a girl pant with just one little glance. Jake was delicious! He's a biker and knows who he is and what he wants in life. He's content and talented and, damn, just a good guy. Even if he doesn't always think so. He's a protector at heart and so someone I would want to spend time with.

• And Anna. Well, hello, awesome name for a heroine! She was an interesting one. She's a work-a-holic, determined and completely exasperated with her friends and family always sticking their noses in her love life. I like that she wanted to live her life on her own terms and did what she had to to get people to leave her be. 

• Some good lovin'--Anna and Jake were scorching hot. The tension and chemistry through the roof. The months of lusting after each other before they actually met definitely raised the heat level and, whew, once they hit the sheets--or in their case everywhere BUT the sheets (there was a lot of outdoor lovin' happening--things were just on fire. 

Not very much! There were just a couple things that niggled a little but were pretty minor.

• Misaligned ages--Both Jake and Anna are supposed to be in their early 20s. But it just didn't quite ring true. They both felt like they were in their 30s and I'd totally get a little shock when their young ages were mentioned. They didn't speak or think like 20 year olds and as highly successful as Anna was in her job, again, age just didn't quite sit right. 

• Anna's opinion of Jake's job-- To her he just tinkered with motorcycles and didn't have a care in the world. It bordered on lack of respect I thought. She liked him just didn't take him completely serious despite his massive talent for what he did and being sought after for his skills. There were a couple spots he bristled up over her careless words and I would have liked this addressed more and him having stood up for himself.

So not a bad read. Not bad at all. While I had a couple minor little quibbles here and there overall Fake It was a fantastic time and one that has me seriously excited to read more from Chance. I loved seeing these two interact both during the wedding weekend and after things had ended. Definitely one to pick up!

Have you read Chance? Have a favorite?

Do you have a favorite "Fake Mates" story?

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