I really enjoyed Sharla Lovelace's A Charmed Little Lie. Lanie and Nick were really good characters who found their way into my heart.

I covet feel good books. So when I came across this one for a blog tour, I was eager to try out the book and the author. I hadn't read any of her previous books yet. I say yet because now I have a hankering for her tales. I love her quirky humour and fun romance and hearty feelings.

I would rate this book as one of those which made me feel down and perk up in incessant waves from the beginning to the end. The story would be going smoothly and then suddenly Lanie or Nick would be involved in a scene of feelings and bam! I start feeling sad and then Lanie especially do something to bring humour and fun back into it.

The story is in the heroine, Lanie's point of view. The positive is that I loved her quirky personality. She is big hearted with quite a few insecurities. She is loveable with her humour and her reactions to Ralph and Nick are entertaining. The negative is that I hated not knowing Nick's side of the story. I love getting lost in the protagonists' feelings and emotions. So this was a bit of a turn off for me. I really wish the author had done Nick's POV also. Nick comes across as a standoffish person at times. The only parts where he is involved is when he gets jealous or when he defends Lanie.

Another point which didn't gel with me was the speed with which they fell for each other. It was kind of sudden and without any basis on Nick's part. On Lanie's side, atleast, her thoughts prepared me for her falling head over heels for Nick. But even that was abrupt.

Right now, you guys will be thinking that the review is unbalanced and you are right! Let me tell you what else I love about the book! The characters of Charmed, Texas are the typical small town ones and I love them period! They have a side to them which makes them memorable and fun to read about. In this case, Lanie's Aunt Ruby's inventiveness and her friend's support and the crazy shenanigans of her ex-boyfriend and his wife.. Phew! The hilarious incidents! I had a good laugh throughout the book.

In addition to the fun, the romance while abrupt was played out good. It was hot and steamy and sweet between the protagonists at all times. The story didn't lag at any point and that is in the author's favour. I loved the introduction to Charmed and now I am looking forward to the next book in the series.

My one line review : A quirky fun romance with lots of sweet and hot.

My rating : 4/5

My reread factor : 3/5

Loved A Charmed Little Lie by Sharla Lovelace! This book is the first in the Charmed in Texas series & is such a great story. I look forward to the next book in the series. Lanie & Nick are such a fun couple & I loved the romantic build up. The "side" characters are interesting too & I am so excited to read Carmen's story.

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.

Although the premise is ridiculous, Lanie and Nick were adorable and I loved every second of this book. Aunt Ruby and her house were quite the additions to the roster of characters.

I really enjoyed this sweet romance! Great chemistry between the characters and a heartwarming story - this was a great book!

A really cute small town romance from a new to me author!This is the first book of Sharla Lovelace's that I am reading and it was a wonderful experience!The premise is not something that we haven't seen before, but the way it is written and the characters make it very interesting.

Lanie had just spun the story of a fake marriage to make her dying aunt happy, but it looks like she wants her to prove it from beyond the grave too.According to her aunt's will, in order to inherit the house that is the only home she ever had, she'll have to stay there with her husband for three months happily, or watch it go into the hands of her selfish cousin.

Then there is Nick, who desperately needs money to send his daughter to art school.When he gets roped into playing Lanie's husband for the will reading, they're both surprised by the stipulations.And it looks like they're stuck between a rock and hard place.Lol! ;)

I loved how the relationship between Lanie and Nick was beautifully developed stage by stage.It didn't feel rushed at all.And the chemistry between them was also really good!The book had romance mixed in with humor and a little drama.But it didn't have much angst which I was thankful for.
Lanie's aunt was a really clever woman and I admire her!The things she thought of!Lol!You'll have to read the book to find out!
All in all it was a cute fake marriage story that turns into a beautiful romance.I suggest you give this one a try if you're looking for something to relax and enjoy!

According to her Aunt Ruby’s crazy will, Lanie needs to provide a valid marriage certificate (complete with husband) and they need to live together in her childhood home from three months in order to inherit. Enter Nick, the oh-so-hot fry cook suddenly in need of some cash. So Lanie and Nick end up in a fake marriage and tethered to each other for three months. Their romance was a slow steady burn, fueled by “fake” displays of affection, and heated encounters! But Nick and Lanie fell for more than just the physical person, they confided and leaned on each other, becoming close friends in the process.

Crazy ex’s on both sides lead to jealousy and the realization that their relationship is anything but fake. I love the way both Lanie and Nick reacted to some of the antics. Pretty fun times. I wasn’t so thrilled with Nick’s ex-wife. I thought this would be a cute, fun, no-brainer small-town, country romance, and it was, but there was a bit more angst than I thought there would be. That wasn’t a bad thing, Lanie’s intense emotions of hurt knifed right to my heart, and I really felt for her. It made their happiness and romance all the sweeter.

This is my first Sharla Lovelace romance and I was pleasantly surprised by the depth of emotions I felt, especially since this wasn’t a very long book (241 pages according to GRs), one I read in one sitting. There was a sneak peak at the end for Carmen’s romance: Lucky Charmed, and it sounds really good! Can’t wait!

Loved!

Why on earth haven't I read anything from this author before? I added her entire backlist to my TBR almost as soon as I read the last word of this book--not to mention Charmed in Texas, book 2 ( Lucky Charmed ), because OMG, I need to read Carmen's story, like now. Seriously.

A Charmed Little Lie had me giggling like a loon in the waiting room of the dentist's office yesterday--fortunately, there weren't too many people in there to witness it. Goodness gracious, Lanie and Nick's story hit all of my buttons. It's funny, it's real--even the more outrageous bits, like Lanie's imaginary spouse and how well Nick fits the bill (especially considering how she finds him) and Lanie's aunt's will end up seeming somehow plausible--and romantic and so, so hot. Lanie and Nick have tons of repressed chemistry, and whoa, it had me squirming almost as much as it did them.

So, yeah. I want to crawl into the world of this book and live there. I want to hang out with Lanie and Carmen, and dodge Ralph's doggy kisses, and sit enraptured in the Blue Banana while Nick makes me a burger. Or pancakes. Or a salad. Heck, I'd even watch him make liver and onions. I'm not picky.

How soon until Carmen's story?

Rating: 4 1/2 stars / A

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.

At the end of last August (2016), I reviewed The Cottage on Pumpkin and Vine (you can see that review here), which was a nice Halloween set of three novellas. The best of those novellas, in my opinion, was Sharla Lovelace’s “Enchanted by You.” It left such a huge impression on me that her name became a post-it in my brain. So when I saw A Charmed Little Lie by Sharla Lovelace with an opportunity to read and review, I did a little happy dance and then hoped I would indeed receive the ARC.

First, let me say that A Charmed Little Lie did not disappoint. I loved this freaking sweet, sexy novel. I loved Lanie and Nick and the assortment of characters who are part of the town of Charmed. Neither Lanie nor Nick were stereotypes. Both had depth and layers. And there was an element of crazy that went with their relationship that I loved.

I feel I should say that some of the less, shall we say, “kind,” characters were a bit stereotypical, but I kind of shrugged that off because the rest of the elements of this novel were just so on the mark.

This is exactly what a romance novel should be. It should sweep you up, give you a few hours of smiles, of laughs, of sexy, of tears. It should make you feel. And on that final page, you might even want to hug the book because of the “feels.” So, so many feels!

In case you couldn’t guess, I highly recommend A Charmed Little Lie!

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely loved this book! One of the best romances I've read in awhile.

Laine just wanted her Aunt Ruby to be happy. She never thought the lies that she told her would end up biting her in the butt. Now she has to find a husband and quick. Who knew that fate would give her Nick McKane.
Nick is out of work and need money to send his daughter to the school of her dreams, so when he gets propositioned to play this crazy woman’s pretend husband, he thought why not.
What happens next, neither one of them knew would happen.

This was such a fun book. The prodigal daughter coming home and the hot guy she brings for the ride. If you love small town dynamics, A Charmed Little Lie has it in spades! And to see the transformation of Nick and Lainie from strangers to lovers is so much fun. It leaves a smile on your face. Loved this book and highly recommend this new series and author.

This is #1 of the Charmed in Texas series.  This is my first book I have read by this author, Sharla Lovelace.  I loved that Lanie Barrett would do anything to make her dying aunt happy.  Now that she told lies to her aunt she is in a pickle!!  Now what will Lanie do?  Get a husband asap or give up?  Get a husband, but where to find one?  Will she lose her only family home she has loved to her cousins, who are very greedy?  Lanie meets Nick at a diner and he gets fired.  He needs a job asap.  Lanie comes up with a plan....be her husband.  He says yes!!  Both Lanie and Nick's lie becomes more.

This is in a small town who's tourist attraction is honey!  This book had me laughing a lot.  I can not wait to read the next book, Lucky Charmed, in this series.

☆☆☆☆☆
I give this book 5 out of 5 stars.
Recommend this book? Yes! Author? Yes!
Read more from this author? Yes!

Happy Reading!
Melissa

I happen to love the fake relationship romance story, and this one hit the spot for me. Nick and Lanie start out as two strangers doing a favor for one another, but somewhere along the way it becomes real. I loved the build up, both physically and emotionally. It was fun and sweet and sexy, I enjoyed reading it. The small town setting is a plus and I'm looking forward to seeing how Nick and Lanie are settling in during the next installment of the series featuring Lanie's friend Carmen.
4.5 stars

3.5 stars
A Charmed Little Lie is your typical Rom Com about a fake relationship turning into something more. It was cute and funny at parts, but it is nothing new when it comes to storylines.

Lanie wants to make her great aunt not worry so much about her, so she tells her she is married. Now, he aunt has passed and in order not to lose her aunt's house to her distinct relatives, she must prove she is happily married. Problem is... no real husband.

Then she meets Nick. Nick is fired/quits from his job seconds before he and Janie meet. Janie offers him the job of being her fake husband and he can't say no to the money.

Cute story. Nothing we haven't read before unfortunately....

What a book., while trying to live her life and not wanting to disappoint her Aunt, Lanie made up a little lie. Well that little lie is causing her big trouble now. Not only does she have to find a husband STAT, but she needs to convince a town that they have been married for years. This is a fun small town story that is told well. Not only was I laughing but my emotional strings were tugged at too. It was well written a fast read, and I couldn't put it down.

Having only recently discovered Ms. Lovelace's books, I was really looking forward to this new series by her, and I've got to say that this first story of her Charmed in Texas series does not disappoint. Not only because this story contains the marriage of convenience trope, but because it has well-written dialogue that was amusing at times, especially the moments where Lanie causes quite a buzz amongst the townspeople with her wardrobe malfunction and her possessiveness of Nick. It also has a wonderful array of characters that I loved in the hero and heroine as well the secondary characters of Carmen and Allie and characters that I loved to hate in Nick's ex, members of Lanie's family and others that have their own agenda in trying to get Lanie to give up everything she'll inherit.

The dialogue and main characters were compelling, as Nick and Lanie have many decisions to make. Since the reading of the will and all it entails isn't easy for Lanie to accept, because she's forced to spend three months in the small town of Charmed where it seems almost everyone wants what has been promised to her if she fulfills the terms of the will. Can she and Nick convince everyone that they're in love and their marriage isn't a sham? Will Lanie realize she's not her mother before it's too late and she ends up losing her chance at happy ever after with Nick? Will Lanie accept her shot at her dream job?

Furthermore, I liked how Lanie kept surprising me. She's strong and brave by what she does when she first meets the hero, then by getting married to Nick and trying to fulfill the terms of the will, considering she never imagined herself being back in Charmed for an extended period of time. I also liked how feisty she is towards people that tick her off, especially several secondary characters that don't know when to quit. That don't understand that neither she or Nick are interested in their pathetic games to prove that the couple's marriage is a sham.

While Nick, he charmed me from start to finish with his willingness to help Lanie and how protective he becomes of her when dealing with the secondary characters that don't want her to receive everything she'll get in the will. Moreover, his back story is an interesting one, as his ex seemed like a typical rich girl growing up; always expecting to get her own way. Will Nick realize that Lanie is the right woman for him before it's too late, or will his ex worm her way back into his life? They do share a daughter together, so he'll never be completely free of her.

Overall, Ms. Lovelace has delivered an incredible read in this book where the chemistry between Nick and Lanie is intense, had me hooked while keeping me wondering if their relationship would ever go from platonic to physical. The way this story ended took me by surprise, because of how things turn out for Lanie when it comes to the will and how things sour between Nick and Lanie. However, I really enjoyed how they worked things out. Nick isn't about to let fear hold either of them back from achieving their happy ever after and I loved how he proved it with his words and his actions. I would recommend A Charmed Little Lie by Sharla Lovelace, if you enjoy the marriage of convenience trope, the fake relationship trope, small town romances, or books by authors Kimberly Kincaid, Tracy Brogan, Jamie Beck or Catherine Bybee.

I’ve always had a special place in my heart for small town romances. So when one comes up my way I can’t help it, I feel the urge to delve in and get to know the people. Being not so adventurous in real life, the reader in me wanted to give this book a try. Plus, the plot about a marriage of convenience was just the thing to help me across from point A-“hmm, do I dare?” to point B-“hell yeah I will!”

Lanie is a woman in trouble. Not trouble as in with the police, but she has trouble with her dead aunt. Per her aunt’s specific instructions, in order to keep the childhood home she loved so much and shared with her aunt, she needs to have a husband. In a desperate attempt for both parties, she strikes a deal with Nick, a chef who’d do anything for his daughter. Get married, get the house and the inheritance money and then go their merry ways. Easy? Not so much.

I sympathized with Lanie a great deal, I gotta say. The book is told from her point of view, which is not something common in contemporary romances, at least not in the ones I’ve read so far. It was different but okay, since it gave us a chance to be inside Lanie’s mind the whole time and to witness the whys of her whats. But I felt like it also took away from getting to know Nick better. While Lanie had her baggage, so did Nick. His character had gone through some tough stuff and he had trust issues, plus the fact that he had a daughter he’d do anything for, I would’ve preferred to see things from his point of view also.

While this story was funny in the beginning, it took an emotional turn too with both Lanie and Nick’s struggle over their feelings and personal issues. And then there was the sexual tension of having to live together and pretending to be husband and wife. All of them great storylines. Very promising. And while I enjoyed reading this story, I think some things might’ve been more detailed. Like Lanie and Nick’s friendship after they got used to each other’s company but before they started to fall in love. Or Nick’s family. Or even Lanie’s for that matter. Some of those were given to us in bits and pieces but not so many details. I think I preferred more details. They would’ve created more drama, yes, but they would’ve made the story more conclusive too.

Albeit all this, I still enjoyed this story. It had that small town charm in it-pun was unintentional but damn!

I’m adding three and a half spoonfuls of this story into my hodgepodge. I’ll definitely be back to Charmed, Texas. There’s a story there of the next couple that was left incomplete, and I have a feeling that the completion will be fun to read.

A CHARMED LITTLE LIE is a fun and quirky small town romance in Charmed, Texas. Told in first person, it features a shocked heroine grieving the loss of her beloved aunt. Though its been a few years since she's seen her aunt, Lanie finds out that she is inheriting her aunt's house with a catch, she must live in the house with her husband for three months or else the house reverts to a sleazy cousin. Lanie has lived out of town for a few years and she never wanted to disappoint her Aunt Ruby. Unfortunately, she fibbed a little bit when she wrote her aunt and bragged about her husband. There is no husband.
Lanie recently met Nick at a small diner where he was fired. He is a good, hard working man who can't seem to find the right direction. He likes Lanie and agrees to help Lanie, with the help of her aunt's lawyer (and her old friend) Carmen out with a wacky scheme to pretend to be married. It's important to Lanie to keep the only home that she has ever really known, and so Lanie offers to pay Nick for his help. He is divorced and wants to help his daughter get into a good college.
There is a cast of crazy characters in the town and Lanie's ex. Lanie's cousin never visited his aunt and just wants to sell Ruby's house. The ex is also lining up a deal to help the cousin sell. Lanie and Nick have to go to quite a few social events and the more they are together, the more they begin to really care for each other. It is a familiar trope, handled well by Ms Lovelace with a nice little twist. Lanie was an enjoyable heroine who might have done the wrong thing but for the right reason. It didn't hurt that the sexy and hunky Nick always had her back. I enjoyed this quirky little town and can't wait to visit the town again for Carmen's story.

A Charmed Little Lie is the first book in Sharla Lovelace's new series; Charmed in Texas. It's also my first novel by this author.

All good intentions go out of the window when Lanie Barrett learns conditions attached to her beloved Aunt Ruby's will. Inheriting her childhood home isn't guaranteed because she has to prove she is happily married...when she isn't. Lanie told her aunt many things because she wanted her closest relative to be happy in her final days and now those lies are coming back to bite. With a matter of days to resolve her life, Lanie's forced to take an impulsive gamble to try to prove she's married to the man of her dreams. A gamble with startling results.

Nick McKane has just lost his job at a diner at a time in his life when he needs every cent he can get his hands on to send his daughter to college to fulfil her dreams. When a woman he's not at any time seen before propositions him with a strange request, he accepts. It's against his judgement, but the crazy offer means he has nothing to lose and some money to gain. Only the gains far exceed his wildest dreams.

Lanie and Nick manage to complement each other as they get to know each other under the strange circumstances that brought them together. Townsfolk from Charmed, Texas ensure there's hardly a dull moment in their tentative fake relationship as the full extent of Aunt Ruby's requirements become public knowledge.

The author has successfully woven a highly entertaining plot with a romance which seems to stretch any imagination, yet works wonderfully. Whilst I liked Lanie, I was slightly wary of this woman who is economical with the truth, even though her lies are not malicious. Nick, on the other hand, is pretty impressive. He truly embraces his new 'life' and is a real asset to Lanie when dealing those sceptical to their marriage.

Overall, if you are a fan of small-town romances, you can't go wrong with a trip to Charmed, Texas. It's a fun read with hilarious dialogue that keeps the pages turning effortlessly.

4.5 Stars

***arc generously received courtesy of the publisher Lyrical Shine via NetGalley***

Early on I didn't think I was going to like Lanie. I kinda get the whole lying to her aunt thing to make a sick woman feel better but you start to understand that she made up stuff as a young girl too. That kind of bad character trait tends to be off-putting but Lovelace does an amazing job of making her likable. She's sassy, funny, and a bit of a disaster, but she has a huge heart and means well (most of the time :) ).

The story is all from Lanie's POV so we don't get the inner-workings for Nick, but his actions speak pretty loudly. While it is a bit of a hit to his pride, once he decides to help her out he definitely gives Lanie 100%. He does everything he can to sell their relationship but still respect that getting involved is not a good idea for either of them. He's a stand up guy, doing this for his daughter, and he also has a healthy sense of fun. If I had to have a fake husband I would definitely be willing to share my inheritance with him!

~~spoiler alert~~

Buuuuut, I do wish we'd been given some details about Nick's side of things, especially at the end. We get the kiss and make-up and live happily ever after moment, but I had so many questions - about where he went, what he did while he was gone, what he felt, why is he back in charmed, especially if he thought she'd gone to California ... we really don't get much from his side but what we do get is text-book Nick and fantastic!

~~End Spoiler~~

With a lively writing style, full of humor and fun, Lovelace gives her readers a delightful, comical and still heartfelt journey of two people who don't trust in love but find themselves falling anyway. You might know going in that it all ends with a HEA but that doesn't mean they aren't going to screw it up a few times along the way!