I've read most of Lauren Blakely's back stock. I enjoy how every book feels different, yet you can still expect the same level of romance and humour. There's favourites that stand out, but overall I'm never disappointed.

The Real Deal is the first book of Blakely's that's planned to be printed and found in stores. For months and months I've been trying to order her books into my store (I have only been able to stock Big Rock) so when I heard this news I freaked out. And when I got accepted for an advanced eARC I doubly freaked out.

After reading the novel I almost feel disappointed. To be honest The Real Deal was a fantastic read. I enjoyed both main characters, was invested in the side plots, and liked the shoutout to her past books (through a cameo of sorts). There's nothing that I can say is wrong with the novel, minus the fact that I enjoyed some of her previous works more. So yes I 100% loved reading The Real Deal, and I'm still super excited to walk by my romance section and see Blakely shelved there, but I am a little sadden by the fact that The Real Deal wasn't one of my favourites. I'd still wholeheartedly recommend reading it though!

5 Stars

The Real Deal is the all new rom-com by the fabulous Lauren Blakely. It is a standalone novel that literally had me laughing out loud throughout the entire book. I absolutely LOVED it! I am a huge fan of Ms. Blakely’s and every single book of hers has me dying of laughter and leaves me with the biggest smile on my face. The Real Deal was no different. The fake boyfriend trope is one of my favs and yes it’s done a lot, but Blakely did a phenomenal job putting her own unique twist with this plot.

April is done with men and relationships. She is content with focusing on her career but her family is forever trying to set her up with men they deem perfect. Her family reunion is full of fun and games and also dates and she is dreading that last part. To avoid the dating part, she hires a fake boyfriend. Problem is when her family starts to fall in love with him so does she…

Theo is the perfect fake boyfriend. His clients get 100% of him and they are fully satisfied. He has rules in place that he never breaks. Well that is until April comes into his life. Her beauty and her heart make her irresistible. But what happens when lies become reality and a fake relationship turns real?

I loved this story soo much! These characters were fantastic and I couldn’t help but fall in love with them both. Their chemistry was palpable and the banter between the two was hilarious. This book was full of heat and steaminess and I never wanted it to end! I am so excited to see what comes next!

April is left in a tight spot when her Xavier backs out from being her fake boyfriend to avoid her family’s attempts at setting her up. He tries to save the day by recommending a friend who is somewhat of an actor. April and Theo meet, and its kismet that Xavier recommended his friend for the gig – April obviously needs the distraction for her family, and Luke needs this to move on from his past.
April and Theo start weaving a convincing story, and I was shipping it all the way! Somewhere in the trip the lines start getting blurred, and fiction isn’t far from reality. There are some heated moments, some raw moments, and moments that will have you turning the page so fast you’ll get a paper cut! I love April’s family dynamic, and how Theo blends so well.
I also love the “Cheaper by the Dozen 2” family rivalry/reunion. There are some hilarious scenes that remind me so much of this movie.
April’s parents were not convinced of Theo from the beginning, but as Theo’s intentions became honest, they came around to liking him. But when April oversteps and arranges a meeting with someone in his family, the domino effect occurs. There is a lot of clean up to be done, but in the end everyone gets their happily ever after! There is a lot to learn about appreciation and honesty in this story.
One thing I want to add…after the trip to Wistful, and the ending…I want to take a ride on a train! I would definitely recommend this book to romance lovers!

Once again, Lauren Blakely doesn’t fail me. Her books are always entertaining, eheh. This one felt slightly different from all the others I read from her, that doesn’t mean I didn’t like it as much as the others, because I did.

The characters were very well thought of, and I really liked their backgrounds and their personalities. I especially liked Theo, because he went through such a rough time growing up, and he was still such an amazing person. I loved how open April was, and how strong. And most of all, I loved the family and their role in the story and on their lives.

The romance was interesting and entertaining, however, it is a bit of instalove, but I’m gonna forgive the issue because April and Theo do spend a lot of time together, and even though they fall in love in just a few days, it also happens while they’re spending 24 hours a day together, so… Also, they’re super cute!

Guys, if you love Lauren Blakely, you’re gonna love this one too. If you like the fake boyfriend troupe, you’re gonna love this. If you like a good contemporary romance, likelihood is that you’re gonna love this too.

I enjoy Lauren Blakely’s books, but they started to get a little repetitive. This book was a breath of fresh air! It was a fake relationship story, which is one of my favorite tropes. The characters both had interesting and believable backstories. Her writing is fun and clever and sexy.

Fans of The Kiss Quotient will enjoy this "boyfriend for hire" plot. It was a fun, easygoing story that has a great romcom feel. I will definitely read more by Lauren Blakely!

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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

I expected a lot – „The Real Deal“ is not my first book I read from lauren Blakely – I read nearly every single one of hers and like her books a lot.

But this one was not my cup of tea. I never really got into the book, although I found some parts funny and nice. But the plot was long-winded and it took an eternity to move forward.

I missed the natural flow – I remember other books written by Lauren Blakely with really crazy sexy plots – but at these books crazy was normal.

This time it felt more like a book about very shy young adults, a coming of age book.

Unfortunately – just 3 well-meant stars

The Real Deal takes us through one of my favorites tropes, the “fake relationship turn romance”. April needs a date to her family reunion and Theo is all to happy to help, at a price…

When April is told that her best friend Xavier has been given a great gig, he has to bail on her for the reunion, he was supposed to be her buffer with her family. But he does give her an idea on how to make it through it all. A fake boyfriend. April’s family has been trying to set her up with guys her family knows for quite a while now, but she is career oriented right now and doesn’t have time for all that. Who wants their family setting them up? So what does she do, she takes Xavier’s advice and takes the plunge into the whole “fake boyfriend” thing. Little did she know what she was really going to get.

April is one of thsoe characters you just can’t help but to root for. She’s spunk and sassy and good at her job. I felt kinda bad for with her family constantly trying to fix her up so that she would settle down and maybe get married. She had a good thing going with her work. Now, Theo, of Theo. He was just adorable and I really like him. He found himself in a financial pinch, and being the arm candy for women was the best way for him to be able to dig himself out when it came to money. There are a few side characters that make the story even better and enjoyed them almost as much as April and Theo.

The story was so refreshing and sweet. It has it’s serious moments with two flawed characters and their past mistakes that they still fear. But I adored April and Theo from the start, and their interactions felt genuine and the relationship and the chemistry between them was slow burning which it what me love them even more with all their swoony moments too. It even has had some laugh out moments too. Now, their relationship wasn’t with out issues of course, but that just kept me turning the pages to see what would happen next.

This was such heartfelt and sweet story, and April and Theo will steal your hearts, I know they did mine. It makes for a fantastic summer read on a hot day. Fans of the romantic comedies will enjoy this one.

4 <b> Marked</b> Stars
Another win for this author in my opinion!
This book is a VERY slow burn but it has a lot more wit than the author normally uses.

April needs a date to her family reunion because she is tired of her family trying to hook her up with local men to force her to move back home.
Theo is a man desperate for money and puts a hilarious ad in craigslist’s offering to be a temporary boyfriend and you can choose his a la carte options to pick the best man for the job to include a buffet of accents.
…but Theo has a secret past that may ruin the couple before they even have a chance to make it real.
I love the couples banter and there “remember when we… stories”
The book slowly goes up the hill on a train and then all of a sudden in a few days the train descends the hill at full speed and everyone’s in love… which was a bit too unreal for me. I think if there was more “drama to be solved” it would have been better it seemed April was just like down for the punches and overly accepting.
I loved April’s family they all seemed to be funny and relatable whereas Theo’s didn’t work and dint add anything to the story
The ending… SQUEEE perfect!!

I've read few books from Lauren Blakely and they just get better and better.

I loved this book alot.

The characters were just perfect and I loved the story alot too xx

I know that when I pick up a Lauren Blakely read, that it's going to be fun... and The Real Deal was just as entertaining as I hoped it would be. It had the right mix of flirty banter, light hearted fun and characters that I adored. It really was the complete package that I enjoy in a read.

April and Theo were the type of characters I like. They both were pretty easy going and had a connection from their first meeting. April was out of the dating game as she had been hurt by her previous guy and was solely focused on her career. She hated that her family put so much pressure on her and always set her up with guys. It was amusing to see her seek out a guy to be a buffer between her and her family.

I really loved Theo! He had cleaned himself up and was doing ok for himself. He was working at a bar and running a boyfriend for hire gig on the side for extra cash. His ad was hilarious and I knew that it would hook April immediately. I love the way he treated April and really made her family like him and they even backed off a little, which was nice.

The more time these two spent together, the harder they fell. I could see they had real chemistry that was going to explode once they hit the sheets! I enjoyed how well these two interacted around April's family, it was effortless for both them. Lauren Blakely sure wove this story together perfectly, so much that I didn't want to leave this world. I'm looking forward to what she may bring us next!

I always have high expectations for Lauren Blakely books, and The Real Deal does not disappoint! April and Theo's story is a charming mix of humor and drama, with meddlesome families and difficult pasts thrown in the mix. April may have hired Theo to be her platonic date for her family reunion, but their story plays a lot like a friends-to-lovers trope. A few side stories help fill out the rest of the Wistful, Connecticut world and really bring The Real Deal to life.

Lauren Blakely is one of my favorite authors. She always gives these fun, sexy and mostly lighthearted stories. You find yourself wanting to be the woman and be with the man.

The Real Deal is no different. The fake boyfriend trope is definitely entertaining. I enjoyed the characters and the connection that they had.

I rarely have any critical points for LB books but I just had a couple with this one.


Note: MY POINTS CONTAIN POSSIBLE SPOILERS

1. The fake boyfriend arc, while fun, doesn't lend itself to very much in the way of sexy times, at least not early on.

Which brings me to #2

2. While April and Theo have good chemistry, the trope forces a more platonic relationship for most of the story. It's tension-building but makes you antsy for more of the sexy times Lauren Blakely so adept at giving us.

Overall, The Real Deal is a fun, light read anyone can enjoy.

Well, what can I say – this is yet another charming rom com by Lauren. This author never disappoints. Whenever I feel a bit down, I pick up one of her feel-good books and it immediately cheer me up 😊 The Real Deal is fun, heartwarming, sexy – fantastic read. Here is the scoop: April is single, not ready to mingle but she desperately need a date to bring home for a family reunion so everyone would harassing her about settling down. April’s family interior motive is too tie her down with a home town boy so she would move back home. April is not having it. The only problem is April has no prospect to bring home so she rented a professional to act as her fake boyfriend for the weekend 😊 Aww man I love Theo. He is gorgeous, fun, talented, and always ready to go with the punches. Beneath all that though, Theo has secrets. He had a not so honorable teenage year (true bad boy). He struggles to pay the bills and always trying to help his brother out. Theo cannot afford to screw up this job. But what happen when you start falling in love with your client?

I love the lighthearted, fun family reunion get together and games. April’s parents were giving Theo a third degree but to Theo’s credit, he handled it incredibly well. I love the witty banters and the awesome chemistry. At the beginning, Theo was afraid to reveal the truth about who he is, his family, his life but eventually he opened up to April when he realized that April is different from others. She is sweet, caring, understanding - someone he can trust. She would not judge him. They have an incredible connection beyond physical attraction. I love the easy friendship turn lovers. There is something simple about them. They both a little jaded, flawed but perfect for each other.

Lauren delivered yet another light, funny, charming, romantic comedy. Awesome summer read – don’t miss this!

This is just a fabulous, heart-warming romance. April and Theo’s chemistry is off the charts funny and endearing. April needed a “fake” boyfriend to take to her family reunion and her best friend had to work at the last minute. He told her about a friend of his that could help her, but for a fee. April contacted Theo, and they made an agreement to attend the reunion as her boyfriend. They hit it off immediately and April felt oddly comfortable around Theo. Their antics at the reunion were funny and the sexual tension off the charts. I loved witnessing their journey together. This is the perfect summer romance!

Loved reading the awesome and amazing romance story. Since Laura is going to her family's summer reunion, she hires Theo to be her pretend boyfriend. Both Laura and Theo can't help being attracted to each other and need to keep their relationship platonic. Read the highly recommended, wonderfully written, and a must read love story. I reviewed a copy of the book through NetGalley.

ake relationships--especially when one of the two parties is for hire--can be a tricky medium. There's a fine line between fun and the squicky factor. Though April and Theo move fast (four days of family fun, plus one quick meeting beforehand) their connection was immediate and it soon felt like more, even to the reader. Every time a chapter started with the day count, it took me by surprise--it had felt like so much had happened already!

(Though I still had an issue with the invitation April extends--at day three, maybe?--to a person she's never met to join her family event. That really stretched credibility, I thought, especially given Theo's weird qualification for their relationship when he first comes up in conversation. I see how it was needed for the plot, but it seemed more than a little out of bounds.)

I loved the family reunion/summer games competition portion of the story; it really added to the rom-com-y feel of the book and was a lot of fun to read. The "do you remember when..."s that they made up as they went along to sell their relationship--and then went out of their way to make come true--added to the fun factor, and the sigh factor as well. April's unusual profession (body painter) was a neat touch, and the steady job Theo has by the end of the book (shout out to Ms. Blakely's Mister O !) is beyond perfect.

All in all, this was an entertaining summer read that alternately made me smile and swoon.

Rating: 4 stars / B+

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.

This is the first book that I've read by Lauren Blakley and it was a good one. Her writing style was comfortable and easy to follow along with and her characters charmed me right out of my socks, especially Theo.

So April and Theo meet when April hires Theo to be her boyfriend for her family reunion. She loves her family but their matchmaking shenanigans are driving her crazy so she figures if she brings a boyfriend to the family reunion, everyone will lay off. They mean well but they want her to move back home to their small town but she loves being in the big city and she loves the job that they don't understand so she brings a buffer who ends up being way more than she thought.

Theo has bills to pay and his bill-collector is breathing down his neck so he bartends and does a lot of odds and ends jobs to keep everything together. This next job of pretending to be the bad boy boyfriend at a family reunion will make him enough to finally get over this hump he's been and he's eager to get started. He was expecting to play nice and he was expecting to be whatever the client needed but he wasn't expecting to be so attracted to his client but when he meets April, he keeps forgetting that she's a client. They're so in tune with each other that their relationship feels real from the very beginning.

Overall, this story was sweet and I enjoyed getting to know both Theo and April. April's personality really shined and I thought she was a great heroine. I adored Theo as well and wanted very much to hear his sexy voice. LOL. This book was a lot of fun and if I had a gripe, it would be that their romance never felt fake. Right up at the beginning when they showed up at the family reunion, sparks flew and they just fell in line with their story but even in the privacy of their bedroom, they acted like a real couple. They slept in the same bed like it wasn't a big deal like it didn't register with either of them that they were strangers. It was all, good night sweetie, I call first dibs on the shower in the morning. I was able to get over that (I do enjoy a fake romance story) because I was enjoying the chemistry and just them as people so it ended up not being a big deal but still...

This was a solid romance and I enjoyed it.

<strong>Grade: 4 out of 5</strong>

April Hamilton is tired of being set up by the women in her family so with her family reunion is fast approaching, she decides to not give the women a chance to interfere in her happiness. April takes matters into her own hands. She is introduced to Theo Banks, man extraordinaire. He can be anyone you want him to be.

The Real Deal is another wonderfully written book by this veteran author. She brings humor and fun to this couple. We visualize everything perfectly especially the tension between this couple. I love the nosey women and the closeness of April’s family. I even appreciated the relationship between Theo and his brother. Grab The Real Deal today and relax while you get lost in this world.