Title and cover caught my eye. My first book by Monica Murphy I have read. Cute romcom. Fast and enjoyable book to read. If you need a book to read in a day and want to smile pick up this book. I think I will check out others by this author.

I was so so about this book. It had some cute and funny parts, yet other parts just seemed a little off. The whole ask for her underwear size and sending gifts was very creepy for me. It took me a while to get past this, but I eventually did. The conflict seemed to be all H&h driven, and their responses at times were OTT eye rolling. Overall, an ok story. *I received an ARC of this book and this is my voluntary and honest review.

This was a great book showing how the power of love can transform someone who has closed themselves off and isolated their feelings into someone who starts breaking down those barriers and becomes a better person. Jared starts off completely unlikeable. But the author does a fabulous job of showing the reader why he became that way. I love the story being told from both points of view. We get to see just how Jared starts to change his thought processes during his romance with Sarah. Sarah is so patient with Jared, and instead of writing him off, she tries to truly understand him and his motivations and gives him the push he needs to start breaking down the walls he's erected around himself.

I very much enjoyed this story and actually liked how the author took someone very unlikeable and made him very likable by the end.

I FLOVE this series from Monica. Each book just gets better and better.

Sarah and Jared were the perfect enemies to lovers couple and I loved every minute from there first sexual tense meeting to the last page.

Sarah was his personal shopper (at a high-end lingerie store at that!) and he was the pain in the butt customer that got on her last nerve. But then there was a tiny little zap of energy that was exchanged and before Sarah knew it, she was going on a fake date with enemy #1... and it really wasn't as bad as she thought it would be.

Sarah doesn't know what to think of the engaging enigma that is her fake boyfriend. As she spends more time with him, she starts to see the man behind the facade. She has her own hangups and doesn't think she can ever stack up to Jared's lifestyle of the past. But he has his own secrets...

I laughed out loud. I swooned. I got a tear in my eye. I loved Sarah and her spunk. I loved Jared and the way he treated Sarah once the mask came down. They were the perfect fit for me.

Monica never fails in bringing her readers on a ride they will never forget and she will always be a one-click author for me.

So super cute!! Sarah and Jared were a great match once they gave each other a real chance. Not really an enemies to lovers, these two definitely had conflict and animosity happening. They also had chemistry for days, and once they started opening up and being real that chemistry combusted. Loved how Sarah called Hared on his bs! Loved even more that it was told in dual point of view, because getting in Jared’s head was so good. He was so closed off in so many ways for so long, but meeting Sarah changed the game. Liked the other characters involved, and really looking forward to seeing Candice more in Holidate!

Sarah works at Bliss, a lingerie shop and deals with lots of interesting clients. Jared frequents her shop to purchase gifts for the women in his life. Jerad begins to send Sarah gifts from Bliss and she goes to him to find out why he is. He wants to maker her an offer she can't refuse: to be his pretend girlfriend for the weekend while attending his brother's engagement party. Soon, their pretend relationship becomes less fake and more real.

First, let me say that I love all books written by Monica Murphy. I will always read anything she writes. The romance between Jared and Sarah is hot and the attraction is obvious. The story is fun and hot and flowed very well. I really enjoyed this book! I cannot wait to read the next book in the series!

Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Sarah Harrison lost her parents in her first year of college. That meant she had to quit to take care of her younger brother and sister and become a parent to them. It certainly hasn’t been an easy road for her, but one that was necessary. Trying to make a living to support them without a degree, she gets a job at a lingerie shop called Bliss. Now years later, she is one of their most trusted employees. Most of her customers are women, with a few men. One in particular, Jared Gaines, is handsome and infuriating! For the past six months he’s been making appointments with her, assuming he’s buying for all his mistresses or one night stands. Sarah feels like he can’t stand her since he’s always so rude to her. One day when she returns home, Sarah finds a package from her store and it was sent by Jared. The actual lingerie she sold him that same day. She’s never been so confused in her life, what does this mean. However, that becomes the first of many gifts from Jared. Feeling the need to confront him at his office and return his gifts, Sarah decides to go before her shift at Bliss.

What she didn’t expect was his proposition. Jared needs her to be his fake date at his brother’s engagement party. After much convincing, Sarah agrees. Now she has to pretend to be his actual girlfriend. Pretending never felt so good.

Jared has had it bad for Sarah for months. Asking her to be his pretend girlfriend is a brilliant idea, if he could only convince her to make it more permanent.

This is actually a 3 and a half star rating. I’ve always enjoyed Ms Murphy’s books. However, this one just wasn’t one of my favorites. The dialogue between the two, was off, for me.

This a cute follow up to Save the Date. It’s a sweet story. I love the little town this story takes place in. The residents are sweet.

Thank you Social Butterfly PR and Netgalley for a copy of Fake Date by Monica Murphy for review. This lighthearted fun read is available now!

I really liked this one. Sarah works in a lingerie store and one of her rich private shopping clients starts coming in more often. When he starts sending her gifts, she is confused and interested all at the same time. Jared finally asks her on a date, to a family wedding. He wants her to pretend to be his girlfriend for the weekend.
I really liked Jared and Sarah. Jared was easy to dislike but as we understood more of his story, I really started rooting for him. Sarah was a nice girl who did not put up with his attitude and I appreciated seeing a woman stand up for herself, although so did go along with a crazy plan for no real reason.

A fun, light read. A few steamy scenes but mostly a lot of banter.

Fake Date is unusual in the way in which our loyalties lie mainly with the male protagonist rather than the female.

While Sarah is a wonderful character, she is also far more self-aware than Jared and as a result able to analyse and understand her emotions, as well as discerning the right path for her happiness.

Jared suffered the loss of his mother at a young age, not able to deal with his grief, he internalised it and withdrew from those closest to him. Adding to his self-imposed distance following first heartbreak has ensured his negativity toward himself has been continually fuelled.

Although Sarah and Jared interact initially via business transactions, rather unconventional ones at that, they do have an incredible chemistry that fuels their banter. Sarah’s integrity also captivates Jared who is so used to everything being easy for him.

Sarah and Jared have a lot in common, which aids the connection between them. Sarah is able to understand Jared in a way that no-one else has ever been able to. As a result, allowing Jared insight into his own actions and interactions.

Fake Date isn’t really about a faux romance becoming real as the relationship between Jared and Sarah is ‘real’ even when they pretend it is merely for show. Fake Date is about finding the one person who is able to understand you and accept your flaws and all while making you want to be a better person because of them 💕❤

Murphy creates delightful romance. Fake Date lays on the charm with a hint of obvious and more than enough heart. Jared and Sarah are a riot. She makes you want to laugh, he makes you want to scream and they both kept me craving more. Sometimes our emotions need a chance to take a breather and find the smile that hides within. Monica Murphy is the perfect fit for bringing out the fun.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and author for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. I haven’t loved this book, I wanted to after the gorgeous cover but unfortunately I feel I should’ve just admired the beautiful cover. The characters in this book have been so irritating I haven’t enjoyed reading about them. Initially, Sarah seemed headstrong and as if she’d put Jared in his place. Then she goes and spoils it by telling him the size of her underwear. Jared is just a man child, rude and judgemental. This is a book where the characters have spoilt the story for me.

3.5 stars for me

I had mixed feelings about this one. I really liked the female lead - Sarah has a lot on her plate for a 20 year old. She's the guardian for her siblings, working and trying to keep herself sane. In walks Jared. Textbook billionaire asshole and although there were moments I liked him, there were a lot of moments I didn't.

I enjoyed this one, but didn't love it like I usually do a billionaire romance.

3.5 stars--FAKE DATE is the second instalment in Monica Murphy’s contemporary, adult DATING romance series. This is thirty four year old, acquisitions billionaire Jared Gaines, and twenty four year old, lingerie sales clerk Sarah Harrison’s story line. FAKE DATE can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story line is revealed where necessary.

Told from dual first person perspectives (Jared and Sarah) FAKE DATE focuses on the building relationship between thirty four year old, acquisitions billionaire Jared Gaines, and twenty four year old, lingerie sales clerk Sarah Harrison. For close to six months Sarah Harrison has been the go-to personal shopper for businessman Jared Gaines, a man whose taste in lingerie is exquisite and expensive. Believing Jared is nothing more than a manwh*re with numerous mistresses Sarah remains overly professional in the face of her unwanted attraction to a man she doesn’t like. When gifts of lingerie, expensive shoes and flowers arrive at Sarah’s door, our heroine battles between head and heart believing Jared is treating her no better than the women he leaves behind but Jared need a plus-one for his brother’s engagement party, and Sarah is the perfect woman for the job. What ensues is the fake girlfriend but building romance and relationship between Sarah and Jared, and the potential fall –out when Jared’s secrets all but destroy Sarah’s faith in a possible happily ever after.

Jared Gaines doesn’t do relationships; having been burned in the past, Jared refuses to fall in love, having hardened his heart to romance and love. Meeting Sarah Harrison sparks something deep within our story line hero, something Jared struggles to accept or acknowledge. Sarah Harrison has raised her younger brother and sister since the death of their parents four years earlier. Having spent no time on herself Sarah battles with Jared’s offer of a fake relationship knowing that her heart has already started to fall for the man who struggles with family and friends. Watching Jared falter with basic social skills, Sarah quickly discovers that Jared has closed himself off from said family and friends.

Jared’s personality and actions will be difficult to accept for many romance readers. Oft-times immature and cold, Jared struggles with ordinary and everyday social encounters including his treatment of our story line heroine. Demanding and petulant, almost child-like in nature, Jared steps over the line on one too many occasions, and Sarah must remind him about his poor behaviour, and treatment of other people, and herself.

The relationship between Jared and Sarah begins as a business arrangement wherein Sarah becomes Jared’s personal shopper at Bliss Lingerie. Jared’s attraction to Sarah finds our hero ‘using’ Sarah to ‘shop’ for his many ‘women’, only for Sarah to discover that she has been the only woman for several months. The $ex scenes are passionate and intimate but mostly implied, without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.


There is a large ensemble cast of colorful secondary and supporting characters including Sarah’s sister Andie, and their brother Brent; and Sarah’s co-worker Bethany, and boss Marlo; Jared’s brother Kevin and his fiancée Rochelle, their sister Candice, their father Marcus Gaines, and his wife Mitzi. We are reintroduced to Sarah’s friends: Caroline Abbott ( Save the Date #1), Stella, and Kelsey.

FAKE DATE is a story of family, grief, acceptance and love. The premise is entertaining; the romance is seductive; the characters are energetic but Jared’s actions and behavior are questionable and problematic.

Copy supplied by Netgalley

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I really enjoyed this book! I will definitely be reading Monica Murphy in the future because I just jive with her writing style!

Fake Date by Monica Murphy is a well-written novel. The two main characters, Sarah Harrison and Jared Gaines, have AMAZING chemistry and their road to forever twists and turns quite a few times. Sarah works for Bliss Lingerie, an extremely upscale sexy undergarment boutique in Monterey, California. She is a good salesperson and many the store's clients request her personal expertise. At the ripe old age of twenty, Sarah lost both her parents to a tragic car accident. Overnight, she took on the role of caregiver to her younger brother and sister. Jared Gaines is a very successful businessman. He is a rich workaholic and is always dressed to the nines. Ten years ago, his fiance broke off their engagement only a few months before the big day, and as a result, he prefers a fling to any kind of relationship. He even keeps his family a safe distance away from his heart. Jared is a man of few words, in fact, most people find him intimidating. However, Sarah has the rare ability to coax him out of his shell.

Jared is a Bliss client and Sarah is the only person he trusts to assist him with his purchases. Over the past six months, their clever banter has become flirtatious and a bit hot. When Jared needs a plus one for his brother's engagement party, he asks Sarah to accompany him and pretend to be his very much in love girlfriend. Their fake date evolves into lust and love.

I truly enjoyed this book. Sarah is a wonderful character, and it was easy to get to know her. Her devotion to her family is inspiring, and the awesome girlfriends she surrounds herself with help keep her grounded. Jared is his own worst enemy and his cantankerous attitude is a bit hard to take. Basically, Sarah and Jared are two opposites that attract. Their sexy times are hot, both in and out of the bedroom. This is the second book from the author's Dating series and it can read as a standalone.

Complimentary copy provided by the publisher via NetGalley.

I enjoyed the story, I just didn’t jive with Jared and Sarah as a couple. I really liked Sarah but Jared was a big fat no for me. He was arrogant and rude. If he really wanted Sarah and with good intentions, he definitely could have went about pursuing her in a different way. The thing that I liked about Sarah is that she is very family oriented. After losing her parents she was focused and determined to give her brother and sister the life and love they both deserved. I especially loved her friends and how they all supported one another. It was a good read in all.

Arc provided by publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Sarah Harrison works in an upscale lingerie boutique. Like, teddies that go for four hundred dollars upscale. So her customers have some money and therefore merit personalized attention. Her least favorite customer? Jared Gaines. He's ultra-rich and ultra-demanding. His attitude is that his time is valuable and no one else's is. Even worse, he's in about once a week buying things for his "friends." Until the day that he buys something and sends it to Sarah. And she's not having it. Except that it turns her on. She's raising her younger brother and sister so she doesn't have a lot of time for extras. And, while Jared is hot, he's not worth the trouble.
Except, Jared needs help. His brother is marrying Jared's ex-fiancee's sister. Awkward to say the least. So what can he do? Maybe bring a really hot date. And he already has his eye on the perfect woman.
I liked most of the story. Murphy did her best to bring a little more agency to Sarah and, while Jared was creepy, he acknowledges it and doesn't go full CG-creepy on Sarah. I am definitely looking forward to Jared's sister's story.

Three stars
This book comes out September 17th
ARC kindly provided by Social Butterfly PR and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

What great fun I had reading Fake Date! Monica Murphy shows her expertise once more in the game of pretending to be a couple when the seemingly uptight Jared Gaines asks the feisty Sarah Harrison to be his date for a family weekend. These two have been dancing around one another, shooting off snarky remarks and witty comebacks as Jared frequents the lingerie boutique in which Sarah works, for the past 6 months. Oh but they don't have anyone fooled as naughty thoughts enter their minds more than once as Jared is presumably buying expensive unmentionables for his numerous mistresses.

What is more than wonderful is that Sarah gives as good as she gets and doesn't let Jared off the hook when he is being rude and his usual jerky self. She may just be what he needs in his life, even if he doesn't even want to see it. Their banter is off the charts insane and the weekend they spend together is all kinds of sexy and passionate. And no one is more surprised than they are. I laughed right along with them and there was more than once that I wanted to kick Jared's arse for being so daft and incorrigible at the same time. Men! He could drive any woman crazy but I can't blame Sarah for wanting him to drive her crazy in more ways than one.

With some of the best secondary characters ever, Fake Date is delightful, smart and full of a sweetness that only Monica Murphy can deliver. I can only hope we get a glimpse of these two in the future as Murphy continues the series.

Sure to make you smile just like it did me, I happily give Fake Date a solid 4 stars!

4 1/2 stars!

I absolutely loved Fake Date! This is a great story that checked all of my boxes. It had a little bit of everything I like. It was a little enemies to lovers, a little fake relationship, a broody hero who always seems aloof and angry but is really protecting his heart because he's a bit damaged (I just want to fix him) and heroine who is taking care of everyone but herself and deserves a freaking break (and he wants to give her one). There's a good back story to why Jared is who he is and there is much more to him than meets the eye. You initially think he's a complete womanizer since Sarah meets him in the lingerie store where he comes in periodically to buy lingerie for his assumed mistresses...but who is he really buying it for? Their connection is palpable. However, it's even more noticeable when they both try to ignore it and act as if there is nothing there. Jared truly doesn't know how to handle a woman that doesn't fall at his feet. Sarah was definitely not that type of woman. The gradual development of Sarah and Jared's relationship was perfect. It wasn't insta-love. They were continually one step forward and then two steps back in their relationship until they really put their feelings on the line.

Ms. Murphy's Dating series is quite enjoyable. I like how they keep a little connection to each other as you read each subsequent book. However, you can also easily read these as standalones.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.