Julian Winters can literally do no wrong!!!! Every book I read of his becomes an instant favorite. I loved his characters in this one so much! Denz and Braylon were amazing! This book has a mix of second chance romance and fake dating. I’m not always a fan of second chance, but I was just rooting for the both of them the entire time. Everything in this book was so well done. There were some heavier moments, but also so many laugh out loud moments too. Each character just felt so real.

I was not ready for this book to end. I could stay with these characters forever because I loved them so much!

The memorable characters in this book captured my imagination! I loved the family dynamics and the distinct personalities of each member. The lavish parties were fun to imagine with all their lush detailing.

Denz and Braylon were couples goals! Their interactions were so flirty and fun. It was a slow burn leading up to some great spice. I appreciated Denz’s journey as he gained confidence and learned to be his own person and not just a shadow of his family’s expectations.

I really enjoyed this romance and recommend it for MM romance lovers.

Thank you to @Netgalley and @stmartinspress for the chance to review this ARC.

DNF at 46%. I think I’m fatigued of fake dating, because this book did not work for me. And the story tried to combine it with second chance, for some reason, and I just didn’t care about whether the characters got together.

I’ve heard about Julian Winters since his debut, but it took his first adult romance for me to finally crack the seal. I Think They Love You is a super sweet second-chance fake dating contemporary romance full of great friendship and family moments. It gave me lots of feeling reading this, and I love how things worked out not only for Denz and Braylon, but also for Kami and the rest of the Carters. I’m hopeful for a continuation following Jamie and Jordan; I saw that setup coming pretty early on and with the ending, I want more. There was some stuff about the idea that Denz couldn’t possibly be serious if he wasn’t in a serious relationship that I didn’t super like, but overall this was a delightful read that I had trouble putting down.

If you’re looking for an escapist new-adult romance, this book might be for you. I couldn’t get past the fact that Denz is barely capable of holding down a job, much less being CEO. DNF.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC.

I Think They Love You by Julian Winters is an adorable rom com about two young men who lose each other only to be forced back together to both accomplish their goals. Denz and Bray were college sweethearts until they went their separate ways at graduation. Fast forward a few years and Denz is competing against his sister to be named CEO of his family’s company. He knows being in a serious relationship would help him look more grown up in the eyes of his family…and then he runs into the long lost love of his life—Braylon. They agree to “fake date” to both help each other move forward in their respective career paths and then go their separate ways…only how does that work when you never really got over each other?

This story is adorable! I loved all the characters. This would make an adorable movie!

This is a second chance & fake dating romance. The book was okay, a bit predictable. It had some cute moments.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in return for a honest review

A fun second chance romance fake dating messy family tale that celebrates queer life. Denz and Braylon never expected to be back together, whether for real or for show, but now they area and the dialogue-and the spice- flies. It's fun and it's got some funny bits. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A good read.

Second chance AND fake dating, PLUS it's Black AND queer?!?! This book was made for me. And I somehow loved it even more than I expected to. I honestly don't even have the words for how much I loved it. I will be reading Julian Winters' entire backlist immediately, I am OBSESSED.

What a beautiful, trope filled book.

While this had literally so many tropes, I didn't mind it at all. I love a second chance romance so much and I was fighting for them the entire time. I also do love a messy family because it just adds to the realness of the characters and what they are going through together. Also, top tier communication and #consent is sexy.

I Think They Love You was such a cute and quick read! I'm a total sucker for second chance romances, and absolutely adored Denz and Braylon's story!

I Think They Love You
Julian Winters

Wow, this book was not what I expected.

Fake dating, check.
Romcom, check.
Second chance romance, check.
Lovable MCs, check.
LGBQ, check.
Spicy spice, check and check.

This book has it all. I loved it, this is a short and sweet review, but there’s not much more I can say about it.


A big thank you to St. Martin’s Griffin and NegGalley for this eARC in exchange for my review.

Thanks to NetGalley, St. Martins Press & Julian Winters for the chance to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

I totally appreciate a second chance romance when the first break up happened before life was lived. Denz and Braylon broke up right after college as they set out to begin their careers. Perspectives were gained, minds grown, time passed, - now they are both who they need to be for each other.

I loved getting to know Denz family and would love a novella about Kamila & Suraj!

I was actually fairly surprised by how much I ended up loving this book. I was always going to like it to be clear, but I fell in love with Denz, and his family. I found that the setting and like characters, while familiar took on a fairly fresh new take on it which I really enjoyed.

My favorite thing in any book is when the author puts as much thought into the supporting characters as the main characters, and Julian Winters went above and beyond for everyone in this book. From the sisters to the aunts, even the coworker's family; no character is too small to receive a storyline.

This book has everything I could ask for. The characters, family drama, fake dating, and friendships are all exactly what I want in a story. Julian captured the perfect level of cheesy rom-com to serious storyline, and I absolutely loved it.

Thank you St Martin’s Press and Netgalley for providing me with an e-ARC of this book.

Julian Winters is definitely an author I want to read more from. The writing style was great and had me hooked immediately.

I really loved Bray as both the ex and fake boyfriend. He was funny and charming and he felt so incredibly real. I would have loved to have had his POV throughout this book.

I loved a lot of the side characters as well. Jordan, Jamie and Kami were all absolutely wonderful.

**SPOILERS BELOW**

Denz, on the other hand, frustrated me more and more as the book went on. He’s disorganised to the point where it made me, the reader, anxious. And yet he thinks he can be CEO? I understood him feeling the need to prove himself after his family made out like he wasn’t capable, but proving yourself is in ACTIONS, not just saying you can do something then constantly needing other people to cover up your mistakes.

All his self esteem issues didn’t really make me feel sorry for him because he wasn’t actively trying to make any of the changes he needed to make. Braylon kept telling him his family was wrong about him but all I was seeing was them pointing out his genuine flaws that wouldn’t make for a good CEO. He’s enough AS A PERSON, which is important, but not for CEO, the position he spends the whole book trying to prove he’s worthy of.

Maybe I missed the point?

There were definitely moments I enjoyed in this one, but overall not entirely for me.

4.5 stars. I absolutely loved reading this romance. Winters has been on my radar forever, but when I saw the description for his adult romance debut, I knew I had to read it! The things I loved the most:
* the lovers to enemies to lovers relationship
* fake dating
* the relationship between Denz and his family (really I loved most of the large tight knit family dynamics they had and I laughed more than once at some of their interactions)
* the amount of growth that Denz, his sister (whose name I'm drawing a blank on at the moment), and Braylon all experience throughout the book
* the depth of the personalities of some of the characters, particularly Denz and his dad
* I also loved the deep and tight relationship Denz had with Jamie
* I am a huge fan of Atlanta, and I loved the book being set there
Some of the secondary characters could have been a bit more fleshed out (there are a lot of them and I think some decisions had to be made), but I would love to see a sequel where more of that happens. If you are looking for a queer romance with lots of depth and personal growth then definitely pick this one up!

if you are a fan of second chance romance and loveable characters, this book is for you!

there is a lot of depth to this story, which initially held me back from reading it for so long. i found it difficult to get into at first and needed time to come back to it, and i am so glad i did! i loved reading about denz and braylon and watching their fake love turn into something more. i also love seeing the personal growth in these characters as we go on in the book.

also, i don’t usually comment on covers of books unless they’re a major part of the story. however, i was obsessed with the cover of this book when i saw it on netgalley and it was one of the things that drew me to this book. i think it’s beautifully done and the colors are gorgeous.

thank you to netgalley & the publishers for the opportunity to receive this as an arc!

Denz starts fake dating his ex-boyfriend, Braylon, in order to show his family that he's capable of commitment. Braylon agrees in order to get a promotion by meeting the mayor through Denz's connections. Of course this leads to forced proximity in order to "prove" their relationship. Plus, there's the one bed trope in this.

I started bawling during that grilled cheese flashback. They both have their issues but have never truly got over one another 😭.

Then Denz had to fuck everything up. I hate seeing someone continuously make the same mistakes. He's under a lot of pressure from his family and the public but that doesn't give him the right to ignore the people who genuinely care for him.

Nonetheless it still made me sob. I think a dual pov or multi-pov would have given me better insight into the characters reasoning.

I was on the fence on how I was going to rate this but I'm bumping this from a 3 to a 3.5/5.

Sadly, this was just meh for me.

I'm not a huge second chance romance fan, I keep trying though, because sometimes the 2nd chance is deserving. I will say, them getting a second chance works, they broke up three years ago after college when Braylon moves to London and Denz doesn't follow.

I don't feel this book should be labeled as romance. The story is way more about Denz trying for CEO (more on that later), and figuring out his life, and way less about their fake relationship. About said fake relationship - it makes ZERO sense. <i>Oh, having a boyfriend will show my family that I can make commitments and would be a good choice for CEO<i>. Yet, their fake dating agreement only calls for Braylon attending things with his family three times, and then sending texts during the day. It's also not like his dad, the current CEO, made that stipulation.

Now on to the CEO thing itself. It is honestly laughable that Denz thinks he (1) has a chance and (2) would even be good at it. He's been out of college for three years, where he got a communications degree, and as far as we know he took no business classes. He only decides to throw his hat in the ring when his family tells him his sister would be a better choice. Then he continues to make large mistakes that his family has to save him from. All mistakes that could have been easily avoidable with a small amount of attention to detail. It annoyed me so much that he only did this to prove that he could, and not because he wanted it.

This book was also done a disservice by being only from Denz's POV. There are times he says things and Braylon gives him a look and I was dying to know what he was thinking. Braylon is this one-sided character, practically a cardboard cutout. I feel I know more about Denz's cousin and best friend's possible relationship/whatever it is, than I do about how Braylon actually feels. We don't even really know why he agreed to the fake relationship. Needing help to get a meet with the Mayor was lacking at best.

All in all - this book just needed more. We spent a lot of time rehashing things, focusing on Denz's relationship with his family and his work - which would be fine if this wasn't a romance book. I truly didn't care about them getting back together in the end and figuring it out, because nothing was shown to me to show why they should. Denz's character growth is just dropped on us like a light switch flipping, it wasn't gradual. Same with them figuring it out, just no, no, no, then BAM we're doing it.

Finally - the fact that these two GROWN adults can't talk about the sex they're having or want to have is absolutely criminal! It's like when teens are told that if they aren't mature enough to talk about sex they aren't mature enough to be having it. They little stumble over what they want to do, get embarrassed and shy. It didn't come off as cute and endearing, it came off as concerning.