Kara Wexler and her siblings work for their father in the family company. Kara is the sibling most capable of running the company but not her father's preferred choice. She is fed up with fighting with her father and decides to leave the company.  Kara's siblings don't want to see her leave the company and engage Madeleine Jessepp who is an aspiring actress running low on work and money to start a faux romance with Kara and restore Kara's confidence after being constantly battered by her father.
The premise of this storyline had great potential but I was immediately put off by how straight Madeleine was and her negative comments supporting the fact,  however,  I did slowly warm to Madeleine by the end of the book. I would have liked to have seen more conversations between the two women but the lack of dialogue definitely affected my enjoyment of the book. Generally, the book felt a little too slow and it felt like it took forever to finish it. I give this book 2.5 stars.

Cause and Affection is a well written book with a interesting storyline. The characters are well developed. The story is a quick read and has a few holes, but overall a good book.

So the idea of this book was very interesting because it’s wasn’t pure fauxmance, but rather with a twist of one member not being part of the deal.. i really liked one of the MCs, and I think that’s what made me forget about some frustrations I had with the book. Kara was such a gentlewoman and those characters are rare to find now in the world :)

Ok so there’s no denying as well that Sheryl Wright is a seasoned author and the book itself was written quite nicely.
The only issue I faced was the fact that I felt the storyline was not clear. It’s like a mix between a fauxmance, a celebrity in the making, and a ruthless businesswoman in the advertising world. And the consequence of that mix was we didn’t end up getting the full story of the MC making it in the entertainment world, we also didn’t get the full story of the other MC and her struggles in the advertising world and most importantly the romance got lost in the middle. There was just so much stuff happening that was irrelevant to the whole idea of the book, which made me somehow lost.
I did like the Supporting characters though, especially the sister.
Overall I can’t say I got bored, but I also can’t say I fell in love with the book. It was OK :)

I received an ARC copy for an honest review.

I did not like this book completely, for the reason that there are important parts of the story that are not described and then the characters comment in their conversations, creating confusion in the understanding of the story. And since this happens more than once and twice, I think it should be highlighted as a negative point. There are several kisses before the first kiss described, which I consider strange since the normal thing is that at the beginning of a relationship the first kiss is very important and it seems that in this story it is not so much, something for me incomprehensible. Another one is that Kara's mother speaks with Madeleine before the mother appears in the story and therefore without Madeleine and Kara's mother have met. Weird. And to top it all, there are too many scenes related to the conflict that Kara has with her father in the company, meetings, etc., and some parts of that have become too long compared to the time in which the two protagonists interrelate with each other. Really, even now, I do not understand very well what is the problem that Kara has with her father nor the role of her siblings in all the story. So all has been a bit nonsense in general. A pity because better explained, with more facts and less thoughs and with was more focus on the relationship between the two protagonists, I think it would have been much more enjoyable.

I must admit, after having had a highly enjoyable read of my first-ever Sheryl Wright book, “Don’t Let Go” (cheers, K Aten, for rec-ing it on your recent Spec Tues post on TLR!), I was curious about her latest outing, “Cause and Affection,” after reading its blurb. Whereas I was utterly captivated by the macro and micro details of how a huge marine engineering company operated and functioned in “Don’t Let Go”, which naturally perked up my nerd, I was even more intrigued by the assumption that I’d also be given an inside look into the inner workings of advertising in “Cause and Affection“! I was not wrong and was I gratifyingly delighted, indeed! Much obliged, Ms. Wright!

Wright seems to have similar themes in her stories – rich girl/poor girl, big families (or groups), accidental-love. This book checked all the boxes except that this time, the accidental-love theme had a fauxmance twist. Well, not the usual fauxmance in the conventional sense where both MCs are in on the “game.” In this story, the “fauxmance” arrangement was between Kara’s siblings (instead of Kara, the MC herself!) and the other MC, Madeleine, a down-and-out, cash-strapped actor/performer in Vegas enticed to accept one last highly paid acting job as someone’s faux-date for a week (so she could afford to pay for her return to her hometown in Minnesota). Yes, Kara was the target of her siblings’ bonkers “fauxmance” plot, which was concocted in the hopes of reviving their sister’s mojo in taking over the family’s legacy, the big, renowned advertising firm in Canada, from their hateful, bigoted, misogynistic father, in response to Kara’s recent decision to resign from the company! Mad or what, eh? I must say, Wright crafted quite a creative plot for a tale of romance, especially given that I’d never come across anything like that in lesfic before. I applaud her ingenuity because it sure elevated the level of intrigue and thrills for me as a reader of Les-Rom! Naturally, I devoured the entire book faster than you can say, “Gersundheit!”

Obviously there were some surprises along the way, what with this outrageous plot and all! First and foremost, though, was to discover that Madeleine turned out to be a straight-as-an-arrow hetero who never had any desire or attraction toward women in her life! Nada! And she was hired to play a lesbian!! Bloody hell! To say that I was a little thrown by that revelation was an understatement, not to mention, Madeleine expressing her utter unease and discomfort about playing one, which irked me a little, tbh, because I didn’t expect to be reading about it in a lesfic romance, mind! So of course I was bracing for lots of questions and stereotyped assumptions about lesbians coming from Madeleine’s POV. Needless to say, Wright went into details about Madeleine’s constant inner monologue about her previously held stereotypes, skewed assumptions about lesbians and the nature of two women being sexually attracted to each other, her endless comparisons to her intimate relationships with men, be it physically, emotionally or intellectually. I was a little apprehensive to read all that at first but as Wright delved more into Madeleine’s inner psyche about her past relationships with men, I began to find Madeleine’s musings, confusion and curiosity a bit tragic, especially when she slowly discovered to her shame just how sheltered, prejudiced, and ill-informed she was about the inner-workings of love, intimacy and relationships, regardless of gender or sexuality. Not having any knowledge nor interest about relationships with men whatsoever, I was, nonetheless, intrigued by just how much contrast there was in the interactions, behaviour, expectations that men held with women in their shared intimacy and relations! Normally, I wouldn’t give it the time of day when it comes to hetero relationships (I skip them whenever they regrettably show up in my lesfic reads) but because it was a huge part of Madeleine’s character, I explored it solely from Madeleine’s POV and it was…shall we say, enlightening? Yeh, that’s it.

Anyway, it was fascinating to explore Madeleine’s slow but steady transformation as she struggled to reconcile her unexplained but clearly undeniable sexual attraction toward Kara the more she knew about her. Wright meticulously described Madeleine’s mental and emotional reaction at every stage of her relationship with Kara as her growing interest, attraction and attachment toward her target became more prevalent and indisputable. It was as if I was witnessing Madeleine’s journey to self-discovery and sexual awakening for real! All the nuances expressed were grounded in authenticity that I truly believed in Madeleine’s transformation – a bona fide heterosexual who just so happened to find herself attracted to another woman. It wasn’t contrived at all. In fact, it read like a true life-altering experience that a person such as Madeleine would face IRL.

In regard to Kara, she was next-in-line for the CEO position in the huge advertising firm (a merger of two big family-owned companies) she’d worked for in her entire career. That was, if her father would allow it. I won’t go into details about just how despicable her father was to Kara except to say that he was the main reason Kara finally decided to resign from the company. Alas, that was the catalyst for her meddling sibs to take the drastic step of concocting the fauxmance plot! All to lure her back to taking the reins! Omg! The lengths people go to sometimes, don’t they?

One thing I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention – Wright’s vivid and visual description of the historical landmarks, architecture, external surroundings, locales and the streets of Toronto, Canada! I utterly loved the intimate knowledge Wright obviously has about her homeland which she generously shared in this story. Visually resonating. I felt like I was there. Also, her signature detailed descriptions of a profession featured in her story. This one was all about advertising and Wright, as usual, meticulously described all the nuts and bolts about how advertising worked from behind the scenes, all the planning, strategies, ideas, ad campaigns, artistic creativity. I learned so much from Wright’s presentation of its industry through Kara’s eyes what with all the crafted scenarios that were richly informative and utterly fascinating!

Anyway, back to Madeleine’s role-play. I really enjoyed the initial flirtatious encounters between the two women which gradually turned a little more serious as they spent more time together. I was tickled by Madeleine’s constant comparison of her stimulating, emotionally invested, increasingly sensual and deep encounters with her target to her past encounters with men, which had always left much to be desired as far as she was concerned but had assumed it was normal…or perhaps conditioned to think it was? (well, I wouldn’t know, being steadfastly gay and all! Oh, the buggery bollocks of the heterosexual world, eh!) Until her deeply felt connection – physical, intellectual and emotional – and natural chemistry with Kara, a woman, of all the unexpected discovery and revelation about herself! I applaud Wright for delving into Madeleine’s internal struggle about the possibility that she wasn’t as hetero as she believed herself to be! Talk about a colossal whiplash of an epiphany, eh? All her questions, curiosity and her eventual determination to face the truth about herself and her authentic emotions and feelings about Kara were enlightening for me to explore. A woman who believed she was straight all her life, never had any indication that she was anything but a bona fide heterosexual suddenly found herself attracted to another woman, sexually, emotionally, intellectually. One woman in particular. Fascinating!

Anyway, a plan wouldn’t be a plan if it didn’t have any hiccup along the way, would it? That’s when pivoting comes in. Just like life, innit? It can never be smooth-sailing or there wouldn’t be a journey, would it? It’s by design so we can pivot…if we choose to. When we’re at a crossroads, we either choose to pivot toward our ultimate heart’s desire or remain at status quo. Pivot. A word that you’ll find very relevant to this story in more ways than one, literally and figuratively. Reckon you’ll sort it out when your read the book. So, back to Madeleine’s role-play, not surprisingly, one can only pretend so much. Where emotions and feelings, matters of the heart are involved, there’s a fat chance they could be reined in. One can’t help who they fall in love with, can they? So that line…that professional conduct line as far as Madeleine was concerned? Well! And when all hell broke loose with Kara finding out about it and shite hit the fan?! THAT other line (moral, decency, sensitivity!) that Kara’s sibs seemed to be oblivious to?! Let’s just say that if Joey were there, he’d have some choice words for Madeleine and Kara’s meddling sibs when it came to crossing the line….!!

"Over the line?! You're so far PAST the line that you can't even SEE the line! THE LINE IS A DOT TO YOU!" - Joey Tribbiani, "Friends"

I was absorbed in the unfolding of that whole scenario from Kara’s perplexity right until that fated moment, all played out in slow-motion. A devastating realisation that she had been played. Good and proper. Wright captured the myriad of emotions that engulfed Kara at that moment of truth with fervour. The weight of such a betrayal that befell her was depicted ever-so acutely you could feel her crushing defeat and broken resolve as she retreated. (Sod ‘em bloody busybody sibs! Poor Kara!)

Speaking of, I was pleased to discover that the demise of the fauxmance plan occurred halfway through the book and not toward the end as I thought. I thought Wright made the right decision to focus more on the aftermath, how Kara and Madeleine worked to come back from it, Kara’s decision about whether to lead her company into the future or stay resigned, further development of Kara and Madeleine’s relationship, their deepening intimacy, their growing love for each other, how it’d affect the internal politics within the company’s corporate structure that involved all the major players concerned including Kara’s father. Needless to say, I thoroughly enjoyed all the manoeuvring, the strategic alliances, the family dynamic that Wright crafted alongside Kara and Madeleine’s journey. I loved that both women were career-orientated and Wright’s depiction of their personal lives entwined with their respective professional ambitions were not at odds with each other or a source of guilt.

I was pleased with Wright’s astute awareness of the importance of portraying a long-term relationship between two established, career women who loved, trusted and supported each other’s dreams, passion, goals in their love and work life, as authentically as real-life. I was particularly appreciative of Wright’s focus on the long-distance angle of their relationship as Madeleine finally had an opportunity to realise her lifelong dream to direct, choreograph and produce in showbiz, how she and Kara made it work, but obviously not without some issues raised which I thought Wright covered it with realistic effect. It’s not common to have long-distance relationship romance stories featured in lesfic so I applaud Wright for delving into it, not just superficially, but really opening up the “can of worms” that long-distance relationships stereotypically entail, i.e. trust, intimacy, commitment. Although, Wright opted to lighten the intensity of the situation that Kara and Madeleine had to face instead of delving into the angst on a more visceral level, which I’d have preferred. Nonetheless, it worked out well in the end even though it was resolved and tied up in a neat little bow without much fanfare. But I have no complaints. I liked it.

Don’t know about you but there were a couple of segments toward the end of the book where I felt that the continuity and flow were slightly disconnected, like some paragraphs were left out in the editing room floor or something. Prolly not, but it sure read like something was lost in translation between the last piece of one segment and the start of the next? I reckon it was just a glitch of some sort or perhaps it was just Wright’s style? Or maybe it’s just me. I don’t know. Ignore me. It didn’t affect the overall structure and flow of the story, which is what matters, dunnit?

Anyway, all in all, I enjoyed exploring this creatively crafted “fauxmance“-type trope with all the thrills of a fake relationship, corporate politics and power struggle, family drama and conflict, the very relevant, very real subject of confronting one’s sexuality and sexual awakening with honesty and truth, not to mention, all the nitty-gritty details and descriptions about the inner-workings of advertising, corporate culture and showbiz, which Wright skilfully constructed to present this outrageously madcap but ultimately refreshing and eccentric love story! I think fans of romance and fauxmance may find this slightly different take on the trope enjoyable and refreshing. I certainly was a jolly good and fun read for me!

**I was given, with much thanks and appreciation, an ARC copy by Bella via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

A unique spin on fauxmance.

Kara finds herself going to Vegas for the family company conference despite giving her resignation because she has had enough of her father's treatment and mismanagement of the business. Her brothers and sisters have another plan in mind. Hire a fantasy date to wine and dine Kara to set her up with the confidence to deliver a phenomenal pivot speech that will gain the support of the employees and give her the passion to stay on.

I liked the fresh take on a fake romance. It's an interesting idea to have only one person know that things aren't real. And to explore the ramifications of things developing beyond fiction.

But while the overall plot was intriguing, the book suffered in spots. There were several things that made it difficult for me to finish. The use of 'honey' was overused. At times, there were full blocks (pages) of dialogue that felt unnatural. The author would explain, in detail, things that just didn't matter in the grand scheme of things. And that created significant pacing issues with the story. Then toward the end, there was some unnecessary drama that made Kara so insecure it seemed out of character.

After completing the book, I can look back and appreciate the overall plot and characters. But it was tough getting there.

You may like this if you are interested in an unconventional fake romance, Vegas, Toronto, advertising, building restoration, and Labrador Tea.

I'm not normally enthused by 'fake-romance' stories, but honestly, what got me to give this one a chance was the cover. It reached out and grabbed me right away. Not only does it depict a city I am very familiar with and have fond memories of, but it is a gorgeous cover!

Through skilled storytelling, you get to know all the characters fairly well, with only a couple of exceptions. These are very minor characters, so it's easy to understand. There are so many bits of Toronto in here that any reader familiar with the city will recognize them, but not so many that it will put off readers not familiar with the city. (I was especially thrilled to see Tim Hortons and poutine make an appearance!)
The author has given us not only well-drawn characters but two very determined main characters. One is a little more sure of what she wants than the other, but their dynamic is so real, that their determination carries the plot through the slower parts. It's not all roses and unicorns though. There is pettiness, jealousy, courage, understanding, ambition and greed here. There is an undercurrent of society-induced hesitation about a business leader being a lesbian, but trust me, it works out better than you expect in the end.

I was almost as fascinated by the author's notes at the end of the book. They added another dimension of enjoyment that was quite unexpected and refreshing.

This is absolutely, definitely, without question going on my 'READ THIS AGAIN' pile!

Thanks to Bella and NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Thanks also to Sheryl Wright for an absorbing and entertaining novel.

I know I’ve mentioned in other reviews that I believe the cover of a book is very important. It needs to catch the reader’s attention because it is the first thing that is seen. The cover for Cause and Affection by Sheryl Wright did just that for a couple of reasons. Not only is it elegant and pleasing to the eye in color and style, it has a picture of a skyline I’m very familiar with. It caught my attention and made me want to see what the book was about.
I enjoyed this story. It is well written, though it did lag in a few spots. The complex dynamics between Kara and the different members of her family made the story very interesting. I’m not usually interested in stories about fake relationships, especially ones where one of the main characters is not aware that it is fake. That’s what happened in this novel when Kara’s siblings hire Madeleine Jessepp to create a fantasy week for Kara when she travels to Las Vegas on a business trip. Of course the fantasy becomes real for the two characters which leads to a whole host of problems for everyone.
My favorite part of the novel is actually later in the book when they are in Toronto, the home base for Kara’s family business. This is the section where they to recover from the faked beginning. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the bits of Canadiana in this section. Tim Hortons is mentioned here, which is a very popular coffee shop you can find on almost every other street corner in most Canadian cities. Poutine is also mentioned. Poutine is a French/Canadian dish invented sometime in the 1950’s. It is basically a heart attack on a plate made from French fries mixed with fresh cheese curds and smothered in beef gravy. I know it sounds weird, but it is truly delicious even if it is artery clogging. The only thing better than poutine is Newfie fries where you take the poutine dish and mix in peas and stuffing. Now I’m hungry…
This is a lovely romance with a complex plot and great character dynamics. I am very glad I chose to read this book.

I received an ARC from NetGalley and Bella Books for an honest review.

Rainbow Reflections:
https://rainbowreflections.home.blog/

In all honesty, I had a bit of trouble coming up with a review for this one. I even finished it days ago and sat on the review for a few days to make sure that I said what I meant and wanted to say.

Fauxmances as a whole are my favorite genre to read in lesfic romance. I love how the concept of a fake relationship forces the author to really show us how the mains connect! For some reason, the romance always ends up feeling more genuine to me in these types of novels. Honestly though, this one just felt off to me for some reason. I'm wondering if it was because of the way this fauxmance started, with MC Kara ready to quit and unaware that her siblings set her up with MC Madeline (an actress) without Kara's knowledge. I couldn't help but feel like this was a bit... oogy. Something in the setup of this one just bugged me and left me a bit uncomfortable. I guess I was just bothered that Madeline was a very straight (and frankly, homophobic) actress, hired to play the part of Kara's fantasy girl / date. See what I mean? The setup just left me feeling a touch like Kara was being used and that creeped me out somewhat.

Once I got past the beginning and started in on the actual story, my comfort eased out somewhat, but this book still felt a bit slow to me as a whole. I did enjoy that there was quite a bit of character development overall between the mains and that we got to see Madeline's feelings change over time. It was nice with the POV being from both MC's so that we could really see the development as their real relationship evolved.

What I didn't like though, was that there was a real lack of dialogue between the two mains, and it felt like the majority of the book focused on Kara's relationship with her mother more than her budding relationship with Madeline. It bothered me how much repetition there was with the comparisons of men vs women for Madeline, and the repetition really bogged down the pace. The book as a whole felt slower to me and I wasn't quite as engaged in the read as I though I would be. As a whole, I enjoyed the book, but can't honestly say it's a must-read. I'll be looking forward to Wright's next novel though! 3.25 stars.

**Many thanks to Bella for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.**

Kara Wexler is so fed up with the way her father treats her, both professionally and personally, that she’s ready to quit her job altogether, even if it means leaving her sister and brother to fend for themselves. Not wanting her to go, her siblings devise a plan to get her to relax and overthrow their father as the company’s CEO. That’s how Madeleine Jessepp, a down-on-her-luck actress, finds herself acting as Kara’s « fantasy date ».

When I started reading, I was rather uncomfortable. Which is good in a way, one should be uncomfortable when reading about someone being conned into falling for another woman. I wasn’t too sure about the straight woman thing either. Madeleine’s initial lesbophobia made me cringe a few times. I know it was meant to illustrate her journey from clueless straight woman to whatever but I’ve had enough of that in real life, I’m not sure I want too much of it in my romance.

I’m aware I’m mostly writing about negative things, yet all in all this was a pretty nice read. And I actually really liked most of what happened after the whole charade thing.

There’s something old-fashioned about this book, it reminds me of the novels I used to read 20 years ago, when there wasn’t as much choice in lesfic as there is nowadays. There’s something comforting in that, like going back to simpler times.

I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

This is a bit of a mixed bag of things I enjoyed and things that frustrated me. Kara Wexler and her siblings are in Vegas for a board meeting of their advertising company. Their father is holding onto the reins as CEO even though the company needs a change of direction to take advantage of alternative media and advertising platforms. Kara has had enough of the constant battle and the stress and she’s written up her resignation. Her siblings, however, have hired a woman to wine and dine Kara in order to boost her confidence which is constantly battered by her father.

Madeleine has spent years in Las Vegas trying to make a name for herself as a choreographer, singer and dancer but she’s finally decided that after this job she’s returning to Minnesota. It pays well enough that she won’t go home empty handed. The only issue is that she’s straight and not entirely sure she’ll work out flirting with a lesbian in a believable way.

What I did like about the story is that it runs from before the two main characters meet to well into the challenges of a relationship. It makes their connection seem more plausible, especially seeing as Madeleine is straight. There is also lots of time for their characters to develop. We get both Kara and Madeleine’s point of view in third person and it’s nice to be in both of their heads.

On the negative side though, there wasn’t enough dialogue between them to satisfy me. Admittedly I am a dialogue junkie but it seemed as though there was more direct conversation between Kara and her mother than there was between her and Madeleine. I like seeing who characters are by what comes out of their mouths rather than being told they had a conversation about their childhood, for example.

From the above point of view, I found it was a little slower to read and not as engaging as it could have been. While I liked the ease with which Madeleine found herself attracted to Kara, I didn’t like the constant comparisons of women and men. There was also a little too much repetition which further slowed the pace. Kara’s development and renovation project was described earlier in the novel and then repeated later. It was an interesting enough anecdote the first time that I hadn’t forgotten it by the time it was repeated.

On the whole, it is a novel I enjoyed reading even though it had some detractors.

Book received from Netgalley and Bella Books for an honest review.

Madeleine Jessepp is hired to help bring Kara Wexler's mojo back by being a fantasy date. Kara's family has hired this fantasy date because they really need Kara to take over the family business because she really is the last hope. Madeleine really doesn't want the gig (she isn't a lesbian and doesn't like being a part of the fake fantasy), but the pay is excellent and it's her chance to help her flee Vegas and return home to Minnesota.

Okay enough about the plot because the blurb that comes with the story is good enough. Here is what I want to say. I do mostly like fauxmances. I really like how two characters come together out of convenience and end up falling for each other. This romance really is one sided because Kara doesn't know that Madeleine has been hired to go out on dates with her. They fall for each other, but once the facts come out, Kara doesn't know what to really believe. So of course I have a but. The first problem I had is that this one is too long. A few chapters should have been taken out. Next, I think there is too much inner dialogue. I really hate when a person stays in their head too long. Both characters tend to do this and all it does is make me skim that section. Next this one takes a weird turn at the end and it just didn't fit the story line for me. So what did I like? I actually liked both MC's and I like the supporting cast (except Kara's mother sort of got on my nerves with her going on and on). Overall the "romance" was cute and there was some chemistry (but the in-love part didn't seem to fit).

So I find this one hard to classify. I think it's more of a 2.75 for me, but I am good with rounding it 3 stars.

I received an ARC copy of this book from the Publisher via Netgalley and voluntarily leaving my review.


Kara said she had enough and decide to resign from her family company because she tire of being under her father thumb and fighting him at every turn.

Her siblings Joanne and Doug are desperately trying stop her from quitting because they know she can turn their family company around and Doug doesn't have the desire to be CEO and that what their father wants.

So Joanne and Doug decide to concoct a plan to get Kara her groove back so while they are in Las Vegas they plan to give Kara a dream girlfriend experience to help her find the happiness she use to have and her prepare for a board meeting with their company.

Madeline moved to Las Vegas to become actress but after years of being in Vegas her career never took off so when her manger Franco talk her into being a fantasy dream girl she say yes because she needs the money to head back home to Minnesota.

I like Kara and Madeline their chemistry was great and organic not force love how Madeline kept going off script and Kara knew she was straight but like spending time with her and Madeline questioning her feelings because she never been attract to a woman before.
I love how Kara mother is blunt doesn't sugar-coated her words her father is,a trip and I was happy when Kara punches him because he really deserve it and how he do anything to not have Kara CEO of the company.

Going by the number of books based on it, fake relationships seem to be a super-favourite trope of authors and publishers. Is it the sheer fantasy aspect that makes it so popular? Toaster-oven is another fantasy. As the author says somewhere in this book (paraphrasing here) a straight woman is the kryptonite of a lesbian. Guess everyone wants to believe that who the person is and what they bring in to the relationship should and will conquer cultural heteronormative conditioning.

Kara Wexler is somewhat of an overachiever working in her family-owned multinational advertising firm. She is not only held back in her performance but cut to pieces by the CEO, who happens to be her father. The whole situation leads to depression which rings the end of her relationship and she spirals further. Demotivated and depressed, she hands in her resignation to her brother, Doug, just before the board meeting. Doug the unwilling heir-apparent of the company and younger sister, Joanne are unwilling to let Kara leave the company. They are set on her leading the company. They concoct a plan to get Kara’s mojo back before the board meeting. Their wildly unbelievable plan is to give Kara a dream girlfriend experience which will put her in a happy place and back on track for the board meeting. Madeleine Jessepp, who had moved to Vegas a decade back has nothing by way of career and is set to return home to Minnesota. She is roped in as the dream date for Kara, and she takes the job so that she doesn’t return home completely broke.

There are three parts in this book. The first part is the whole Las Vegas fake girlfriend bit. That is excellently written and both the MCs are totally likeable. Their chemistry works wonderfully and you are completely drawn into the story.

The second part is the inevitable fallout and Kara and Madeleine dealing with their feelings and realities. The perfect pacing stuttered in this part. We were particularly eager to see how the two get back together and what happening when they connect again. Sadly, that completely fizzled out. We expected drama and emotion, but both were absent.

The third and final part is about forging a strong relationship and believing in each other and their relationship. This was the weirdest part. The author threw up more obstacles in the relationship (Madeleine getting an awesome break, Kara suspecting Madeleine to be involved with a guy, threat to Kara’s position in the company because of her involvement with Madeleine), but the narrative completely downplays the upheaval. Worse, the MCs seemed to stop connecting and talking.

Where the first one-third of the book was pushing it firmly into the 4 (or more) star category the second made it slip into 3 and well, the last bit…2.5 at best.

The writing was good and you can see really that the author did research in some subjects mentioned in the book or had experience. The story was nice as well, but somehow I thought everything was easy, her family loved her and madeline. defended both. for god sake her own mother defended Madeleine ! it felt too fluffy for me. I also felt confused while reading. I had to read the same page over and over just to know who was taking or thinking.. not to mention I could not follow some of the flow in the story. it could be me thought.

I did skip parts at the end when it got too long. In case i did not mention this before. the way Kara read ppl was very interesting. so the poker thing was enjoyable

thank you author and her team for giving me the opportunity to read this for free in exchange of my honest opinion.

'ARC provided by both NetGalley and The Publisher in exchange for a honest review'

**'Some writers do a great deal of research.They don't want readers to say, 'That could not have happened.' It maybe fiction but it has to be true...A story is nothing but a cube of hot, smoking conscience..'

'CAUSE AND AFFECTION' is an interesting and revelatory Love story that explores the many complex relationships between Kara and her mom, her father, her two siblings and even Madeleine -- also the quest to discover if she really cared about Madeleine --- that a romance can prevail even through all their circumstance.
Their romance started as a faux pas relationship that was set up by Kara's siblings and in-laws -- and not before both got heavily involved showing genuine feelings of Love, then the ice broke and the true nature of this set up was revealed causing immediate angst from Kara -- towards everyone even Madeleine. During the entire time that Madeleine was performing her fake affections, she did become remorseful because of her indepth back & forth thoughts dealing with her subconsciousness and even questioning her uncertainty about her lifestyle. The variety of both their personalities and situation did mimic a lot of their struggles with how they felt and their uneven appearance.
Besides the Love story, there was an added side story where readers saw the intricacies of the strategic methods in which Kara was able to take over as CEO of her family's company with the aide of others. Even though a few of the board members along with her father showed that they were not ready for a woman to be in an executive position or be open with her sexuality -- what she had was integrity, brains, good leadership & management skills, strong work ethic and was resilient over her father.
Also in the midst of all this commotion, Ms.Wright showed that both their mothers' sense of social awareness were expressed on an assortment of relatable societal issues whether in Canada or the U.S. -- with the same concerns namely racism, LGBT discrimination & Rights, poverty and gender discrimination etc.
Overall, in some ways this story did allow for many instances of a poignant touch of resilience, friendships, family, dreams and Love that translates across borders to an unpredictable effect.