No Rings Attached is the second installment in the Ms. Right series by Rachel Lacey and it was just as fun as the first book! Lia was featured in the first book and it was so exciting to see the rest of her story! Rachel Lacey uses the fake dating trope to set up Lia and Grace in this book and it's used so well. The characters both have their own baggage and complex feelings about why they feel they're not ready for a relationship and Lacey helps them break down their walls along the way. Such a fun addition to the romance shelf!

such a cute romance! i haven’t read a book by this author yet (not sure if this is a debut!) but i thoroughly enjoyed it :)

I have some mixed opinions about this one. I really liked Lia. She was great and really well developed (although I can’t help but think that LOVING the British museum in particular is a bit of a red flag). I wasn’t a fan of Grace. She came off as selfish. She knew Lia wanted to talk and actually have good communication about there relationship and agreed only to throw it back in Lia’s face and acted as though Lia was in the wrong for wanting to talk. As someone who hates the miscommunication trope, it was really annoying to see a character who wants to have good communication and have that thrown in their face.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an eARC!

This unfortunately got archived before I could read it. However, I did go through parts of it. Here's what I thought of it.

1. Popular fake dating trope
2. Family Drama
3. LGBT spotlight

Interesting characters and a pretty solid plot. I wish I could've finished it all.

A fake relationship for the weekend with someone you’ve never met face to face shouldn’t be that awkward of an experience. Right? In the second installment of Rachel Lacey’s Ms. Right series, Lia and Grace’s story unfolds.
Lia has always heard about the mysterious Grace from her best friend Rosie. Yet, somehow, Grace has always conveniently dipped out of any obligations that would have allowed them to meet. Attending a wedding in London is the perfect opportunity for the pair to meet face to face and see. Lia grabs the chance to meet Rosie’s ‘best friend’ who lives in the UK.
Lia wasn’t expecting to like Grace as much as she does. Grace is everything she wants in a partner. She’s fun, smart, gorgeous, and keeps Lia on her toes in the best way. It’s an impulsive move, but when the opportunity presents itself for Grace to come to New York, Lia offers to accompany her on a road trip.
Feelings and lines get blurred. Lia wants everything she can have with Grace. Grace only wants right now. She doesn’t do relationships and can’t give that to Lia. She’s upfront about that, which was nice, but she was so stubborn.
I loved each of their stops on the road trip. It was exactly the kind of trip I wanted to take and to go on with my partner. My favorite was the T-Rex moment. It just warmed my nerdy heart. And immediately went on my to-do list with my partner. The flirtation, kisses, and spice between them was excellent. There were a few times my heart fluttered and I let out a happy little sigh.
Grace was a frustrating character. I just … I’m trying to put it into words without spoiling anything for ya’ll, but there were a few times I skimmed Grace heavy scenes. She irked my nerves.
I do have to say, the ending really pulled everything all together for me and I was definitely happy with how their story ended up.

3.5⭐️ | NO RINGS ATTACHED was a sweet and swoony sapphic rom-com between a hopeless romantic and a commitment-phobe. Though I didn’t enjoy this book quite as much as READ BETWEEN THE LINES, I loved continuing the series and diving into Lia and Grace’s romance.

NO RINGS ATTACHED is pitched as a fake dating romance, but fake dating was really only relevant to the story for the first 1/3. If we are talking tropes, forced proximity is certainly more prevalent within the overall plot. The pacing wasn’t bad per se, but the beginning wedding chapters and the ending did feel somewhat rushed. I also found Grace’s big “plot twist” to be completely predictable, which lessened the emotional impact of the reveal for me. Nonetheless, this was a fast read and I thought the constantly moving setting was really fun.

Some other elements of this book that I enjoyed include:
✔️A sapphic romance between a bi woman and a lesbian
✔️ Demisexual representation for a main character!!!!!!
✔️ Road tripping, only one bed, forced proximity, and a smidge of fake dating
✔️Open door sex scenes
✔️ No on the page homophobia, and both characters are completely out from the start
✔️A lovely and supportive friend group of adult queer women
✔️ Appearances from Rosie and other READ BETWEEN THE LINES characters

Honestly, I would love for there to be a third book in this series because I feel quite attached to this friend group!

So cute!

Lia has to attend a family wedding but she’s not told her family that she hasn’t got a girlfriend. Her best friend Rosie suggests she take a fake a date and has the perfect candidate in her friend Grace. Grace doesn’t do relationships but she agrees to help Lia out. What neither Lia nor Grace expected was to have a connection, but when Lia is able to repay the favour and help Grace out with a dilemma of her own, their fate is sealed.

I loved this so much! It is only the second book I have read by Rachel Lacey and is part of the Ms Right series, which is set in the same universe as Read Between the Lines. What I love is that both these books can be read standalone, but I recommend reading Read Between the Lines because it is fabulous and because it will help you to better understand some of the characters. It was actually nice to catch up with some of them, although brief, but it was just as exciting to finally get Lia’s story.

The moment Lia and Grace met, no matter what both of them thought, there was just something amazing between them, an undeniable connection and I knew whatever happened, they would be in one another’s life somehow. It was a very cleverly constructed story, giving insights into both Lia and Grace’s insecurities that made it easier to understand their hesitancies and decisions. I sympathised with both of them, and in getting to know them both so intimately was completely in love with the idea of them being each other’s special person.

There was much drama, so many emotional scenes, heartache, and then wonderful moments of connection and understanding between them which just deepened that connection they had. I loved them together so much, it actually hurt, and when things took unexpected and dramatic turns, I was on the edge of my seat. I was unable to put the book down, just needing to know what fate had in store and it was so exciting.

I can’t recommend this wonderful romance enough. It had everything you need for a great romance, and is just a story to fall in love with.

4 1/2 STARS!

A delightful connection steals the show! Rachel Lacey easily wraps another set of destined lovers around her reader’s heart as she continues with book two in her lesbian romance series Ms. Right and I loved every minute of it! The back story is entertaining and the drama rallying between the two main characters and their surrounding lives leads to an attention holding story.

Lia will be very familiar to anyone who read the first book in this series and it was great to see her again and watch her get to step into the life she’s always dreamed of.

Grace is haunted by the unknown and the love and support she receives from Lia helps her become strong enough to step into a life she never imagined she could enjoy.

I highly recommend this book as well as the entire series to anyone who enjoys a sweet lesbian connection with a wholesome yet somewhat sexy atmosphere with a close knit group of friends surrounding them.

This is the second book in Lacey's Ms. Right series. I did not read the first book, but I don't think not reading it affected my understanding or enjoyment of No Rings Attached. Overall, I really liked the main characters and love interests, Lia and Grace. Their chemistry was fantastic and and I was invested in their stories, particularly Lia's. I think each character encouraged the other to grow in really worthwhile ways.

Towards the end of the story, I did get a bit annoyed with both characters--I found Lia to be really pushy at times and I also was getting tired of Grace's attitude towards the end. It's hard to talk about some aspects of this book without giving spoilers, but I will try. I did guess almost immediately what was up with Grace's root struggles (so vague, I know, but I don't want to spoil anything) and this book does include one of my least favorite "plot twists" near the end (if you read it, you can dm me lol).

However, the "happily ever after" was really satisfying in this story and it was fun and sweet. It includes some fake dating, one bed scenarios, maybe could be a friends-to-lovers romance?, and steamy open-door scenes.

No Rings Attached is the second book in the Ms. Right series by Rachel Lacey, and can easily be read as a standalone.

After reading Read Between the Lines I was pumped to get Lia's story. I thought that Lia and Grace complimented each other well. Lia helped Grace talk through her feelings and Grace helped Lia remember her passion. I loved the fake dating trope and that they had a mutual best friend to find common ground with. It was heartwarming watching these two fall and accept love.

If you're looking for a bi FMC and a demisexual lesbian FMC that fall in love then this is for you.

CW: grief, bisexual erasure

Thank you to Montlake for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

i absolutely loved everything about this book, it was such an easy read and the whole plot had me gripped from the start. i read this book in one sitting which is unusual for me as i'm quite a slow reader so that is how i know i truly loved this book! i now need to make sure i purchase the physical copy so i can re-read it and tab it!

✨ Review ✨ No Rings Attached by Rachel Lacey

Read this if you like:
⭕️ fake dating
⭕️ one bed
⭕️ a road trip
⭕️ f/f romance

Enough said right?

As Lia heads to her brother's wedding in the UK, her best friend in NYC arranges for her other friend Grace to join her to pretend to be her girlfriend to keep Lia's nosy family off her back. Like any good fake dating story, they realize there's more to their relationship. Grace has sworn off dating for good, but Lia's so good at helping Grace talk out her thoughts that they both wonder what will happen next.

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Genre: contemporary f/f romance
Location: rural UK, NYC, Annapolis and Washington D.C.
Reminds me of:
Pub Date: April 12, 2022

This was a fun read and I loved the open communication between the characters. Their relationship and story were a lot of fun to read. Sometimes it all felt a little repetitive like it was rehashing the same things over and over, but otherwise was a cute read. I didn't read the first book of the series, so admittedly I was missing the larger level of swooniness from that.

I really liked the adventures that Lia and Grace went on together - especially their road trip. I liked how they challenged each other to learn and grow. It was such a lovely relationship despite their struggles. This is definitely a cute and thoughtful romance!

Thanks to Montlake and #netgalley for an e-copy of this book!

I adored this romance between Lia and Grace! It had so many amazing tropes - fake dating, road trip, one bed. I appreciated the dual POV, seeing into both of the their heads to know what they were thinking at different points in the story. They supported and balanced each other so well as they became friends and then more. The conflict towards the end seemed very realistic and heartfelt; their vulnerability was so raw and real.

Thank you to Montlake and Netgalley for the advanced reading copy. This review contains my own thoughts and opinions.

Fake dating at a wedding segues into a road trip that ends in a life-changing revelation in this engaging love story from Rachel Lacey. This is the second book in the Ms. Right series, but it could easily be read as a standalone novel. In the end, this book is somewhere between 4 and 5 stars for me.

The characters’ motivations behind their actions are very believable. My heart broke for both main characters. More than anything, I wanted Grace to come to terms with her baggage and to realize that Lia is who she needs in her life.

I loved how Lia’s strength and straightforwardness balance Grace’s passion. I liked how, even though they have an almost instant chemistry upon meeting, both Lia and Grace consider the various repercussions a relationship between them may have, and how, ultimately, although they worry about how it will impact their mutual best friend, Rosie, she is supportive of both no matter what they decide.

I appreciated the strong friendships and the support and candidness of Lia’s sister and grandfather and of Grace’s paternal grandparents.

Lia and Grace both support each other in different ways, but be aware that Grace’s struggles in opening up and her one step forward, two steps back approach to emotional and physical intimacy with Lia is heart-wrenching to witness.

Lacey does a great job depicting how misunderstandings and not having complete information can impact one’s path and one’s life.

At a glance:
Dual POV
Bi FMC + demisexual lesbian FMC
Mutual best friend
Fake dating
Only one bed
Opposites attract
Road trip
Open door

Content warnings: grief, bisexual erasure, deceased parents

Thank you to Montlake and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Book two in the series Ms. Right, titled “No Rings Attached, Rachel Lacey brings two of Rosie’s closet friends, Lia Harris, her manager, and Grace Poston her childhood “imaginary friend”. A wedding in London, brings together Lia and Grace as couple, a past history takes them on a road trip of discovery, and sparks of attraction gives them a chance to explore each other, albeit “No Rings Attached”!!

Two opposites in every way, two lovely women who deserve the best of life, and two wonderful women trying to navigate the journey of a relationship, with insecurities and fears. Lovely Lia the extrovert, and graceful Grace, the introvert, have to wade through a sea of emotions, separation, truths and pain before they come to terms with the fact that they do belong with each other.

Now, this book sure brought out Rachel Lacey’s prowess of writing. The angst that Grace feels for causing pain, and the maturity of Lia for letting go of her love to heal, is felt in every word that Rachel penned in this story. She did a fabulous job of creating two beautiful characters, was eloquent in her description of the psyche of two women in a relationship, their ups and downs, and the final culmination of their future.

A great read and I totally loved it!

No Rings Attached by Rachel Lacey is a sweet romance featuring well rounded characters and some well tested romance tropes, and is apparently the second in a series, which I did not know when I picked it up. (For those who may be worried, it can absolutely be read as a stand alone, the previous book in the series features a different couple, who do make an appearance in this book, but as secondary characters )
Lia is starting to feel tired of being the last single one among her friends, and is fed up of her family's hints about reuniting with her ex so she drops a few hints of her own about a new girlfriend to keep her meddling mother off her back. Its a temporary solution at best, especially with her brother's wedding in London coming up. Help comes from an unlikely source however when her boss and friend Rosie suggests that her friend Grace might be willing to be a wedding date.
Grace has just moved back to London from Spain and is settling into her job as a translator. She is definitely not looking for love, in fact she has sworn off relationships for good . Because she was orphaned at a young age, her friends are the closest thing to family that she has, and that is why she reluctantly agrees to Rosie's suggestion that she help Lia out , despite despising weddings with a passion.
An awkward weekend with everything from having to share a bed ( trope alert) to dealing with a jealous ex and extremely nosy family seems like an unlikely start to a friendship but the two women soon bond and sparks begin to fly but both women know that a romance is not on the cards ....or is it?
This was a delight to read from start to finish, it was a wonderful blend of sweet and spicy and the characters were compelling , I was really invested in the outcome of their story even if I found some of their decisions and actions a little frustrating at times. I enjoyed the story and appreciated that the author had given it some depth, learning about Grace's past helped a lot with understanding her frame of mind.
I'll definitely be picking up the first book in the series as this was such a fun and enjoyable read.
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.

When I read Read Between the Lines late last year, I fell in love with Rachel Lacey’s storytelling and writing style. It’s so different from other romances that I’d been reading and I needed more. And then I saw that we were getting a second book in the Ms. Right series and I was so excited! Because Lia Harris was one of my favourite supporting characters in Read Between the Lines and she deserved her happily ever after too!

While pitched as a ‘fake dating’ romance, No Rings Attached is so much more than that. In fact, the fake dating played a small role, but it was the connection between Lia and Grace that carried the whole book. Known as Rosie’s ‘imaginary friend’, Grace and Lia haven’t ever met before, but when she’s in need of a fake date for her brother’s wedding in her British hometown, Rosie asks Grace to help and so begins this relationship. Lia and Grace could not be more different from each other, but somehow that’s what makes the relationship work.

This book was a great balance between being fun and sexy, and being an emotional rollercoaster. Grace has spent so much of her life carrying around a secret that has weighed her down, it’s affected her decisions and also made her run away from things that might have been perfect for her in the long run. I related to her so much when it came to the way she saw relationships, the pressures people put on her and just life in general. And on the other hand, Lia’s life is a lot simpler and easier, making her the perfect person to provide Grace with support and balance. Their friendship, and later relationship, was so wonderfully crafted. I liked the little things that they did for each other, how they were always there even when they weren’t asked and just simply understood the other person through it all.

“There’s nothing wrong with a person being happily single, if that’s what’s right for them. Grace shouldn’t have to define herself by her relationship status.”

My favourite things about this book were the road trip that Grace and Lia go on as well as all the scenes with their friends. After meeting the gang in Read Between the Lines, I was really happy to see these incredible women again. I love how much they love each other, providing comfort and support through good and bad times.

It’s an emotional book, because at the heart of it, No Rings Attached is about loving yourself first, giving yourself a chance to be more than what you think you always need to be. It’s about Grace’s journey to not letting the past affect her present or future. It’s about loving someone through their hard times and providing a shoulder to lean on when it’s needed. Grace and Lia’s friendship is the driving force of their relationship and that comes across really nicely in the book.

At times, it felt like the book was dragging even though I did finish it in 24 hours. There were some bits that felt a little repetitive and took me out of the moment temporarily. However, on the whole, Rachel Lacey wrote an incredible book about exploring the different kinds of relationships people can have and an emotional secondary plot that had happy tears rolling down my cheeks first thing in the morning.

I received an ARC from the publisher and am voluntarily posting a review. All opinions are my own.
No Rings Attached is the second book in Rachel Lacey’s Ms. Right series, it can be read as a stand-alone, although I do recommend book one, as the friendships are just as interesting as the romances, and they form a common thread that connects the two books.
This is such a sweet, heartfelt combination of fake dating and “is it really just a fling?” (or whatever that trope is called). And I think a lot of it has to do with how well rounded the characters are, with issues of their own to work out, in addition to the electrifying chemistry between them.
Lia helps her best friend Rosie manage her bookstore (which is now saved from foreclosure, as seen in the previous book), and she’s generally content with this. She’s a very supportive friend, but she also has dreams of her own she put on the back-burner to help nourish Rosie’s dreams. She never seems resentful, but I rooted for her to find a way to follow her dreams while also maintaining that friendship and letting love into her life.
Rosie’s other friend, Grace is dealing with personal trauma around losing her father in an accident, as well as a secret surrounding her parentage that made her question everything. She spends a good portion of the book going on a path of self-discovery, following a lead on a DNA site, and finds some surprises along the way. But ultimately, I love that her arc reinforces the true meaning of family, even if she wasn’t prepared to appreciate it at first.
Lia and Grace are so sweet together…while things are very up-in-the-air about their future, they very easily fall into doing couple-y things, and even the smallest gestures, like Lia calling Grace “darling,” are absolutely adorable. I also love that the thing that they have to figure out, in conjunction with their personal issues, is how to navigate the long distance. Lia is from the UK, but moved to the US and is happily settled among her friends. Meanwhile, Grace, at least partially motivated by running from her family issues, moved from the US to the UK. This tangle makes for a heck of mutual exchange of romantic gestures.
And can I just say I love Rosie as the supportive and meddling best friend? Given how much she went through in her own romance with Jane, and how her friends supported her, it’s nice to see her paying it forward, even if it is a bit much at times!
This book is so adorable, and I’d absolutely recommend it for anyone looking for a tropey, heartwarming sapphic romance.

Thank you to NetGalley and Montlake for the ARC in exchange for an honest review

Unfortunately this is a DNF @50%. It's truly personal preference I wasn't connecting with the story or writing. Entirely personal preference and it's clear many others are.

Loved this second book in the series! It’s not quite enemies to lovers but definitely unfriendly and also fake dating, one of my fave romcom tropes. The banter and chemistry was great.

I didn’t always vibe with Lia and felt she took more of a backseat than necessary to Grace but part of me can kind of understand it.