This story was a lot more than I expected and I enjoyed going on a wild ride with Holden as he travels to LA to audition for a gameshow that connects him to his mum. This story is definitely chaotic, with Holden’s character spiralling in response to all the different things going on in his life, but his connection with Leo is incredibly sweet (but the spice is not!) and I maybe would have even loved to see Leo as the main character in this. Beyond the fake dating this book looks at embracing your identity, following your passions, but also it explores grief in a very real way. I didn’t love Holden as a character and didn’t love the narration (not to say it was bad, as it wasn’t at all) but I did enjoy this story for everything else. It’s a little crazy and plenty hot, and showed the reality of grief and how important it is to process emotions in a healthy way. The light and heavy topics were a perfect balance!

This is my fourth book by this author now and I think I'm gonna have to read whatever he writes at this stage! Don't get me wrong, we're not looking at the next literary genius, but when you go into reading a romance novel you have certain expectations and this book hit absolutely every beat perfectly. I loved the characters, the silly story line, the adversity and the really heartfelt emotional moments too.

So I suppose I'm saying read this is you want to read a fun, well written and spicy romance. Don't read this if you're expecting Charles Dickens.

I was given access to the audiobook by the publisher via Netgalley. When I look at the list of books that Mark Sanderlin has narrated, it turns out I've listened to tons and he always give great voice. An excellent production.