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The Ice Queen #3
Faking It with The Ice Queen
A fake relationship, a frosty CEO, and a family weekend with way too much pressure...
Dive into The Ice Queen Series for all the thawing of icy hearts, all the super hot CEOs, all the steamy scenes, (Oh, and the Happily Ever Afters, of course!)
When Elara Silver—luxury resort CEO and queen of perfection—finds herself without a plus-one for her family’s high-stakes anniversary weekend, she does the asks her messy, cheerful, and completely-out-of-her-element assistant, Grace Saunders, to pretend to be her girlfriend.
Elara plans to polish Grace up, fake a flawless backstory, and survive the weekend. But Grace’s charm, optimism, and knack for finding trouble quickly derail the plan—and Elara’s ice-cold walls. Forced to navigate nosy relatives, awkward dinners, and one very unexpected spark, Elara starts to wonder if the chaos Grace brings might be exactly what her life (and her heart) needs.
Can a fake relationship with her quirky assistant melt the ice queen’s carefully constructed world?
Expect fake dating tension, an opposites-attract romance, and an Ice Queen who’s about to get her heart thoroughly warmed.
Dive into The Ice Queen Series for all the thawing of icy hearts, all the super hot CEOs, all the steamy scenes, (Oh, and the Happily Ever Afters, of course!)
When Elara Silver—luxury resort CEO and queen of perfection—finds herself without a plus-one for her family’s high-stakes anniversary weekend, she does the asks her messy, cheerful, and completely-out-of-her-element assistant, Grace Saunders, to pretend to be her girlfriend.
Elara plans to polish Grace up, fake a flawless backstory, and survive the weekend. But Grace’s charm, optimism, and knack for finding trouble quickly derail the plan—and Elara’s ice-cold walls. Forced to navigate nosy relatives, awkward dinners, and one very unexpected spark, Elara starts to wonder if the chaos Grace brings might be exactly what her life (and her heart) needs.
Can a fake relationship with her quirky assistant melt the ice queen’s carefully constructed world?
Expect fake dating tension, an opposites-attract romance, and an Ice Queen who’s about to get her heart thoroughly warmed.
159 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 10, 2025
37 people are currently reading
74 people want to read
About the author
Emily Hayes
138 books232 followersLibrarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
December 27, 2025
Sweet and quick read but I probably won't be thinking about it again.
I feel like I'm already starting to forget what happened in the first half...
Elara was a little too cruel to Grace towards the end for literally no reason.
A lot of quotes I enjoyed but I didn't see any chemistry between the two characters so I couldn't really believe in the whole "I've always loved you" and "with you it's different. You showed me how to love someone" stuff.
I mean they knew each other for a month and only started liking each other a few days ago.
How can you call that love?
I feel like I'm already starting to forget what happened in the first half...
Elara was a little too cruel to Grace towards the end for literally no reason.
A lot of quotes I enjoyed but I didn't see any chemistry between the two characters so I couldn't really believe in the whole "I've always loved you" and "with you it's different. You showed me how to love someone" stuff.
I mean they knew each other for a month and only started liking each other a few days ago.
How can you call that love?
September 5, 2025
Elara Silver is CEO of Silver Resorts and Spas, only one section of the Silver empire. The oldest of three siblings, she is trying to be the perfect daughter, to inherit the whole of the empire from her father.
Grace is Elara’s new secretary. More colourful and bohemian than Elara would have liked, Grace is also not great at her job, and is not expecting to last long in her current position.
As soon as I started this, the boutique scene where Elara buys Grace clothes for their upcoming visit made me think this is a really cute story. The unspoken back and forth between Elara and Grace was brilliantly done, bringing out a hidden playfulness in both women.
Elara is a really buttoned up ice queen, pushing love away and rebuilding her walls even to spite herself - it’s as though she doesn’t feel she is worthy to be loved. I expected her family to be hard and distant, but after the initial meeting they turned out to be more warm and accepting than expected.
Grace is warm, genuine and loving, the complete opposite from Elara. She wears her heart on her sleeve, loves without expectations, but Elara nearly pushes her to the limit of her patience. Their love story is full of turmoil and insecurity, and the makeup scenes at the end are beautiful.
Grace is Elara’s new secretary. More colourful and bohemian than Elara would have liked, Grace is also not great at her job, and is not expecting to last long in her current position.
As soon as I started this, the boutique scene where Elara buys Grace clothes for their upcoming visit made me think this is a really cute story. The unspoken back and forth between Elara and Grace was brilliantly done, bringing out a hidden playfulness in both women.
Elara is a really buttoned up ice queen, pushing love away and rebuilding her walls even to spite herself - it’s as though she doesn’t feel she is worthy to be loved. I expected her family to be hard and distant, but after the initial meeting they turned out to be more warm and accepting than expected.
Grace is warm, genuine and loving, the complete opposite from Elara. She wears her heart on her sleeve, loves without expectations, but Elara nearly pushes her to the limit of her patience. Their love story is full of turmoil and insecurity, and the makeup scenes at the end are beautiful.
April 27, 2025
zero chemistry. zero communication. 1 star for the cat.
December 28, 2025
It’s more or less a good spicy mindless read. Which I don’t feel is the entirety of Emily Hayes’ work. The whole series is like this, but it’s just what I needed to end the year with. I do somewhat despise these “ice queens” being taken back after being complete assholes. However, how many of us can relate to staying in crappy relationship with good sex?!
Sometimes we need good fiction and good sex even with icy romance
Sometimes we need good fiction and good sex even with icy romance
February 13, 2025
Was it ever Fake?
You know a good ice queen is just irresistible. You know a unique woman who is bursting with love is just irresistible. And when two irresistible forces come together, magic happens. Grab this HEA love story and get a nice dose of magic!
You know a good ice queen is just irresistible. You know a unique woman who is bursting with love is just irresistible. And when two irresistible forces come together, magic happens. Grab this HEA love story and get a nice dose of magic!
February 17, 2025
Amazing
EMILY I really loved this book especially I loved the ending. I can't wait for #4. To be honest I could see s book 2 in this one. Keep up the fantastic sexy writing.
EMILY I really loved this book especially I loved the ending. I can't wait for #4. To be honest I could see s book 2 in this one. Keep up the fantastic sexy writing.
August 9, 2025
4.5 stars rounded off to 5
December 12, 2025
Good story from E.H. if hallmark did x-rated.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews