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The Plus One Problem: A Fake Dating BWWM Hockey Romance
My ex just got engaged to an influencer with 200k followers.
The same ex who spent three years making me feel like the boring placeholder girlfriend. The same ex who's now attending the holiday party I can't skip, with his shiny new fiancée and her even shinier ring.
I need a date. A good one. A "make him regret everything" one.
Enter Chase Dalton.
Grumpy. Massive. Allergic to small talk. Oh, and apparently a professional hockey player—which would have been nice to know before I agreed to this whole fake dating situation.
The rules were public appearances only, coordinated story, clean end date.
Then someone took a photo.
Now the internet thinks we're in love, my family's planning our wedding, and Chase is looking at me like maybe the rules don't matter anymore.
The problem with fake dating a man who doesn't know how to do anything halfway?
Eventually, one of you forgets to pretend.
For those who
Fake Dating / Fake RelationshipGrumpy x SunshineHe Falls FirstSports Romance (Hockey)Forced Proximity
The same ex who spent three years making me feel like the boring placeholder girlfriend. The same ex who's now attending the holiday party I can't skip, with his shiny new fiancée and her even shinier ring.
I need a date. A good one. A "make him regret everything" one.
Enter Chase Dalton.
Grumpy. Massive. Allergic to small talk. Oh, and apparently a professional hockey player—which would have been nice to know before I agreed to this whole fake dating situation.
The rules were public appearances only, coordinated story, clean end date.
Then someone took a photo.
Now the internet thinks we're in love, my family's planning our wedding, and Chase is looking at me like maybe the rules don't matter anymore.
The problem with fake dating a man who doesn't know how to do anything halfway?
Eventually, one of you forgets to pretend.
For those who
Fake Dating / Fake RelationshipGrumpy x SunshineHe Falls FirstSports Romance (Hockey)Forced Proximity
209 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 14, 2025
2 people are currently reading
3 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
January 7, 2026
Tropes: Opposites, Mental Health Representation, Sports, Fake Relationship
The Plus One Problem: A Fake Dating BWWM Hockey Romance by Porsha Kelly appears to be the first/only book by this author. I hope that we get other selections from this promising writer! The story is character driven and features two engaging people who normally would not fit together as a couple but do. Kiera is a quietly dedicated museum curator tasked with keeping the past alive for the present. One of the favorite components of her job is curating historical love letters written in times of adversity and distance. These letters resonate with her, partly because her love life is in shambles. Her former long-term boyfriend of three years has recently become engaged to a minor celebrity and she is obligated to attend a party where they will be in attendance. Alone. For all the world to see. Her best friend comes to the rescue and arranges for brooding, hulking no-last-name Chase to attend the party with her! Chase agrees to escort Kiera as payment to debt; what he didn’t expect was that he would enjoy her company so much OR that the media would blow their one date out of proportion. They decide to keep their pretense going a bit longer; what could possibly go wrong?
Conclusion:
Chase had issues with his self-concept and his tendency to self-sabotage. While Kiera had allowed her former partner to make her feel insignificant, she had a sense of her own worth and was extremely supportive of Chase’s struggles. Unfortunately, Chase allowed his baggage to almost destroy the relationship he was building with Kiera. I loved their families, Chase’s teammates, and Kiera’s friends; they were present and giving. Final word, great story and Kiera’s final quiet interaction with her former boyfriend was satisfying. And, if this story wasn’t cute enough, the author included a detailed epilog that looks down the road. Epilogs are fundamental!
Favorite Lines:
"Logan. Your Logan. Well, not your Logan anymore, but you know what I mean.
"Helping my best friend feel like a badass when she walks into a room with her ex? Yeah. That feels right."
"But he made me feel..." I trail off, not sure how much to share with this stranger. "Small. Like I was boring. Like he was settling for me until something better came along.
Instead, I hear myself say: "I'm going to a party."
"I mean, hi. Hello. Nice to meet you. I'm a big fan. Not in a weird way. In a normal way. A normal amount of fan."
But we didn't promise each other easy. We promised each other everything.
We're part of that now. Our story, woven into the fabric of all the stories that came before.
https://theretiredreader.com/f/the-pl...
January 6, 2026
2.5 Stars
Kiera finds out her ex-boyfriend is getting married a year after they broke up and she's feeling some type of way. After being invited to a mutual friend's christmas party, she decides she needs a fake date. Her best friend Jamie calls Chase—a man he helped out of a crisis and has a favor on the books, yet to be used, so Jamie graciously uses it for Kiera to save face. She meets Chase at a local diner to vet him and he turns out to be pretty stoic, but he essentially asks her the same question I was thinking—why does she care if her ex-boyfriend is engaged?
Kiera admits that something was missing from their relationship, yet she stayed for three years, it was her boyfriend that decided to break up with her. She didn't catch him in bed (refreshing) with someone else, he moved on, 14 months ago, so I never understood why she had to bring a date or even attend this particular christmas party, instead of saying who gives a f*ck!
I loved that Kiera worked at a museum and I liked that her work wasn't centered around art, per se. As for Kiera as a person, her character, she could have been any ethnicity, she was pretty bland, her sister Kayla on the other hand had a festive personality. Chase doesn't fare much better in the personality department either.
Overall, this story didn't come together for me and I found it to be too dry and extremely tame, with no spice in this story whatsoever, and I need spice in my stories.
Kiera finds out her ex-boyfriend is getting married a year after they broke up and she's feeling some type of way. After being invited to a mutual friend's christmas party, she decides she needs a fake date. Her best friend Jamie calls Chase—a man he helped out of a crisis and has a favor on the books, yet to be used, so Jamie graciously uses it for Kiera to save face. She meets Chase at a local diner to vet him and he turns out to be pretty stoic, but he essentially asks her the same question I was thinking—why does she care if her ex-boyfriend is engaged?
Kiera admits that something was missing from their relationship, yet she stayed for three years, it was her boyfriend that decided to break up with her. She didn't catch him in bed (refreshing) with someone else, he moved on, 14 months ago, so I never understood why she had to bring a date or even attend this particular christmas party, instead of saying who gives a f*ck!
I loved that Kiera worked at a museum and I liked that her work wasn't centered around art, per se. As for Kiera as a person, her character, she could have been any ethnicity, she was pretty bland, her sister Kayla on the other hand had a festive personality. Chase doesn't fare much better in the personality department either.
Overall, this story didn't come together for me and I found it to be too dry and extremely tame, with no spice in this story whatsoever, and I need spice in my stories.
January 2, 2026
2.5⭐️
The premise was good and honestly I’m happy to have read it because it was different to read a no smut book, and understand the characters on a deeper level.
However that’s where it stops. The book was rather dry and Chase clearly needed psychological help but didn’t get it for whatever reason.
Idk…it was nice and at the same time filled with pick me moments that ruined the whole experience. Like I was sympathetic to a point until it became repetitive 60% in the book.
The premise was good and honestly I’m happy to have read it because it was different to read a no smut book, and understand the characters on a deeper level.
However that’s where it stops. The book was rather dry and Chase clearly needed psychological help but didn’t get it for whatever reason.
Idk…it was nice and at the same time filled with pick me moments that ruined the whole experience. Like I was sympathetic to a point until it became repetitive 60% in the book.
December 31, 2025
Laugh Out Loud Funny and Sweet🥰
Kiera is so relatable and likable as a character (her plants, her museum work, her vulnerability and determination and quirky sense of humor). Chase is a character I’d love to meet in real life-the strong silent type with strong protective instincts and an athlete to boot! 😋 Their story is giving swoony novella energy, satisfying Uno Reverse towards her ex and happily ever after!
Kiera is so relatable and likable as a character (her plants, her museum work, her vulnerability and determination and quirky sense of humor). Chase is a character I’d love to meet in real life-the strong silent type with strong protective instincts and an athlete to boot! 😋 Their story is giving swoony novella energy, satisfying Uno Reverse towards her ex and happily ever after!
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January 5, 2026I don't rate books that I don't finish because maybe it got better and I didn't read it. But this book was labeled as a bwwm book, unfortunately in the book we do not have any descriptors telling us what ethnicity these people are. In fact I think the heroin is Jewish which is not an inherently black thing. So that on top of the fact that I was bored I decided to give up.
December 30, 2025
Easily forgettable
A cute story with lots of funny parts. A bit boring 60% in and I skipped some bits to make sure I could pull through and read to the end. This love story will not stick with me forever as the plot and characters are easily forgettable.
A cute story with lots of funny parts. A bit boring 60% in and I skipped some bits to make sure I could pull through and read to the end. This love story will not stick with me forever as the plot and characters are easily forgettable.
January 6, 2026
What a sweet story⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I really enjoyed this book. It unfolded at a good pace, and the MCs were really interesting, and engaging. It was so frustratingly fun to go on the journey with the MMC! Will he, or won’t he allow himself to be loved?!?! Such a fun read.
I really enjoyed this book. It unfolded at a good pace, and the MCs were really interesting, and engaging. It was so frustratingly fun to go on the journey with the MMC! Will he, or won’t he allow himself to be loved?!?! Such a fun read.
January 10, 2026
I’m gonna (try to) be really nice in this review.
I’m supposed to believe that a very educated museum curator…has never heard of a breakfast burrito? Yeahhhh that alone was enough to piss me off, but I read the first 70% of this book too, so I’m double pissed.
I’m supposed to believe that a very educated museum curator…has never heard of a breakfast burrito? Yeahhhh that alone was enough to piss me off, but I read the first 70% of this book too, so I’m double pissed.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews