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The Sailor Situation
Olivia Barnes plans million-dollar weddings for Manhattan's elite. She doesn't believe in love—not since her fiancée shattered her heart on what should have been the happiest day of her life.
When her family won't stop asking about her imaginary girlfriend "Sailor," Liv does the only logical she hires a stranger to play the part for one weekend at her sister's wedding.
Blair Davis is bored, brilliant, and looking for a distraction. Playing fake girlfriend to an uptight wedding planner at a farm in Maryland? Why not?
But falling for each other wasn't part of the plan. And when the charade is over, Liv discovers she's not the only one who's been lying.
The Sailor Situation is a sapphic romantic comedy with steamy tension and all the feels. With a cast of unforgettable characters, including the sweetest brother you'll ever meet, this fake dating romance proves that love doesn't follow a plan.
When her family won't stop asking about her imaginary girlfriend "Sailor," Liv does the only logical she hires a stranger to play the part for one weekend at her sister's wedding.
Blair Davis is bored, brilliant, and looking for a distraction. Playing fake girlfriend to an uptight wedding planner at a farm in Maryland? Why not?
But falling for each other wasn't part of the plan. And when the charade is over, Liv discovers she's not the only one who's been lying.
The Sailor Situation is a sapphic romantic comedy with steamy tension and all the feels. With a cast of unforgettable characters, including the sweetest brother you'll ever meet, this fake dating romance proves that love doesn't follow a plan.
244 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 15, 2026
58 people are currently reading
219 people want to read
About the author
Lise Gold
52 books692 followersLise Gold is an author of lesbian romance. Her romantic attitude, enthusiasm for travel and love for feel good stories form the heartland of her writing. Born in London to a Norwegian mother and English father, and growing up between the UK, Norway, Zambia and the Netherlands, she feels at home pretty much everywhere and has an unending curiosity for new destinations. She goes by 'write what you know' and is often found in exotic locations doing research or getting inspired for her next novel.
Working as a designer for fifteen years and singing semi- professionally, Lise has always been a creative at heart. Her novels are the result of a quest for a new passion after resigning from her design job in 2018.
When not writing from her kitchen table, Lise can be found cooking, at the gym or singing her heart out somewhere, preferably country or blues. She lives in London with her dogs El Comandante and Bubba.
Working as a designer for fifteen years and singing semi- professionally, Lise has always been a creative at heart. Her novels are the result of a quest for a new passion after resigning from her design job in 2018.
When not writing from her kitchen table, Lise can be found cooking, at the gym or singing her heart out somewhere, preferably country or blues. She lives in London with her dogs El Comandante and Bubba.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews
February 3, 2026
This was a fun little story. I appreciate leaning into the siliness that is making up a fake girlfriend and, when pressed for a name, coming up with Sailor, of all things, and then having to stick with it. It gives you a good indication of how the book doesn't take itself too seriously but delivers some fun moments and heart. Really, what more could one ask of a light and fun little romance in these trying times?
February 16, 2026
I absolutely loved this book! Loved the fake dating trope, loved the chemistry between Olivia and Blair, loved their banters, loved the family dynamics….adored it all
February 9, 2026
3.5⭐️ This was a good read. I liked both characters especially “Sailor”.
January 21, 2026
Good book
Lise has done it again this book has all the feelings. Olivia makes a fake girlfriend for her sister's wedding, but she never thought it through. When Blake over hears the conversations she wants the job, but she lies about her true identity. Things get heated and well read the book because it wonderful and delightful.
Lise has done it again this book has all the feelings. Olivia makes a fake girlfriend for her sister's wedding, but she never thought it through. When Blake over hears the conversations she wants the job, but she lies about her true identity. Things get heated and well read the book because it wonderful and delightful.
January 19, 2026
Lovely story about Love and Trust, which is framed in the excellent LesRom troupe of 'buying a fake girlfriend.' Good fun, she is really good Lise Gold. Highly recommended. Back to her best.
February 12, 2026
eat the rich, am i right?
February 1, 2026
Fake dating is not my favorite trope, and I might have skipped this one but I really like Lise Gold’s romances overall. This one was sweet with characters that were easy to like and I thought the chemistry was pretty well done.
January 22, 2026
Liv is an upscale wedding planner in New York, arranging weddings for the rich and famous. In her personal life she is precise, organised, and totally disillusioned about love and marriage.
Blair was a cybersecurity expert, but after her and her business partner sold their successful company, she is now a billionaire, retired early, and bored out of her brains.
Liv’s sister Emma is getting married in a country wedding and has been pestering her to bring her non-existent girlfriend Sailor, and when Blair volunteers, Liv eventually agrees to take Blair as her fake girlfriend Sailor.
This is a warm story, in a fake girlfriend trope, not deep or long, but a really good read.
Blair was a cybersecurity expert, but after her and her business partner sold their successful company, she is now a billionaire, retired early, and bored out of her brains.
Liv’s sister Emma is getting married in a country wedding and has been pestering her to bring her non-existent girlfriend Sailor, and when Blair volunteers, Liv eventually agrees to take Blair as her fake girlfriend Sailor.
This is a warm story, in a fake girlfriend trope, not deep or long, but a really good read.
February 4, 2026
I’ve been reading Lise Gold for about six years now, and somehow—book after book—she just keeps getting better. She’s one of those rare authors who understands her readers on an emotional level.
At the beginning of 2026, I found myself on medical leave due to a health-related injury. I was genuinely optimistic about it in one specific way: I finally had time. Real time. Time to read all the books I’d carefully added to my TBR, convinced that somewhere in that list were stories that would comfort me, excite me, and remind me why I love reading.
Instead, the opposite happened.
In just one month, I read around fifteen books—and each one disappointed me more than the last. By the time February started (and now, four days into it), I still hadn’t found that book. The one that opens your chest, lets you breathe, and makes things feel lighter. Every story I picked up only added to this quiet, creeping reading depression, to the point where I genuinely wondered if I had lost my passion for reading altogether.
Then I picked up this one.
Yes, the cover isn’t great. At all. But what’s inside? Pure comfort. It feels like an old-school romantic rom-com—the kind of movie you’d watch late at night, wrapped in a blanket, smiling without realizing it. Soft, charming, emotionally warm. The kind of story that gives you butterflies for no dramatic reason other than… it’s just right.
I stayed up until dawn reading this book, completely immersed, feeling that rare kind of happiness only a perfectly timed story can give. It pulled me out of a reading slump I’d been stuck in all week, and reminded me why I fell in love with reading in the first place.
This isn’t a complicated book. It doesn’t try to be clever or heavy. And that’s exactly why it works. The story matched my mood perfectly, and sometimes that’s all a reader really needs.
I’m incredibly grateful to Lise Gold—not just for this book, but for consistently being an author I can trust. I truly hope my next reads give me even a fraction of the joy this one did.
Simple. Sweet. Comforting. And exactly what my heart needed. 💛
At the beginning of 2026, I found myself on medical leave due to a health-related injury. I was genuinely optimistic about it in one specific way: I finally had time. Real time. Time to read all the books I’d carefully added to my TBR, convinced that somewhere in that list were stories that would comfort me, excite me, and remind me why I love reading.
Instead, the opposite happened.
In just one month, I read around fifteen books—and each one disappointed me more than the last. By the time February started (and now, four days into it), I still hadn’t found that book. The one that opens your chest, lets you breathe, and makes things feel lighter. Every story I picked up only added to this quiet, creeping reading depression, to the point where I genuinely wondered if I had lost my passion for reading altogether.
Then I picked up this one.
Yes, the cover isn’t great. At all. But what’s inside? Pure comfort. It feels like an old-school romantic rom-com—the kind of movie you’d watch late at night, wrapped in a blanket, smiling without realizing it. Soft, charming, emotionally warm. The kind of story that gives you butterflies for no dramatic reason other than… it’s just right.
I stayed up until dawn reading this book, completely immersed, feeling that rare kind of happiness only a perfectly timed story can give. It pulled me out of a reading slump I’d been stuck in all week, and reminded me why I fell in love with reading in the first place.
This isn’t a complicated book. It doesn’t try to be clever or heavy. And that’s exactly why it works. The story matched my mood perfectly, and sometimes that’s all a reader really needs.
I’m incredibly grateful to Lise Gold—not just for this book, but for consistently being an author I can trust. I truly hope my next reads give me even a fraction of the joy this one did.
Simple. Sweet. Comforting. And exactly what my heart needed. 💛
January 20, 2026
Wedding planner Olivia Barnes has a problem: to get her matchmaking family off her back, she made up a fake girlfriend. Now there's a family wedding, and she needs someone to fill the role.
Enter Blair Davis, who overhears Olivia talking to her pal Chloe about it, and volunteers. She sold her cyber security company for a LOT six months ago, and is getting bored.
(Blair is pretending to be poor as part of this, which i expect will bite her on the ass, eventually.)
The first few days go well, then disaster. Emma's wedding planner messed up and abruptly quits. Olivia and Blair step in, to try to get everything ready in less that 8 hours.
(We also learn why Olivia has been single. She WAS going to marry her girlfriend, Andy, only to catch her cheating with the maid of honor on her wedding day. Yikes.)
Things are wrapping up when Blair finds out her brother, Danny, has been hurt, and uses her fortune to get a helicopter out... which blows up her secret and Olivia freaks out, if quietly.
Danny recovers, Blair apologizes and wins Olivia over. Wrap up...
Really solidly good read. I hate third act breakups, but it worked and I was ok with it.
3.5 stars out of 5.
Enter Blair Davis, who overhears Olivia talking to her pal Chloe about it, and volunteers. She sold her cyber security company for a LOT six months ago, and is getting bored.
(Blair is pretending to be poor as part of this, which i expect will bite her on the ass, eventually.)
The first few days go well, then disaster. Emma's wedding planner messed up and abruptly quits. Olivia and Blair step in, to try to get everything ready in less that 8 hours.
(We also learn why Olivia has been single. She WAS going to marry her girlfriend, Andy, only to catch her cheating with the maid of honor on her wedding day. Yikes.)
Things are wrapping up when Blair finds out her brother, Danny, has been hurt, and uses her fortune to get a helicopter out... which blows up her secret and Olivia freaks out, if quietly.
Danny recovers, Blair apologizes and wins Olivia over. Wrap up...
Really solidly good read. I hate third act breakups, but it worked and I was ok with it.
3.5 stars out of 5.
January 26, 2026
This had some familiar tropes, but nevertheless felt fresh and entertaining. I’ve read fake dating before and it’s pretty hit or miss for me, but this one worked. I’m not sure I can exactly put my finger on why; maybe because Blair’s attitude going in was pretty unique, and I loved that at the big event, Blair and Liv ended up being really proactive instead of just suffering through a bunch of crap planned by someone else? And then they didn’t spent much time agonizing when they started to catch actual feelings. Finally, when some of the secrets eventually came out, it was in pretty spectacular fashion! Plus the side characters were fun, especially Danny. (The road trip destinations, lol.). The ending and epilogue were wonderful.
All in all I’m not sure this dethroned The Next Life as my favorite Lise Gold, but I sure enjoyed it, as I do almost all of hers.
All in all I’m not sure this dethroned The Next Life as my favorite Lise Gold, but I sure enjoyed it, as I do almost all of hers.
February 4, 2026
It was good until the break-up.
The most important part of a Fake Relationship and a Secretly Wealthy romance is how you manage to go from the lie to the truth. Unfortunately, this book didn't pull it off.
The way Blair mended her relationship with Liv was predatory. Liv specifically said, "Don't ever call me again." And what does Blair do? She forces her way into Liv’s life with an invasive amount of roses and by faking a wedding to lure her into her apartment. If Liv didn't have feelings for her, she would have legitimate reasons to freak out, file a police report, and ask for a restraining order. It was creepy as fuck. And from a romantic point of view, it was a crass display of wealth, like the epilogue (so much for being loved for herself).
As usual, Lise Gold’s writing was very good (setting, pace, characters, etc.), and I really enjoyed the book until the botched third act (exactly like Lily's Fire).
The most important part of a Fake Relationship and a Secretly Wealthy romance is how you manage to go from the lie to the truth. Unfortunately, this book didn't pull it off.
The way Blair mended her relationship with Liv was predatory. Liv specifically said, "Don't ever call me again." And what does Blair do? She forces her way into Liv’s life with an invasive amount of roses and by faking a wedding to lure her into her apartment. If Liv didn't have feelings for her, she would have legitimate reasons to freak out, file a police report, and ask for a restraining order. It was creepy as fuck. And from a romantic point of view, it was a crass display of wealth, like the epilogue (so much for being loved for herself).
As usual, Lise Gold’s writing was very good (setting, pace, characters, etc.), and I really enjoyed the book until the botched third act (exactly like Lily's Fire).
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 3, 2026
for such a small book the lies per capita is off the charts
Liv is a wedding planner who doesn't believe in love because someone lied to her a while ago. so she's been lying to her family, and in order to maintain her lies she needs Blair to come in and lie to her family as well. but what she doesn't realise is Blair is also lying to her as well. I assume everyone was confused and a little bit hurt during the off-page unravelling of all the lies
it's short and fun and the two leads have fun together. the constant lying sets up a very obvious conflict that takes up more of the book than is ideal (you're under 250 pages how much time do you want to spend on a third act breakup) but everything is kept pretty light. also there's a segment in the middle of the book where Liv is called upon to do emergency wedding planning and a little competency porn is always fun
Liv is a wedding planner who doesn't believe in love because someone lied to her a while ago. so she's been lying to her family, and in order to maintain her lies she needs Blair to come in and lie to her family as well. but what she doesn't realise is Blair is also lying to her as well. I assume everyone was confused and a little bit hurt during the off-page unravelling of all the lies
it's short and fun and the two leads have fun together. the constant lying sets up a very obvious conflict that takes up more of the book than is ideal (you're under 250 pages how much time do you want to spend on a third act breakup) but everything is kept pretty light. also there's a segment in the middle of the book where Liv is called upon to do emergency wedding planning and a little competency porn is always fun
January 21, 2026
Nicely Done
I truly enjoyed reading this book. I have to say that I haven’t read anything by the author in a long time and this was refreshing. I’m more of a fan of a plot driven romance that almost reads like a novel with medium to high spice which hadn’t been my experience with this particular author. What I loved about this book was that it was very much plot, driven, intriguing, funny/humorous, and the spice was exactly appropriate for the plot. I actually really did like both of the main characters as well and could root for them because of the foundational work that was laid. I love a good wedding story line and I have to say Liv’s heartbreak tail was a doozy! This is definitely worth the read.
I truly enjoyed reading this book. I have to say that I haven’t read anything by the author in a long time and this was refreshing. I’m more of a fan of a plot driven romance that almost reads like a novel with medium to high spice which hadn’t been my experience with this particular author. What I loved about this book was that it was very much plot, driven, intriguing, funny/humorous, and the spice was exactly appropriate for the plot. I actually really did like both of the main characters as well and could root for them because of the foundational work that was laid. I love a good wedding story line and I have to say Liv’s heartbreak tail was a doozy! This is definitely worth the read.
January 20, 2026
I read this book effortlessly, quickly, captivatingly, and relaxedly. It was truly a fun, feel-good read. It was spot on. The fake dating aspect has the standard ingredients and is essentially similar to other fake dating romances. Yet, it feels authentic and stands out above the rest. Especially because of the fantastic and funny characters, the interaction and believably built chemistry between Liv and Blair (aka Sailor), but also because of the exceptionally romantic happy ending. And then there's the equally romantic epilogue that tops it all off. It was a wonderful reading experience.
January 22, 2026
Fake girlfriend stories are one of those categories I enjoy and Lise Gold has done a great job with this one. Darn the luck that real life got in the way and I had to put the book on hold because it was just that good. Ah, to be a billionaire at 36 and not know what to do with yourself. lol Anyways, if you have read a Lise Gold book then you know to expect goodness. Go ahead and put this in the goodness pile.
January 22, 2026
Good book
I know the title of this review is lackluster but this author is just effortlessly good. Right amount of smut (otherwise whats a romance novel), she always has great grammar and punctuation which so many ebook authors lack. The characters are well thought out and the pace of the book is easy. She just does this genre right that all I can say when I see her listed as a author is of course this is going to be a good read!
I know the title of this review is lackluster but this author is just effortlessly good. Right amount of smut (otherwise whats a romance novel), she always has great grammar and punctuation which so many ebook authors lack. The characters are well thought out and the pace of the book is easy. She just does this genre right that all I can say when I see her listed as a author is of course this is going to be a good read!
February 2, 2026
I loved this book. The main characters’ chemistry leapt off the pages, and their witty banter had me genuinely laughing and tickled pink throughout. Extremely well-written with excellent pacing. Impressive execution of the fake dating trope - it felt unique and more believable than some of its farfetched counterparts, especially in terms of the reactions from the entertaining periphery characters.
January 27, 2026
Wonderful
Liv and Blair are such a beautiful couple. I loved the family dynamics on both sides and that Danny is one smart guy. I was rooting for them, whilst also thinking this is going to implode any minute. Sorry this book came to an end, I could easily have handled more Liv and Blair.
Liv and Blair are such a beautiful couple. I loved the family dynamics on both sides and that Danny is one smart guy. I was rooting for them, whilst also thinking this is going to implode any minute. Sorry this book came to an end, I could easily have handled more Liv and Blair.
January 19, 2026
Lovely
It take me 2 days to finish this book. Such a long time waiting and than finishing so fast. It's such a nice story you can't just stop reading.
Wonderful in every single way
It take me 2 days to finish this book. Such a long time waiting and than finishing so fast. It's such a nice story you can't just stop reading.
Wonderful in every single way
January 21, 2026
Very sweet romance
I really enjoyed this book a sweet love story. The characters are likable and interesting. Blair's brother Dannie is sweet and adds to the story. Thanks for a really good book.
I really enjoyed this book a sweet love story. The characters are likable and interesting. Blair's brother Dannie is sweet and adds to the story. Thanks for a really good book.
January 30, 2026
A Sailor That Is Seaworthy
This was a wonderful book from Lise Gold that was punctuated with humor, heartfelt emotion, lies, and family. I loved the premise of the story and the unique name that Liv gave to her fake girlfriend.
This was a wonderful book from Lise Gold that was punctuated with humor, heartfelt emotion, lies, and family. I loved the premise of the story and the unique name that Liv gave to her fake girlfriend.
February 8, 2026
I…….
I don’t actually have the words for how much I loved this book. Lise Gold has once again blown my socks off.
Such a great read, brilliant characters, surprises, a smidge of angst, and a whole lot of love.
Roll on the next one.
I don’t actually have the words for how much I loved this book. Lise Gold has once again blown my socks off.
Such a great read, brilliant characters, surprises, a smidge of angst, and a whole lot of love.
Roll on the next one.
January 16, 2026
Fun, feel good f/f fake relationship romance.
January 17, 2026
terrific book
This is one of my new favorite books. I loved the characters, the plot and the HEA. I follow this author for a reason. Thanks for another winner
This is one of my new favorite books. I loved the characters, the plot and the HEA. I follow this author for a reason. Thanks for another winner
January 17, 2026
I loved it! Great read for the new year!
January 20, 2026
wow
this was an easy book to fall into and really hard to put down. If you want a sapphic romance that’s heartfelt, romantic, and full of feeling this is a great pick.
this was an easy book to fall into and really hard to put down. If you want a sapphic romance that’s heartfelt, romantic, and full of feeling this is a great pick.
January 21, 2026
Loved this story! Looking forward to reading more from this author.
January 24, 2026
Sailor
Another cracking read from Lise Gold
The billionaire and the wedding planner both with previous heartbreaks, the fake girlfriend to the real thing
Another cracking read from Lise Gold
The billionaire and the wedding planner both with previous heartbreaks, the fake girlfriend to the real thing
Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews