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Fake Out Make Out
Not yet published
Expected 4 Jun 26A thrilling New Adult debut that combines high-stakes espionage with all-consuming attraction . . .
Charlie Ross is a women's running champion until she's struck down by chronic illness. Needing time to heal but wanting to stay in the sports world, she takes a job at FIRE, which specializes in logistics for international sporting events. But there's more to FIRE than meets the eye and when Charlie starts to question the purpose and inflated budget of the "Strategic Operations" unit, she locks horns with its grumpy and annoyingly sexy manager.
Declan Davidson has no room for love in his life. As the head of FIRE's clandestine espionage activities, it is his responsibility to keep his coworkers, and the world, safe from harm. He refuses to let anyone get too close - not after the disastrous mission that cost him his closest ally. With the World Games looming and a cache of stolen arms in the wrong hands, Declan has no choice but to recruit the too-curious Charlie into "Strategic Operations." They must put aside their differences to prevent disaster at a global sporting event.
As they encounter danger and double-crossing agents at every turn, Declan swears to keep her safe. And while Charlie might be able to hold her own during covert missions, holding onto her heart is proving much more of a challenge.
Charlie trusts everyone - except herself. Declan trusts no one - especially Charlie. As they jet between romantic European cities and super yachts, what could possibly go wrong?
A STEAMY ROMANCE BLENDING ENDURANCE SPORTS AND INTERNATIONAL ESPIONAGE.
Charlie Ross is a women's running champion until she's struck down by chronic illness. Needing time to heal but wanting to stay in the sports world, she takes a job at FIRE, which specializes in logistics for international sporting events. But there's more to FIRE than meets the eye and when Charlie starts to question the purpose and inflated budget of the "Strategic Operations" unit, she locks horns with its grumpy and annoyingly sexy manager.
Declan Davidson has no room for love in his life. As the head of FIRE's clandestine espionage activities, it is his responsibility to keep his coworkers, and the world, safe from harm. He refuses to let anyone get too close - not after the disastrous mission that cost him his closest ally. With the World Games looming and a cache of stolen arms in the wrong hands, Declan has no choice but to recruit the too-curious Charlie into "Strategic Operations." They must put aside their differences to prevent disaster at a global sporting event.
As they encounter danger and double-crossing agents at every turn, Declan swears to keep her safe. And while Charlie might be able to hold her own during covert missions, holding onto her heart is proving much more of a challenge.
Charlie trusts everyone - except herself. Declan trusts no one - especially Charlie. As they jet between romantic European cities and super yachts, what could possibly go wrong?
A STEAMY ROMANCE BLENDING ENDURANCE SPORTS AND INTERNATIONAL ESPIONAGE.
- GenresRomance
301 pages, Kindle Edition
Expected publication June 4, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 9, 2026
Fake Out Make Out
Thank you so much @netgalley and @bonnierbooksuk for my ARC read of this book in exchange for a review. Thank you @1mkwilliams for such a brilliant read.
A fresh and unique take on the sports romance genre!
I absolutely loved our main female character, Charlie. Her backstory was beautifully written, showing her journey of living with a chronic autoimmune condition and having to give up her dream of running in order to find a new path working for the sporting events organisation, FIRE. This aspect of the story really resonated with me personally, as autoimmune illnesses are something close to my heart due to my mum’s daily struggles with Lupus.
But FIRE isn’t quite what it seems on the surface… alongside organising sporting events, it also operates as a secret spy organisation. Such a fun and unexpected twist! A select group within FIRE has been recruited to uncover members of “The Order,” the group responsible for terrorist acts. Of course, there’s also a mole within the organisation, and it’s up to the team to figure out who can truly be trusted.
Declan, our male main character, is one of these recruits. He’s a complete workaholic, strict rules and trust issues, but Charlie slowly begins to challenge the walls he’s built around himself. Watching their relationship develop was one of my favourite parts of the book.
I really enjoyed the dual POV narration, as it gave depth to both Charlie and Declan. Charlie’s autoimmune condition added an extra emotional layer to the story, while the action-packed plot kept me hooked throughout.
The only reason this was a 4-star rather than a 5-star read for me was because I guessed a few of the twists quite early on.
Overall, this was an action-packed romance with plenty of tension, intrigue, and just the right amount of spice. I can’t wait to read more from this universe, as it feels like the perfect setup for an exciting series!
Thank you so much @netgalley and @bonnierbooksuk for my ARC read of this book in exchange for a review. Thank you @1mkwilliams for such a brilliant read.
A fresh and unique take on the sports romance genre!
I absolutely loved our main female character, Charlie. Her backstory was beautifully written, showing her journey of living with a chronic autoimmune condition and having to give up her dream of running in order to find a new path working for the sporting events organisation, FIRE. This aspect of the story really resonated with me personally, as autoimmune illnesses are something close to my heart due to my mum’s daily struggles with Lupus.
But FIRE isn’t quite what it seems on the surface… alongside organising sporting events, it also operates as a secret spy organisation. Such a fun and unexpected twist! A select group within FIRE has been recruited to uncover members of “The Order,” the group responsible for terrorist acts. Of course, there’s also a mole within the organisation, and it’s up to the team to figure out who can truly be trusted.
Declan, our male main character, is one of these recruits. He’s a complete workaholic, strict rules and trust issues, but Charlie slowly begins to challenge the walls he’s built around himself. Watching their relationship develop was one of my favourite parts of the book.
I really enjoyed the dual POV narration, as it gave depth to both Charlie and Declan. Charlie’s autoimmune condition added an extra emotional layer to the story, while the action-packed plot kept me hooked throughout.
The only reason this was a 4-star rather than a 5-star read for me was because I guessed a few of the twists quite early on.
Overall, this was an action-packed romance with plenty of tension, intrigue, and just the right amount of spice. I can’t wait to read more from this universe, as it feels like the perfect setup for an exciting series!
May 22, 2026
Rep: FMC with autoimmune disease (eosinophilic fasciitis); SC with Lupus and psoriatic arthritis
Thanks @netgalley and @bonnierbooksuk for the ARC. For most of the book, I was torn between DNFing and speed-reading, but since I was already more than halfway through, I decided to persist. Around the 70–80% mark, it started to pick up and hold my attention more.
One accessibility issue I noticed: the chapter name tags (idk if that’s actually what they were) weren’t viewable at all in dark mode on my Kindle.
Also, I’m not really clear on why this book is classified as new adult instead of adult. Based on the characters’ ages, jobs, and the overall content, it didn’t feel especially NA to me. It felt more like an adult novel.
The gist is that both love interests work for a running company called FIRE, but it’s also secretly a front for an undercover espionage/spying operation. Declan, the MMC, keeps mentioning something called “The Order,” but that stays super vague for a long time — if not the whole book — so some of the plot felt unnecessarily ambiguous to me.
This is also an enemies-to-lovers, forced-proximity romance between Charlie and Declan. She’s the executive assistant; he’s the head of “clandestine activities.” A LOT is going on trope-wise. They go from enemies to insta-attraction because of life-threatening circumstances, but I wasn’t especially convinced by their chemistry, particularly at the beginning. A lot of it felt more explained to the reader vs being naturally developed.
There were also a few questionable moments regarding chronic illness/disability rep. I thought the depiction of living with autoimmune disease (eosinophilic fasciitis) was handled well overall, though I don’t personally live with these specific conditions. I was unsure about the plot point involving going off all medications in favor of only diet/lifestyle management — it initially felt a bit MAHA-coded to me, though later the book clarified that Charlie’s rare autoimmune disease doesn’t have official treatments (and I felt this could’ve been addressed earlier). Also, I wasn’t a fan of the inspiration-porn angle with the elderly runner “overcoming illness,” especially when the race had already been canceled due to dangerous weather conditions.
Overall, this was just an okay read for me. It often felt laborious, and ultimately didn’t feel especially fresh, inventive, riveting, or unputdownable.
CW: heart condition, death, murder, internalized ableism, sexual content
Thanks @netgalley and @bonnierbooksuk for the ARC. For most of the book, I was torn between DNFing and speed-reading, but since I was already more than halfway through, I decided to persist. Around the 70–80% mark, it started to pick up and hold my attention more.
One accessibility issue I noticed: the chapter name tags (idk if that’s actually what they were) weren’t viewable at all in dark mode on my Kindle.
Also, I’m not really clear on why this book is classified as new adult instead of adult. Based on the characters’ ages, jobs, and the overall content, it didn’t feel especially NA to me. It felt more like an adult novel.
The gist is that both love interests work for a running company called FIRE, but it’s also secretly a front for an undercover espionage/spying operation. Declan, the MMC, keeps mentioning something called “The Order,” but that stays super vague for a long time — if not the whole book — so some of the plot felt unnecessarily ambiguous to me.
This is also an enemies-to-lovers, forced-proximity romance between Charlie and Declan. She’s the executive assistant; he’s the head of “clandestine activities.” A LOT is going on trope-wise. They go from enemies to insta-attraction because of life-threatening circumstances, but I wasn’t especially convinced by their chemistry, particularly at the beginning. A lot of it felt more explained to the reader vs being naturally developed.
There were also a few questionable moments regarding chronic illness/disability rep. I thought the depiction of living with autoimmune disease (eosinophilic fasciitis) was handled well overall, though I don’t personally live with these specific conditions. I was unsure about the plot point involving going off all medications in favor of only diet/lifestyle management — it initially felt a bit MAHA-coded to me, though later the book clarified that Charlie’s rare autoimmune disease doesn’t have official treatments (and I felt this could’ve been addressed earlier). Also, I wasn’t a fan of the inspiration-porn angle with the elderly runner “overcoming illness,” especially when the race had already been canceled due to dangerous weather conditions.
Overall, this was just an okay read for me. It often felt laborious, and ultimately didn’t feel especially fresh, inventive, riveting, or unputdownable.
CW: heart condition, death, murder, internalized ableism, sexual content
March 12, 2026
If you're looking for a unique read that combines endurance sports, espionage, and romance, this is the book for you! I appreciated how it stood out from other romance novels and haven't read another one like it this year.
I loved how the forced proximity played out through the novel between Charlie and Declan. Having their desks right next to each other was such a great writing decision.
We got enough of Charlie's backstory and chronic illness, so I never had to guess her motivations, as coping with her condition was tied to many of her decisions and hesitations.
I appreciated the Dual POV element and getting to be inside Declan's head. Especially as he tried to resist Charlie, but kept finding himself pulled in.
I guessed one of the plot twists, but the villain took me by surprise!
Overall, this book is a breath of fresh air and a fun, summer read!
I loved how the forced proximity played out through the novel between Charlie and Declan. Having their desks right next to each other was such a great writing decision.
We got enough of Charlie's backstory and chronic illness, so I never had to guess her motivations, as coping with her condition was tied to many of her decisions and hesitations.
I appreciated the Dual POV element and getting to be inside Declan's head. Especially as he tried to resist Charlie, but kept finding himself pulled in.
I guessed one of the plot twists, but the villain took me by surprise!
Overall, this book is a breath of fresh air and a fun, summer read!
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews