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Very Much in Love #4
A Very Pretend Boyfriend
I grew up in a family of thieves. Girls like me don't get fairytales.
So when Kazimir Lindström—former NHL hockey captain, my ex-boyfriend's stepdad, and the most infuriatingly attractive man I've ever met—offers me a deal that sounds insane, I should've said no.
Move in with him. Play the role of fake girlfriend. Save his reputation after a very public divorce.
The negative balance in my bank account doesn't give me a choice.
Living with Kaz is supposed to be temporary. Professional. Uncomplicated. He's grumpy, guarded, and growls more than he speaks. Easy enough to keep him at arm's length.
Except he's not what I expect. Behind that permanent scowl, he’s hiding a soft and protective heart. And the longer we pretend, the harder it gets to remember what's real.
But I'm carrying a secret that could destroy everything—his reputation, his trust, and whatever this is growing between us.
A girl born into a family of thieves isn't good enough for a man like Kazimir Lindström no matter how much I try to convince myself otherwise.
Tropes: Grumpy x sunshine, fake dating romance, forced proximity, forbidden romance, age gap, hockey romance, workplace romance, boy obsessed, he falls first and harder, found family, dark secret / hidden past
Book 1 in the Very Much in Love series. Reads as a standalone.
So when Kazimir Lindström—former NHL hockey captain, my ex-boyfriend's stepdad, and the most infuriatingly attractive man I've ever met—offers me a deal that sounds insane, I should've said no.
Move in with him. Play the role of fake girlfriend. Save his reputation after a very public divorce.
The negative balance in my bank account doesn't give me a choice.
Living with Kaz is supposed to be temporary. Professional. Uncomplicated. He's grumpy, guarded, and growls more than he speaks. Easy enough to keep him at arm's length.
Except he's not what I expect. Behind that permanent scowl, he’s hiding a soft and protective heart. And the longer we pretend, the harder it gets to remember what's real.
But I'm carrying a secret that could destroy everything—his reputation, his trust, and whatever this is growing between us.
A girl born into a family of thieves isn't good enough for a man like Kazimir Lindström no matter how much I try to convince myself otherwise.
Tropes: Grumpy x sunshine, fake dating romance, forced proximity, forbidden romance, age gap, hockey romance, workplace romance, boy obsessed, he falls first and harder, found family, dark secret / hidden past
Book 1 in the Very Much in Love series. Reads as a standalone.
458 pages, Paperback
Published February 1, 2026
About the author
Scarlett Avery
79 books1,411 followersTwo-time USA TODAY and Amazon TOP 21 bestselling author Scarlett Avery unapologetically brings book boyfriends to their knees. Only smart, sassy, and vulnerable heroines are brave enough to unravel these heroes.
Scarlett’s love stories are intense and passionate, emotional and steamy, layered with some delicious angsty scenes that always leave you begging for more. Once you start reading Scarlett’s novels, there’s no going back.
You’ll find the catalogue of all her books and a reading order on her website.
Scarlett’s love stories are intense and passionate, emotional and steamy, layered with some delicious angsty scenes that always leave you begging for more. Once you start reading Scarlett’s novels, there’s no going back.
You’ll find the catalogue of all her books and a reading order on her website.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
February 8, 2026
“I’m thirty-nine. She’s twenty-seven. She’s my ex-stepson’s ex-girlfriend”
It was okay. (Possible spoilers ahead) It was kind of an InstaLove/Lust from H. The drama at times was OTT
The main reason I deducted stars is mainly because of the villains. They were too cartoonish (not sure that makes sense?) and there were too many villains.
Both MCs were likable.
H and h met a year prior. h was dating Chet (H’s stepson) and H was married, but had just caught his wife in bed with another man. His *now* ex wife is basically a gold digger and she has a weird attachment with her son.
In present time- h’s life is a hot mess. She’s a waitress. H is there at the restaurant because he plans on buying it. Sees h. h is being harassed, and H steps in to help her out. Later, he goes to her apartment….and after finding out she’s being recorded and the apartment is 💩, he moves her in with him and hires her to be his “social media manager??”
Okay…so I think this is the first book where I’ve seen this happen. For about 5 or 6 chapters, the MCs spend all that time basically telling each other EVERYTHING and anything about their lives. Usually it’s spread out throughout the book, but in the case, it was a huge info dump right away. They were pretty open with each other. Well….you knew h was hiding one important secret she didn’t want him to know.
Anyway, H’s ex keeps gossip going about H, so his PR decides he needs a girlfriend to improve his image. 🤷♀️ (I have a hard time understanding how dating your ex stepson’s ex girlfriend will help) Ofc, they start fake dating. Naturally, the ex wife and her son also attend the same events, so nasty stuff is said. Drama.
Both MC start to act on their attraction to each other. 🤪
I’m not into the whole daddy/little girl role playing, so I did skim a lot of the smexual stuff. Personally, I felt H’s dirty talk didn’t quite match his personality. And he had a GREAT personality. He was into acts of service, especially for h. For example- he bought her a whole self care kit for her PMS. I mean…the guy was perfect.
There is more drama (H’s slimy dad, h’s scammy ex business partners, etc….)
then we have the 3rd act breakup, of sorts. h pulls away from H. Then she finally tells him her big secret which is- her whole family is basically trash. They scam rich people for their money. They got involved with some guy (who sounded like the mafia) and her sister and two nephews were killed in a car crash. Then her mom and dad went into witness protection. 🤷♀️🤷♀️ h’s name wasn’t even her real name. She changed it. H doesn’t care about any of that.
18 months later and H does a great proposal. I thought it was sweet and very in character of him.
It was okay. (Possible spoilers ahead) It was kind of an InstaLove/Lust from H. The drama at times was OTT
The main reason I deducted stars is mainly because of the villains. They were too cartoonish (not sure that makes sense?) and there were too many villains.
Both MCs were likable.
H and h met a year prior. h was dating Chet (H’s stepson) and H was married, but had just caught his wife in bed with another man. His *now* ex wife is basically a gold digger and she has a weird attachment with her son.
In present time- h’s life is a hot mess. She’s a waitress. H is there at the restaurant because he plans on buying it. Sees h. h is being harassed, and H steps in to help her out. Later, he goes to her apartment….and after finding out she’s being recorded and the apartment is 💩, he moves her in with him and hires her to be his “social media manager??”
Okay…so I think this is the first book where I’ve seen this happen. For about 5 or 6 chapters, the MCs spend all that time basically telling each other EVERYTHING and anything about their lives. Usually it’s spread out throughout the book, but in the case, it was a huge info dump right away. They were pretty open with each other. Well….you knew h was hiding one important secret she didn’t want him to know.
Anyway, H’s ex keeps gossip going about H, so his PR decides he needs a girlfriend to improve his image. 🤷♀️ (I have a hard time understanding how dating your ex stepson’s ex girlfriend will help) Ofc, they start fake dating. Naturally, the ex wife and her son also attend the same events, so nasty stuff is said. Drama.
Both MC start to act on their attraction to each other. 🤪
I’m not into the whole daddy/little girl role playing, so I did skim a lot of the smexual stuff. Personally, I felt H’s dirty talk didn’t quite match his personality. And he had a GREAT personality. He was into acts of service, especially for h. For example- he bought her a whole self care kit for her PMS. I mean…the guy was perfect.
There is more drama (H’s slimy dad, h’s scammy ex business partners, etc….)
then we have the 3rd act breakup, of sorts. h pulls away from H. Then she finally tells him her big secret which is- her whole family is basically trash. They scam rich people for their money. They got involved with some guy (who sounded like the mafia) and her sister and two nephews were killed in a car crash. Then her mom and dad went into witness protection. 🤷♀️🤷♀️ h’s name wasn’t even her real name. She changed it. H doesn’t care about any of that.
18 months later and H does a great proposal. I thought it was sweet and very in character of him.
April 4, 2026
This book was so bad it was almost good. ALMOST.
I felt like I was being spoon fed the conclusions of the story, and by that I mean everything felt spelled out and it was simply just a bad read. I felt like the main female character’s hesitation to get into a relationship (especially a physical one) was non-existent in the beginning of the book despite her past that she claims haunts her. Sure the woman has constant nightmares, but what are the chances that the macho man protagonist can hear every word through the walls and then effectively run to her bedside? 🥺🥺🥺 the answer should be no chance, and yet that unrealistic reality played out.
Regardless, this book just felt poorly written and the plot felt rushed, not to mention the plot was mostly filled by sexual tension and (a very specific subset of) smut; the actual story was mid to say the least. I felt like I couldn’t latch onto the characters cause they were distant and unrelatable (there wasn’t a ton of inner dialogue to actually get to know each character as their own person); the plot felt the similarly, it was always filled with vague business endeavors and “i’m running a social media platform as my job teehee.”
I did finish this book, but most of the time I was more focused on the frustrating writing or confusing dialogue choices than the investment of the characters.
Not my cup of tea, but maybe it’ll be yours. 🤷♀️
I felt like I was being spoon fed the conclusions of the story, and by that I mean everything felt spelled out and it was simply just a bad read. I felt like the main female character’s hesitation to get into a relationship (especially a physical one) was non-existent in the beginning of the book despite her past that she claims haunts her. Sure the woman has constant nightmares, but what are the chances that the macho man protagonist can hear every word through the walls and then effectively run to her bedside? 🥺🥺🥺 the answer should be no chance, and yet that unrealistic reality played out.
Regardless, this book just felt poorly written and the plot felt rushed, not to mention the plot was mostly filled by sexual tension and (a very specific subset of) smut; the actual story was mid to say the least. I felt like I couldn’t latch onto the characters cause they were distant and unrelatable (there wasn’t a ton of inner dialogue to actually get to know each character as their own person); the plot felt the similarly, it was always filled with vague business endeavors and “i’m running a social media platform as my job teehee.”
I did finish this book, but most of the time I was more focused on the frustrating writing or confusing dialogue choices than the investment of the characters.
Not my cup of tea, but maybe it’ll be yours. 🤷♀️
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 23, 2026
Ex boyfriend's ex stepdad, hockey romance, grumpy sunshine. Probably a few others too but I can't quite recall them all.
The power dynamic between Harley and Kaz was very much tilted in his favor and that didn't sit right with me.
This book was light on plot and the vindictive ex wife and ex-stepson were a little annoying. The fact that Kaz wrote a book and the excerpt you hear at the end of the book is cringe-worthy made me dislike this read a smidge more.
The power dynamic between Harley and Kaz was very much tilted in his favor and that didn't sit right with me.
This book was light on plot and the vindictive ex wife and ex-stepson were a little annoying. The fact that Kaz wrote a book and the excerpt you hear at the end of the book is cringe-worthy made me dislike this read a smidge more.
Read
August 16, 2026Dnf. Bored.
February 10, 2026
📖Book Review📖
A very pretend boyfriend (used to be A Very Fake Play)
I was very kindly given a arc of this by Love Notes PR and Scarlett Avery
I really enjoyed this. As you all know I LOVE my hockey romances and this one was no different. It just hit the right spot.
I loved Harley and how even tho life dealt her a bit of a crap hand she was determined to make things better for herself and still stayed so sweet and positive.
Kaz omg 🥵 ULTIMATE BOOK BOYFRIEND. This man knew his assignment and definitely did his homework 😏 He was also kind and considerate and understanding. Just chefs kiss 😘
Both of them together were perfect, the banter, spice, it was so so good. I mean Kaz literally read about men in romance novels and BECAME one of them. I know hes fictional but I want one 😂 Harley is very lucky indeed.
I would definitely be up to reading the next book in this series and other work from this author.
Tropes
🏒 Hockey Romance
❤️🔥 Slow Burn
❄️ Former NHL Captain
🤭 Ex-boyfriend's Stepdad
😔 Grumpy Hero
🕰️ Age Gap (he’s older then her)
💼 Workplace Romance
🧡 Roommates/Forced Proximity
🌶️ Spicy Romance
Content warnings
Please check the trigger warnings for this book before reading for your own piece of mind.
4⭐️
4🌶️
A very pretend boyfriend (used to be A Very Fake Play)
I was very kindly given a arc of this by Love Notes PR and Scarlett Avery
I really enjoyed this. As you all know I LOVE my hockey romances and this one was no different. It just hit the right spot.
I loved Harley and how even tho life dealt her a bit of a crap hand she was determined to make things better for herself and still stayed so sweet and positive.
Kaz omg 🥵 ULTIMATE BOOK BOYFRIEND. This man knew his assignment and definitely did his homework 😏 He was also kind and considerate and understanding. Just chefs kiss 😘
Both of them together were perfect, the banter, spice, it was so so good. I mean Kaz literally read about men in romance novels and BECAME one of them. I know hes fictional but I want one 😂 Harley is very lucky indeed.
I would definitely be up to reading the next book in this series and other work from this author.
Tropes
🏒 Hockey Romance
❤️🔥 Slow Burn
❄️ Former NHL Captain
🤭 Ex-boyfriend's Stepdad
😔 Grumpy Hero
🕰️ Age Gap (he’s older then her)
💼 Workplace Romance
🧡 Roommates/Forced Proximity
🌶️ Spicy Romance
Content warnings
Please check the trigger warnings for this book before reading for your own piece of mind.
4⭐️
4🌶️
May 7, 2026
Well, I guess I was wrong!!
So, I have consistently said that there wasn’t a Scarlett Avery book that I didn’t like and then I found one! I didn’t just LIKE this book - - - I absolutely, positively LOVED it. My goodness, Kazimir and Haley were INCREDIBLE together!! There was not a part of their story that I didn’t love. Every part was perfect. Kazimir was THE PERFECT book boyfriend. He was so incredibly romantic; saying and doing the most perfect thing. Harley was so guilt ridden that she could
So, I have consistently said that there wasn’t a Scarlett Avery book that I didn’t like and then I found one! I didn’t just LIKE this book - - - I absolutely, positively LOVED it. My goodness, Kazimir and Haley were INCREDIBLE together!! There was not a part of their story that I didn’t love. Every part was perfect. Kazimir was THE PERFECT book boyfriend. He was so incredibly romantic; saying and doing the most perfect thing. Harley was so guilt ridden that she could
March 4, 2026
Uplifting
This is a superbly written and edited book. All of the characters were believable. The plotline flows so seamlessly.
The main characters Max and Harley are perfect. An enjoyable and uplifting book.
This is a superbly written and edited book. All of the characters were believable. The plotline flows so seamlessly.
The main characters Max and Harley are perfect. An enjoyable and uplifting book.
May 22, 2026
good
Definitely don’t judge a book by it’s cover. The book cover might seem too cute and innocent but their sexy was not that innocent at all. It was descriptive, wild and very spicy. I really enjoyed reading this book!
Definitely don’t judge a book by it’s cover. The book cover might seem too cute and innocent but their sexy was not that innocent at all. It was descriptive, wild and very spicy. I really enjoyed reading this book!
June 14, 2026
not bad
First time read for this author. It was ok. Some parts were repetitive. The h pissed me off with her secret she kept and it wasn’t even that big of a deal. The love scenes were very hot. I would read this author again
First time read for this author. It was ok. Some parts were repetitive. The h pissed me off with her secret she kept and it wasn’t even that big of a deal. The love scenes were very hot. I would read this author again
June 9, 2026
Could not get past chapter three in this book. The writing style was terrible, the plot moved sooo quickly no real introductions and boom they move in together. Wouldn’t recommend
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews