Real Love, Fake Marriage

by Vesper Young

Deacon
For the past decade I’ve had one goal: grow my father’s company into a juggernaut. No vacations, no lazy mornings, and absolutely no romance.
Then my father got diagnosed with terminal cancer. It’s up to me to save the company he built. But suddenly he’s more interested in my love life than our company. Ridiculous. Still, when he asks me if I’m dating anyone, convinced I’ll die alone and it’s his fault, I do what any good son would do.
I lie.

Mindy
Every day, debt collectors blow up my crappy flip phone. I’m working as hard as I can for my workaholic boss, but it’s not enough.
Then, said boss takes me out to dinner. He’s incredibly sexy and has eyes that make a girl dream, but I know with him, it’s always business.
That didn’t stop my jaw from dropping when he asked me to be his fake girlfriend. And he’s not taking no for an answer.

Real Love, Fake Marriage is a pretend marriage contract standalone romance novel with a HEA and no cheating.

Genres: Marriage Of Convenience, Romance, Fake Dating

247 pages, ebook

Published October 16, 2019

Reviews

[Natalia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Slow burn romance... She didn't trip all over herself because the guy was "hot"!
Some Ow drama, but very little...
No cheating, no man whore H

[LMR · Rating 4 out of 5]

Real Love, Fake Marriage By: Vesper Young
He's Find'n "Real Love, Fake Marriage" A Treasure Beyond Compare!
To make His OLD MAN Happy...
He brought a Fake GirlFriend to the Hospital!
It was His LAST days after ALL,
Sooo WHAT was the Harm IN mak'n the old Guy Smile!
Only the PLAN worked too well,
And His Dad changed His will!
Now, He NEEDS a Fake Marriage to keep His Dad's Company & Legacy!
But it's NOT LONG before He's got a bit of "Real Love, Fake Marriage" go'n ON,
And He's NOT about to admit IT!
Sooo will Be lose His "Real Love, Fake Marriage" IN this DEAL,
or will Be lose the company...
or IS there any WAY Possible to HAVE IT ALL...
HIS "Real Love, Fake Marriage" & His Dad's Company!
How will "Real Love, Fake Marriage" END... You'll have to One-Click to find OUT & Read for YourSelf!
I was granted, via B00|{$P®0UT, an ARC of Vesper Young's "Real Love, Fake Marriage." I recommend this book to others based upon its own merits. All opinions expressed within this review are uniquely my own & freely given!
Until next time... Happy Reading!

[Dawn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mindy is Deacon's assistant. Deacon wants to take over his father's company. His father is dying of cancer. In a fit of inspiration Deacon tells his father that he has been dating Mindy. He offers her money to come along on a couple visits to his father. When his father passes, Deacon finds out that he has to marry within one week and stay married for 6 months in order to claim the shares of his father's company. He offers Mindy more money to marry him and play his wife. They work at looking like a real couple. Mindy is falling for Deacon and is heartbroken that at the end of 6 months he will not be hers anymore. This book will pull at your heartstrings. There is a man closed off from his feelings who loses his father and starts feeling things for his new fake wife but won't admit it. There is a wife who know her husband married her for all the wrong reasons, who would like to be his real wife. Both have issues to work through in order to find happiness and true love and save Deacon's company. Great Read.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Christie · Rating 3 out of 5]

New to me author. Good not great. Devil is in the details people. If the guy says he is sending a car to pick up the girl, why does the girl take the subway 4 pages later? What happened to the car? This was page 11. 🤦‍♀️. The story needs to be consistent. Small errors like this shouldn’t happen in published works IMO. But I stuck with it and it was a cute story.

[Coco.V]

🎁 FREE on Amazon today (7/7/2021)! 🎁

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first book that I read by Vesper Young, and I must say, I did enjoy it! I like her writing style, and she did a great job of developing characters that I liked. I loved the plot development with Mindy's background, especially. I wasn't overly fond of Deacon at the beginning of the story, but I think that was done intentionally.

I will be reading more from Vesper Young, for sure!

[Raecharmed · Rating 5 out of 5]

Deacon doesn't have time to date since he spends most of his time at work. When a visit with his sick dad has him giving his secretary's name as the woman he is dating he knows that he'll do whatever he has to in order to get Mindy to help him. Mindy is drowning in debt and when Deacon mentions that at dinner she's somewhat upset that he had her investigated. He offered to pay some of her debt down if she pretended to be romantically involved with him. What should've just been something she did when he visited his father quickly escalated into a marriage neither expected. Will Deacon see that Mindy is the perfect woman for him and stay with her?

This is an amazing story that will draw you in from the first chapter. The chemistry between them is blazing hot. This is a well written and very entertaining story. I would recommend this book to any book lover.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Vicki Stephens · Rating 5 out of 5]

Real Love, Fake Marriage is a fake relationship novel, by Vesper Young, focusing on Deacon Blake, a wealthy workaholic businessman intent on expanding his family’s business, and Mindy Killip, employed as Deacon’s secretary. Deacon’s father develops pancreatic cancer and is concerned his son is not focusing on the important things in life such as a romantic relationship. Deacon convinces Mindy to pretend to be his fake girlfriend to please his father, but, the fake starts to become real.
This book is a fun and emotional read with interesting characters and a good storyline. I recommend this book.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Bev · Rating 4 out of 5]

Better than their fantasies
This book is about Deacon and Mindy. Deacon is a total workaholic at his father’s company, Blake Enterprises. His father Fred is terminally ill with pancreatic cancer, and Deacon makes up a fake relationship to appease him. He blurts out that he’s been seeing Mindy, his secretary. This pleases him immensely as he has so many regrets about how much time his son spends working, rather than dating, and asks him to bring her by to meet him.
At work, Deacon asks Mindy to go out to dinner with him under the pretence of a celebratory dinner. She has debt collectors after her, so she figures a nice meal would be nice. The way in which he asks her and comments on her attire got under my skin. He came across as really obnoxious. She asks her friend Kara if she can borrow a fancy outfit to wear because her boss wants her to wear something appropriate.
She looks stunning, and he admits it to her. They have some comfortable conversation and enjoy their meals together. When he brings up his father and the real reason he invited her to dinner, she was angry at first. She couldn’t believe that he had her investigated. But when it came to the crunch, and the incentive was right, she literally signed on the dotted line. And they enjoyed shared visits with his father, and subsequent meals that followed each one. They grow closer as friends, but I could feel an underlying sizzle of chemistry there.
It was an emotional time when his father finally passed away. Deacon was totally closed off and even ignored Mindy. At the reading of the will, his father had stipulated marriage within a week if Deacon was to get the CEO role. This certainly changed his attitude towards Mindy, as he had yet another, bigger offer for her.
What followed was a journey full of angst, banter, frustration, misunderstanding, suspicions, humour, flirting, long hours at the office, weekly dates, public outings and some unexpected jealousy. There were also some lovely moments of sweet romance, grand gestures and heated passion. But a surprise phone call had Mindy suddenly fleeing in Deacon’s hour of need. How would they come back from this?
It was a highly emotional and drama-filled read that captured my attention from the very start. I found Deacon to be too arrogant at the start, but as his story unravelled and his true self came to the surface (thanks to Mindy), he endeared himself to me eventually. Mindy was strong, independent and stubborn, but she had to be, to endure what she had. They complemented each other well. I did however feel that their story ended too soon. I wanted to know more about what next. I give this book four and a half rekindled stars.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Dee · Rating 5 out of 5]

The addition starts with the book cover….yeah…yeah…yeah don’t judge a book by its cover they say ….well we all do it and this one here it is the scratch to your itch or better yet the filling to your oreos! Speaking of filling…..wait, that’s for later. Within the first chapters you get the panoramic view of whom you’re dealing with! This is book is part of the City Hearts series why just read one when you can start at the beginning and keep reading through the series it won’t be a waste of time. Mindy is sweet, smart, working as the assistant to a billionaire, in a lot of debt needing money fast and instead of whining about it she accepts it works all she can to pay for the debt owed. Deacon sexy as all get out billionaire, wanting his father’s shares in his father’s company, has a father dying of cancer and in need of a girlfriend/wife so he asks his assistant Mindy knowing he is a workaholic and sometimes difficult man. The chemistry is intense between them, and the magnetic pull can’t be ignored but they both agreed on the six months to fulfill his father’s request. They didn’t realize sometimes fake becomes real rather quickly but will they agree to be with each other for REAL this time and can they each find happiness?

[Judy Gittleson Hendrickson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Deacon, in trying to make his dying father happy, tells him he has a girlfriend and convinces his assistant Mindy to come on a few visits. When he father passes, the will states that Deacon must marry within a week and stay married for six months to collect the company he has worked so hard at building. Each secretly starts to have feelings for each other but will not come out and say it. The characters are terrific, with great backstories that give them depth and believability. The storyline has plenty of surprises and twists, like the will, that keep you glued to the pages, waiting to see what will happen next. Loved the pool scene and the way they ended up in Florida to reveal the rest of her backstory. These two definitely completed each other.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Katie Cummings · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved Deacon & Mindy together. Side note, I knew there wasn’t going to be a breakup when he kept referring to her as “my wife” 🥵🥵🥵 Anyways Deacon Blake, future CEO convinces his dad he’s dating his assistant from work, the dad Fredrick is in the hospital with pancreatic cancer with months left before he dies. Mindy is in crippling debt, so when Deacon offers her $5k a hospital visit she plays doting girlfriend. Then when Fredrick does suddenly in his will it says Deacon must get married in the next 7 days or he loses the company and the board has decided to close the company if Deacon doesn’t take over. He offers Mindy a debt free life if she accepts and fulfills her role as wife for the next 6 months and she has no choice because the debt is CRAZYYYY

[Eva · Rating 2 out of 5]

this wasn't bad, but it wasn't great either. several spelling errors, and for the MMC being a workaholic billionaire- i still have no idea what his company does other than help their clients. with what? WHAT DO THEY HELP THEM WITH? i'll never know.

this was easy to keep reading so that's the good part... however, the details chosen as l"eft to your imagination", were strange (see company objective or lack thereof above).. for example- the couple actually developing feelings for one another. there was a random line thrown in that "there were feelings building for a few weeks now"- but no actual feelings to be seen... you know what, i'm just gonna say it --2 stars. i'm rounding down instead of up.

[Louise Norton · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed Deacon and Mindys story. Its a slow burn love. Deacon has to find a fake relationship to please his poorly father and he decides on Mindy his secretary. But his father changes his will and now Deacon has to marry to keep his fathers company so he and Mindy say I do. They decide a year is long enough to pretend but what happens when the fake marriage turns in to real love. Will Deacon and Mindy admit how they feel and stay together . Worth reading

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Michele · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting storyline of Mindy and Deacon, in how their relationship begins. I liked how they begin to relax gradually together over time, that theirs wasn’t rushed even though they did some things backwards. I enjoyed how they both grow to learn trust and what exactly matters in life. A very fitting ending for this couple who find their great love together.

I am voluntarily leaving a review for this book that I received free.

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a genre that I have been reading a lot lately. What makes this version of the story more enjoyable is that the characters are likable, they both have great qualities.
Mindy is in it due to her opportunity to pay off a massive debt and Deacon can make his dad happy.
Just the right amount of angst, slow burn and HEA.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Arc review I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review. This story is beautiful romance . deacon Blake of Blake enterprise father is dieing and wants to make him happy ,so he ask his secretary Mindy killip to pretend to be his girlfriend, but thinks get out of control .I loved how she completes him

[Tiffany · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fun and loving book. Deacon needed to make his dying father believe he had a girlfriend so he made a deal with his secretary mindy. Will she agree to his deal? What happens when it gets more complicated?

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Kathleen Bradbury (Bulfon) · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I started reading this story, I could not put it down. I read the book in one day. This author is an awesome writer. I cannot wait to read more of their books. Keep up the great work. You should definitely read this book.

[Patricia Reynolds · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great read. I was pulled in right from the beginning and kept interested right to the end.. I loved it. A must read.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really enjoyable read, loved the characters and the storyline, couldn’t help but want the best for them 😁

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mindy works for Deacon, but one little white lie takes their relationship to a whole new place!

The Billionaire fake marriage storyline has been over, but Mindy and Deacon are real enough to make it work!

Real Love, Fake Marriage has all the feels!

[Syarafina · Rating 4 out of 5]

so good!!! altho it’s quiet a slow burn, fast read, i thoroughly enjoyed reading it! altho there’s lack of smut, i still love it!!

the storyline, the way they slowly fall in love and like each other’s quirks. it’s truly a cute book!

[Cherie Maggi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable slow burn romance. This was a good story but very predictable.

[Nate · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed Deacon & Mindy's book. Good characters. It was an entertaining read. I got a copy of the book. And am voluntarily leaving my review.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute and fun.

The ending felt a bit rushed, but overall the pacing was fast enough to not get boring but not too fast to no longer be fun.

[Tatenisha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Deacon needs his employee to act like they are together for his father but it backfires. Now he must marry her to keep his fathers business. Can they make a relationship work or will it remain business only.

[Jeeves Reads Romance · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sweet and laidback slow burn

I really enjoyed this fake relationship romance. I wasn’t sure what to expect from this new author, but the story is solid and the laidback, slow burn romance felt well developed. While I can’t say that there is sizzling chemistry between these two, I can say that I enjoyed the journey from start to finish and loved the way our hero evolves throughout the book.

The story follows Deacon, a workaholic whose sole focus in life is growing the family business. His father has been in poor health for months, and a simple conversation ends with Deacon claiming to have a girlfriend just to make his father happy. After enlisting his secretary into the plan (the woman he sees the most), Deacon thinks they’ll just play the part for a few hospital visits - until things spiral out of control. Now Deacon and Mindy find themselves in a marriage neither one expected, with feelings that grow each day.

There are plenty of fake relationship romances out there, but the storyline here is pretty original. Both characters are easy to like, and the slow burn was fun to read. If anything, there wasn’t enough heat because this reads more as a sweet romance and the chemistry could’ve been turned up a notch. Minor typos throughout the book make it clear this is an indie author, but they don’t overwhelm the story. I would definitely check out more of the author’s work in the future. I received a free copy via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Pontiki · Rating 2 out of 5]

Deacon’s a driven businessman, Mindy is his assistant. When his father is dying, he makes up a story that they’re involved, offering to pay back some of the huge debt Mindy is carrying if she plays the charade of being his girlfriend.

All goes well until Deacon’s father passes, and in his will, he wants Deacon to marry or he’ll lose the company. The charade extends, the lines blur, and the what’s fake becomes real.

The story is done well, but the writing is terrible. So much is written improperly it detracts from the plot. If the writing was better, this could be a 4 star book.

KU

[Emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

nothing special but was a pleasant enough contemporary MOC story. - 3*

We have the uber wealthy man who convinces his strapped for cash employee to participate in a MOC. This time it starts as pretend girlfriend to make his dad happy in his final few months of life. I thought that part was quite believable. The reason for turning it into a marriage was utterly ridiculous but it is explained nicely in the end. They both behave pretty well and within the range of normal. My only beef is that the H failed in basic living together planning. Not giving her a key to their home for a week!