Something Borrowed

Fake Engagement Collection #3

by Jenny Rabe

Borrowing your best friend’s shirt is okay. Borrowing her ex is not. Christine Swanson is a number cruncher and fact checker, but her crush on her best friend’s ex, Toby Cannon, has always left her with a negative balance. When she needs a date for her cousin's wedding, her best friend suggests borrowing Toby for the week. Toby goes along with the fake relationship with the one winning his ex back. There's just one problem, pretending with Christine feels all too real. With love and friendship on the line, Toby and Christine might just be borrowing trouble.

224 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 31, 2020

About the author

After going on over 150 first dates, Jenny has a a wealth of dating experience. She lives with her husband and three kids near the mountains, drawing inspiration from the constant ups and downs of relationships. When she's not writing clean, swoony romances, she's following some other dream to make a difference in the world.

Check out her inspirational romances under the penname of June B. Anderson.

Reviews

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am really enjoying this series. They can be read stand alone. This story is about Christine. She is in love with Toby. Unfortunately, he is hung up on her roommate Rachel. Rachel has told him it’s over many times. He is still holding on to hope for things to change with Rachel. When Christine needs a plus one for her cousin’s wedding, Rachel arranges Toby to be her fake date for the wedding. When Christine’s cousin is questioning if Toby and Christine are really dating, he announces that they are actually engaged.

Loved this book of Toby realizing who he really wants to be with.

[Emmie Must · Rating 4 out of 5]

So good!! I liked the angst here, I was one minute like wait but I hate Rachel oh no but I hate her more here, why can she just go away? And why did she had to date the hero's Best friend after breaking up with him after his Dad died and left her Best friend who she knew was pining for him helped me get through his father's death? Like this girl Ugh Gross! Dating the Best friend but making a mess when she caught her so calles Best friend and her ex on bed after she set them up! Fucking child that Rachel I couldn't stand her, like so selfish just how could she treated her boyfriend of two years like that? His Dad died and she was partying hard with other friends! What type of girlfriend or even friend is that? And she goes and dates the Best Friends ex and expecting everybody else to support her, the nerve of this woman. Why everybody liked her so much? What was so good about her? I really appreciate that the heroine didn't have an outgoing personality, cause those are the ones people love in these type of stories but I don't I like My Plain Janes.

This hero was really dense :'D he was so oblivious and I was like how could you forget about the First time you met I girl you claimed fancy so much like for months after meeting her but then even after meeting her again You were still pining for her or The other one you thought you liked? Like it was the same person so he didn't Even remember her properly I didn't get that, the author couldn't make that work, sorry.

I love the trope "I've loved you for the longest time but You are with someone else and then he finds out it was the Plain Jane the one he really wanted all this time." I liked the Best friend ex conflict the way it was handle was so good, no cheating and even when I complain so much about Rachel her reaction after the breakup was understandable. Still hated her though.


The cousin was so laughable bad, like a supervillain in a cartonish kind of way but I liked that because I had enough drama with the love square going on in the story, at the end she matured but I'm still so surprise how this author keeps marrying very immature characters, like they act like children. It's marriage it's not like a holiday it's not like they are going on vacation. Whatever. I do like over the top characters in my romances so she was good.

The heroine parents were pretty much not present poor thing no wonder she acted the way she did and never stood up for herself or admited her true feelings to get the guy, she let people walked all over her I'm glad at the end the guy put up his Big pants and went after her and thanks also to the "Best friend" who by that time she was fucking the ex Best friend, so she did it more for herself and to redeem herself. How come Dave and Rachel were all over each other so quickly? Like that was so weird but I kind of suspected something at the beginning of the book when the Best friend was trying to warn the hero about going back with his ex, probably he was having the hots for Rachel by then.

I'm overthinking this I know :D

I'm always hesitant to read about this type of conflict when the girl code is broken and reading from the other perspective and Finding how the girlfriend was such a bitch made it more easy to me to enjoy this one, but still it's kind of gross to Kiss your Best friend Ex but in this case I'll give it a pass only because I hated fucking Rachel. Good thing at the end the MC moved away and even when they still remained Friends I'm glad Rachel didn't get everything she wanted at her feet.

Gosh I did hate Rachel:D

Like I said I overthink stuff and I've been binge reading this authors books cause I really like how she layers her stories there's always something more meaningful going on. I like that

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another Excellent Story!

This was another excellent sweet romance. I loved the characters. Christine was a great leading lady and Toby was a leading guy I felt for and got angry at and also cheered with.

Toby dated Rachel, Christine’s best friend and roommate, in college in Idaho. When Toby lost his father in a motorcycle accident, Rachel took off. Christine was there to pick up the pieces. Rachel broke off the relationship, and Christine hurt when she watched Toby pine after Rachel. This made Christine pick up her life and move back to Georgia, where her parents lived and had an accounting firm. Christine, a hairdresser and an accountant, is getting ready to begin busy season at her parent’s firm, but first has her cousin’s wedding to attend in Idaho. This cousin is an awful person and is constantly trying to one up Christine, who wants none of it. Christine’s cousin is adamant she set her up for a date for the wedding week events. Rachel has another plan. She calls Toby and convinces him to be Christine’s plus one and then convinces Christine to go along with a fake relationship.

This is a fun sweet romance and the fake engagement flows well into the story. I really loved the entire book.

[Emily Flynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enter a world of nostalgia for those who used to live in and around Rexburg, Idaho. There are some beautiful remembrances of things now gone and changed.

Now on with our regularly scheduled review, Christine's cousin is getting married and their relationship is less than it once was. Enter Christine's best friend and roommate, offering her ex, Toby to be Christine's date for the wedding week festivities. Toby and Christine have had difficult feelings before. She liked him and supported him through some difficult things and he had some feelings too. All this resurfaces as Christine tries to survive her family wedding.

Christine and Toby's relationship development is very natural except for the fact that Christine is stressed about lying to her family about their relationship and worried about her roommate's reaction. Toby is trying to win back the roommate.

The book is fun and light and everything a good summer read should be. While there are some heavier moments, most of them happened in the past.

Jenny Rabe does a great job spinning this tale and gives us plenty of fun and drama. Christine's cousin is a total drama queen. The different dynamics are fantastic.

[lettylaunica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whiplash Rachel!

This was good. I love the "I've been pining for you for the longest time and the other person still hung up on his ex but then he finds out it was the plane Jane the one he really loves" kind of trope My favorite, I'll read everything I can find about it. This was good I liked both Main characters and it seemed more realistic the way this love square was portrayed, Rachel was getting on My nerves since page number one but anyway I didn't care for her or her happy ending I did like The hero and heroine i'm here. Cute and clean romance with more angst that I was expecting and not surprisingly There's depth in the story too

[Terressa · Rating 4 out of 5]

A crush is one thing. A crush on your best friends ex, quite another. Having your best friend set you up in a fake relationship with the ex stirs up trouble. This was a cute addition to the fake engagement series.

Disclosure statement:
I receive complimentary books for review from publishers, publicists, and/or authors, including Netgalley. I am not required to write positive reviews. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255.

[Nari · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this story for the most part I was just a bit frustrated with Christine’s best friend Rachel. She seemed to waver a bit in what she wanted. I also thought Christine was a bit too nice to the point of letting her cousin and Rachel walk all over her. Christine and Toby were great together. They had a strong friendship and that when finally allowed to happened grew into more. Overall I enjoyed the story and would recommend it.

[Cilla · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this clean romance which is easily read as a stand alone. The characters were both likable and real - and none of them were perfect, so they were easy to relate to. What I liked was that, unlike many 'fake fiance' stories, things did NOT go smoothly, past relationships and old habits caused problems and 'moving on' was - like in the real world - neither simple nor quick. They did however get their happy ever after.

[Marilee Bingham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jenny has done it again! This book has been my favorite out of the series so far but I probably said that last time. Christine and Toby get a second chance when Christine needs a date to her cousins wedding. Things get interesting when Toby announces their engagement at a family dinner. But what everyone doesn't know is that it's all a set up. Such a great read!

[Amber K · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jenny Rabe is spot on with this one! Something Borrowed is full of emotion and all the good feels. I love Christine and Toby, and all the hard work it took for them to find each other. I love that Jenny’s writing is unpredictable and gives the full story. Well worth the two day binge read to find out what happens at the end!!

[Melissa Lehmann · Rating 5 out of 5]

As always Jenny delivers a clean and interesting romance. I love that her characters are rooted in real life situations and act like normal people would. Sometimes I’ll get frustrated with a character just like I would with a friend who couldn’t see the writing on the wall. It makes it for a more accessible and memorable story for me. I really enjoyed reading my advanced copy!

[Londi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I kind of hate how much I relate to the main character. A lot of what she went through relationship-wise are things I went through. Some of those things I am still dealing with now.

Overall, it was a fantastic story. I was immediately hooked. I read it within a day.
The story is well written, keeps you engaged, and a page-turner. I couldn't put it down.

[Clint A. Bingham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jenny has done it again! This book has been my favorite out of the series so far but I probably said that last time. Christine and Toby get a second chance when Christine needs a date to her cousins wedding. Things get interesting when Toby announces their engagement at a family dinner. But what everyone doesn't know is that it's all a set up. Such a great read!

[Camille · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this installment of the fake engagement series! It was such a fun and quick read. I appreciated the fact that the characters had flaws they needed to grow from. The romance aspect was very sweet and well paced.
I received a promotional copy; this is my honest review.

[Monica L · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great book from the Fake Engagement Collection. "Something Borrowed" was the type of book I was itching to read. Toby and Christine's relationship is the type to just root for. I'm glad it didn't disappoint. I'm excited for the next book in the series.

[Mary Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun read. I enjoyed it. There were a few errors in it that kind of bothered me, but overall it was a good read.

[Teresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was so good. Great writing, great story, and great characters!!

I received a copy of this book from the author, but I am voluntarily sharing my honest opinion here.

[Rabecca Silver · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a sweet story of two people who should have been together all along.