The Perfect Fake Date

Billionaires of Boston #3

by Naima Simone

When keeping it just friends proves just plain impossible in this Billionaires of Boston novel by USA TODAY bestselling author Naima Simone.

“It’s just a kiss, Eve…

I’m only holding up my end of the bargain.”

As the secret son of Boston's wealthiest, most coldhearted billionaire, Kenan Rhodes knows that everyone is watching him when he stakes his family claim. Proving himself won't be easy and he needs backup. So Kenan makes a deal with his best friend, lingerie designer Eve Burke. She'll help him professionally, and he'll help Eve catch his brother's eye. But soon Kenan wants his gorgeous best friend for himself, crossing that line between fake dates and something dangerously irresistible…

From Harlequin A luxurious world of bold encounters and sizzling chemistry.

Love triumphs in these uplifting romances, part of the Billionaires of Boston

Book 1: Secrets of a One Night Stand
Book 2: The Perfect Fake Date

Genres: Contemporary Romance, Romance, Friends To Lovers, Billionaire Romance, Harlequin

225 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 28, 2021

About the author

Published since 2009, USA Today Bestselling author Naima Simone loves writing sizzling romances with heart, a touch of humor and snark. Her books have been featured in The Washington Post and Entertainment Weekly, and described as balancing “crackling, electric love scenes with exquisitely rendered characters caught in emotional turmoil.”

She is wife to Superman, or his non-Kryptonian, less bullet proof equivalent, and mother to the most awesome kids ever. They all live in perfect, sometimes domestically-challenged bliss in the southern United States.

Reviews

[Tina Loves To Read · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a Friends to Lovers Romance, and this is the third book in the Billionaires of Boston series. I liked the characters, but I did not love them. I also found the romance weird and award. I received an ARC of this book. This review is my own honest opinion about the book like all my reviews are.

[Brandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I freaking loved this book!! I loved Kenan who was so in love her couldn’t breathe, even if he didn’t show it. He was also hurting and searching and trying to find his way. I especially love Every with her side business on the sky and her growing realization that everything she thought she wanted may not be what she wants now. I loved watching them grow and struggle and learn. Literally the only thing I didn’t like about this book was Kenan’s parents, ugh!!!

[Crystal · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love a good fake dating romance, and this is one is more than good. Kenan is searching for more than just romance, but he finally gets his chance with his best friend Eve and he’s not willing to let her go. OMG, it’s so good!

[Michelle Lindo-Rice · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kenan and Eve have been best friends ever since her mom started working for his father, but he has always felt more. Too bad Eve only has eyes for his older brother, Gavin. But then Kenan makes a pact with Eve--if she helps him saves a business, he will help her snag his brother's attention.

Whew! What a steamy friends-to-lovers romance. When you read Naima Simone, you know you will get a scorcher. Kenan and Eve's story was that and more. I also loved her storyline with her mom--that warmed my heart. So many themes that I think will leave a warm place in many readers hearts. I enjoyed this read and as usual, the book cover is simply stunning!

Thank you #Netgalley and #Harlequin for the ARC!

[LaKenya Robertson-Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Worth the wait in reading..... Have had this book since before the 2022 started... Loved it.

[Harlequin Books]

Categories
Contemporary Romance, African American & Black Romance
Miniseries
Billionaires of Boston (Book #3)

[Jessie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Did I love this book? Yes. Did I want multiple epilogues? Yes. Yes I did ❤️

[Steph's Romance Book Talk · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25 Stars / 3 Steam Fans

The Fake Perfect Date was a fun friends-to-lovers story. I enjoyed how Kenan and Eve were great friends from the beginning of the story.

Video review available in Week 2: Jan 9 – Jan 15, 2022, total weekly book reviews on Steph's Romance Book Talk Patreon.

For other bookish content, check out my YouTube Channel: Steph's Romance Book Talk.

[Diana · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Perfect Fake Date: A best friends to lovers romance by Naima Simone
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Naima Simone has been on my to-read list for awhile. When I received an ARC I quickly jumped on the opportunity to read it.
Overall, it was cute. I really like the chemistry between Eve and Kenan.
I loved the friends to lover tope. The friendship between Eve and Kenan was so sweet and beautiful.
I have to say that the overly dramatic sub-story lines were a little too much.
First, there is the main friends to lover storyline. Then the Eve is in love with Kenan's half -brother. Then the father that abandoned these brothers storyline, then the tension between Kenan and his adoptive parents. Then the not accepted into society storyline. Eve has tension with her mother because she doesn't agree with Eve's friendship with Kenan.
It was overly dramatic. But it was still enjoyable because I could understand why Kenan didn't want to ruin his friendship with Eve.

[Fedora · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Perfect Fake Date is the third in Naima Simone’s Billionaires of Boston series from Harlequin Desire. Kenan Rhodes is the third man to have his world turned upside down by the revelation that the wildly successful and cruelly manipulative Baron Farrell was his father. Forced to leave his family’s real estate business to assume a role in Farrell Enterprises, he continues to feel an outsider, much as he has the rest of his life. His one anchor has been his best friend, Eve Burke.

Eve and Kenan have been best friends since they were children. Kenan has always felt more for Eve but recognizes that she’s been longing for his older brother Gavin for years. Determined to move on, he resolved to smooth the way for Eve and Gavin.

Except we all know how that is going to work out! Naima Simone’s writing is lush and evocative and we feel every iota of Eve and Kenan’s desire and confusion and heartfelt journey as they fumble then work to restore their friendship and more. The Perfect Fake Date is a great friends to lovers and a fantastic close to this trilogy.

[Mel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was really excited for this the final story in this series and while i love a good pining romance, especially where the MMC is secretly pining for the FMC, I really didn’t like the reveal about his adopted mom/bio mom and the fact that he was just able to get over it and forgive her so quickly, rang a little false to me. However, I loved the FMC, Eve, I loved the relationship between the 3 brothers and the sexy times were hot.

[Naamahninio · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute cute cute,
I had a bad time with the autor repeatedly saing the same things over and over and over again.
I would LOVE to see more of the relationship with his brothers, Cain really dodnt get much spotlight.. Achilles is my spirit animal.
A cute book to pass the time and warm your lower regions

[Nicole Moon · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5ish/5 stars

there were some frustrating/annoying little things around the romance but overall it was a really fun, quick, enjoyable best friends to lovers romance, and i really liked Kenan and Eve!

[Kristina Birch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best friends to lovers mixed with a long time unrequited love!

I was crying by page 12, that’s how good the pining and longing is! Kenan’s support of Eve is wonderful and her defense of him is so powerful.

This was the perfect ending to this trilogy.

[Lacy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best friends cross the line between friends and lovers, upsetting the balance of a life-long friendship in The Perfect Fake Date: A best friends to lovers romance, Billionaires of Boston #3, written by Naima Simone. This sexy, emotional, insightful dual POV friends-to-lovers romance goes much deeper than two best friends transitioning from friends to lovers, examining the familial bonds that shape and make us who we are and complicate every relationship we form. Setting this novel amongst the interrelationships of three families, Simone brilliantly explores family secrets, the difficulties of being your true self with your parents, and the conflict between living your dreams and respecting the sacrifices they’ve made for you. I love the angsty pangs Simone’s writing elicits with the pining and longing between these two friends trying to find their footing before and after discovering the attraction and chemistry simmering between them is explosive. It’s one of the best parts of friends-to-lovers romances—the pining and angst of feeling/fearing your love is unrequited, then discovering that the attraction, at least, might not be one-sided. Simone gets it exactly right. She captures the moments of being comfortable in your platonic friendship and then suddenly being faced with all the awareness, heat, and attraction that’s been there the whole time and no longer being able to look away or pretend it doesn’t exist. Simone’s vivid description and character development and evolution drew me into the story, keeping me reading all night till sleep made me put it away for the morning. I love how Kenan’s and Eve’s friendship has so much intimacy and emotional depth.

Kenan Rhodes wants to prove himself a worthy family member of Boston's wealthiest, most coldhearted billionaire, knowing it won’t be easy since he’s his secret son. But having Eve Burke, his best friend of 15+ years, at his side helping him will make it easier for him, as her presence brings him comfort when it isn’t driving him crazy with desire, longing, and unrequited love. It’s bad enough she doesn’t return his feelings, but the fact that she loves his older brother by adoption makes it that much worse. However, the time has come for him to accept that she would never see him as anything other than her best friend. He needs to move on. So, he made a deal with Eve to help her get his brother’s romantic attention in exchange for her professional support and help with a business project. Generous, sweet, encouraging, determined, meticulous, and creative, Eve is a teacher who designs lingerie on the side and has dreams for her future vastly different from the life she lives. One is to finally get Kenan’s older brother to notice her as a romantic love interest. The other is to commit herself fully to her lingerie design business. Kenan lives his life hiding his real emotions behind a façade, using different masks with the people in his life. Intelligent, proud, resilient, driven, loyal, honest, and resourceful, He’s burdened by so many emotions—fear, guilt, resentment, fury, shame. A lifetime of coming second to his brother in the eyes of the family who adopted and raised him has left him unable to trust and believe that he could ever be anything but second best to anyone. Can he risk losing the most important person in his life to his brother?

Full of emotion, steamy romance, and secrets, The Perfect Fake Date: A best friends to lovers romance is an intense, captivating, angsty, and sexy friends-to-lovers romance that wonderfully explores themes of friendship, family, first love, self-worth, and parental approval and abandonment.

Advanced review copy provided by Harlequin Desire via Netgalley for review.

[Aly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I know that the year is very young but this is one of my favorite cover so far. So pretty and I love all the details!

Eve Burke is a teacher who also have an online store designing and selling lingerie catering to plus-size women. Her best friend, Kenan Rhodes, have a business and personal deal for her.

An adopted son who tried to find his place in a family that always made him feel he didn't mesure up to the biological son, Kenan learned, when the man passed away, who was his father ("a brilliant businessman and a ruthless bastard") and met his half-brothers. The three men have to run together the family's business for a year or the company will be sold to others. The pressure is high for Kenan who wants to prove himself to his new siblings. His friend's business could help him with that and in exchange, he'll help her catch the man she had a crush on for so long : his brother.

From unrequited love to friends-to-lovers, Eve and Kenan will both learn that the pressure they put on themselves to be perfect would lessen with the right person and that they would be perfect for each other.

These two tropes are not in my favorites but I really enjoyed this book because Naima Simone have a knack for making me fall in love with her characters. And the sexy times full of heat and intensity are always sweet.

[Page Passion · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eve and Keenan: cute friends to lovers romance! I did not love all of this but there’s just something about Naima Simone's writing that I enjoy. Now, friends to lovers is very hit or miss for me as a trope but put in the right author's hands it could be really good. I did enjoy the fake dating aspect and trying to hook her up with his brother and watching the hero Keenan have to seeth with jealousy that he’s helping his love hook up with his brother. There is a particular scene where the heroine gets a little bit of a makeover and the hero grabs her hair and says "this is mine" meaning her beautiful curly natural hair and I’m like yes Keenan! that was such a hot emotional moment that I absolutely loved. Props to the author for that.

Of course since it’s a Desire you have the soap opera scandal and antics. That always makes for interesting yet contrived drama. But I like the Boston setting and I like the friendship and interaction and the ease that the two characters had. I just wanted more of that Kenan in sparkle that I got in book 2 with his brother Achilles. They had such a cute rapport and they had it a little bit in this book but not as much. Other drama overshadowed it. If you’ve enjoyed the series thus far or never read the author before this would be a good place to start.

[Courtney · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley. Review is based on purchased print copy. All opinions are my own.
The Perfect Fake Date has all the elements I love in a romance, like friends to lovers, the man pining for the woman who takes time to notice him, and fake dating to obtain the notice of the man’s brother.
With that setup, I was not disappointed. I love Kenan and Eve together, and I was so happy when she realized she had feelings for Kenan instead of Gavin (although Gavin isn’t a bad guy, necessarily).
I also love how both had family issues to work through. Eve’s relationship with her mother, who didn’t want her to pursue her current line of work, was well done. And there’s a big reveal on Kenan’s side of things that really makes him question everything, but I appreciate the way it was handled within the space allotted, reinforcing the bonds of unconditional love and forgiveness among family.
I really liked this, and would recommend it to anyone who likes category-length contemporary romance.

[Vilma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Friends to lovers and lots of secrets revealed

I’ve loved the Billionaires of Boston Series and this conclusion didn’t miss a beat. Eve Burke and Kenan Rhodes, the youngest of Colon Farrell’s bastard sons have been best friends since he met her as an adolescent in his adoptive fathers office.

The fake date part of the title deals with Eve’s misguided and childhood crush on Kenyans older brother, Gavin. Kenan makes a deal with Eve to help her gain his brothers attention in return for her secret (to her mother) design skills and lingerie business.

One date to reel in Gavin, one hot kiss during a sexy dance on the clubs dance floor and Eve’s crush dies while confusing her feelings for her best friend.

I loved the adoptive parents reveal (I knew it, I just had that feeling), and this closes out the last mystery of the three Farrell brothers. Eve and her mom reconciling over her hidden, yet highly successful business is perfect, but it doesn’t overshadow the romance and love aspect of the story.

Kenan and Eve get their happy ending.

[Latesha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Since discovering that he is one of the biological sons of a cold billionaire, Kenan has wanted to prove that he is worthy of his adoptive and biological families. He enlists the aid of his best friend, Eve, who he has been secretly in love with for years to help him with his business plan. He offers to help Eve get her heart's desire by attracting the attention of Kenan's brother in exchange for her help. As the two grow closer, Eve begins to wonder if she has had feelings for Kenan all along and if she is willing to risk their friendship for a chance at love. Loved how neither realized that the other was a possible romantic interest for the other. Both needed to learn how to fight for what they wanted and to live for themselves instead of trying to make others happy. Enjoyed this third book in the series and look forward to reading more from this author.

[Brenda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kenan Rhodes has to work at a company for 12 months with his nearly discovered brothers. He has a best friend named Eve Burke. Eve is a teacher by day but has had an upcoming business that she does online, Kenan asked her to take her company public and be part of a new store he was opening. In exchange he would help her date his brother Gavin. Once he helped her and the makeup and gave her dating tips, he realized he wanted Eve for himself. He was adopted and wanted to know who his biological mother was. Achilles his newly found brother found out that information for him.
His adoptive family had always been distant from him and now he knew why. Kenan found answers and a new family who cared about him for him.

[Novel Obsession · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kenan makes a deal with his best friend, Even. If she will be his fake date and provide him backup as he navigates proving himself worthy, he will help her catch the eye of one of his older half-brothers. As both characters work to prove themselves to their families in their own way, Kenan and Eve may find themselves falling for one another. The story line is a bit of a trope, but it is told in a sweet, engaging way. You also have to love Eve, a strong female lead leading a double life as a beloved teacher by day and a savvy lingerie designer and business owner by night. Just don't tell her mom.

Disclaimer: A copy was provided by the publisher.

[Shone · Rating 5 out of 5]

Favor

A well-written story. I had to decompress after reading "The Perfect Fake Date by Ms. Simone, this story was about more than a date. Kenan and Eve supported each other through the good, bad, ugly, and indifferences, but nothing could take away their fears when it came to their parents. At the start of the story, I had issues with Kenan but in the end, he was my favorite character. Read "The Perfect Fake Date to see if he will be yours.

#MamaToni'sBookNook #CillasBookManiacs

[Selena Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

Is this what love feels like? Kenan and Eve are amazing. I enjoyed this story from beginning to end, and it was a good quick read. The supportive words and actions from both characters, was so wholesome. They spoke affirmatively to each other regardless of what was going on in their lives and that did it for me.

I was highlighting paragraphs back to back. I’d imagine Naima’s keyboard was on fire as she typed this one out.

[Mary Calton Gerard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Inspiring and wonderful ✍🏾

The friends romance presented more than a love story. The 30 years of lies paralyzed the character "Kenan" from insecure and feelings of not deserving love for the character's future. Lies from four years threatened to come between mother and daughter. The mother's comment on loving Jesus and sexy panties was accurate. The series has been entertaining, awesome and thought provoking.

[Nikenya Rodney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hot friends to lovers story

Kenan and Eve got on my last nerve but I still love their journey to love. They are a perfect example of how communication could have saved a lot of time and heartache. I'm glad they finally got it together. Sometimes your good thing is right in your face and you just need to recognize it.

[Shun Harper · Rating 5 out of 5]

Friends make the best lovers

Keenan & Eve had chemistry and a deep love for one another that they weren’t willing to admit to. This story gave us friendship, hidden love, the unknown family drama and much more. I recommend the whole series to anyone looking to emotionally connect with the characters.

[Tati Richardson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a serious Naima Simone stan I do not care what she writes. I will read it. I know she writes for Harlequin (and has written several things) but this didn't really feel like a Harlequin book. Because whoa... it was hot. So hot. Yes, the trope of fake dating is a little contrived but with Kenan and Eve, it didnt feel that way. Billionares want what they want and get what they get.

[Patricia Ivy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good Read!

I love this story - so many secrets, so much angst- but I will tell you…all this build up I WAS/am disappointed in the ending..not that it wasn’t ok. It’s was blasé/bland… forgiveness…I love you..the end. Any it wasn’t terrible but it certainly could’ve been a better ending. All in all, still worth the read!

[Kay Dee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Earn Me

Ms. Simone’s writing always shines! Enjoyed the Scandal vibe and Bridgerton references. In fact, Kenan brings to mind the actor who plays the Duke of Hastings from that show. Eve is Kenan’s match. Fan, fan!