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It started with a slip of the tongue and an innocent lie.

When New York City Firefighter Theo Markham Jr. rescues a bunch of kids from a burning school bus, he’s plunged into the spotlight. Now, the handsome-as-hell rookie fireman is receiving invitations to black-tie parties, and single women everywhere are vying to be his date.

One slip of the tongue to the press has everyone thinking he has a girlfriend. The NYFD brass likes the image of a rookie hero who has a steady girl. They want him to represent NYC’s Bravest at some very public functions, so Theo has to find a girlfriend. Fast.

Billionaire fashion designer Victoria Holden is on her way to runway stardom. She’s determined to prove she’s not just an heiress living off her family’s money. She has the talent and drive to make her clothing business an international success.

When her first big runway show ends in disaster, she needs some good press. Pretending to date hero firefighter Theo Markham is just the thing she needs to salvage her damaged reputation. It’s all fake no matter how good he kisses…for the cameras.

She’s fiery and drives Theo crazy with a spark he can’t ignore.

But whoever heard of a billionaire heiress falling for a fireman? Especially in a city where lies can burn a relationship down faster than any fire.

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED AS FIERY BILLIONAIRE

Unexpected is a sizzling standalone billionaire romance. No cheating. No cliffhangers. HFN guaranteed!

Previously published in Sinners & Saints: Romance Anthology.as Fiery Billionaire

*Follow Deborah for Updates*

127 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 15, 2021

82 people are currently reading
204 people want to read

About the author

Deborah Garland

56 books751 followers
Deborah Garland is a top 45 Amazon Bestselling and a 4x Award-Winning author of emotional, funny, and steamy romances!

She loves pugs, Friday night Cosmos, and that feeling when she publishes a new romance novel.

She lives on the beautiful North Shore of Long Island and in the summer, she escapes to Maine with her very patient husband.

She eats cheap mac and cheese with expensive red wine, her heroes are ALWAYS over six feet tall, and they fall hard, HARD for the girl.

Visit her website --> https://www.deborahgarlandauthor.com/... to join her newsletter and browse her little love stories.

New Releases are always featured, but all books can be read as standalones. Don’t be afraid to jump in. The water’s fine 😊

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5 stars
73 (42%)
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63 (37%)
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26 (15%)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews
715 reviews5 followers
April 15, 2021
Theo. 26, is a rookie fireman who was driving by and saves some kids from a fiery bus crash. He is hailed a hero and hounded by the press and stays in room at a hotel owned by his sister’s billionaire husband. Victoria, 30, is a billionaire fashion designer who accidentally sets of a fire alarm with her cigarette smoking in that hotel where she is having a fashion show and Theo finds her. Due to a misunderstanding the press thinks that Victoria is Theo’s girlfriend. The fire department wants them to attend a gala together and they both agree. They are attracted to each other but Theo realizes that they can never be together because they come from very different worlds and he doesn’t want people to think he is just after her money. Will Theo ever feel more secure and be willing to become involved with Victoria?

I thoroughly enjoyed this story with the hero fireman and the trend, independent businesswoman who worked long hours to build her fashion business. The author did a great job developing their characters and showing why they acted the way they did. Theo had to realize that Victoria came from money but worked hard for her business but he still considered her world too different from his job as a rookie firefighter, so they could have fun now but he saw no future for them.There was irony of their coming together because of her smoking but his revelation about income from a family business was a little too convenient for me. The last chapter 4 months into the future was a great conclusion for their story.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Profile Image for Darcy.
1,702 reviews9 followers
April 15, 2021
This is an okay story that is a quick read with a romance between a billionaire fashion designer and an instant, but average hero. Theo happens to be in the right place at the right time and doesn't hesitate to risk his life saving children. With the spot light suddenly on him, he needs a fake girlfriend and Tory just happens to be handy. She has her own reasons for playing along, but the extreme financial differences comes between them. The big finish at the end was a little too cheesy for me.

The biggest takeaway from the book was a lack of research by the author. The two main characters meet because Tory sets off a fire sprinkler system in a resort hotel ballroom by simply smoking a cigarette beneath a smoke detector. While the detector could be highly sensitive and sound an alarm, a sprinkler is a separate function. They are not activated by smoke or the alarm, but through fire induced temperatures. If it were simply a matter of a lit cigarette, sprinklers would be going off continuously in every new building. A simple Google search could have eliminated this error and instead have the character accidentally break off a sprinkler head, which is much more believable.

As much of the beginning of the book is about Tory's so-called screw up and then the cheesy ending, I couldn't really find a reason to make the book memorable other than Theo's character.
349 reviews8 followers
April 15, 2021
First my usual points:
- I do not do spoilers unless warned.
- Read the summary above; it will tell you what the book is about. I will not reiterate.
- This is a standalone but part of the Lords of Gotham and Mallory Family World. It is a bit shorter than the author's usual books but no less complete!
- No errors that I caught as far as editing.
- The author was not new to me (She's one of my favorites!)

Star Ratings - 1 (poor) - 5(READ THIS BOOK)
Writing Quality: 5 stars
Pace/Ease of Reading: 5 stars
Characters: 5 stars
Enjoyability: 5 stars
Uniqueness Factor: 5 stars
Steam Level: 5 stars
Recommended: Highly

Victoria comes from money but she works hard regardless; Theo comes from a blue-collar background and has a slight misconception of those with money. The wrong time and place for a cigarette break and a hero rescue put the designer and the fireman in the spotlight suddenly. And an explosion between the two lead them down a path neither expected.

In this story we get a brief visit from our Lords of Gotham brothers as well as Victoria's brother, Carter and his wife from Mallory Family Book 5. As usual, this story, although shorter than her usual, is a complete and satisfying and steamy read of finding love where you least expect it.
972 reviews11 followers
April 16, 2021
Nice little romance. This was interesting, as the billionaire wasn't a devastatingly handsome alpha male, (the hero was though) but a lovely, talented young designer, Victoria. The first half of the novel was dynamic, with action and momentum. Our hero, Theo is a fireman, who saves 9 kids from a bus and as a result, is picked up by the media. Victoria's long-awaited fashion show is ruined by accidentally setting off the hotel's sprinkler system. So much for needing that cigarette! The two meet and sparks although fly, Theo's pride is unable to overcome his dislike for the financial disparity between them. There is not much realism in the story, for instance how likely is it that a fireman's sister marries into an every-member-is-a millionaire kind of family. The momentum sort of stops there, and from the halfway mark becomes a bit cheesy, with Theo's mass-witnessed showy declaration of love. The novel had kind, likeable characters and the storyline was told with good use of English, vocabulary, and good editing. There is a HEA but some of the questions thrown up in the book didn't get addressed. Nevertheless, it is an enjoyable, easy-to-read, steamy romance novel.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Profile Image for Debbie Orazi.
1,755 reviews26 followers
April 4, 2021
I liked the spin on this billionaire romance. The characters were believable and the story was engaging.

Theo Markham was a rookie firefighter in NYC. On the way to visit his sister he saved 9 school children from a burning bus becoming an Instant media attraction. At the hotel his brother-in-law's family owns he rushes into another potential fire when the ballroom alarm goes off only to find Tory smoking a cigarette.
Victoria/Tory Holden is a fashion designer and inherited a billion dollars from her family trust. She is having her latest fashion show in the Sterling hotel when she sneaks a cigarette break and causes the alarm and sprinklers to go of ruining the show and the ballroom. She confessed to the owners and offers to pay for all the repairs.
Theo is invited to attend a NYPD fundraiser and asks Tory to be his date. They hit it off and spend the night together, but he freaks out about the money issue. His sister gives him good news and he decides to make a grand gesture to get Tory to date him at a baseball game.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Profile Image for Korkoi.
7,091 reviews31 followers
April 15, 2021
Sparks Of Love -
Theo was a hot, single, down to earth firefighter and Tori was a single, down to earth billionaire fashion designer, who were inadvertently thrust into a relationship by the media, after Theo’s fib and Tori’s misadventure. Their agreement to pretend snowballs into something neither one of them expected, but what they soon realised was that they actually needed each other their lives. Their part to attaining real happiness was not smooth, but it was definitely steamy and fun.

This story is a fascinating tale about two people from different walks of lives, who were meant for each other, but didn’t realise it until fate intervened and sent them on a path that led them to a happily ever after. I can definitely say that this book is a great addition to the series. You will enjoy reading it and quickly realise that Deborah Garland needs to be on your favourite authors list.

I received an advanced copy of this book from Booksprout and I am voluntarily leaving a review.
Profile Image for Brenda.
374 reviews5 followers
April 9, 2021
I love romantic comedies that actually make me laugh. That’s exactly what I found myself doing with this book. Then again, I also found myself wanting to shake Theo a few times, all things considered, Theo and Tory seem perfectly matched, until the ugly specter of money is brought up. Money and age still seem to be the glass ceiling in relationships...men can be older or richer and marry poorer or younger women, but flip that around and suddenly issues abound. Theo certainly thought so here. I wasn’t completely happy with the way the money issue was resolved, but that would be a spoiler discussion best left for you to find out and decide for yourself.

Definitely a book worth reading and enjoying.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Profile Image for Terri Zumbrook.
2,800 reviews20 followers
April 15, 2021
So the book starts out with a bit of a twist on the billionaire trope where SHE is the billionaire, and Theo is the firefighter that just saved a bunch of kids from a burning bus. He doesn’t like people with money, but as the story goes on he sees that she works hard for what she enjoys doing - designing clothes - and isn’t focused on money other than to be successful at what she does.

A lot of the story has to do with being grounded and valuing the right things while living immersed in opulence. The only thing I didn’t like was the parts of the story connected to smoking.

This book has a light feel to it and a great ending.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
2,451 reviews15 followers
April 17, 2021
Deborah Garland's Fiery Billionaire, Book 5 in her Lords of Gotham series, is a fun and entertaining fake relationship rom-com. She takes the billionaire-blue collar dynamic and flips it on its end with fireman Theo falling for heiress fashion designer Victoria. When a heroic act puts the rookie cop in the spotlight, he dodges the women throwing themselves at him by saying he has a girlfriend. Needing someone to act as his gf, in come Victoria, trying to make her own name for herself apart from her family's money. These two have such a fun dynamic together and wonderful chemistry, and a fake relationship that inevitably turns real. A wonderfully engaging read!

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
5,665 reviews63 followers
April 26, 2021
Theo, a fireman, becomes famous after saving nine kids from a school bus fire. Evading the press, he stays at his in-laws hotel where Tory is doing a fashion show in the ballroom. She accidentally sets off the fire alarms and he finds her and when leaving the area, the press thinks she is his girlfriend. Stunned, they start a fake relationship while he is asked to attend certain parties, etc., as he currently is not dating anyone. Their romance turns real, but the money thing between them nearly crashes their happiness until a major surprise hits. Loved the characters and storyline, especially world series game and the ending. Well done.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Profile Image for Charmaine Nouwen.
5,468 reviews23 followers
May 10, 2021
Fiery Billionaire: A Sexy Firemans Fake Date Debacle Romance by Deborah Garland is a sweet,steamy and enjoyable a romance story of theo and Victoria..Theo is a NYC rookie firefighter and Victoria is a Billionaire fashion designer and shes on her way to runway stardom.and determined to prove that shes not just an heiress living off her family’s money. She has the talent and drive to make her clothing business an international success but in her first runway show ends in disaster, she needs some good press. Pretending to date hero firefighter Theo is just the thing she needs to salvage her damaged reputation. It’s all fake no matter how good he kisses���for the cameras.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
1,642 reviews15 followers
April 13, 2021
I really enjoyed this book. Theo was a fireman and jumped out of his car to save children from a burning bus. The media thinks he is a hero and start interviewing him. Because he is riding in a limo (his brother-in-laws) they think he is rich He gets flustered and says he has a girlfriend, none other than a fashion designer. They do have instant attraction, but there are issues as well. It's fun to see them navigate them as in this story, the girl has all the money and Theo doesn't quite no how to deal with it

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
4,330 reviews27 followers
April 20, 2021
I received an ARC from the author thru Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving my review. Theo and Victoria meet under crazy circumstances that lead to a fake relationship. Neither would have imagined that love would factor in. She is a successful businesswoman and he is a hero in public service. Theo has his hang ups though. He has to realize that they are both driven in their careers and passions. They both have followed their dreams. Money should not be the factor that separates them. I thought that their story was humorous but still full of emotion. I enjoyed reading it

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Profile Image for Debbie Benson.
9,735 reviews35 followers
April 14, 2021
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review. Theo and Victoria both tell a white lie to get out of an awkward situation which they confess to after. However it does allow them to get to know each other which they find themselves to be well suited. The issue of money does come up until Theo's sister makes him realize it is not an issue. I liked how Theo's confession and asking Victoria to be his girlfriend happened. It was a lighthearted book even if it dealt with what could be serious issues.
Profile Image for Opasan Ouprie.
1,198 reviews
April 16, 2021
Nothing like an older, wealthy woman and a younger man's story. This one he is a firefighter, and she is a billionaire. People have an issue with it when he makes a statement about the two of them. They end up just going with it and faking a relationship. After a time, they realize that they want more than just something fake. With the way people act about their age and money difference, can they have a HEA?

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Profile Image for Emily Pennington.
20.8k reviews362 followers
April 16, 2021
Theo Markham was a rookie firefighter who saved some school children from a burning bus. He became a hot media attraction. Tori Holden is a fashion designer with a big trust fund. The two were victims of the media’s exploitation but they went along with the pretense. They never expected what that pretend relationship would turn into. It was a bumpy ride to get there, but the two of them finally made it together!

The characters were likable and the story line was a wild trip! Grab your copy and join the fun by sharing their story with them!
Profile Image for Annette.
3,167 reviews9 followers
April 10, 2021
Entertaining, insta-love short story. One favor leads to another providing this couple with opportunities to explore. Theo adds heat to Victoria's workaholics' life. Victoria is business savvy but at times her actions seem immature. Their chemistry is enticing and individual hang-ups' surmountable, love is bondless. I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
12.1k reviews75 followers
April 10, 2021
The author has pulled us into the lives of Theo and Victoria/Tory and never lets go. These two have an attraction and seem like a good match, but throw in finances and an age gap and issues between the two of them will arise. Will they be able to move past their issues or will they allow the issues to tear them apart?

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
1,553 reviews10 followers
April 15, 2021
Beautiful love story
I loved Theo & Tory's will they won't they love story so much I almost read it in one go. Although they were related by his sisters marriage into her family there was also a hot chemistry between them.
He couldn't get out of his head though that she was a millionairess & he was just a fireman & but a surprise revelation by his sister stopped him from losing the woman he loved.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
4,302 reviews11 followers
April 15, 2021
This truly was a laughable experience reading this book. I loved the characters of Theo and Tory, very well matched when they are led together by some unforeseen events. Enjoyed how they ended up this storyline with Theo altering his thinking, but with Tory doing some growing up as well. That they not only fell in love but became friends as well enjoying their life together.

I am voluntarily leaving a review for this book that I received free.
Profile Image for Helena Mendes.
1,370 reviews16 followers
April 15, 2021
Theo and Victoria 's story is a nice change in the normal millionaire trope, for once it's the woman that's high powered and rich, even though she's 4 years older than him they are good together. I enjoyed the storyline it was a page-turner, had great characters, romance, steam, love, a bit of drama and even being short it didn't lack in content.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
4,629 reviews
April 15, 2021
This rom-com contemporary read is part of the Lords of Gotham series and it was hilarious.
Tory is after her big break as a designer to probe she's not just an heiress. Theo is a rookie firefighter thrown into the spotlight after a rescue.
I like how in this book the roles are reversed and believe Theo's hangups on it will make me want to smack him.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Profile Image for Vinessa.
1,951 reviews23 followers
April 27, 2021
Sweet,  intense beautiful romantic story.
Fake or not feelings happen.

Each character has their own detailed description of how the character feels and thinks

Anticipation

Temptation
Going out on a limb

Unplanned events

Confusing and conflicted affection
Drama
Just headed towards a happily ever after

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Profile Image for Barbara.
19.2k reviews8 followers
April 16, 2021
The fifth book in the Lords of Gotham series a well written story that held my interest throughout. Billionaire fashion designer Victoria Holden and New York City Firefighter Theo Markham Jr.'s story of a woman that is four years older than him. The story was well worth reading. I received a copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Profile Image for Deb.
7,561 reviews36 followers
April 20, 2021
A wonderful set of characters star in this fast paced story. I liked the switch up to the characters which gave it an interesting vibe. I liked how the characters met which was perfect for the story. I loved his character immensely - likable and lovable as well. A very enjoyable story.

I requested a copy of this book so I could provide an honest review.
719 reviews8 followers
April 26, 2021
Pretending you are in a relationship is not difficult when you are attracted to that person. However, things get out of hand when you find out that she is a billionaire. Then you see it. Knowing you come from different worlds, know that it can never be for real.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Profile Image for Madm007.
1,156 reviews6 followers
May 10, 2021
Theo and Tory, A Heated Romance

Loved the pace of this, it was a journey with never a dull moment in it. What started out as a charade, turned real, in a hurry. It was hot, emotional, and funny all blended to make a whirlwind romance with a little extra somethin' at the very HEA!
Profile Image for booklover0228.
826 reviews22 followers
January 15, 2022
loved it!

This is the second book in this series. Theo and Tory met when she is doing a fashion show at her friends hotel, she goes out to smoke and sets the sprinkler system off. Her show is ruined and she gets rescued by Theo who happens to be a fireman. He tells the press she is his girlfriend and thing take off from there.
Profile Image for Cecly Ann.
Author 21 books28 followers
April 15, 2021
Firey insta-love, entertaining story of the media's mistaken identity, between a fireman Theo and workaholic, billionaire fashion designer, Victoria.
Both grow and adjust their perceptions and values as their trope unfolds.
Profile Image for Kimberly.
456 reviews1 follower
April 16, 2021
A great romantic story and I enjoyed reading it. I loved the characters and the storyline. It had all the elements for a great romance.

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