The Almost Romantic

How to Date Your Fake Husband

De: Lauren Blakely

Narrado por: Vanessa Edwin, Teddy Hamilton

Fake engagement. Real marriage. Both have an expiration date in this spicy marriage of convenience romantic comedy standalone from #1 NYT Bestselling Author Lauren Blakely performed in duet by Teddy Hamilton and Vanessa Edwin!

“Marry me.”

They were the last words I expected to say to my fake fiancé, but I’m the kind of guy who doesn’t back down from a challenge. Pretend I’m engaged to my gorgeous and talented business partner to secure a business deal?

No problem. Agree to a no-touch rule even though she’s been driving me wild since I met her?

Challenge accepted.

Resist grinning like a damn fool every time that same big-hearted, sunshine-y woman laughs with my little daughter?

Done. So, yeah, when my fake fiancé’s vindictive business rival threatens to expose our make-believe romance, I can handle that too. I’ll prove our engagement isn’t fake – by marrying her for real. A marriage with an expiration date at the end of the year.

But that’s when I run smack dab into the biggest challenge ever – not falling madly in love with my wife.

©2034 Lauren Blakely Books (P)2025 Lauren Blakely Books

Loved this !

I fell instantly in love with Elodie and Gage. I loved their banter and their chemistry was on point . What made me love this story more was listening to it as well as following along. The narrators did a phenomenal job playing these characters and boy did I get a good laugh and blush during those steamy scenes. This was such a great book that left me with a smile on my face.

I ADORE Elodie & Gage!!!💋

Love love love Vanessa & Teddy in this one! They are two of my favorite narrators & they were perfect for Elodie & Gage!

I LOVED Gage & Elodie!! Their chemistry is off the charts, they are funny, sweet, spicy, & so so good together! They bring out the best in the other, & fully support the others dreams! And if you love when a man uses “my wife”, buckle up! It’s a favorite phrase of Gage’s😮‍💨

Elodie is bold, fun, sexy, & goes after what she wants. Gage is protective, sexy, sweet, romantic as heck, & just dang near perfect! Plus a man who sees the benefits of therapy, yes please!

This is a fun single parent, fake engagement, marriage of convenience story, that brings all the feels & all spice! 🔥

Wanting more

I love these two characters and the duel narration was perfect. This book was definitely a feel good heartwarming story.

The chemistry

I love everything about this story. It had all the best things that I look for in a Romance novel. The performers are amazing and I wish I could have them read all the books. You won’t regret reading or listening to this book.

Fantastic book

Every woman needs a Gage in their life. Even when he was adamant that he didn’t believe in love, the way he acted around and treated Elodie was swoon worthy. He was a busy man who owned a bar, was a single dad and wanted to expand his business. When a package got delivered to his bar with Elodie’s address, he used the mix up as an opportunity to ask her out. Little did he know that the date would get cut short, but change his life forever. Elodie is a chocolatier who is the guardian for her sister and is struggling to make ends meet. She has a huge decision to make about her business but can’t seem to get Gage off of her mind. When he shows up at her shop with her package she is mortified at first, but then owns it. She accepts the date and is disappointed when it gets cut short. Without even realizing it, they both start acting like their fake relationship is real. He becomes possessive (in a good way) and protective, while she becomes reliant (only when absolutely needed) and more confident due to his belief in her. Seeing some of their friends (characters from previous books) giving them advice was nice. I adored the interactions they had with the girls, Eliza and Amanda, and how well they all fit together. Her business rival was not a nice man and I liked how karma got him in the end. With an end date set from the beginning, they both realize they don’t want it to end, but don’t know how to admit it to the other. His plan to romance her and show her how good it could actually be was sweet and when he had his aha moment he didn’t waste any time. I V loved this book. It was funny, sweet, romantic and I didn’t want to put it down.

Vanessa Edwin and Teddy Hamilton were great as Elodie and Gage. I loved the dual narration. Each voice actor brought so much emotion to the character that it felt like I was living the moment with them. I would not hesitate to listen to another book that they narrated.

Chocolate, tatted bar owner and banter - Fun read!!

This was super fun, steamy and unexpectedly well thought out plot. Can never go wrong with this narration pair or this author!

What’s better than humor and romance? Nothing!

This one made me laugh and envy. I could almost see the characters grow and I’m here for it. Nothing like listening and chuckling in the gym while listening to this story. Somehow I’m rarely disappointed by a Lauren Blakely book. This certainly doesn’t disappoint!!

One of my favourites

From the first page to the last I was invested in Gage Archer and Elodie Starling’s story. Full of humour, laugh out loud moments and sizzling chemistry, this book will draw you in and you won’t want to put it down.

What starts out as a fake relationship quickly turns into a marriage with real feelings. The banter and camaraderie in this book was witty and I found myself through most of it. The relationship with Gage’s daughter, Eliza and his with Elodie’s sister, Amanda added an extra element to their story.

Both have struggled as single parents bringing up their charges and it was something that they bonded over and made their connection even stronger.

The Almost Romantic was an entertaining read with characters whose story I quickly became invested in. Vanessa Edwin and Teddy Hamilton were absolutely superb in their narration of this book. They captured the characters perfectly.

Sweet 🍫 & Spicy 🌶️ (NO spoilers, but tropes listed at the end of the review)

This was such a cute book with fabulous narration. But don’t let the illustrated cover fool you, this book has 6+ open door 🌶️ scenes!🔥

🎧 the audio was fabulous. It doesn’t get better than duet narration! This one was a little different though, in that the main characters were duet narration but the people in their respective chapters were voiced by that narrator. I.e Vanessa did the voices for everyone in her chapter (male or female) EXCEPT the MMC, teddy would jump in and do his part. Vanessa & teddy are both talented voice actors and did great as always. (A minor gripe- can we please pronounce “tamale” correctly? 😩 as a Latina it drives me crazy)

📗I LOVED a taller MFC. So rarely in romance novels are the female main characters above 5’3 or 5’4. Shout out to the representation of taller gals! Also, the therapy rep was a breath of fresh air 🩷 worth a credit/purchase? Yes! Lauren does it again. 👏

✨Tropes:
- Optimist/pessimist
- Single dad
- Single guardian “mom”
- Found family
- Marriage or convenience
- Fake engagement

🩷 Micro-tropes:
- “my wife”
- therapy rep
- tall FMC (5’9)
- business owners

SO CUTE and FUN!

Gage and Elody! Gah! They were so much fun together! They had a date, decided they didn’t want to mess up their business partnership with a romance BUTTTT of course couldn’t keep their hands off each other lol

Gage was holding onto some major relationship baggage from his first marriage but Elody just had a way of seeing things that helped him process that grief.

They started off as interested romantic partners to then business partners with a hint of romance to married to save her business to forever partners wit the help of their partners in crime lol (kids are amazing at times!)

It was so fun to watch Elody and Eliza form a mother daughter bond as much as it was fun to watch Gage and Elody form their bond.

The canter between them all was top notch! Aldo the girls and their spy seeking agenda was PERFECTION lol it’s just TERRIBLE that icky Sebastian went out of business 😂😂😂

The narration on this book was so eloquent and fun for my ears!

Teddy Hamilton is such a talented narrator and I thoroughly enjoy listening to a book where he is narrating.

Vanessa Edwin was absolutely perfect for this character. She very much made Elody alive in my mind and that doesn’t always happen for me. She is an amazing talent!