Release Blitz: Not Pretending Anymore: Penelope Ward & Vi Keeland

by - Monday, April 12, 2021

Not Pretending Anymore
Penelope Ward & Vi Keeland
Genre: Standalone Contemporary Romance
Release Date: April 12, 2021
Add to Goodreads
Buy Amazon | paperback (Kindle Unlimited) | Audio

Finding a good roommate through a classified ad isn’t as easy as it sounds.
I was starting to lose hope.
Until a knock at my door came and God answered my prayers.
Except…uh…wrong prayer, God.
I’d definitely requested the big guy find me a drop-dead gorgeous man on more than one occasion...just not as my roommate.
Declan Tate talked me into interviewing him anyway.
While he was amusing and charismatic, I wouldn’t have been comfortable living with a man, so I regretfully declined.
Then cupcakes showed up at my door—freshly baked by Declan and just as sinfully delicious as he was.
You could say he was persistent.
I eventually folded. It wasn’t like I had another viable candidate anyway.
Plus, I was interested in someone else. And Declan was into another woman. So it wasn’t like anything would happen romantically.
After he moved in, the two of us became the best of friends. We even started to give each other advice on getting our crushes to notice us.
Eventually, Declan concocted an idea: we should pretend to be a couple to make our love interests jealous.
I was hesitant, but went along with it anyway. To my utter shock, his crazy plan worked.
Now I was dating the supposed man of my dreams, and my best friend had the woman of his.
But there was one problem.
I couldn’t stop thinking about Declan.
Those feelings we were trying to fake?
Yeah…I wasn’t pretending anymore.

Molly is a hardworking nurse just looking for a good female roommate. She likes things organized, quiet, and works night hours. After careful consideration, desperation, and a bit of bribery, she agrees to let a man take the room. 

Declan Tate is persistent, charismatic, and fun. He makes himself right at home, fits into her life,  and they become fast friends. 

She has a crush on a Doctor and he is interested in his coworker. So these roommates turn into each other's wingman, tossing some jealousy in the mix, and garnering interest from their respective crushes. But sometimes what you think you want might not be what you really need. And sometimes it is hard to see what is really right in front of you. 

This is a funny, sweet, swoony, fake-relationship, roommates and friends-to-lovers, not-what-they-expected romance. It is a super slow burn, but full of flirting, innuendo, and sexual tension. It's about taking risks, being vulnerable, facing fears, priorities, and living life to the fullest. 

Like most of the books by these authors, there is an underlying bit of mystery and emotional issues that affect the characters and at times influence their choices. They challenge the other and shake up their perceptions and plans. There is some back-and-forth, angst, and soul-searching that needs to occur. I adored Declan and his big heart. I could understand his worries, but I loved how protective he was and how he tried to take care of Molly. And Molly was initially more rigid and sure of what she wanted, but starts to realize that everything in life cannot be planned for and controlled.

I think the authors did a good job with some of the more difficult and emotional subjects,  and also managing multiple love interests, and avoiding cheating. And Declan and Molly's personalities and connection just shined through and made me smile.
Molly is looking for a new roommate, but can’t find a suitable candidate after too many interviews. She was looking for a quiet, female roomie, but with few prospects she lets herself be talked into her last interview of the day, with a man. He seemed like he would be the perfect roommate (except for the part about not being female), but she was still hopeful to find a female roommate so turned him down. When he returned with cupcakes, she decided he was too perfect to turn away. Besides, he was pursuing another woman and she was interested in one of the doctors she worked with, so there would be no sparks flying in the apartment.

These two were such great compliments to each other. Declan and Molly quickly formed a friendship, and were invested in helping each other land their ideal dates. The plan is to build a little jealousy with their intended partners in order to increase their attention. I loved watching their friendship form, and the support they offered as they dealt with real life, not just the dating assistance.

This was a super slow burn. The heat between them wasn’t anything that felt like cheating while they were dating someone else, but their friendship definitely had them questioning if what they thought they wanted was real. The way they handled all the complex feelings and relationships was a testament to how they viewed themselves and each other -- they wanted honesty from those around them and they demanded it of themselves as well.

There was a surprising depth to some of the issues they faced as well. This is not just about who they are dating but how they see themselves, how they relate to the people in their lives, and where they see their futures leading. They had to deal with some pretty heavy events and topics, and each was handled with care and concern by the authors. The characters went through well developed arcs to find themselves at the end. I enjoyed this story from start to finish, and though I felt like it wrapped up very quickly, the build up to that point was definitely worth it.

PENELOPE WARD

Penelope Ward is a New York Times, USA Today and #1 Wall Street Journal bestselling author of contemporary romance.

She grew up in Boston with five older brothers and spent most of her twenties as a television news anchor. Penelope resides in Rhode Island with her husband, son, and beautiful daughter with autism.

With over two million books sold, she is a 21-time New York Times bestseller and the author of over twenty novels. Her books have been translated into over a dozen languages and can be found in bookstores around the world.


VI KEELAND

Vi Keeland is a #1 New York Times, #1 Wall Street Journal, and USA Today Bestselling author. With millions of books sold, her titles have appeared in over a hundred Bestseller lists and are currently translated in twenty-five languages. She resides in New York with her husband and their three children where she is living out her own happily ever after with the boy she met at age six.


OTHER BOOKS BY PENELOPE & VI

AMAZON US / UK / CA / AU
Free in Kindle Unlimited

ALSO AVAILABLE IN PAPERBACK & AUDIO


AMAZON US / UK / CA / AU
Free in Kindle Unlimited

ALSO AVAILABLE IN PAPERBACK & AUDIO


OTHER BOOKS BY PENELOPE



OTHER BOOKS BY VI

AMAZON US / UK / CA / AU


AMAZON US / UK / CA / AU

Find more books



You May Also Like

0 comments