“You are full of surprises.”
“On the night we met, you said surprises aren’t all they’re cracked up to be.”
“You’re the exception to the rule.”
Holden James has a dream to be a contestant on his favorite gameshow as a tribute to his late mother, who he always watched it with. His dream is about to go up in smoke after his boyfriend (who he was about to ask to join him on the show) dumps him and his backup plan also falls through. While drowning his sorrows in his sketchy hotel room in LA, he’s rescued by the sexy concierge, Leo Min, who shows up at his door with pizza and Monopoly to help pull Holden back from his pit of despair.
The chemistry sizzles between Holden and Leo which gives Holden an idea. If they can fool the casting directors into believing they are a real couple then Holden can fulfill his dream of being on the show and use the money to turn his life around if they win. Leo could use the money too so he’s on board with the plan. But convincing the casting directors may be the easiest part of their plan – lying to loved ones, confronting buried grief, and trying not to fall for his new partner will be the true challenge.
The plan wasn’t to come to Los Angeles and fall for someone. Then again, the plan never panned out at any juncture so maybe I should’ve expected this.
This story was lighthearted and fun but with a surprising depth surrounding Holden finally facing the grief over losing his mother several years earlier. Things are going horribly wrong for Holden when we first meet him but luckily his path crossed with Leo. I loved Leo’s character. He was very “go with the flow” but had depth too. The two of them together were cute. I liked their banter and they had good chemistry – which helped their cause to fool the casting directors. One thing I particularly liked was that they communicated well. They were clear with their arrangement, and when it felt like things might be changing between them, they acknowledged it.
I enjoyed all the build-up to their appearance on the show but I wish their actual time on the show didn’t come so late in the story and lasted for longer than it did. It was still fun, particularly with the angst that popped up, but I wish there had been more! Overall, though, I had a fun time reading this one!
The game of life is hard, and the rules are always changing, but with a good teammate by your side, it’s always worth playing.
The Book Boyfriend Addict 