Literally colliding with the hottest guy in the world and agreeing to be his date to his sister’s wedding? Done… for some reason.
Finding out he’s actually an aristocrat and will one day inherit an ancient Scottish dukedom and castle? Yep, that’s a surprise.
Sharing a bed with him at said castle because his family thinks I’m his girlfriend? Okay, I’m sure I’ll survive. Even if he does make my heart pitter-patter and my lady bits—uh, never mind.
Dealing with his family feud, his bridezilla sister, and his grandma’s gobby cockatiel who fancies himself the castle alarm system? It’s… well, it’s… something.
Oh, and a snowstorm, keeping my real identity a secret, trying to figure out where the heck I know the Glenroch family from, and why his mum keeps looking at me weirdly?
Yeah, that I’ll need some help with…
*Please note that The Problem With Pretending is set in the United Kingdom and is written in British English. It’s set in my aristoverse but is a complete standalone.
Review:
Such a cute romance! With a bonus castle 😉
Grace and William’s story starts with a meet cute, continues with an accidental fake relationship that morphs into a real one, and ends with a swoon-worthy start to a happiest of HEAs. In between there’s a snarky BFF, an even snarkier granny (because they’re an Emma Hart requirement, I believe), a mildly terrifying cockatiel/home security system, an inconsiderate snow storm, and a very considerate power outage. (Oh, dear! His phone isn’t charged? Better cling to each other for comfort in the dark…)
In other words, a pretty standard Emma Hart story. With a castle. Did I mention the castle?
Will is a swoon-worthy hero, even if Grace gets the lion’s share of the POV. He accepts her neuroses and gives her the space she needs to figure herself out, as well as the support she didn’t know even she required. Not gonna lie, I did think Grace was a bit OTT about her aristocracy hangups–not saying her feelings weren’t valid, but to base your future on someone else’s relationship woes seemed a bit much–and *really* didn’t see the direction things were going to take helping her to get over them. I’m pretty sure my jaw dropped on that one; hopefully no one was looking my way while I was reading! Kudos for Ms Hart going in a direction I didn’t see coming 😉
The Problem with Pretending is set in the world of Ms Hart’s Aristocrat Diaries books, but slightly removed–so if you’ve read those three, you’ll love the small glimpses we get into the HEAs of those characters, but if you haven’t (yet) you’ll do just fine since Grace spends 95% of her time trying to avoid that world, so…
Just don’t blame me if the single scene they’re all in inspires you to binge that series. #sorrynotsorry
Rating: 4 stars / A
I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.