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Review / Release Blitz: Not Pretending Anymore by Penelope Ward and Vi Keeland

Title: Not Pretending Anymore
Authors: Penelope Ward & Vi Keeland
Genre: Standalone Contemporary Romance
Release Date: April 12, 2021
BLURB
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.
PURCHASE LINKS
AMAZON US / UK / CA / AU
Free in Kindle Unlimited
ALSO AVAILABLE IN PAPERBACK & AUDIO
PAPERBACK / AUDIOBOOK
MY REVIEW
Molly needs a roommate. Preferably, no, definitely, one without a certain body part. But then a gorgeous guy shows up and charms her so much she almost gives into his plea to allow him to move in. But nope, no dice. Until the yummiest cupcakes she's ever eaten show up on her doorstep, and she knows she has to let him move in. And thank God she does because the two of them become such close friends that she can't believe she ever said no to him at first. And bonus - they help each other out with the little crushes they each have on other people. So everything should be great, right? Roommates, friends, and getting the ones they wanted. So why are Molly and Declan finding themselves thinking of each other more than the ones they originally wanted? Can roommates turned friends turn into much more?

First, I have to admit that this one got to me on an even deeper level than the deep level most of Penelope and Vi's stories do, because of Molly's situation with her father. So if I sound a bit weepy in this review, that's why. Now onto said review. I absolutely loved this slow burn, friends to lovers story. The way Molly and Declan seamlessly became friends, the vibe between them was so fun to read, lighthearted and felt as if they were people I would actually know and like. Then in a serious moment when Declan bares himself to Molly and tells her about his emotional state, I felt for him and it endeared him to me even more. He's such a sweet, swoony guy with his big heart, his charming grin, and the way he takes care of his pink-loving Molly. And Molly is the kind of heroine I like most - sweet, with a loving heart but strength that is apparent. Then of course, that dad situation. It aligned so closely to my own relationship with my father, that when at the very end the way Penelope and Vi included him? God it broke my heart and made me wish I could have had that after my father passed. But though I shed a lot of tears, I am in love with both Molly and Declan and their sweet, heartfelt story.
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.
FACEBOOK
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
AMAZON US / UK / CA / AU
OTHER BOOKS BY VI
AMAZON US / UK / CA / AU
Find more books at http://www.penelopewardauthor.com and http://www.vikeeland.com
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