*3.5 Stars

Like others, I'm conflicted. I was super excited for this books as I've loved the others in the series. Heck, Jasmine Guillory is the reason I started reading for fun again! However, while the book was what you'd expect for fake dating , I really struggled to finish it.

This is the 6th book in the series, so it's safe to say that Jasmine Guillory has her style of romance on lock! But I think that's what made this book fall flat for me. It felt like the boxes were just being checked off, and even the arguments felt out of place and unnecessary (that one in the limo... I have thoughts). And towards the end, the time jumping really got to me. I'm not a huge fan of it, but it seemed to become more excessive as the book went on.

I appreciated shining a light on mental health for both of the characters and how they leaned on/into each other but I wish we saw more of Ben with his therapist. I think we saw her once or twice and then he starts skipping therapy and the focus is on the romance.

Anyway, it was good to see/hear from a few familiar faces in the universe and get a highlg anticipated update from one of my favorite couples!