5 SMOOCHES!
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SYNOPSIS:
A week-long trip. A fake marriage. And seven delicious nights with only one bed in the hotel room.
He’s my business partner, my good friend, and the man I’ve craved for years.
But I’ve resisted the sexy Brit, and I plan to keep up my walls because I’ve been there, done that, and I know how much it hurts when you let someone into your heart.
Then an opportunity comes along for us to snag the business deal of a lifetime.
The catch?
We need to pretend we’re married to pull off this high-stakes deal.
So the clever, charming man with secrets a mile deep becomes my temporary husband, as we travel around Europe. Soon, we fall into bed, tangled together like newlyweds who can’t keep their hands off each other.
One week to explore our fantasies, then we return to who we were.
But when I learn the dark secrets he’s been keeping, I doubt we can go back.
Because they change everything.
My One-Week Husband is a standalone romance!
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REVIEW:
Going into My One Week Husband, I was ready for a magical, seductive trip to France through Lauren Blakely’s eyes. I’ve never actually been there, but this was my third fictional trip—all of them thanks to Blakely—and she has definitely stoked an interest. Through her notoriously vibrant descriptions, I easily visualized the scenery, creating the perfect backdrop to this most decadent story in my mind. Blakely proceeded to take me along on this couple’s heart-racing romp through France with front row seats to a painful, poignant and passionate romance three years in the making.
If you’ve read Lauren Blakely’s work, chances are you’ve met this hero as he makes quite an impression in One Exquisite Touch, and the heroine pops up in that story, too. Business partners for the last year and colleagues who’ve worked together for three years, Daniel and Scarlett have become rather adept at fighting off the attraction they feel toward each other. Oh they may dance and flirt right up to that line, but they’ve never actually crossed it. A business opportunity brings them together, traveling through France, posing as newlyweds to scope out their target. This role playing, complete with costumes and disguises, added an almost clandestine feel to the story that was exciting, fresh and fun. But playing these parts gave them permission to act on their fantasies. The thing about fantasies, though, is that they often mirror true desire, and when Daniel and Scarlett brought to life what had previously lived in only their imaginations, suddenly fantasy morphed into a very authentic reality.
Daniel had a heart-wrenching history, and as Blakely peeled back his layers, I positively ached for this man. Everything about his life, up to this point, was tragic and harrowing and belied the happy-go-lucky, hedonistic pleasure-seeking businessman he projected. Scarlett had her own heart-tugging past, and in an effort to move beyond it, she clung to what was tangible and real in her life—deals and numbers and her beloved spreadsheets. Those were real, and they did not lie. The romance of this trip, the passion between them, the perceived protection of the roles they were playing did nothing to mask the simple truth that they were falling in love, though, and I was here for every second of it.
Drawn in from the start, Daniel and Scarlett’s attraction captured my attention, but it was the blending of their personal back stories and their joint present story that held me raptly engrossed. This story was as much about the healing of past heartaches as it was about the promise of new love. At times raw and emotional, Lauren managed to tell this heartbreaking yet hopeful and passionate love story without relying on an angst-filled or drama heavy tale. My One Week Husband was such a lushly told love story, and I just couldn’t put it down. A new favorite of mine from Blakely and a top favorite for the year! Five smooches from me for My One Week Husband by Lauren Blakely!
~Danielle Palumbo
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