Date Me Like You Mean It

I’m good at hiding my feelings.
Having to pretend I’m not in love with my best friend?
Pfft. That’s child’s play.

Here’s how I do it: I avert my eyes when he walks out of his room, shirtless in all his toned glory. I squash the butterflies that fill my stomach every time he slowly unfurls a dimpled smile. And, most importantly, I keep an arsenal of “personal massagers” in my bedside drawer. Wink.

Not to brag, but Aiden Smith isn’t hard to resist if you’ve been doing it for as long as I have. In fact, we might have continued as best friends forever if not for the fact that I needed him to play the part of my fake boyfriend.

Date me like you mean it, I told him. Nudge nudge. C’mon, just go along with a little lie, help a girl out, and then we can all return to life as we know it.

Except he veered from the plan.

He crossed the line.

Flirting with me when no one else was around? Pinning me down and kissing me like that? Okay, how exactly is taking off my bra part of the ruse, Aiden?!

I’d ask him about it if I could, but well...things got ugly and we’re not best friends anymore.

In fact, we’re the exact opposite.

Now, I have to play nice even though I want to crush his heart in the palm of my hand.

Pretending not to love Aiden was the easy part.

Pretending not to hate him?

Well...I might need a little more practice.

©2020 R.S. Grey (P)2021 Audible, Inc.

Adorable!

Like most of R.S. Grey’s books, this one was adorable and a lot of fun. Her books tend to have the perfect amount of sweetness with just a touch of angst towards the end. This one was slightly different in that there were two points of angst and different times of the book, but I actually really loved it.

Maddie and Aiden were a great couple, but even better friends. I loved their banter together and how you could tell that they would go to the ends of the earth for each other. Maddie had her moments of silliness, but that was definitely one of her more endearing qualities. I liked how focus Aiden was on his job to the point that it made him incredibly oblivious at times.

The story itself was pretty dynamic for this type of trope. Friends-to-lovers can lead to pretty fluffy reads and while this one was no exception, there was also a lot of emotion within it.

The narration was on point as usual with Luci Christian and Teddy Hamilton. This book isn't heavy on Teddy (haha), but Luci can definitely carry it on her own. She has a great male voice, so it never bothers me to listen to her chapters. I like how happy she always seems when she's narrating, which is also why I think she's perfect for R.S. Grey's books. Still drives me nuts that she pronounces the H before the W in words like "whipped" and "whirled", but I deal because I really enjoy her narrations.

Overall, I definitely recommend this one if you're looking for a light, happy read, with a side of solid emotions.

loved it

I really enjoyed reading this author.  I look forward to reading more books by this author in the near future.

Enjoyment

I read many reviews before going ahead with the down load of this book. I have to say, after listening, I just don’t understand the negative comments. I thought the narration was great. I liked both Maddy and Aiden. The story moved right along and I didn’t find any of it boring. If you are considering whether or not to take a chance, take the chance! I think some people are programmed to find the glass half empty! I really enjoyed this book and I’m glad it’s in my library so I can listen again and again.

Great performance but characters didn’t do it for me

The narrators did a great job - Luci and Teddy are favorites with me, and this was no different. But their performance was the only thing that kept me listening to the end. I simply couldn’t empathize with the characters. Maddie came across as immature, self-centered and unreasonably demanding, while I couldn’t get a grasp of Aiden’s character. Rather disappointing as the underlying trope is one of my favorites.

Great Read

This book left me with a great feeling! with the narrators, I feel like I could picture the characters more. Predictable in ways, but I loved it!