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Sunday, May 26, 2024

ARC Mini-Review: Last Minute Fiancé (First Time #2)

Last Minute Fiancé (First Time #2)

Carrie Ann Ryan

Blurb:

A single drunken night changed everything.

One positive test later, and I’m not only pregnant with my best friend’s baby, but I’m falling for him too.

Except when my ex finds out at work, I do the worst thing I could at that moment: I lie.

I make up a fake fiancé and my boss overhears.

Now I need my best friend to play the part. He’s good at it, too, since we can’t keep our hands off each other.

When we’re both forced to lean on each other, we’ll have to face facts.

There’s nothing fake about this relationship.

Even if I’ll break my heart in the process.

Themes:  Contemporary

Rating: 4.25 stars

Heat Rating: 

Review:

Well, if you have ever wondered what happened when two people who are hiding their feelings for one another find themselves a little bit too drunk together, now you know. Carrie Ann Ryan takes us on a fun and interesting, but emotionally tragic and painfully traumatic story as two people slowly find their way out of the trouble them get themselves into and into the future of love and a new family within a family.  Luca Cassidy and Addison Lily haven’t been friends for a long time, but their immediate connection made their friendship deeper than either of them could ever explain to anyone else. The chemistry between them however is something that neither of them would ever acknowledge if they were sober, but one night of their inhibitions being down leave them with a lifelong consequence when Addison turns up pregnant.  At the same time, Addison is up for a prestigious promotion at work and needs to show she is a serious relationship so Luca steps in to fool her coworkers and support her like a good friend should.  But spending time together as a couple, even a fake one, means that Luca and Addison are finding it harder to hide their true feelings for one another and continuously fall to their passion.  But can they really get past their fears and past tragedies in order to give their future a real chance and find their happiness, or will all the obstacles in their way keep them from being a true family?

I will preface this part of my review by saying I am not a baby person, so whenever a pregnancy comes up in a story I tend to begin to lose interest, especially when they start to fast-forward and I know the baby will actually make an appearance.  But thankfully Ryan is skilled enough that I didn’t mind the little guy’s appearance in Luca and Addison’s lives too much and he added to their story instead of detracting as so often is the case.  Addison has been trapped for so long, slamming her head against the glass ceiling as she tries to make a name for herself in her chosen career, that she has lost site of the truth of happiness.  We don’t work to be happy; we work in order to find happiness outside of work; in order to live a truly balanced life, you must have more than just work in your life, and she just was not able to reach that until her epiphany and finally learning her lesson far too late in the story.  I loved seeing her eyes slowly being opened with the help of Luca and her friends and once she learned the lesson finding an all-new way to be happy in her career with a new and more fulfilling path. The love she denies having for Luca for so long is certainly obvious to the rest of us, but he offers him so deep a friendship and partnership that it’s still enjoyable to watch.  Luca is a sweet, lovable, affable, and giving individual that has had so much crap thrown at him in his life that I am thrilled he finally, if totally by an accident of fate, found a way to get his HEA with a woman worthy of his heart.  His past heartbreak and family drama makes him wary of his feelings in the beginning, but he quickly comes to understand and admit his love for Addison, if only to himself.  I also loved seeing how determined he was to show he was all in on being a dad and partner to Addison for every step and everything she needed as they finally made a future together.  This family is one that I am thrilled we are getting to learn more about, another spin-off of those crazy Montgomerys, but they are almost more heartbreaking to learn about at times than even the originals. Carrie Ann never lets me down and her skill with a plot and characters terrifies and amazes me more with each story she sends my way.

*eARC provided by author for the purpose of an honest and unbiased review.  No compensation was provided.

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