When Kenneth Carter decides to retire, his son Denz steps up as a candidate for the position. No one trusts that he can be serious or dedicated enough for this kind of job, so he makes up a fake boyfriend. In walks Braylon, ex-boyfriend, once breaker-of-his-heart, who has a favor of his own that only Denz can provide. Now the two are fake-dating for the next few months… only Denz is struggling with how blurry the line between fake and real can be.

Classic ex-lovers, fake-dating story, with the added bonus of family drama, sibling rivalry/friendship, and sorting out the difference between who you are and who you think you’re meant to be. Weirdly, I thought I’d tried to read this story once a few years ago, and I spent most of the read thinking this was by the same author as the first book I read in 2024 (A Dash of Salt and Pepper by Kosoko Jackson). I finally figured out that this was not, in fact, the same book. I’d instead started and chose not to continue with Jackson’s I’m So (Not) Over You, which has a similar exes-to-fake-dating premise. Heh.

Anyway, I like the fake dating trope, and I liked the way this one featured strong family and individual growth and really good support systems outside of romance. I liked that it talked a lot about the importance of work-life balance (something that is woefully skewed in the US). I liked that none of the characters were wholly good or wholly bad. And I’m really excited that the next book by this author, coming out soon, will feature two of the side characters from this one. It’s already on my virtual TBR.