Hello, my friends!
A reader suggested these Friday posts focus on general cliches, and I love that idea! For a few weeks, I’ll be grabbing books that fit a particular cliche. The theme this week is fake relationships. Let me know if you have an idea for a popular cliche/trope!
As always, all images and descriptions are from Amazon. As an Amazon Associate, I earn commission from qualifying purchases.
Be well, and happy reading!
Paige
P.S. Nothing to do with this post: I cannot find a book! I thought it had been on one of the book lists here, but it is eluding me. Does anyone remember reading a PNR where our FMC is heading off to college and winds up living with a bunch of demons? There are vampire, merman, incubus, cat shifter twins in her harem/house. Help a girl out pleaseeee.
Alpha Andrew isn't interested in love, or marriage. He'd much rather hunt down the scum that's been haunting his pack and assaulting women, but he can't run away from his pack's expectations. He has to provide the pack with a Luna.
Lance has never had a chance at a real relationship. He's hated by most and stays to himself and out of the way. It's a fate he expects to live out until his half-brother one day snaps and kills him.
Love isn't something that Xavier has ever cared about. Bodyguard to the Alpha he's exposed to all kinds of willing women and he's always ready to take them up on their generous offer. Anything real he doesn't deserve.
Laura just wants to blend in, she’s never been one that likes standing out, not after the past she's had. But after breaking something of her Alpha’s, she’s forced into pretending to be his future Luna. If she fails she knows she'll be exiled. But she can't stop herself as she gets involved with the three different men and a heart once shuttered, opens.
But everything changes once she discovers more about the mysterious assailant and the ties he has to her own past and the dark secrets she harbors. Will she share what she knows and risk her happily ever after or will she let the pack suffer?
A slow-burn romance, but still with steamy situations, adult language, and content dealing with an abusive ex, this story is a #whychoose for adults.
Cheated on, lied to, fooled so easily…
I missed every single red flag, and looking back, the signs were never there. So how did I spend so much time loving someone who threw me away for one night with someone else?
My step brother hated him before, but now? Now he wants to pick up all my broken pieces… Show me how it feels to be worshiped.
There’s no future for us though, we could never work, but Octavio doesn’t care, he wants me, and he’s making that clear every chance he gets… Says he’ll do whatever it takes to get my body back under his…
So what do I do? Well, I got a fake boyfriend in an attempt to scare off my step brother, and a very persistent, stalker like ex-boyfriend.
And don’t even get me started on my new study buddy…
Annoyingly, these men are not interested in taking no for an answer.
Contemporary RH romance, with Step Brother, fake boyfriend, and second chance romance themes.
Dumped is a reverse harem romance, meaning our FMC will have more than one love interest and won’t have to choose between them at the end. The SCU series consists of 7 stories all set in the university and shared world, and each can be read independently and in any order. Dumped is the Fifth book. Standalone HEA.
Fake an engagement they said. It’ll be easy they said...
Well, let me just tell you - faking anything when it comes to the Ontario brothers is nearly impossible. My name’s Audrey Littleton, quiet bookstore owner, who tends to leave the house only for groceries and girls’ night with my three besties. Everything in Sugar Bush, Colorado was going as it always did. At least until Jayden Ontario came tumbling into my shop with quite an… odd request.
Pretend to be engaged to him or one of his two brothers.
The issue? They’re not only the CEOs of a multimillion dollar company in the next city over, they’re also triplets. Somehow though, I’m roped into their plans, but when we start to gain some unwanted attention, our secret may not stay that way despite our best efforts. Will we be able to get away with their plan or will it all come crumbling down around us, taking their company and reputations with it?
Book 1 of the Besties & Booze shared universe
The Besties & Booze Series is a WhyChoose/Reverse Harem shared universe meaning the female main character in the story doesn't have to choose between her love interests. Each book ends in a HEA and can be read separately, but it is recommended to read in order.
Thoughts from Paige
Super cute book! I love the fake relationship trope, and I feel like the dynamic was handled quite well.
WANTED: Three fake boyfriends. Must be tall, ripped — and willing to teach me how to kiss.
My name is Layla Thompson, and I am undateable.
Seriously. I’m twenty-eight and I’ve never had a boyfriend. And with my thirties rapidly approaching, I’m starting to lose patience.
Lucky for me, I have three overprotective best friends who are all-too-eager to help hone my dating skills.
There’s Zack, the huge rugby player with the cheeky grin and rippling biceps.
Josh, the boy-next-door with the sculpted jaw and calculating stare.
And Luke, the silver-haired divorcee… who also happens to be my old professor.
After a bad date leaves me crying on their shoulders, the three men are determined to help me find a guy. Together, they agree to be my ‘practice boyfriends’, and come up with a lesson plan packed with fake dates, make out sessions, and classes on flirty texting. In return, I just have to make an appearance on their relationship advice podcast once a week. Easy.
But as my lessons become more and more intense, we soon find ourselves getting in too deep. Every butterfly-inducing touch lingers a little too long, and every molten kiss ends in fireworks. It’s not long before I realise that their friendship isn’t enough for me anymore. I want more.
The guys have been teaching me how to get a boyfriend, and now it’s time I put their lessons to the test.
Three times over.
Faking With Benefits is a sizzling fake dating romance featuring multiple love interests, tons of molten fake relationship heat, and a whole lot of heart. No cheating, and an ultra-sweet HEA guaranteed!
Thoughts from Paige
I have read and enjoyed every book by this author to date. Definitely recommend!
Who picks up a hitchhiker in an area they’re just passing through?
I don’t know if these two guys are crazy, or just incredible.
Hannah Howell finally did it. She finally packed a bag and left her abusive boyfriend. But now what?
No phone, no car, no other choice, Hannah hops on the highway to hitch, heading to California in the hopes of staying with her cousin Zack and his partners. She strikes it lucky when Nathan Greene and Jeremy Webb stop for her.
The two best friends, stressed out from work, are taking a road trip, ready for some adventure. But maybe they end up with a little more than they bargained for when they pull over.
She’s cagey, understandably, so Nathan makes a secret suggestion to Jeremy: a fake relationship between the two men to set her mind at ease. What he doesn’t admit is how badly he wishes it were real.
And what he doesn’t know is that so does Jeremy.
But fate put Hannah in their path for a reason, and she might just be the missing spark to start a blaze between them all. And when Nathan and Jeremy come together at last, the sparks become a raging inferno.
Will this turn out to be no more than a passing fling?
Or are these three broken hearts made to fix each other?
Just Passing Through is a bisexual menage romance with high heat MM and MFM scenes. (Swords do cross in this one!) It has no cliffhangers and no cheating, but it does have lots of steam and a happily ever after for everyone involved.
Thoughts from Paige
This is not an RH, this is MMF. I have read this and I liked the twist on the fake relationship, so I'm including it.
When my brother's hottest childhood friend calls to invite me out to Hawaii, I'm intrigued. But when I learn he and his two Special Forces roommates need me to act as a "wife" as well, what's a cold Minnesota girl to do?
Jace is everything every girl dreams about: six and a quarter feet of pure muscle wrapped in Green Beret camo and Army tactical gear. It doesn't hurt that his broad chest is decorated with a whole rainbow of ribbons and medals. Or that his two closest friends - Merrick and Aurelius - are also his brothers-in-arms, their inseparable bonds forged in the white-hot fires of combat.
But Jace needs a favor... and that favor requires me. His very freedom relies on a little white lie, and with the help of his roommates, we need to pull off the illusion of being a happily married couple.
Yet living with three ripped, gorgeous soldiers is fraught with its own set of perils. Merrick's a hotshot chopper pilot with shoulders for days, smoldering blue eyes, and a lady-killer smile. And Aurelius is a Navy SEAL with the chiseled build of a Greek god, as well as an accent so exotic it melts me into a puddle whenever I'm around him.
It turns out these boys need favors of their own, and I'm only happy to oblige. But they also harbor a butterfly-inducing secret: as with everything else in their closed little universe, this trio of soldiers likes to share.
Can a lonely Minnesota girl actually fall for her brother's best friend and his two incredible house-mates? Or is my secret "marriage" doomed to failure before the honeymoon even starts?
SECRET WIFE TO THE SPECIAL FORCES is a military reverse harem love story filled with suspense, humor, and love three times hot enough to melt your kindle into a bubbling pile of plastic and glass (author not responsible for molten kindles). HEA guaranteed!
Thoughts from Paige
I'm reading this right now. Very sweet so far. Also, very full of sexy times. I made the mistake of reading this at work during my launch break... cue frantically skipping ahead several pages. HA! This is definitely a spicy-sweet read.
ATTENTION: release will be on January 4th 2022.
WARNING: this duet is part of The Preacher's Daughter universe and should be read after The Pact and Twisted Sinners.
All I wanted was to be free, but instead I’ve been on the run for a year, trusting no one.
The nights are dangerous and lonely, and haunted by memories of my evil ex and the family that sold me to him.
My four saviors have demons too, that ride them day and night, but just maybe I can help save them too.
A fake engagement could be the solution to all our problems, but my husband and the cult are looming over all of us.
He’s a monster and he won't stop until one of us is dead.
He forged his power in Fire and Brimstone but I’ll fight for my own freedom and for the men who mean everything to me.
Warning: this book is part of a duet and ends in a cliffhanger. This is a story where the heroine won’t have to choose between her different love interests and has hot scenes, swearing and mild violence. Some scenes might be distressing to others due to PTSD.
Suitable only for readers aged 18+
Phantom of the Opera meets Steamy Reverse Harem Romance when Nadia is shared by her four gorgeous theater colleagues.
My first time on Tinder was a doozy.
Four handsome theater men when all I expected was one.
But then they laid a breathtaking proposition on me.
One that dropped me, quite literally, to my knees.
They want to share me…. In every way.
Ryan, the redheaded stagehand bulging with muscle, is looking for a friends-with-benefits situation.
Andy, the bespectacled lighting technician with the body of Adonis, wants to court me on elaborate dates for a long-term relationship.
Dorian, the slender actor with long hair and a dramatic flair, just wants a platonic friend.
And Braden, the beautiful lead actor who I have a huge crush on? He needs a pretend-girlfriend to get his parents off his back.
Juggling these four gorgeous men ends up being harder than I ever expected.
Especially when Dorian and I become more than just friends, and my fake relationship with Braden turns into something very real.
But something strange is happening at the theater.
Malfunctioning lights, equipment crashing to the stage, and broken trapdoors—it seems a saboteur is determined to stop us from making it to opening night.
And the worst part? Everyone thinks the saboteur is me.
Can I find a way to balance the intense love from these four amazing guys?
Or will I end up the saboteur’s final victim on opening night?
THE PROPOSITION is a suspenseful, steamy Reverse Harem Romance filled with humor, action, and a shocking twist-ending. It also contains sizzling hot menage encounters, in single and multiple partner scenes. HEA guaranteed!
I have been trying to go through this list since you posted it but everytime I come here, that book you described is all I can think about, and I need to know, because I keep googling it and I can’t seem to find it, did you found out what’s it called? Because now I want to read it too lol
I haven’t!! I’m losing my mind. I actually went through all the books I read that had the word demon in the description one by one yesterday. Nothing!! I’ve posted all over and haven’t gotten any bites. I’m about ready to do a post dedicated entirely to this book begging someone to know it. It would fit the large harem post I’m working on, which is why I thought of it at first.
I’ve never come up empty like this before. It is driving me nuts. I’ll definitely let you know if I track it down!
I’m part of a group at Goodreads and someone asked for a book yesterday, I think, that kind of reminded me of the book you’re trying to find, someone told that person the book they were looking for is called the Wild rites by Anne or maybe Anna Mcllwraith(?) I can’t remember her last name 😭😭 but I thought I should tell you in case it indeed is the book you’re looking for (and the one I want to read lol)
Unfortunately that isn’t it, but thank you so much for thinking of me! If I can’t find it after I finish looking through the reverse harems I am 100% going to do a scavenger hunt type of post next LOL.