Fake Out

By iam on August 26, 2024

I enjoyed this much more than I expected.

MADDOX
The reason I rarely go home is three simple words: I'm a liar.
When the pressure to marry my childhood sweetheart became too much, I told her I was gay and then fled to New York like my ass was on fire.
Now, five years later and after a drunken encounter, I find myself invited to her wedding. And I have to bring my boyfriend—the boyfriend who doesn't exist because I'm straight.
At least, I think I am. Meeting the guy I'm bribing to be my boyfriend for the weekend makes me question everything about myself.

DAMON
When my sister asks me to pretend to be some straight guy's boyfriend, my automatic response is to say no. It's because of guys like him people don't believe me when I tell them I'm gay.
But Maddox has something I need.
After an injury that cost me my baseball career, I'm trying to leave my playing days behind and focus on being the best sports agent I can be. Forty-eight hours with my sister's best friend in exchange for a meeting with a possible client. I can do this.
I just wish he wasn't so hot. Or that he didn't kiss like he means it.
Wait … why is the straight guy kissing me?

Content warnings include: homophobia, biphobia, some language that is very trans-unfriendly.

The trope (fake relationship) is one of my favourites, but I was wary of the whole "straight guy lying about being gay to get out of a relationship with a woman" part. It ended up being fine because the various issues around that were explained and acknowledges as wrong, and then of course the guy isn't straight after all anyways...

The banter between the main characters was great and the jokes were funny. Maddox and Damon actually felt right together, but their relationship didn't dominate the book - both of them still had friends and family that played a big role, which lead to a big cast of side characters.

There's also important discussions about bisexuality and labels, and great friendship dynamics, though the drama was a bit cliché. I really liked the characters, and I'm looking forward to reading book 2.

Could have been 5 stars, but the language used is very binary and cis-normative, and ocasionally jokes were playing on stereotypes that could be considered harmful.