REVIEW: Her Fake Engagment by Gigi Garrett
No artists, no smokers, no men with beards… Manhattan real estate broker Lottie Langerman feels confident that if she follows her long list of dating rules, she’ll meet The One and her life will unfold exactly as planned. Everything changes when her best friend decides to throw a fake bachelorette party—just to see what all the fuss is about—and Lottie reluctantly agrees to play the role of bride-to-be for a night.
Faking an engagement turns out to be more fun—and trouble—than Lottie could have imagined. Not only does her dream man think she’s taken, but Lottie keeps running into bearded Brooklyn jewelry designer Tyler, who breaks every single one of her rules…yet manages to get under her skin like no one else. Soon, Lottie finds herself at a crossroads where she must decide: Play it safe—or ditch the rules and follow her heart?
Dear Ms. Garrett,
The blurb for this sounded cute and slightly different from the usual small town cupcake baker stories all over the place now. Lottie is an unabashed New Yorker who wouldn’t trade her town for anything. In fact she knows it so well that she’s made a career out of finding people the perfect apartments and can sell a neighborhood to anyone. But what if she finds the perfect guy who doesn’t fit her list of dating rules? And what if he thinks she’s already engaged?
Lottie has her rules and her standards. Her friends might roll their eyes at both but Lottie feels, why settle when with a little work and an eye on the prize, she can have the perfect life in a wonderful city with – eventually – the perfect man? A girls’ night out with her now married – eloped while four months pregnant – best friend, who is determined to live a little while hubs watches the baby back in the burbs, ends with a wild bachelorette party traipsing through the bar Lottie and Elsa May plus another friend Mia finish the night in. Determined to re-embrace YOLO and the wild fun of rhinestone tiaras and penis straws, Elsa May begins planning.
Lottie isn’t crazy about the whole idea but goes with the flow for her bestie – and the relationships between the women is one of the fun things in the book – enduring an 80s hair style, neon clothes and wearing a blinging rock of a ring on loan courtesy of the jewelry store where Mia works. It’s then that she meets the man who meets none of her rules who immediately notices her ring as he’s a jewelry designer. She’ll never meet him again, right?
Wrong as he snags her to find his younger brother an apartment and Lottie has to continue the fake engagement just a little longer. Then Elsa May, with the bit between her party planning teeth, gets the women out again and who does Lottie meet? Tyler might not meet her criteria but Lottie can’t stop thinking about him. Will her friends straighten her out and get her to dump her rules or will sticking to them get her her dream man?
I like small town romances but everyone can’t flee a big city with their tail between their legs. Lottie is the one who isn’t going anywhere and what a relief. She loves the life, the bars and restaurants and subway, take out and taxies. What I like about Lottie is she may be a little rigid but she’s real. The set up might sound silly but the faux bachelorette nights out could really happen and not just in a rom-com.
The story also has Lottie forced to examine where she is and how she’s gotten there. Her life is good – there are no prat falls or scenes designed to make her look foolish – but not quite great. I also enjoyed the interactions with her friends and how they seem like long time friends though everything isn’t always rosy. Tyler is a doll but he’s not super angsty nor fake faultless romance hero. The book ends on the right note of hopeful beginning – though there is an Epic (as Elsa May might say) wedding. And Lottie did just find Tyler that huge (by NYC standards) apartment. B
~Jayne
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Sounds cute. Hopefully, it will come up as a Daily Deal soon.