Duke: Faking the Play by Kayley Loring and Connor Crais is live!
An opposites attract, celebrity/sports fake romance that is funny and sexy, with epic banter and chemistry, and a gorgeously heartfelt romance. It’s lots of fun and such an entertaining read.
Amazon US | Amazon UK | Amazon CA | Amazon AU | Universal
Audiobook will also release March 30th with Connor Crais and Desiree Ketchum narrating. Featuring Mackenzie Cartwright and Evan Parker.
Blurb
#4 Callum Duquette. Placekicker for the Boston Tomcats. Former underwear model. NICKNAME: Duke.
I thought the most annoying thing about being a single dad was that my friends were always trying to find me a date. Until a sassy British ray of sunshine bumps into me at a bookstore. One accidental butt grab, a viral photo, and a lot of misunderstandings later, I find myself in a fake relationship with a movie star.
Now I’ve got my friends off my back, but the cheeky Brit has complicated my life even more.
She calls me the Duke of Grumpville.
I call her movies the end of civilization as we know it.
She calls my job “the wrong kind of football.”
I call her the one thing on Earth that can make me lose focus and control.
It’s getting harder to pretend I still want this to end after my team’s game in London.
I thought we were only faking it.
But getting to know the real Millie Darden changed everything.
Review
4.5 stars!
Oh, I loved this book! An opposites attract, celebrity/sports fake romance that is funny and sexy, with epic banter and chemistry, and a gorgeously heartfelt romance. It’s lots of fun and such an entertaining read.
Callum ‘Duke’ Duquette is a kicker for the Boston Tomcats NFL team. He’s a single father to an “ eleven going on Dad-you’re-a-constant-humiliation-risk ” year old, he’s known to be a bit of a grump, and he’s constantly avoiding his friends’ well-intentioned romantic set-ups. His life takes a dramatic twist when he runs in a gorgeous girl in a bookshop, and an almost-fall turns into a viral paparazzi shot, and suddenly the whole world thinks he’s in a relationship with a hot, young British actress.
Millie found fame in a Harry Potter-esque movie series, and is now shooting a new film in Boston. She’s also madly avoiding her meddling family’s plans to set her up for her brother’s upcoming wedding. Her run in with a sexy stranger in a bookstore puts her in an awkward spot when she learns that he’s a local sports star, and their awkward clinch looked like a whole lot more than it was. And as much as she enjoyed being wrapped up in his arms, she’s keen to deal with it as quickly as possible.
“If you’d like to have your people post an explanation of our unfortunate, very impersonal, non-canoodle incident on your official IG account, I’d be happy to use mine to clear up any misconceptions as to why I was clinging to your gluteus maximus.”
“And trying to rip off my shirt.”
“Yes, well, perhaps your publicist can articulate exactly why it looked like you wanted to make sweet love to my face.”
He smirked. “Right back atcha.”
The attraction is there, and when they realise that they could use the situation to get their friends and family off their backs, they decide to help each other out, going along with the story already in the media, and fake being in a relationship and attend some important social functions together. Side bonus – they get to spend more time together, which is good news, but it’s something that neither of them want to assess too closely, because they have plans to end things amicably a few months down the line. Hehehe.
“I’ve only starred in one of them so far, but I’ve watched enough romantic comedies to know that you are in grave danger of falling madly in love with me.” I placed my hand on his muscley, tatted-up arm. “But you must resist. Do not fall for my abundant charms.”
The tosser didn’t even blink. “‘Kay. Let’s exchange numbers and I’ll be on my way.”
From there, it’s a fun, playful ride of sarcastic banter, teasing, flirting and all-too-real PDA. Their wild attraction makes it all the more flirtatious and exciting, and things get even more complicated because Duke’s young daughter is a mad fan of Millie, which means their relationship moves from public photo ops to including quiet family nights in. Millie brings a spark of life into Duke’s boring world, she makes him happy, makes him laugh, and he soon realises just what he’s been missing in his life. Millie is falling just as hard, and it’s a gorgeous watching everything change for them.
“I want to stop pretending that this was just a fake relationship or a fun fling that isn’t meant to last. It may have started that way, but that’s not how I want it to stay, and I certainly don’t want it to end.”
They laugh together, they talk openly and honestly, and the chemistry absolutely sizzles! And when they inevitably cross the line, the sexy time is hot, steamy, nicely emotional, and a reflection of everything that’s growing between them. They have some issues to face, but the feelings are there, and they are strong, and nothing is going to stand in the way of these two getting their HEA.
“I want to be with you, and I want to think about you without thinking about when this will end, and I want to love you without limits … I don’t want to stop falling in love with you. I don’t want to pretend anymore.”
This is such a gorgeous love story that made me laugh and swoon. I fell in love with these characters, and loved watching grumpy Duke’s world get turned upside down by bright and perky Millie. The characters from previous books do make an appearance, but you can easily read this book as a standalone – just don’t miss out on the rest of the series, because each book is such a fantastic read!
I loved it – 4.5 stars!
An Advanced Review Copy was generously provided by the authors in exchange for an honest review.
Boston Tomcats
About Kayley Loring
Before writing steamy romantic comedy novels, Kayley Loring got a BFA in creative writing from a Canadian university and had a fifteen-year career as a screenwriter in Los Angeles (under a different name). She mostly wrote PG-13 family comedies that studios would pay her lots of money for and then never make into movies. In 2017 she decided to move to the Pacific Northwest and write about all the fun stuff that she wasn’t allowed to write about in those PG-13 scripts. Now she’s breathing cleaner air and writing dirtier words. It’s an adjustment she’s happily getting used to.
Rest assured that her funny sexy sweet romances have no cheating or cliffhangers, and always have HEAs!
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About Connor Crais
Connor Crais is a classically trained actor living in the Midwest with his wife, two kids, and rescue greyhound. He has been both a stage and television actor, and before plunging into the romance genre, he had been narrating commercials, audiobooks, and explainers for well over a decade from his home studio. From alphas to bosses to cocky sports stars (a particular favorite), he loves sparring with beautiful, sassy heroines (and their talented narrators) but also loves winning them over and reaching that happily ever after. He is excited to now create those stories as an author.
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