{"id":69369,"date":"2023-03-16T07:30:12","date_gmt":"2023-03-16T11:30:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/?p=69369"},"modified":"2023-03-16T20:39:49","modified_gmt":"2023-03-17T00:39:49","slug":"release-arc-review-playing-pretend-by-eden-summers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/?p=69369","title":{"rendered":"Release & ARC Review: Playing Pretend by Eden Summers"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Playing Pretend by Eden Summers is live!<\/strong><\/h4>\n

A fun, flirty best-friends-to-lovers story that is full of chemistry and bursting with sexual tension<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Amazon<\/a><\/strong><\/h4>\n

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\r\n <\/div><\/div><\/strong><\/h4>\n
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Blurb<\/strong><\/h4>\n

One bed. Two best friends. Three nights playing pretend.<\/span><\/p>\n

When I agreed to let Rome be my fake boyfriend on a work trip, I didn\u2019t think acting like a couple would be that complicated.<\/p>\n

He\u2019d flash his killer smile at my colleagues.
\nImpress them with his charm.
\nWhile keeping my toxic ex at bay.<\/p>\n

But that\u2019s not the reality I\u2019m currently drowning in.<\/p>\n

From the moment we arrive at the resort Rome\u2019s hands are all over me.
\nHis whispered words in my ear more scandalously filthy than sweet.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s acting like a lust-drunk fool who\u2019s dying for a taste and I can\u2019t stop blushing\u2026 Or panicking\u2026 Because there\u2019s only one bed in our hotel room and Rome Cavanaugh wouldn\u2019t know how to sleep in anything other than his birthday suit.<\/p>\n

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Add to Goodreads<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

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Review<\/b><\/h4>\n

3.5 stars!<\/b><\/p>\n

A fun, flirty best-friends-to-lovers story that is full of chemistry and bursting with sexual tension, this is my first book by Eden Summers, and it\u2019s an enjoyable \u2013 though slightly angsty \u2013 read.<\/p>\n

Piper is heading off to a work retreat, and needs a buffer from her stalkery-ex-boyfriend. When her (and her brother\u2019s) best friend, Rome, volunteers to be her fake boyfriend for the trip, she\u2019s initially hesitant, given that he\u2019s a complete ladies man, and she\u2019s been in love with him for as long as she can remember. But when Rome dangles a job opportunity in front of her if she can withstand the pressure of the trip, she\u2019s all in.<\/p>\n

Rome has wanted Piper for a long time. There\u2019s a six year age gap between them, so he\u2019s kept his distance until they were both age-appropriate, but now they\u2019re both in their 20s and he figures this is finally his chance to get his hands on her in the way he\u2019s been dreaming of. Plus, he has her brother\u2019s blessing to pursue her romantically, so it\u2019s all systems go to change their relationship forever.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a fun set-up, and I saw so on board as Rome takes the opportunity to get his hands (and lips) all over Piper. He\u2019s pushing her limits at every turn, and having a fabulously fun time doing it \u2013 flirting with her, riling her up and constantly teasing her with more<\/i>. He has a filthy mouth, and is a little wild, and though Piper is terrified of giving in to him, there are times when the chemistry becomes all too much.<\/p>\n

I succumbed to temptation too easily. I rode my best friend like a pony at a carnival while he murmured heart-palpitating filth in my ear. <\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The sexual tension absolutely simmers between these two. You can feel how much they want each other, and individually you can see that they care for and want each other, but you wouldn\u2019t know that when they interact with each other. It\u2019s messy and overly-complicated, and the line between love and hate gets really blurry. It should be simple, but their situation is far from easy.<\/p>\n

It all comes down to the dreaded miscommunication. They\u2019re both madly in love with the other, but neither of them even hints that they want something more, for real. Piper dreams of true love and a family, and Rome has never indicated that he\u2019s interested in that – in fact, his wild sex life would indicate the complete opposite – and she doesn\u2019t want to risk their friendship for a fling. And while I initially really liked Rome, the more their time away together goes on, it seems like he\u2019s just playing games with Piper, and won\u2019t tell her how he feels or what he really wants. It\u2019s frustrating when you\u2019re desperate for some romance!<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re mine.\u201d He bridges the space between us, our mouths colliding in a searing kiss.<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But all of the angst and drama does drive some good character development. I enjoyed that Piper knew her worth and wasn\u2019t going to be pushed around, and I really enjoyed Rome\u2019s \u2018come to Jesus\u2019 moment. There\u2019s quite a bit of back and forth, but they do finally get on the same page, and I enjoyed watching two best friends finally come together.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe way I felt, and will continue to feel, is far more than friendship, and I think you know that.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve loved you for as long as I can remember.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The epilogue hints at a book for Piper\u2019s brother, Rett, and if he gets the second-chance-romance I think he will, I am really looking forward to reading more about him.<\/p>\n

I enjoyed this one. It was frustrating at times, but the build-up was there, and I did like seeing these two finally get their HEA.<\/p>\n

3.5 stars!<\/p>\n

Note – I listened to this as an audiobook, narrated by Gideon Frost and Samantha Brentmoor, and they do a great job with it.<\/p>\n

An Advanced Review Copy was generously provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.<\/i><\/p>\n

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  Playing Pretend by Eden Summers is live! A fun, flirty best-friends-to-lovers story that is full of chemistry and bursting with sexual tension   Amazon   Blurb One bed. Two best friends. Three nights playing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":69181,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","yasr_overall_rating":3.5,"yasr_post_is_review":"","yasr_auto_insert_disabled":"","yasr_review_type":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[443,25,9,29],"tags":[59,477,48],"class_list":["post-69369","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-brotherbest-friend","category-friends-to-lovers","category-romance","category-steamy","tag-arc","tag-eden-summers","tag-review"],"yasr_visitor_votes":{"stars_attributes":{"read_only":false,"span_bottom":false},"number_of_votes":0,"sum_votes":0},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Playing-Pretend.jpg?fit=200%2C300&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7gaNL-i2R","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69369","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=69369"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69369\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/69181"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=69369"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=69369"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=69369"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}