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A golden retriever\/black cat fake marriage of convenience romance, this is such a sweet read!<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n “You know, Wildflower, I think you just ruined me.”<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n SUMMER Our chance encounter soon develops into a surprising friendship, and the more I learn about Rory, the more I find myself feeling protective over this charming golden retriever of a man. So, when his meddling parents and relentless ex won\u2019t leave him alone, I announce that we\u2019re not only dating, but\u00a0married<\/span>.<\/p>\n My parents\u2019 miserable marriage taught me to never say \u2018I do\u2019 but knowing the guise will help Rory focus on training, I agree to follow through with the ruse.<\/p>\n But the more we play husband and wife, the harder it becomes to keep the lines from blurring. And before I know it, I\u2019m treading water in the deep end and falling for my fake husband.<\/p>\n RORY<\/span> My parents and ex-girlfriend have a different plan for my life. Until Summer, the intriguing woman I pulled out of the ocean, announces we\u2019re married and I realize being tied to the gorgeous, free-spirited woman is the perfect solution to keep my parents off my back.<\/p>\n What starts out as a marriage of convenience quickly turns into something much deeper, and suddenly I\u2019m fighting for a future I never saw coming. But Summer doesn\u2019t believe in marriage and happily ever after, so how can I convince her we\u2019re meant to last?<\/p>\n BEYOND THE STROKE<\/span>\u00a0is a black cat\/golden retriever, marriage of convenience romance. This is book one of the Carolina Current, a series of interconnected stand-alone spicy romantic comedies set in a small, coastal beach town.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Add to Goodreads<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n 3.5 stars<\/b><\/p>\n A golden retriever\/black cat fake marriage of convenience romance, this is such a sweet read! It\u2019s the first in a new series from Erin Hawkins, and I really enjoyed this one.<\/p>\n Summer escaped a life of privilege where she was neglected yet controlled and has set herself up in a small coastal town where she lives quietly, pursuing her art and enjoying her freedom, even though she\u2019s struggling to get by. She mostly keeps to herself, and she plans to keep it that way, until a hilarious meet cute with a local swim hero changes everything.<\/p>\n Rory is a swimming champion coming back from injury. He\u2019s returning to Coral Cove to rejoin his swim team when he rescues Summer from the ocean. He\u2019s instantly smitten with her and pushes his way into her life, determined to help the struggling woman, but also genuinely attracted to her and unable to stay away. When Summer helps him out of a bind by pretending to be his wife in front of his family who are determined to reunite him with his clingy ex girlfriend, Rory realises that a marriage between them could help them both. So, he proposes they make it real by entering into a marriage of convenience. Summer agrees, but only on the condition that it\u2019s strictly platonic.<\/p>\n \u201cExcuse me. What are you doing?\u201d I jerk back. Rory and Summer may be opposites, but they have such a fun dynamic. Given her past, she\u2019s mistrustful and completely closed off, and she does everything she can to keep Rory at arm\u2019s length. But he\u2019s a sweetheart who lives to help others, and he\u2019s all in, determined to do all he can for Summer because he\u2019s already fallen.<\/p>\n \u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter what you\u2019re wearing. You walk into a room, and I notice. Every damn time.\u201d<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n It\u2019s a cute read, and I enjoyed watching Rory and Summer grow closer as they give each other the family, companionship and support they\u2019ve both been needing. They understand each other and they are there for each other, and while Rory tries his best to win Summer\u2019s heart, she\u2019s finding it harder and harder to resist him.<\/p>\n \u201cSo let me get this straight,\u201d I drop my voice low, \u201cbecause I don\u2019t want to put words in your mouth, but you\u2019re annoyed that I\u2019m too good looking.\u201d Rory is just gorgeous. He\u2019s got the biggest heart and he is caring, understanding, patient and endlessly charming. He\u2019s everything that Summer needs, and though her walls are high, and her determination to keep him away gets a bit frustrating, she has no hope against him, and their slow-burning love story is sweet and sexy, and I loved seeing them come together.<\/p>\n The man I am when I\u2019m with Summer isn\u2019t the swimmer, the competitor, or the guy everyone expects me to be. With her, I\u2019m just me \u2013 vulnerable, exposed, and completely hers. <\/em><\/p>\n I\u2019m not just the girl with the secret. I\u2019m not just the artist or the traveler. I\u2019m the woman who feels seen by the man who\u2019s always been right there, waiting for me to let him in.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n There\u2019s no external drama, no third act break up, just two people falling for each other and finding their way despite their hurdles, and it was gorgeous to see.<\/p>\n \u201cI want you, Summer. Nothing has ever felt simpler.\u201d<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n There\u2019s a great bunch of side characters. We get to know Rory\u2019s swim team, and I love the camaraderie between the boys and their fun dynamic. The Carolina Current<\/i> series will follow them, and with some stories already hinted at, I am so excited to continue on with this series.<\/p>\n 3.5 stars<\/p>\n An Advanced Review Copy was generously provided by the author for an honest review.<\/i><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Erin Hawkins lives in Colorado with her husband and three young children. She enjoys reading, running, spending time in the mountains, and watching reality TV.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Connect with Erin:<\/p>\n Facebook\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0\u00a0Amazon\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0\u00a0Goodreads\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0\u00a0Bookbub\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0\u00a0Instagram\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0\u00a0TikTok\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0\u00a0Newsletter<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Beyond the Stroke by Erin Hawkins is live! A golden retriever\/black cat fake marriage of convenience romance, this is such a sweet read! Amazon Blurb “You know, Wildflower, I think you just […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":77950,"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":[1132,25,9,58,29],"tags":[59,1615,1399,1616,48],"class_list":["post-79093","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fake-relationship","category-friends-to-lovers","category-romance","category-sports-star","category-steamy","tag-arc","tag-carolina-current","tag-erin-hawkins","tag-relesae","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\/2025\/02\/Beyond-the-Stroke.jpg?fit=200%2C300&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7gaNL-kzH","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79093","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=79093"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79093\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/77950"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=79093"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=79093"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=79093"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Amazon<\/a><\/strong><\/h4>\n
\nBlurb<\/strong><\/h4>\n
\nAfter years on the road, I\u2019ve discovered Coral Cove is the perfect beach town to live a quiet, untethered life where I can paint in the shadows. That is until a mermaid cosplay goes horribly wrong and Rory Shields, world champion swimmer and the town\u2019s golden boy plucks me out of a sticky situation.<\/p>\n
\nAfter rehabbing a knee injury that almost ended my swimming career, I\u2019ve returned to Coral Cove, home of the Carolina Current swimming club, determined to focus on training and preparing for the next summer games. But not everyone in my life is on board with my plans for another run for gold.<\/p>\n
\nReview<\/strong><\/h4>\n
\n\u201cShowing you what it would be like if we were married.\u201d
\n\u201cUm, no.\u201d I turn to scowl at him. \u201cWe wouldn\u2019t be a same side of the booth couple.\u201d
\n\u201cWhy not?\u201d
\n\u201cBecause that\u2019s weird.\u201d
\n\u201cI like being close.\u201d He props a muscular arm over the back of the booth behind me. \u201cPhysical touch is my love language.\u201d
\n\u201cOf course it is.\u201d
\n\u201cWhat\u2019s yours?\u201d
\n\u2026 \u201cPersonal space.\u201d<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\n\u2026 \u201cYes. It\u2019s frustrating. I never planned on getting married in the first place and now, I have to deal with a hot fake husband.\u201d
\n\u2026 \u201cAnd I\u2019m too nice to you?\u201d
\n\u201cSomething like that.\u201d
\nShe has no idea how much nicer I want to be. How much more I would give her if she\u2019d let me.<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\nAbout Erin<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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