When his adopted daughter’s grandparents inform him they’re coming for a visit and make an offhand comment about how nice it would be if his daughter had more than one parental figure, Brenden, in a moment of panic, tells them he’s in a serious relationship. The only problem? He’s very, very single. But luckily, his good friend, Travis, has always had a soft spot for him and agreed to be Brenden’s fake boyfriend while the grandparents are here. What started as fake quickly begins to feel very real, but are they brave enough to finally admit it?

This was a very cute story. It was full of lots of things I love in a romance novel - single dad, small town with quirky/meddling townspeople, grumpy/sunshine, fake dating, and only one bed, to name a few. Brenden was so sunshiny and was a great dad for May, but he kept a lot of anxiety and lingering grief locked away because he didn’t want anyone to think he didn’t have his life completely together. I liked seeing him let down his guard with Travis and start to let other people help him carry some of that. I also loved Brenden’s relationship with May. She was a good kid and was a great supporting character in this story.

I’m a fan of grumpy characters who have a secret soft spot for the sunshine character. Travis was so good to Brenden and May, always there when they needed him. It was clear as day that he cared deeply about them, even before the fake dating began. It was only amplified when they started to pretend they were boyfriends. These two were so gone for each other even as they continued to insist they were just keeping up the fake dating ruse. I wouldn’t say there was miscommunication, but there was certainly a lack of it from time to time, as they each assumed what the other was feeling vs. talking about it. But I get why, in their heads, they thought it was best that way. What’s important is that they got there in the end, complete with a pretty epic grand gesture that I loved!