~actual rating 3.5

A solid debut romance. I would highly recommend this to readers starting out with the genre as it has classic romance tropes and a hero who is down bad for our heroine. I wanted more oomph overall, especially as a single POV romance and we are not privy to Vincent's motivations beyond what we are shown from Amerie's POV. It was absolutely lovely to see all the care Vincent took to check in with Amerie as they pretended to date for his family's sake, and his actions did speak loudly to the love he was clearly feeling (if not yet expressing).

What kept me from very much loving this was the deception toward's Vince's family (especially the fake engagement thrown on top of the fake dating), and the fear i had that something would befall Amerie's mother, who she is very anxious about throughout the story. Amerie's mother has sickle cell anemia, and Amerie has spent her life worrying and having bad news hit (including losing her job when she ditches a big profile wedding she's the planner for when her mom is hospitalized). Thankfully! Amerie's mother is doing well the entire story, phew.

Other than that, if you enjoy cinnamon roll heroes with granite jaws, an excellent home library AND telescope, and who can show you the stars in more than one way, this one is for you!

open door, but just light steam near the 75% mark.

Thank you to the pub for the advance copy; also reviewing professional for LJ (TK)