Reviewed by Tammy

TITLE: Faking It

SERIES: A Ringside Romance, #2

AUTHOR: Christine d’Abo

PUBLISHER: Riptide Publishing

LENGTH: 238 pages

RELEASE DATE: May 8 2017

BLURB:

Max Tremblay should be happy. His nightclub, Frantic, is one of the most popular gay clubs in Toronto, and his childhood refuge, Ringside Gym, is well on the way to reopening. But when he finds yet another drunk in the alley beside the bar, Max isn’t sure this is the life he truly wants.

Grady Barnes has it all. He’s rich, famous, and wants for nothing. Well, nothing but a good relationship with his father. When he discovers that his father is going to force him into an arranged marriage, Grady has had enough. He tracks down Max, the man who got him to safety after a night of overindulgence, and makes him a proposal: pretend to be his fiancé for two weeks and he’ll invest in Ringside Gym.

When the pair travel to Vancouver to attend a family wedding, the flames of their mutual attraction ignite, and they discover that the only difference between pretend and reality is how well they can fake it.

REVIEW:

I must say I’m thoroughly enjoying A Ringside Romance series. This is the second series of Christine d’Abo’s that I’ve read and I can honestly say they just get better!  The series is about three gay friends Zack from Making It, Max from Faking It and Eli from the next installment Making It. These three men grew up together, realised they were gay together and found a safe haven within the local Ringside Gym. Now that they’re older and the gym is closed they want to reopen it so the local lgbtq teens will have a safe haven as well.

Max Tremblay owns and operates his own nightclub, Frantic which is one of the most popular gay clubs in Toronto. The one thing Max hates about owning the club is finding dunks outside puking after drinking too much. This is exactly how he finds Grady Barnes. For some reason Max feels, protective of this patron and he has no clue why. Max even takes Grady back to his hotel and leaves him in bed with his clothes on!

Grady has never had to ask for anything in his life, the only thing Grady has never had is a relationship with his father good or otherwise! That’s why Grady is in Toronto, to hide from his father and his constantly sticking his nose in his business. When Grady hears from his brother that his father has decided he needs to get married and the son of his business associate who has just come out to his parents would be the perfect husband for him. The announcement of their engagement will come after merger talks!!

This is when Grady heads back to the club to ask Max if he would consider being his fake fiancé. The deal is that if Max does this for Grady, Grady will invest in the Ringside Gym to get it reopened faster. Max, for some reason unknown to himself decides to accept Grady’s offer ad travels to Vancouver with him for Grady’s brother’s wedding so he can play the loving fiancé. Max has second thoughts about pretending to be Grady’s fiancé right up until he meets his father, then he understands what Grady is up against and decides he has to do whatever he can to help Grady out.

The entire trip proves to be eye-opening for both Grady and Max.

Grady discovers that he has continued to see his life through the eyes of a child instead of seeing and understanding events as an adult. The discovery has Grady growing up and taking stock of his life, not that he has accomplished a great deal as he’s spent his life so far living off a trust fund. Max realises that he doesn’t know everything there is to know about his parent’s relationship. Max also comes to the realization that he has fallen madly in love with Grady and he has no idea if Grady wants a relationship after the wedding.

Don’t forget to grab a copy of Faking It to read the next instalment of the Ringside Romance series. I have no hesitations about recommending this book and series to one and all!!

RATING: 

BUY LINKS: 

Riptide Publishing

Amazon