Rating: 4 out of 5.

This is such a cute friends to lovers, fake-dating romance between Fable and Theo who grew up in the same small town. Fable left for awhile trying to figure out what she wanted to do with her life, but after a few failed attempts, returned home and moved into her deceased grandfather’s dilapidated house. Theo left the small town veterinarian practice for the big city, but decided to come back to his roots. He wants to buy the veterinarian practice from the elderly vet that’s selling it, but the vet doesn’t want to sell it to Theo because he doesn’t think Theo is serious about staying in town.

Fable and Theo haven’t talked since they moved back, but when she’s knocked down and lands in Theo’s lap and someone snaps a picture and posts it, everyone assumes they are dating. To help convince Theo’s boss he’s staying in town, he convinces Fable to fake date him in exchange for helping her fix up her grandfather’s house. They agree it’s all fake with no feelings, but as they spend more time together, feelings get felt.

I loved the adorable and funny banter between the couple. They have amazing chemistry. The small town was charming and gave me warm and cozy feels. Its a close community who was really rooting for the couple, even though they kept insisting it wasn’t real. My only complaint is the miscommunication between Fable and Theo. It’s my least favorite trope and it drives me crazy when problems occur just because the couple couldn’t talk to each other. But, this is a minor complaint and other than that, I enjoyed the book.

I listened to the audio of this book and the narrators did a great job. They perfectly captured the chemistry between the couple and their cute, teasing banter. The female narrator portrayed Fable’s insecurity and uncertainty, as well as her hesitance to take a chance on herself again and trust that she can be successful.

I received a complimentary audio of this book from NetGalley and Harper Audio and Avon. All opinions are my own.