Tease

Took me a while to get into this book enough to really commit to it. The beginning was cute but a little far-fetched and awkward. But once I got to know the characters more and their relationship began to really develop, I found myself hooked and read a little over half of it in one day after dragging the first part out a few weeks.Hutton and Felicity were adorable together. I really enjoyed their quirks and especially that Hutton isn’t a cookie cutter broody alpha male. Those are good to a point, but sometimes it’s really hard to find guys that don’t fit neatly into that box but are still appealing.It was clear who Hutton was based on (a certain crypto nerd who crashed and burned very recently) so that part of the book really didn’t age well and made certain aspects of the book very awkward (I couldn’t help but think “is Hutton a future criminal?” Lol) and once or twice something said or done was almost a commentary on future real life events. If I were the author, I would probably go back and edit the book to get rid of the company name and crypto aspect. It wouldn’t take much to wipe it out, just give him some other obscure invention.Overall I did enjoy it and would consider reading other books from this series in the future.

Hutton and Felicity… these two are two halves of a whole, and on 🔥🔥 when they finally get together! Friends since middle school, they were both super smart and a little too quirky to fit in. The both have their idiosyncrasies, their “inner self-talk” that tells them they’re not good enough, and a heaping scoop of crippling anxiety. Yet somehow together they find peace and comfort. What started as friendship, wound up as more, only they were both too anxiety ridden to make a move. After finally getting the nerve to ask her to prom, Hutton couldn’t make a move and ends the night with a handshake. Years later, they are still friends, and neither has managed to make a relationship work with anyone else.A high school reunion and some sharp barbs from a mean girl have Felicity blurting out that she and Hutton are engaged. What snowballs from there is a family free for all of excitement and maybe just the push these two needed to admit their feelings. And they are completely combustible when they get together 🔥🔥I loved these two together. I love that they are both dealing with their own issues, but find they feel whole with the other. I also love that they don’t miraculously overcome their issues just because they get together. Too often, authors write characters that suddenly no longer have their mental health issues because “love fixed it” or something. That’s not reality. These two are perfect together because they each understand the other like no one else. Neither wants to change the other to suit them. They are perfectly suited to support the other. She still struggles with anxiously wanting to cut her hair, while his self-talk voices may be quieter with Felicity there, he still struggles with his anxiety and sees a therapist. I love this world, and I love how beautifully written each book is.

Hutton & Felicity are one of those couples who are destined to last a lifetime. These two have been best friends since childhood. The nerd & the band geek just seemed to get each other. They’ve been there for each other through so much & always pick right up where they left off. Their acceptance of each other’s idiosyncrasies & their embarrassing or awkward moments just seems to bring them closer.When Felicity’s penchant to just blurt things out puts her in a precarious position, all it takes is one coded text to get Hutton to come to her rescue. As the rescue mission ensues, they both find that deep down their feelings for each other are a little stronger than expected. But are these feelings something they can share with each other? Or will the admission from either ruin the lifelong friendship they’ve shared?I loved the way that both of their families embraced their fake relationship & didn’t seem surprised at all. They all had seen the underlying feelings from childhood & were just waiting on Hutton & Felicity to see it. When these two finally connected…wowza!!!! Hutton the nerd had some skills.

Nice love story. Two people who’ve been friends for over 15 years since they were 10 and secretly pined after each other. A freak chance and a fake engagement that turned into a dream Come true for both of them. I enjoyed seeing the love and friendship for one another blossom into the realization that they loved each other even though they felt unworthy of the love to share. A lovely read.

This book took me by surprise a bit. It was not like your typical billionaire romance book. I loved the childhood friends/second chance romance aspect of it. Most of all I loved that both of the main characters struggle with anxiety in different ways and they both grew up a little more quirky and nerdy than their peers. I really related to that and especially Hutton’s struggle with social anxiety in different situations. Together Hutton and Felicity make each other better and strong, and they love and accept each other exactly the way they are. I really enjoyed this book and I look forward to reading the next in the series.

Best friend from high school to fake fiancée. The road to true love never goes smoothly and happens the way it should. Both things can be true and this story proves it. Loved it!

Felicity is a chef that also caters and has a blog, Veggie Vixen. She helps with the kitchen at her family’s vineyard. She attends her class reunion. There the mean girl attacks Felicity. Felicity tells mean girl that she is engaged to a billionaire.Hutton is Felicity’s friend from high school. Felicity sends Hutton a message in code. He comes to the reunion, even though activities such as the reunion causes him big anxiety.Felicity and Hutton decide that a fake engagement is the way to go. How will this act end?

I love this series so much. Melanie Harlow does the best leading men who have some kind of issue who you just want to hug and who have you rooting for them to find their happy ever after!!Hutton French was one of these leading males. Social anxiety is a helluva thing and Ms Harlow wrote Hutton so well. Anxiety doesn’t have boundaries, affect certain people or care about your successes…. and it had a stronghold on Hutton. That he stepped out of his box for Felicity said a lot about his character and what she meant to him and I loved that making her happy made him happy. He was awesome!!Felicity MacAllister is a sweetheart. Middle sister of three girls she feels like the odd one out, stresses about just about everything and can’t see herself in a relationship. There’s a lot these two have in common…..l adored Lissy. The gods, she blurted out things at the worst time and it wasn’t just little word vomits she had, no Felicity came up with some doozies!!! She liked Horton as he was, knew and accepted his limitations and was always supportive, she was exactly who and what he needed.I loved the history these two had. The fact that they both knew they had someone in their corner - outwith family - who accepted them for who they were and would be there for them was really sweet. What started as a fake relationship became much more and I genuinely felt they were meant to be, even if it took them both a bit to get out of their own heads!Seeing Hutton & Felicity realise what they wanted and going along for the journey that took them there was a great read. Catching up with the assorted family members from previous books in the series is always fun.I’m looking forward to the next instalment of this series and cannot wait to find out more about Millie!!!!

I adored everything about this story, reading about 2 people who struggle with anxiety and watching them fumble through their attraction to each other was adorable!Felicity and Hutton have been friends for forever, there’s always been something bubbling beneath the surface between them but both were to nervous to make the first move. All it takes is Hutton returning home for a few months and Felicity accidentally blurting out she’s engaged to a billionaire at their high school reunion and the first one that comes to mind is him! They embark on a fake engagement but lines soon begin to blur!I had all the feels reading this! I love watching Felicity and Hutton navigate through their feelings for each other, it seemed so real and down to earth despite him being a billionaire. I felt I could relate to them both and I loved that so so much!I didn’t know I needed a small town, billionaire, friends to lovers, fake fiancé, romance in my life until I read this book!

Oh I loved everything about this book! I loved Felicity and Hutton and their whole story just made me melt. As someone who suffers with anxiety it was so refreshing reading about not only a strong female but a strong male character struggling with anxiety too. Thank you for shedding light on how difficult it can be to deal with anxiety day in day out I can’t wait to read more from this author.

This book was super sweet. Childhood friends to lovers. Hutton and Felicity had always been there for each other through all the ups and downs life had thrown them. When a mean girl gives Felicity a hard time at a reunion and Felicity says she's engaged Hutton steps up thinking this may be the only way he will ever have her.

It's amazing to see how people can get stuck on really crazy ideas about themselves that they manifest into a reality. But it's even better when they unlearn those beliefs and allow themselves to be open and available to the truth and love. That's what happened with Huttone and Felicity and it was beautiful to see it unfold!