The Accidental Girlfriend
by Emma Hart
Genre: Romantic Comedy
Release Date: June 25, 2019
Top Tip: Don’t put out an online ad offering your services as a fake date. Someone will take you up on it.
And it won’t just be for one night.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how I ended up being Mason Jackson’s fake girlfriend.
He didn’t even want me to be. No—his sister was solely responsible for me being his date for his ten-year high school reunion.
Now, she’s responsible for telling his parents our relationship is real.
We have no choice. We have to act like this isn’t all a mistake, like it’s not all fake, like we’re totally, completely, utterly, head-over-heels in love with each other.
Simple, right?
Wrong.
“I’ve seen you eat nothing but junk. Are you one of those irritating people who can eat what they want and put on no weight?”
“Okay, first.” I held up one finger. “You look like you could walk into the cast of the Avengers, so don’t come at me with that. Also, I run. Every day. And I don’t always eat junk.”
“You run?” His eyebrows shot up.
“I don’t know if I should be insulted or not.”
“No, I just—you don’t look like a runner.”
“And you don’t look like Chris Hemsworth, but here you are on my sofa looking like a dark-haired Norse god,” I shot back. “What’s your point?”
He held up his hands, fighting another laugh, one that made his eyes shine. “Hey, I have a physical job. I rarely get to the gym, but I’m always moving.”
“Have you ever worked behind a bar? I’m not exactly running a call center back there. It never stops sometimes.”
“Do I look like I mix cocktails?”
Doing what he’d done just minutes before, I took a long, hard look at him, from head to toe.
It was a mistake.
If I were a sloth, I wouldn’t just climb him like a tree; I’d hang off him for a nap, too.
Lord, he was hot.
Focus, Lauren.
“No,” I said. “You look like the lone wolf who waits for the cocktail-drinking girls to accidentally spill their drinks on your shoes.” I glanced at the time. “Speaking of, I have to go and make those cocktails.”
Mason grinned. “You want me to come and get hit on by drunk girls?”
“As someone who has no say in your life whatsoever, I don’t care what you do.” I stood up and looked at him over my shoulder. “As your fake girlfriend, I’m a bit of a tiger, so I wouldn’t.”
“I know.” He snorted, following me to the front door with his laptop tucked under his arm. “I’ve seen you play the possessive girlfriend. If this weren’t all fake, I would have been a little turned on.”
I locked the front door and tossed my hair over my shoulder. “Please. You were totally turned on.”
He said nothing as we headed for the stairs.
“You can say something. That was a joke.” I glanced at him, heat rushing to my cheeks.
His lips pulled into a smirk, eyes flashing. “I reserve the right to not respond.”
“Okay, first.” I held up one finger. “You look like you could walk into the cast of the Avengers, so don’t come at me with that. Also, I run. Every day. And I don’t always eat junk.”
“You run?” His eyebrows shot up.
“I don’t know if I should be insulted or not.”
“No, I just—you don’t look like a runner.”
“And you don’t look like Chris Hemsworth, but here you are on my sofa looking like a dark-haired Norse god,” I shot back. “What’s your point?”
He held up his hands, fighting another laugh, one that made his eyes shine. “Hey, I have a physical job. I rarely get to the gym, but I’m always moving.”
“Have you ever worked behind a bar? I’m not exactly running a call center back there. It never stops sometimes.”
“Do I look like I mix cocktails?”
Doing what he’d done just minutes before, I took a long, hard look at him, from head to toe.
It was a mistake.
If I were a sloth, I wouldn’t just climb him like a tree; I’d hang off him for a nap, too.
Lord, he was hot.
Focus, Lauren.
“No,” I said. “You look like the lone wolf who waits for the cocktail-drinking girls to accidentally spill their drinks on your shoes.” I glanced at the time. “Speaking of, I have to go and make those cocktails.”
Mason grinned. “You want me to come and get hit on by drunk girls?”
“As someone who has no say in your life whatsoever, I don’t care what you do.” I stood up and looked at him over my shoulder. “As your fake girlfriend, I’m a bit of a tiger, so I wouldn’t.”
“I know.” He snorted, following me to the front door with his laptop tucked under his arm. “I’ve seen you play the possessive girlfriend. If this weren’t all fake, I would have been a little turned on.”
I locked the front door and tossed my hair over my shoulder. “Please. You were totally turned on.”
He said nothing as we headed for the stairs.
“You can say something. That was a joke.” I glanced at him, heat rushing to my cheeks.
His lips pulled into a smirk, eyes flashing. “I reserve the right to not respond.”
This was my first book by Emma Hart and I had a good time with it. It was chock full of fun banter and had some very colorful characters, but I did feel that it was missing a bit of the emotion underneath all the laughs to keep me fully engaged.
There was no shortage of laughter that Lauren and Mason could bring. From their text messages to their verbal sparring matches, these two had me laughing out loud and looking forward to their next exchange. You could definitely feel the chemistry between these two, but as much as I loved both Mason and Lauren, I had a hard time connecting with Lauren’s character emotionally. Mason was easy – he quickly realizes that he may be in deeper than he anticipated with his fake girlfriend, and I think getting to know his story and meet his ex made it easy to understand where he was coming from. With Lauren, it’s not until the very end we get to fully see underneath the snark and sass, and I wish there were more glimpses of that earlier and more often in the story.Lauren tilted her head to the side. “You know, if we were monkeys, she’d be the kind of person I’d fling my poop at.”
The mouthful of beer I’d just taken shot straight up my now and burned, and she pulled away, biting her bottom lip.
“Sorry.” She tried to hide her giggles. “For what it’s worth, she’d probably fling it at me, too.”
I did enjoy the other characters in the book. Lauren’s sister and BFFs were a hoot and I loved Mason’s best friend Trevor. Mason’s family was quite….unique….and I can only imagine spending a family get-together with them!
Overall, this was a fun read that was well written. It read quickly, wasn’t too angsty, and has me looking forward to reading more from the author.
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