DUKE: FAKING THE PLAY (The Boston Tomcats #3) by KAYLEY LORING & CONNOR CRAIS

‘Peas and Carrots.’

Well, grumpy sexy pants Duke might just be our favourite Tomcat to date! We bloody loved this third book in the Boston Tomcats series. A laugh-out-loud grumpy-sunshine, single dad, fake relationship, football sports romance with a delightful British actress love interest. How could we NOT love it! Kayley Loring and Connor Crais have once again, delivered a sexy, funny heartfelt romance.

‘I suddenly saw him through a different lens. He was a dad. A dad who didn’t want to disappoint his daughter.’

Callum ‘Duke’ Duquette (even his name sends shivers down our spines!) is the seriously sexy, grumpy steely faced superstar placekicker for the Boston Tomcats NFL team. He has two loves in his life that consume all his time and focus, and that’s his eleven-year-old daughter Chloe, his beloved team the Tomcats, and his teammates. Since his divorce, his focus has been on Chloe and football and he doesn’t have time for anything else, especially romance.

“Just don’t fall in love with me,” I teased. “Kay.” He said.

That is until the day a beautiful British actress by the name of Millie Darden quite literally falls into his arms in the Rebel Books Bookstore in Boston. The man with his arms around her instantly takes her breath away. For Duke, there’s a familiarity with the gorgeous woman in his arms. She’s none other than the famous actress who played Arabella Peacock in the movie adaptation of the popular wizard book, Quizzlemoore Academy. Not that this impresses Duke, he’s a book fan and never had any desire to watch the films. For Chloe though, Millie is a superstar!

“Thanks for the ride. Best of luck playing the wrong kind of football.”
“Best of luck starring in movies that taint popular culture.”

Millie and Duke hatch a plan for a fake romance – a move that helps them with a couple of social commitments and their profiles. Even though Duke detests the limelight, the ‘romance’ sees his daughter gain popularity, and finally, fit in. Duke can’t deny Chloe her happiness and agrees to a fake romance, with an expiration date.  But, grumpy Duke, never counted on the whimsical Millie to steal his heart. Millie never expected to lose her heart to Mr. Grumpypants.

‘I wanted to give and get, take and be taken, tease and be tormented – I wanted him to want me more than anything and to tell me what he wanted so I could offer all of it to him.’

The trademark text messages always manage to slay us! Seriously, they have us in fits. The Mums especially always tickle our funny bones, and we could relate to Millie’s mum and her misspelled text messages…’ we’ll grab your specs for you luvvy’ hehe. And the epilogues. LOVED THEM! A real feel-good giggle-inducing sexy romance! Exactly the sort of book we were in the mood for!

‘Behind closed doors, Callum Duquette was a randy, ravenous animal, and I loved it.’