By: Rowan Croft
Many thanks to Grey’s Promos for the ARC of this book!
Conwick University’s playboy, Damien Navarro, needs to get serious, or he may be cut off from his family’s wealth and legacy of the family company. Lexi Dornan is a math genius and attends Conwick University on scholarship. The one area where she isn’t a genius? Damien. In order to come across as mature and serious, Damien and Lexi enter into a fake dating agreement. Will they make it until his graduation though? She despises Damien and can barely stand the sight of him. Or will the figure out that underneath it all, they are really what they need for each other?
There are aspects to this book that I enjoyed, and there are aspects to this book that I struggled with. I really enjoyed the witty banter in this book. It’s VERY well done, and it had to me smiling and giggling at times. Lexie, the FMC, was awesome. She was strong and bold. She spoke her mind. She was different – it felt a bit like some neurodivergence rep, but it a diagnosis was never stated. I also really liked the fact that this book showed the inadequacies and disparagement of the medical system here in the United States. That was 100% authentic. Lexie also had some really awesome friends! I also REALLY loved Damien’s grandmother.
This was a slow burn romance, but it was a very drawn out slow burn romance at 581 pages. It was just too long for me. I feel like with better editing, the story could have been the same, but more succinct. I understand the need to make Damien a true playboy for this story, but it just went so far left for me. He was truly deplorable. I understood Lexie’s need for the money in exchange for being his girlfriend, I understood her desperation. He was just a disgusting human. The way he treated and thought of women in the beginning, it just went too far. Even though the author gave us an explanation towards the end, I still didn’t think it was good enough.
Once we were able to see the supposedly “true” Damien, the story got better, and I enjoyed it more. I wish we had more of that. I do see that many enjoyed this, so maybe you will too!
Publish Date: July 29, 2025
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