Fake boyfriend
Surprisingly good for a novella. They are normally not really my thing because I enjoy longer stories, but this was well paced and had interesting characters. I just wasn't into the childhood enemies thing at first, but it was well handled at the end. Matthew is a wealthy CEO (in his 20s) and hires a fake boyfriend to bring to a company retreat in Hawaii to show his older coworker, who keeps getting at him because of his age/lack of experience, that he can be in a committed relationship. That fake boyfriend turns out to be his childhood nemesis Liam. Good thing they are adults now, right? In the beginning, I was a bit annoyed with them antagonizing each other because it seemed childish. I don't like modern enemies to lovers because it's seldom serious enough to even call it that, and I hate "pranks" and the likes. But this was kinda serious (the story is not just lighthearted banter), and there were some interesting conversations around that. After a while, they slowly bury the grudge and get to know each other again (quite intimately 😏), and you learn more about how everything happened. I really liked the scenes where they forgave each other. I also usually don't like fake dating because the scenarios leading to it often don't make sense, but this obviously wasn't an issue here since he booked him as a boyfriend. The reason behind that also made more sense while reading it. That older coworker was such a prick. So, while it took me a bit to get into, I really enjoyed their dynamic and relationship in the end. I would have liked it more as a full-length book, but I also enjoyed the minimal drama and quick pace.
