Willow has always longed for her older brother's best friend, Zane. They had a night together back before Willow left for college, but their relationship went no further. It left Willow with feelings of anger and resentment toward Zane -- especially when he became a womanizing famous actor. Now, Zane's back in town and looking to change his image. He needs Willow to help him do that by pretending to be his fiancée. The arrangement is something Willow should know better than to say yes to, but she still can't resist Zane.

The Real Thing was a fun fake fiancée romance. It's been a long time since I read a book by Melissa Foster. I had forgotten how much I enjoy her writing. She's an author who knows how to write third person point of view. A lot of the time, it takes me a while to be able to get into third person narration. It wasn't that way with The Real Thing. I didn't even notice it. Third person felt just as easy as reading first person in this book. I really appreciated that. I also appreciated that both Willow and Zane's perspectives were included.

Willow and Zane were a cute couple. She was independent, loyal and fiery. He was overconfident, but deep down had a big heart. All of those things fit really well and complimented each other. I loved that they had been pining over each other since high school. It made their love story all the sweeter.

I do have to admit there was something that bugged me about this book that I couldn't let go. Willow's hatred and distrust of Zane didn't make complete sense. I understand that she's mad that he moved on, but she set things up that way. He truly didn't do anything that set out to hurt her or break her heart. Plus, it had been like ten years and she was still holding onto to her anger. It seemed weird since she had been in contact with him at least monthly and had seen him several times over the years. Maybe I was missing something. Maybe I needed more than just a snapshot of the aftermath of their teenage decision.

One of my favorite things about this book was the cast of secondary characters. Willow had an amazing family. Each was an individual with a strong personality. Meeting them made me very excited for what's to come in this series. I hope they all get their own books. I'm really hoping to see more of Ben and Amelia!

Overall, The Real Thing was a sweet contemporary read, and an entertaining take of a celebrity fake relationship.

The Real Thing was a cute, sweet, and sexy read. Zane has come back to town to ask a favor of his long time friend Willow. While they are pretending, will it become real? These two were absolutely perfect together and I loved the true deep connection they have. The banter between them is hilarious and kept me turning the pages to see what they would say next. I truly enjoyed this book and can't wait for the next one.

I love to read romance books and this one was amazing. The relationship between the sisters in this book was nothing sort of emotional and awesome. The author did an amazing job describing the individuality of each sisters and explaining why they are the way they are, and how close and important each sister was . The connection between Willow and Zane was magical and then showing how he connects to her family was so important to this series. I cannot wait to read the next book in the Sugar Lake series and find out what happens next to the family. Thank you NetGalley and Melissa Foster for allowing me to read and give an honest review of this book.

Willow owns a bakery and gets a job offer from a resort. She shows up but it's be all a lie. Zane, Hollywood actor and long time friend, is the one who made up the job. He wants her to pretend to be his fiancée for two weeks while he's filming in their hometown. But they have to keep it from her family. Willow has loved Zane for years but he left her after taking her virginity and headed to Hollywood. Now he'll do anything to win her heart.
Lots of sex. Funny. Beautiful baker and hot actor. Secrets. Family. I know this is short but it's a great story and I didn't want to give too much away.

Remember that first time? The hopes, the dreams, the feelings! Remember how long that mood stayed with you? Willow Dalton tried to control it. She asked her friend Zane Walker to be her "first" & then forget about it. No special feelings involved, just one night. She screwed up though. She fell for him. He stopped texting and her heart was crushed. In every encounter after then, she's guarded her heart by being sassy & snarky towards him. Now he wants her to be his pretend fiancée to clean up his image. Can she keep herself safe through that? Can she keep up a lie to her family for that long?

Zane Walker is now a Hollywood leading man but he never forgot Willow. A perfect situation to reconnect with her dropped in his lap. A focus group said he needed to clean up his image & date someone nice. Zane took it a step further thinking that if he could get Willow to open up, he could express his feelings. He's been in love with her since that night years ago. His life feels empty. He has everything he's dreamed of except her. Can he get Willow to ignore his image as a playboy? Will she fall in love with him?

OMG, I love Zane! So many times, the girl falls in love & the guy wants a one nighter. Not in a book by Melissa Foster! She's flipped it around to Willow wanting the one night stand, Zane in love with her for years & both of them suffering for years. The characters are well defined & the reader is given a good look at the characters for the rest of the series. The Dalton's love to give each other crap but support each other through thick & thin. I loved the interaction between Willow & Remi when they first meet. I am not going to leave spoilers but I had to laugh! I can't wait for the next book! I would recommend this book to all contemporary romance lovers that like their stories with spice & heat. There is some dirty language & sex but that isn't the focus of the story.

Fiery arguments, arrogant jerks and naughty thoughts, do not a relationship make. What happens when the guy of your fantasies needs a favor? A decadent game of hearts. Zane and Willow are a mess. He's the jerk that broke her heart and makes her temperature rise. She's the woman that adds spice to his life and makes his heart rejoice. The Real Thing has all the ingredients to deliver a box office hit. Heat and sweet meet to create a deliciously tasty treat.

Melissa Foster has this way with words. I have never read a bad book by her, and she is one of my top one-click authors, without even reading what the book is about. I just know that no matter what it's about, the book is going to be phenomenal! The Real Thing was absolutely no different. I was sucked in from the beginning and didn't want to stop reading it. I'm unsure exactly how long it took me to get it done, but I do know that I was 30 minutes away from the end (according to the time thing on the bottom of a kindle) and I fell asleep. I could have kicked myself, because while sleeping over night, my kindle died, so I had to wait for it to charge just to be able to finish the book! I fell immediately in love with Willow and Zane ((aww!! That was going to be my daughters name had she been a boy!)) and I enjoyed learning more about what happened between them 10 years prior to the "now" in the story! Their connection was so strong, I just knew they would have their happily ever after! I've read plenty of "fake fiance" or "fake girlfriend" stories, but I've never read one that they had such a back story and such chemistry from when they were younger. I felt like those 10 years apart made their reconnecting just that more sweet and perfect. I was in awe throughout almost the whole book at how in love Zane was with Willow! You don't see many men (or at least I don't) show their soft side like that. Zane reminds me of how Cody is with Jessica in this season of Big Brother (season 19) but Zane has known Willow for longer than just a few weeks, unlike "Jody - Jessica & Cody". Guys, I'm so happy that this isn't going to be the last we read of the people from Sugar Lake!! I can NOT wait for Sugar Lake #2!!!

I simply adore this book! It was very well written and I loved bot Willow and Zane. Their connection and chemistry was so real and you could feel the heat, so to say. The plot was nothing unusual, another fake engagement story but it was done so well. I needed something light and that's what I got :)
Melissa Foster delivers again!

Zane is an A-list actor who needs to clean up his playboy reputation. In order to do this he requests the help of his old friend and bakery owner, Willow. Zane needs a fake fiancé and uses the argument that Willow owes him since he took her virginity before college at her request. Willow and Zane then craft a fake relationship to help Zanes career. The problem is that Willow can't decide what is pretending and what is real. Is Zane really the playboy he is made out to be?

This was a good read and the character development is great. I really liked the details to the characters past together. I enjoy a book with a hea and his book did not disappoint. I really liked this book and would love to see what happens to the characters in the future!

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for the advance reader copy.

And this is such a nice second chance story... Melissa Foster is a fave author of mine and she doesn't disappoint here. Read the book. Zane, while all hot and sexy, is sweet and Willow is just as likeable. I was rooting for them a quarter into the book. I like that they both had to grow up to be the person the other needed before they could be together. They both were the ones who put a spanner in the works years before. And yet, despite that, they both managed to still be part of each other's lives, smaller than before but still there, so they were not strangers at all when they finally restarted again. Happy sigh.

Curious now about the rest of the supporting cast... :)

In this book we have our main characters Willow and Zane. Willow and Zane have known each other since they were like 9 years old. Before Willow went off to college she asked Zane to take her Vcard and to not make a big deal about it. Willow goes off to college and opens a bakery as Zane becomes a big time actor. As the years go by they text each other regularly and keep in touch. Willow never allowing Zane to get to close and denies all advances.

Zane begs Willow to help him clean up his rep by becoming his fake fiance`. Little does she know Zane has an ulterior motive.

This was such a touching story. Not your typical fake fiance`story. There is so much misunderstanding and moments in time lost. Zane leads a life that to others is glamorous, when deep down he is lost. Willow is a sweet girl who is sassy with a bite. I love Willow's family. They are so close and love each other deeply.

This book is the beginning of a new series and I am looking forward to the next story. If you are looking for a romantic tale of love lost and refound, then this book is for you. I highly recommend it. It is a wonderful story that will have you from the very first page. *Warning this book is not a cozy romance with PG scenes.

This was a very enjoyable, fun story. I loved the sparky relationship between Willow and Zane. Willow and Zane have been good friends for a long time and he is her brother's best friend.

Willow has her own bakery in their little town of Sweetwater that she is busy trying to grow and promote, and Zane is now a big action-hero movie star. But they have stayed friends and text each other all the time even though they don't actually see each other that often these days.

Then Zane is filming nearby and because he has a playboy image that the publicity people think is putting the general public off him he asks Willow to pretend to be his fake-fiancee for a couple of weeks until he's finished filming, then she can break up with him. So a win-win, he cleans up his reputation and she gets more publicity for her bakery.

Of course best laid plans.... and because they had such a strong relationship before the fake engagement, probably without even realising it, the foundations of their relationship were already there and their feelings just developed more and more as the fake engagement went on.

Of course Zane being famous did cause a couple of hassles along the way, with Willow being dragged into things because she was his fiancee and the world wanted to know more about her too, but they worked through them.

There were lots of side characters that I really liked too - Willow's sisters and her friend Aurelia especially - and I look forward to reading more in this very cute, romantic, easy-reading series.

The Real Thing includes witty dialogue between the main characters as they reconnect. They've known and loved one another their entire lives, but we're too afraid to admit it for years. However, they stayed in touch and eventually acknowledged their feelings. This book is the first in a new series, and many of the characters in future books were introduced. I look forward to reading the remaining books in the series!

this was exhausting from the get go. A cute story but soo much. Had a hard time keeping up.

I received a copy of THE REAL THING from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to the publisher and author.

Five stars and here’s why:

I fell in love with Melissa Foster’s writing! This is my first book by this author and she sucked me right into the story. The pacing is super fast, the supporting characters are well developed, and the hero and heroine are both sweet and playful. Romantic suspense actor Zane is swoon-worthy in how much he carries a torch for his best friend’s younger sister Willow, who owns her own bakery, instead of living that player Hollywood lifestyle. Willow is not only smart, but she’s also sweet and sassy and doesn't put up with all of Z’s hijinks. I love a good romance with a strong female heroine and Ms. Foster delivers. I look forward to reading more of Ms. Foster’s books so I can find out what happens with each of Willow’s siblings! Highly recommend!

When I want a getaway from a tough day, I just love to pick up a quick romance and this book fits the bill for that. Just a fun, sassy read with plenty of steam, anticipation and hot sex with fun characters and an interesting plot kept me very happy with this story/book. Enjoyable and easy read for a delightful getaway from the world which sometimes you just need and this book delivers just that. Well done Melissa Foster. Definitely 5 star for this book and totally recommend

This book grabbed me from the beginning. The interaction between the two characters started right away and didn't keep you waiting. Zane, famous playboy actor who I fell in love with right away, propositions his best friend's little sister Willow, to pretend she is his fake fiancé. Agreeing to this engagement has opened the door to how they truly feel for each other, and what they could miss out on by trying to protect their hearts. This was my first book by Melissa Foster, and I loved how she incorporated so much of Zane's and Willow's past into the book. Though this 'relationship' is new, they each remember so much about each other that they've experienced throughout the years. I also liked how she included so much of their families, they each played an important role. Though this was part of a series, I believe it could be read as a stand alone. If you're looking for a cute and fun romance, pick this one up!

***this ARC was provided by author/publisher through NetGalley

In the beginning, I thought:  Not my kind of book, it feels like an old-fashioned romance novel. The author is using the trope of fake engagement, which the woman accepts, but then she's complaining all the time. She is on the defensive, he is offensive. He's a Hollywood actor, shooting a film near his hometown. She is his best friend's little sister, and many years ago, he took her virginity. Mind you, at her request, and under a series of instructions so she could get rid of the encumbrance and be able to walk away from him and leave for college. But then, in college, she was waiting for wedding bells, huh?  Over the years, they kept a friendship of sorts, through texting. He says she's her conscience, she says he's her best support when she needs to make hard decisions. However, when they meet up and he asks her for a favor, she accepts but their behavior is truly juvenile. Really, I've read YA books where the main characters show more maturity. He looks lustily at a woman who walks by, she grabs and squeezes his crotch, he affects a hangdog face so she will forgive him, then laughs, then she starts a flirtation with a guy on a boat during the ride, you get the idea.  I was getting a little mad, but then I changed gears.  I realized this is chick lit, so all this was supposed to be funny, duh!!

Once I was clear on that, the rest of their bickering, which was frequent, was fun.  Zane was manipulative and pushy and Willow was feisty and snarky.  But, all along the book, I was always convinced his feelings were real and he had loved Willow all this time.  It was Willow who had kept them apart all this time, because she was hurt that he didn't come for her all those years ago after she left for college.  

Once the "fake" engagement started, the real feelings came out, and the story turned into a sexy romp between two very expressive characters.  Very entertaining.

This is a lovely sweet story throughout. The characters were really easy to love and I fell in love with them from the start. This is the first book in this series by this author and what a fab start. This book can be read as a stand alone read. This is a fun quick read that will keep you hooked from the first page till the last one. I can't wait to read more from this author in the future.
Highly recommended
I voluntarily reviewed an advance reader copy of this book

Loved this book! It was funny, passionate and above all else realistic and sincere in its character portrayal! Melissa foster has sucked me in and I look forward to other books by her! Fantastic job!