The Tycoon's Fake Fiancée is a delightful short, blended story of Gavin, the English tycoon and Sarah, the woman he's not been able to get out of his mind for the last thee years, as outlined within the blurb.

Straight out of the bat within the opening chapters, we are hit with what we came to read in the title. This book doesn't waste time in getting down to what we expect from the title alone. Especially if it is a short story, this can be a deal-breaker if two thirds of the book are spent with no reference to either the title or blurb. The Tycoon's Fake Fiancée gets to it straight away, so we have good, detailed content on what we came here to read. One star.

As I read through the book, I didn't feel as I could guess what would happen next. Sometimes with short stories, due to their nature of being short you can sometimes predict on how the story will go or how it will end. I'm happy to say, this isn't the case here. Where the story wasn't long enough for expansion on areas in which it would've been nice to go into more detail, I always was left guessing what was going to happen next so as such, I was kept on my toes where I like to be. Two stars.

Moving on to the characters, it was nice to read into this world a bit more from Gavin's brief introduction in the previous book in the series, 'The Tycoon's Pregnant Lover'. We had an inkling of what he and the others were like however, it was here that we got to see an expanse of his character and how it grows and develops as his the story progresses. The characters I feel, were all likeable, easy to follow and were charming to read about as after all, a book is nothing without well written characters. Three stars.

One element within the book that in particular I thought was written well, were the scenes in which tension or sexual tension was prominent between the two main characters. Sex and scenes filled with tension are so far and widely written now, even with authors sometimes writing the same sort of thing across various books, that those scenes sometimes lack the feelings for each of us individually, when we read each passing word. Leslie gracefully avoids this, as there was still a tingle there when reading about the interactions and feelings each character was putting out there. This is a mark of a good author. Four stars.

Ultimately, this book had me turning each page until unfortunately, I'd read the last page. As I said in my review for The Tycoon's Pregnant Lover, I'm not a reader of short stories as I'm always chomping at the bit to read more about the characters and the world that has been created around them. This book was no exception. A delightful read from start to finish.

A charming novella that had me smiling and laughing in different measures throughout
Gavin is an inventor with a big family who wants peace and solitude to be able to just sit and invent instead of being forced to work for the family tech firm
Sarah is a gardener but also had an affair with Gavin 3 years ago. They make a deal, she will design and bring his castles gardens back to life and she will pretend to be his fiancée to protect him from those society misses he hates
I loved how Gavin and Sarah’s relationship developed, they felt like genuine characters and people. Gavin has struggles with things I find difficult with like loud noises and crowds which endeared him to me. Sarah has her own challenges but I did warm to her as a person, everything she does especially near the beginning is motivated by family
The writing style drew me in and caught my attention and the split between their voices helped even more
I would recommend this book to those who dream of happy endings with characters with personalities but also with some spice thrown in

I voluntarily read this ARC in exchange for an honest review
All thoughts and opinions are mine

This is a second chance romance and part of a series - I have been fortunate to read the others - they are quick, fun reads

I loved the story. The characters are great, the ending satisfying

I received a free copy of THE TYCOON’S FAKE FIANCÉE (Book 2 of the European Tycoons) by Leslie North in exchange for an honest review. Billionaire inventor Gavin Burrows most desires solitude; he wants nothing more than to cut ties with his boisterous and demanding family. Sarah Hanson wants to help her loving aunt and uncle hold onto their landscaping business in thanks for taking her in after her father’s death. When Sarah approaches the owner of the local castle with a plea to allow her to revitalize the property’s famous gardens, Sarah and Gavin are both surprised to be facing a past lover. Gavin offers to allow Sarah to work on his gardens as long as she pretends to be his fiancée and be a buffer between him and his family until he can finish his current invention and finally sever ties with his family. Though desire flares between the two and they soon act on their attraction, Gavin continues to work towards his goal of seclusion while Sarah forms emotional ties with Gavin’s family. Can a family-oriented gardener find happiness with a nature hating hermit?

This was a pretty entertaining story. The primaries really like each other, so the drama comes from whether or not they will be able to resolve their different life goals.

#TheTycoonsFakeFiancée #NetGalley

This was a perfectly pleasant romance. Gavin and Sarah were together 3 years ago, broke up and meet again when she comes to renegotiate a gardening contract for her Aunt and Uncle at the castle Gavin has bought. For reasons which never made total sense to me, he asks her to be his fake fiancee and it all develops from there.

I found this a perfectly sweet story but it never came to life and sparkled for me. It's well written with nice characters and a reasonable plot. But the minute I finished it, I had forgotten what had gone on. Great for a relaxing beach read but somehow disappointing.

Received as an ARC from Netgalley. The Tycoon's Fake Fiancee, Leslie North

Gavin comes off like a recluse to me. Sarah has a hard time getting through to him. Her patience pays off in the end though. I can't wait to read the last book in this series. I love old castles.

Gavin Burrows in a billionaire inventor who likes to be left alone to work on his latest project. His mother is looking for a bride for him and will pick one out herself if he doesn't. Along comes his girl friend from years ago who is now living with her aunt and uncle. He makes a deal with Sarah to let her do the garden in the castle he just got if she will act as his fiancee. They have their ups and downs but the main thing is Gavin learns about love and family from Sarah. The story moves right along.