Sapphic. One Bed. Fake Dating. Damaged Past. Do I need to say more? No Rings Attached is the perfect second installment in the Ms. Right Series. Although this is the second book, it could be read as a standalone. This time the story follows Rosie's best friend and partner, Lia. Lia is desperate for a plus one for her brothers' wedding, so our favorite gal sets her up with the mysterious plan canceler, known as the imagery friend. I was pleasantly surprised when this story went past just the ordinary weekend wedding and gave more and more with each page turn. The steam, the conversations, the plot twists. This NEEDS to be on your TBR. Solid four stars. Out April 12th in a bookstore near you.

Thank you so much, Netgalley and Montlake, for the advanced reader copy of 'No Rings Attached' in exchange for my honest review.

After reading the first book in this series I was so ready to meet Grace and Lacey did not disappoint. Grace and Lia were perfect together and their journey so them. A must read for anyone who likes fake dating with only one bed.

This book took the fake dating trope to new heights! Lia and Grace share a best friend and yet have never met in person and live on different continents but both agree to be each other's fake date to a family wedding Lia has to attend in London! How much more convoluted can it get? Honestly it was awesome! I loved seeing Lia's family totally and completely at ease with the couple thereby normalizing their relationship. BUT the best part of the book for me was of course, Lia and Grace's tentative steps from unsure semi-friends to very attracted to fake dating to hooking up but with a deadline. The story takes them from London to Washington and New York during which they form a trust that constantly feels on the edge of being snapped in half.

The story was fun, silly, sexy, steamy, and heart-warming. I felt deeply for both characters and completely enjoyed reading this book!

Thank you for the opportunity to review this new novel.

This was a cute follow-up to her first book. A sweet romance but nothing that stood out.

Such a cute, cute story. It had twists and turns throughout the book that kept me engaged. Loved the characters and the storyline. All the characters felt like they were very well fleshed out and I did not see the last twist in the end but I thoroughly loved reading this book. Would definitely recommend it to anyone that wants a sweet love story that features a nice little group of friends.


CW: death of parents

Thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for the ARC.

No Rings Attached is a tradicionally published book that reads like a self published one. This isn't a callout to self published books by the way, I love them and have a great deal of respect for self published writers, but when a publisher chooses to release a book that has been worked on by professionals in the industry and revised many, many times, a certain level of quality is to expected—quality that seems to be missing from this particular title in more areas than one. The writing style will certainly please some, but I found it bleak, lifeless to the point I couldn't read more than a few sentences at a time. There was no nuance to it, either, with every little thing being spelled out, as if the reader couldn't understand the implication of the social interactions by themself. The characters were also lacking in personality, which is a fatal flaw when it comes to romance. I can't root for these characters to get together when I don't even want to read about them, period.

Lia and Grace meet when they fake date to Lia's brother's wedding. Lia lives in the US and Grace in the UK but the fake date turns into more when Grace, orphaned as a teen, decides to go back to the US to find out more about her history. This starts out very trope-y but becomes a bit more as Grace works through her discovery. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A good read.

This is the second book of a series but this is my first book of the series that I'm reading! The first thing to grab my attention is that cover!! How gorgeous is that??

I adore the fake dating trope and even though I think that the "I need a date to a wedding" has been overdone, it's still a classic! This book was very fun, entertaining, and just a good time all around.

Thank you to NetGalley and Montlake for the earc in return for an honest review.

This is the second book in the Ms. Right series but in my opinion even though there are shared characters, this can be read as a stand-alone novel. However, they are probably best read in order. When Lia needs a fake date for a wedding, her best friend Rosie sets her up with another friend, Grace. So their first meeting is basically at this wedding when they are supposed to be convincing everyone they've been dating for months. Not at all awkward huh? But when things go well at the wedding, Lia feels the need to return the favor as Grace needs support for her own difficult situation. And that's when everything changes for both Lia and Grace. This sapphic romance had fake dating, forced proximity and opposites attract tropes, surely something for every reader!

I enjoyed this a lot! It didn't leave a huge impression on me, but the characters are likeable and relatable I found myself really invested in the romance, the friendships, and the character arcs. It definitely felt more one woman's story than the others, which is a tension I always have a hard time with in a romance novel, but I found the whole thing compelling. I was very interested in the whole family secrets plot line and really love the exploration of friendship between queer women. I will definitely read more from this author.

Thanks to Montlake and NetGalley for this ARC.

CW: parent deaths, orphanhood, car accident, family secrets.

No Rings Attached is a part of a fun and well established series, but it can certainly be read as a stand alone. If you enjoyed book one of the Ms. Right series, Read Between the Lines, rest assured all the characters from this fabulous universe trot into this story and make their presence known. This time she brings Lia and Grace, Rosie’s two best friends, to the center stage. The new arc is a charming addition to the series and well-worth the read.

Lia and Grace are an exciting choice for this new story; they each have more than enough substance to spin an engaging tale. Lia is an alluring, take-charge character; there’s so much to appreciate about her. She’s fun, loyal, hard-working and friendly. Furthermore, she plays well against the backdrop of Grace’s character.

Grace, however, is a bit more beguiling than Lia. More than that though, her character is nuanced with complication. Because she was orphaned at the tender young age of 17, her past is littered with emotional trauma and loss. This, of course, has left her with a boatload of baggage that she tends to shove in the corner and avoid. Running from confrontation and emotional attachment is her hashtag, and it’s in direct opposition to Lia’s, which is #weneedtotalk.

The set-up for their romance is fake-date/fake girlfriends, and it’s well scripted. In an effort to avoid pesky and uncomfortable questions about being single and uninvolved, Grace agrees to attend a wedding with Lia as her girlfriend. However, both Lia and Grace are unprepared for how complicated it’s going to become, and it gets very complicated, considering they live on opposite sides of the globe.

The story line is cute and hooks readers into their love affair in a organic way; Lacey does a nice job building a believable, relatable relationship between the two women. It’s well-constructed and well-told. Readers fall for the couple as the two fall for each other. They want their happily ever after as much as Lia and Grace do.

Final thoughts…

With each book Lacey writes, she settles more firmly into her craft. Her characters get more interesting, her stories get more compelling and her storytelling flows more effortlessly across the page. I can’t imagine not enjoying a book by Rachel Lacey. Each one is filled with engaging characters involved in enchanting story lines. This one is no different; its an absolute delight. The characters are warm and charming, and the story world is layered and enticing. It’s a definite two thumbs up on my scorecard.

Strengths…

*Well-written
*Enchanting romance
*Engaging characters
*Lovely secondary characters
*Nicely constructed fake-dating tale
*Excellent addition to a wonderful series

Always a favorite trope in romance is the one bed trope. It always works to move things along in the relationship, it was so good! The fake dating aspect with an element of blind-date, and a meddling family member, it's a recipe for a great time.

I enjoyed this! It didn't leave a huge impression on me, but the characters are likeable and relatable I found myself really invested in the romance, even after it starts as fake dating. The friendships are great and the emotional journey, while not wholly balanced between the two, is compelling.

Thanks to Montlake and NetGalley for this ARC.

This book was EVERYTHING. From start to end, it reels you in. I finished this book in one day because I just couldn’t put it down. No rings attached has the fake dating trope and one bed trope and it was so well done. Lia and Grace are such likeable characters. Throughout the book, you can just tell they have such amazing chemistry. Lia is such a caring person, she was so patient, and I loved seeing how calm she was with Grace. She was by her side, helping her through Grace’s problems. This one was so good!

Thank you so much Rachel for a copy of this in exchange for an honest own voices review!

I loved the first book in the series so so so much, and if you haven't read it yet, what are you doing??

When I found out there was going to be a second book in the same world, I had to have it. And I'm so glad I begged for it because, No Rings Attached is an easy, loveable, and cute fake-dating romcom, that all sapphics deserve. From the get-go, the book was super easy to read and before I knew it, I was already halfway done with it. While I didn't necessarily relate to either of the characters, that didn't stop me from loving them.

The chemistry between Lia and Grace was perfectly written, and though I did find the overall plot to be so far out there in terms of realism, that did not stop me from falling in love with Lia and Grace as they fell for one another.

This is an utterly delightful sapphic romance novel, with stellar writing, lovely and sweet characters, and some serious chemistry. From the charming premise to the higher-stakes mid-novel plot points (one of the MCs learns about a relative she'd never known about), this novel perfectly walks the line between low/no conflict (my favorite) and enough friction to make the reader stay glued to the page. I can't wait to go back and read the first novel in this series now (and it certainly doesn't hurt that all of the characters are connected by a charming indie bookstore!)

This is the sequel to Read Between the Lines, and can definitely recommend checking both of these out! In this book we get an amazing fake dating romance, that pretty quickly starts to turn into something more.

The romance between Lia and Grace was really great, and I loved to see them being happy together, and have their relationship evolve. Their chemistry together was amazing, and you could easily tell that these two characters were good for each other. Grace goes through a lot of stuff in this book, and it was great to see how Lia was always there to talk, help and comfort Grace whenever it was needed.

One of the things I absolutely loved about this book was how straight forward and commutative Lia is about everything that is happening. She always speaks her mind, and is ready to talk about her feelings, so they don’t end up having any miscommunications. However, Grace was on the opposite end of the spectrum, she has been hurt in the past, and struggles with the idea of ever having a relationship. This made for an interesting dynamic, cause both sides were very valid, but you also couldn’t help rooting for them to finally have their talk and be together.

It was also super interesting to see Grace learning more about her parents and her family history. Her parents died when she was young, so she never got to ask them some of the many questions she had for them. Luckily, she is able to get some answers to some of these questions when she learns that she has a half-sister.

"No Rings Attached' is the second book in the Ms. Right series. In book one, we played witness to Rose falling in love with a lesbian book author, Jane, who just happened to also be her bookstore's landlord that was evicting her. In this second installment, Rose's bookstore manager and best friend, Lia, has all the focus.

Lia has to attend her brother's wedding in London. She doesn't want to deal with her mother's nagging about her love life or trying to set her up with anyone while she is there. Rose has a brilliant idea and proposes she askes her other best friend in London, Grace, if she can be Lia's plus one.

This book was engaging from beginning to end. I liked returning to the roommate/friend group that we were introduced to in book one. The fake girlfriend premise always provides a lot of provides a lot of entertainment value but this was so much more than that. Grace had some real family issues that has shaped who she is and her actions. So this was also a journey of her discovering the truth about her past and reconciling that with who she has become and if that is really how she wants to move forward in life.

I liked the two main characters together. They had a lot of physical chemistry. I could believe that Lia would fall for Grace and her damaged past and hard-to-get ways. Who doesn't like a good challenge? But sometimes I felt like Lia seemed a little too much like a doormat to what was happening in Grace's life. And the resolution seemed to come to quickly in the end for me. I was hoping for a little bit of fire/sass from Lia.

Overall, you can't go wrong with a Rachel Lacey book. She never fails with delivering a contemporary love story with good dialogue, chemistry, and plenty of emotional situations.

I recommend this to people who love to read romance, fake relationships, friendship, family drama, self reflection, personal improvement, and dinosaurs.

2.5

Part of the reason for my rating is that I had very different expectations for this book to what it actually turned out to be and part was how the story seemed to concentrate more on the ‘roadblocks’ to their relationship instead of getting me invested in the actual romance.

The book’s summary suggests that the plot around the two main characters, Lia and Grace, fake-dating during the wedding celebration of Lias brother would be the (somewhat) central event the story would take place around. While I am happy that this love story got more (in world) time to develop than a busy weekend, this part of the story fell flat for me. Ultimately the wedding was more of a jumping off point for the rest of the story than the central event the book circled around of. Sadly that meant that the fake-dating came too short for me. This trope promises a certain level of shenanigans but Lia and Grace were either separated or alone i.e. without an audience for most of this arc. The one big moment when this trope came out to play it did deliver a great scene though.

The story quickly moves on from the fake-dating storyline and develops into a road trip arc, which - due to its nature - didn’t help the book to feel like an overall cohesive or settled story. There were just a lot of plot point in this book and most of them didn’t get the time to develop in a satisfying manner.

We then spend a lot of time alone with our two main characters and yet I had problems getting invested in their romance. The better part of the romance developing scenes ended up derailed by what they felt was stopping them from getting into a relationship. One of the main points here is Grace, who herself described that she couldn’t be in a romantic or sexual relationship with someone if she hadn’t gotten to know them properly as a person fist. To me this read like she is demisexual, though it is never stated on page. The other characters (and she herself too sometimes) constantly make this out as some voluntary abstinence, a “no-dating” rule, a choice to stay away from dating, or even some sort of fear of commitment - that got frustrating quite quickly.

The main characters though were lovely people and I loved the writing style of this book a lot. Overall I sadly couldn’t connect to the romantic story of this book and ended up frustrated by the ‘problems’ both main characters imagined for their relationship most of the time.

I loved book 1 in this series and couldn’t wait to read book 2! Fake dating and one bed trope is like my kryptonite I just love it and this book did it sooo well!