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    The Real Thing
    The Real Thing
    The Real Thing
    Audiobook8 hours

    The Real Thing

    Written by Melissa Foster

    Narrated by John Lane

    4.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Bakery owner Willow Dalton’s friendship with Zane Walker has always been a bit complicated. Now a scrumptiously hot A-list actor, Zane’s always had a reputation as a player. He’s arrogant, and he’s definitely not boyfriend material. Sure, he did Willow a favor by agreeing to take her virginity before college, but is that reason enough for her to go along with a fake engagement a decade later—even if it comes with a real diamond ring?

    Zane should have known better. Nothing involving Willow has ever been easy. Still, he knows her better than anyone, and becoming America’s hottest new leading man means cleaning up his reputation. An “engagement” to curvy, sass-mouthed Willow is the perfect PR move—provided no one gets hurt.

    Now Zane and Willow’s little white lie has turned into an irresistible recipe for sweet temptation. And soon no one will be able to tell the difference between their fake engagement and the real thing—including them.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBrilliance Audio
    Release dateSep 5, 2017
    ISBN9781536690392
    The Real Thing
    Author

    Melissa Foster

    NEW YORK TIMES, WALL STREET JOURNAL, and USA TODAY BESTSELLING AUTHORDownload FREE first in series! www.MelissaFoster.com/LIBFreeNever miss a release and get a FREE Braden/Remington short story! Sign up for Melissa's newsletter: www.MelissaFoster.com/NewsletterMelissa writes sexy and heartwarming contemporary romance, new adult romance and women's fiction with emotionally compelling characters that stay with you long after you turn the last page. Readers adore Melissa's fun, flirty, and sinfully sexy, award-winning big-family romance collection, LOVE IN BLOOM featuring the Snow Sisters, Bradens, Remingtons, Ryders, Seaside Summers, Bayside Summers, Harborside Nights, Wild Boys and Bad Boys After Dark, Tru Blue and the Whiskeys, the Wickeds, and the Montgomerys. Melissa's emotional journeys are always family oriented. Perfect beach reads for contemporary romance lovers who enjoy reading about loyal, wealthy and blue-collar heroes and smart, sassy, and empowered heroines with complex and relatable issues.Melissa also writes sweet romance with no harsh language or explicit scenes under the pen name Addison Cole.

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    Reviews for The Real Thing

    4.5/5

    27 ratings6 reviews

    What did you think?

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      This was a fun story between Willow and Zane. Willow lost her virginity to Zane when she asked him to do that for her. She put rules on it though telling Zane they couldn’t talk about it, couldn’t have feelings over it, it couldn’t change things, on and on. So I don’t really understand her animosity towards Zane. I mean for the first several chapters she straight up seemed to hate him bc he broke her heart but then you learn about all her stipulations, stipulations that he followed (or so he thought) so she had no right to hold it all against him. To be honest I wasn’t sure I’d like the book as this was
      going on bc of her attitude. Even after he flat out told her the truth

      Zane: “I fx$&@ up, baby. I never should have followed your asinine rules. I should have told you how I felt then.”
      “Who are you kidding? You went back to LA and forgot all about me. You didn’t feel then, and you don’t now.” “You’re wrong, Willow. Dead wrong.”

      It did get better for me. The biggest reason, Zane. He called Willow out and told her how he felt. I really liked Zane. He wasn’t at all like Willow wanted to think. He’s a romantic at heart who had loved her for years.

      “Because what I didn’t realize then but I see too clearly now is that I have looked for pieces of you in every woman I’ve ever been with. And not one of them has even come close. That’s the truth, and you may not be willing to admit that this thing between us—this lifelong deception we’ve existed in—is real, but I sure as hell can. And I’ll prove to you that I’m the only man you’ll ever love. Because what we had, what we have, has lasted ten years in a world where nothing is real. We’re real, Willow. We’re as real as it f@&&: gets.”

      So I really ended up liking both characters and their dynamics. I was glad Willow was able to get over the past and moved forward. I’m looking forward to seeing more of the family too as I really liked all of them!
    • 4/5
      The Real Thing was a "sweet" story. Haha... lame pun that anyone who read the back of the book can come up with. Really those this book was smoking hot. With some unexpected heart melting romance. Zane comes across as a playboy actor and he is just is very confident in that sexy way. Willow is like the girl we all want to be in our early twenties. She is confident in herself with her job and around her friends and family of the town. She is amusing, and realistic. Her problem is that she has always been in love with her first love, its always there and hard to forget. So when Zane, who has been her best friend for years, propositions her with a crazy plan for his reputation... (but is it...)

      Melissa Foster has created some very good characters with this book. I would say that it was a great solo book even, but I am more excited that it is part of a series. The whole family, that could use some hooking up, are full of very different characters that have different personalities, but seem loveable that you want to see the whole gangs stories unfold.

    • 5/5
      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.
    • 3/5
      Nice story , but the narrator had a strange Terminator vibe going. The female parts were distracting.
    • 5/5
      Oh this was so fun. Family friends to lovers ❤️ this was so sweet and funny ❤️ I really really enjoyed it ❤️
    • 4/5
      Received an ARC for my fair review for netgalley. This book was really cute. And I love a story of friends to lovers story, even if they had faked the engagement part, you knew that was going to change. Zane was Willow's brothers best friend, and ofcourse she had a crush on him growing up and he was her first. He does leave town and become a big Hollywood actor, but now he needs to clean up his image, and who better than Willow. There are some great moments and characters in this. Enjoy!