Thank you to Lauren Blakely and the team at Candi Kane PR for the advance reader copy of My One Week Husband, releasing on February 19th.

I am a member of Lauren’s review team, but I stand by my reviews remaining honest and true.

Lauren is bringing us two of my fave tropes together! A fake marriage combined with a week-long trip to Europe. Get strapped in for this wild ride. Because we all know when two people are so determined not to fall in love, it is rather inevitable that they do. This may in fact be one of Lauren Blakely’s best love stories yet!

Check out the Goodreads synopsis…

“A week-long trip. A fake marriage. And seven delicious nights with only one bed in the hotel room.

He’s my business partner, my good friend, and the man I’ve craved for years.
But I’ve resisted the sexy Brit, and I plan to keep up my walls because I’ve been there, done that, and I know how much it hurts when you let someone into your heart.
Then an opportunity comes along for us to snag the business deal of a lifetime.
The catch?
We need to pretend we’re married to pull off this high-stakes deal.
So the clever, charming man with secrets a mile deep becomes my temporary husband, as we travel around Europe. Soon, we fall into bed, tangled together like newlyweds who can’t keep their hands off each other.
One week to explore our fantasies, then we return to who we were.
But when I learn the dark secrets he’s been keeping, I doubt we can go back.
Because they change everything.”

Check out my more detailed thoughts below…

Characters: Scarlett and Daniel are both hoteliers. They are business partners with Cole from One Exquisite Touch. If you have read Cole and Sage’s story you will recognize Daniel from the tryst the three of them had. Scarlett and Daniel run the European arm of the business, with Scarlett based in Paris and Daniel in London. Scarlett is at home in Paris, she escaped London after the death of her husband. There is much more to that story but you gotta read this to find out. Daniel has an even larger set of baggage stemming from when he damaged his playing hand forever destroying any chance of a career as a Violin virtuoso. All of it connects to his parent’s death and a much larger story. Daniel may be one of the most broken men Lauren has ever created; he is terrified to put himself out there and find love. So is Scarlett after losing her husband and realizing she never truly knew who he was, just three years ago.
Pacing: This story is a whirlwind; that I engulfed in just two sittings. The pace of the couple’s trip is fast so it made the plot progress at a similar pace.
Setting: The vast majority of the story is set across France. Paris is the home base for Scarlett so it takes center stage in this tale. Daniel and Scarlett embark on series of hotel tours to decide if they are going to buy up some new locations. This trip subsequently takes us to Nice, Lyon, and Avignon just to name a few places. I absolutely adore books set in Europe and all this did was make me yearn to go back to France and explore the vast country outside of the Paris city limits.
Romance: Scarlett describes her and Daniel’s partnership as “were like gin and tonic.” Meaning they complement each other perfectly. Despite this, their relationship has strictly remained a business one. All it takes is one night while they are touring a hotel in Avignon, an almost kiss forces both of them to evaluate how they feel about the other. They have immediate chemistry with one another, and to the reader, it seems they both have been suppressing their feelings for the other for years. Scarlett describes Daniel as “hot” and he describes her as “stunning with a capital S.” The opportunity arises to play husband and wife for a week; this is what makes Daniel and Scarlett face the music. Now they must decide what is more important their solid business partnership or exploring a once-in-a-lifetime chance of love.