Sweet and spicy fake-marriage romance!

When African-American NFL football player and widower Isaiah Blackwell and Russian principal ballet dancer Victor Aleksandrov first lay eyes upon each other, sparks fly and their one-night stand rocks both their worlds. Although Isaiah’s gender-fluid son, Evan, finds a kindred soul in Victor, Isaiah is reluctant to love anyone again after the death of his husband. But, when the outspoken Victor’s request for asylum is denied, Isaiah offers to marry him to head off Victor’s deportation. However, Isaiah has some strict rules for the fake marriage, much to Victor and Evan’s growing frustration. Will Isaiah ever accept this is more than just a marriage of convenience?

I loved most of this fake-relationship romance, especially the characters of Victor and Evan, both of whom knew how the world worked. I liked the chemistry between Isaiah and Victor but the way Isaiah continually broke Victor’s heart was hard to bear. This was all about Isaiah’s journey of understanding and letting go of his dead husband and while it was frustrating at times, it was an important journey—I could really appreciate the sentiments, especially Evan’s speech to Isaiah near the end of the book which was a brilliant piece of writing. 🎧 African-American actor Mirron Willis did a great job narrating the audio!

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