Her Super-Secret Rebound Boyfriend by Kerri Carpenter
Series n/a; standalone Genre Adult Contemporary Romance Publisher Entangled: Lovestruck Publication Date June 11, 2018
It wasn’t shy librarian Lola McBride's idea to crash someone else’s high school reunion. Her best friend made her do it, insisting that having a little fun with a super-hot rebound would make her forget about her recent breakup. That’s when she meets the hottest guy she’s ever seen.
Architect Luke Erickson had no idea attending his ten-year reunion would turn out to be so fun. He catches the sexy brunette in a lie, and he counters with a proposal—He’ll keep her secret if she helps get his family off his back by pretending to be his girlfriend at an upcoming family reunion. From one reunion to another, Lola and Luke are suddenly spending a lot of time together. Good thing they're only pretending, or this super-secret relationship could get really complicated.
Chapter One
“Crying is for plain women. Pretty women go shopping.” -Blanche Devereaux “Everything you need to know about life you can learn by watching The Golden Girls.” Lola raised an eyebrow at her best friend and roommate. Frankie meant well, but sometimes it took a little time and patience to figure out exactly what she was talking about. “I’m serious,” Frankie said after she snagged the carton of double-chocolate fudge ice cream they were currently sharing. One carton, two spoons, a Ryan Gosling movie marathon with your best friend. Not a bad way to spend a Saturday getting over a breakup. Of course, a better way to spend a Saturday would be hanging out with your boyfriend. Well, if he didn’t just dump you for someone younger, prettier, and more fun. “I know you’re serious, Frankie, and I am well aware of your love affair with reruns of The Golden Girls. But I thought we were talking about me and all my lameness.” “You’re not lame, Lola. I wouldn’t be friends with you if you were. You got dumped.” “Thanks for reminding me.” She shoveled a large spoonful of ice cream in her mouth. “Let me finish. You got dumped and The Golden Girls are going to help you feel better. Trust me. Dorothy, Rose, Blanche, and Sophia know all.” Lola rolled her eyes. She couldn’t help it. “Oh really. And just what would they say to make me feel better about Mark?” “Mark is a douche. And anyway, it’s not what they would say to you. It’s what they would do. They have all the answers to the problems of the world.” Curious, Lola put her spoon and the now empty ice cream carton on the coffee table and turned to give her friend her full attention. After she paused Crazy, Stupid, Love first, of course. Always dramatic, Frankie sat up straight, flipped her curly auburn hair over her shoulder, and took a deep breath. “Okay, so, think about it. The Golden Girls know how to live life. Number one. Get a great roommate.” Frankie shimmied her shoulders and made a kissy face. Lola laughed. “Obviously, you already have that one down,” Frankie said. “Next,” she said, holding up two fingers, “cheesecake makes everything better. Third…” “If you tell me to start dating every guy I meet like Blanche or your next sentence starts with ‘Picture it…Sicily’, I’m going to throw up.” It was Frankie’s turn to laugh. “No. Although, Blanche may have been on to something. She loved her body, she was confident, and she enjoyed dating. Hmm, all things you don’t possess.” “Shut up.” Lola threw a pillow at her. She did enjoy dating. Lola preferred being in a committed relationship to randomly hooking up. As a homebody, her preference was to spend the night with her boyfriend cooking together and binging Netflix rather than getting hammered at a bar and making idle chitchat with some douchey guy who smelled like beer and wore too much aftershave. Frankie, on the other hand, loved going out. She was always the first to try a new bar or get them VIP passes to the hottest club. Frankie was an expert flirter, and men always seemed to flock to her. If she wanted, she could be out with any of the twenty guys who’d snapped her in the last week. All she had to do was bat her pretty eyelashes. Even when she broke up with someone, he was still enamored with her. She was almost to the friend limit on Facebook. Basically, she was Lola’s polar opposite. Although…there was something covetable about Frankie’s love life. Lola saw it as almost freeing. Frankie was always smiling and laughing. Everyone loved her, and she was the life of the party. Not that Lola didn’t have friends and a life. She did. It was just a small, quiet life. She glanced at Frankie and saw the determination on her face. Lola wasn’t getting out of this conversation. “I’m sure there’s some point to all of this,” Lola said. “Why don’t you just get to it?” “My point is that you are bummed because Mark dumped you.” “I know this already, Francesca.” Frankie stuck her tongue out at the use of her full name. “Mark was a loser, and you need to get back out there and have some fun. Life is too short. You’re young, you’re smart, you’re totally gorgeous.” Lola caught a glimpse of her reflection in the window behind the couch. Her long brown hair probably needed a trim, although she liked how her bangs had grown out to that perfect length and touched the tip of the black glasses she absolutely needed to wear. Frankie always said her light-blue eyes were so pretty and how she should lose the glasses. But Lola had tried contacts, and glasses were more comfortable. Besides, as a librarian, she was constantly staring at books and computer screens. Contacts tended to dry up and become itchy by the end of the workday. “I know what you’re thinking, Lola Susan McBride. You’re going to tell me that you’re not gorgeous, even though you have the body of a Victoria’s Secret model. Damn you,” she added for good measure. “Oh please,” Lola said with one last look at her reflection. She was plain and boring. If she really resembled a model, Mark wouldn’t have broken up with her. Well, probably not. “And it’s time for you to take that bangin’ body out there, dress it up in provocative clothes, have some fun, and find a super-hot rebound guy.” “You know I’m not going to do any of that. Besides, I wouldn’t even know how. Or where to go.” Frankie’s eyes were practically sparkling. “Well…you could do speed dating.” Lola scrunched up her nose. Frankie laughed. “Okay, that’s out. We could barhop next weekend. Ooh, you could go back on Tinder or Bumble.” Lola groaned. Like most single people, she’d tried online dating. She’d been on a fair amount of dates and even had a relationship with someone from OKCupid for a couple months. But she’d also been stood up twice, suffered through a date with a man she was pretty sure was batting for the other team, and received three dick pics. The idea of returning to that Pandora’s box of fun? No thank you. “Lola, you have to put yourself out there. It’s a numbers game. The more men you meet, the better your chances of finding someone.” “But I don’t know how to do that,” Lola whined. “I do,” Frankie said in a singsong voice. “And so do Dorothy, Rose, Blanche, and Sophia.” “Are we back to that?” “We never left. Didn’t you see the episode where they crashed someone else’s high school reunion?” Because of Frankie’s love of The Golden Girls, Lola had seen pretty much every episode at least three times. “Doesn’t Dorothy become…wait a minute. You’re not suggesting we crash a high school reunion?” Frankie’s grin spread from ear to ear. Tour Wide GiveawayTo celebrate the release of HER SUPER SECRET REBOUND BOYFRIEND by Kerri Carpenter, we’re giving away for a $25 Amazon gift card! GIVEAWAY TERMS & CONDITIONS: Open internationally. One winner will be chosen to receive a $25 Amazon gift card. This giveaway is administered by Pure Textuality PR on behalf of Entangled Publishing. Giveaway ends 6/15/2018 @ 11:59pm EST. Entangled Publishing will send one winning prize, Pure Textuality PR will deliver the other. Limit one entry per reader and mailing address. Duplicates will be deleted. CLICK HERE TO ENTER!
About Kerri CarpenterAward-winning romance author Kerri Carpenter writes contemporary romances that are sweet, sexy, and sparkly. When she’s not writing, Kerri enjoys reading, cooking, watching movies, taking Zumba classes, rooting for Pittsburgh sports teams, and anything sparkly. Kerri lives in Northern Virginia with her adorable (and mischievous) rescued poodle mix, Harry. Newsletter | Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Amazon | Entangled Publishing
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