An offer that cannot be refused…

Synopsis

When Life Gives You Lemons, Fake an Engagement

When investment banker Adrian and software engineer Rowena started the day, they didn’t expect to end it engaged! But Adrian has invented a fake fiancée to impress his CEO, regretting the lie almost immediately, and now he is in hot water. Meanwhile, Rowena’s career has just gone up in flames, leaving her unemployed, unexpectedly expecting with no father in the picture, and short of options. When fate throws these two hot messes into a meet-cute of epic proportions, it’s a match made in rock-bottom heaven. They say love is blind, and with nothing to lose, Adrian gets down on one knee… and Rowena says yes!

The rules of engagement are simple:

Pretend to be madly in love

Keep their real lives separate

Absolutely, positively do NOT catch feelings

However, faking it is harder than they thought, especially when every overnight stay comes with only one bed and zero personal space—blurring that imaginary line between ‘just business’ and ‘definitely personal.’

Soon, their carefully constructed charade starts to feel alarmingly… real. Can Adrian and Rowena stick to their engagement pact, or will their fake relationship graduate to something authentically messy, complicated, and wonderful?

Find out in this hilarious, heartwarming tale of two strangers who said “I do” before they even said “Hello.” Because sometimes, the worst day of your life just might lead to the best mistake you’ll ever make.

If the Ring Fits is an age gap, marriage of convenience rom-com with a multi-millionaire MMC and a STEM FMC perfect for fans of Lynn Painter, Sarah Adams and Fallon Ballard**

My review

Software engineer Rowena is falling apart quickly… she is happy that her relationship ended, as it for sure was a toxic one. But she didn’t expect to find herself pregnant, and suddenly also without employment. She doesn’t know what to do nor does she know how she will be able take care of not only her herself but also of the baby that will be arriving. The last thing she expects that while feeling sick in the bathrooms of her what used to be her office budling, she meets up with Adrian. He himself is also feeling sick, as he just told the biggest of lies to the CEO of his firm. Because as the CEO is stepping down, he is looking for a successor and Adrian wants the job. Only needs the next CEO needs to be more of a family man, and that Adrian is not. So Adrian invented a fiancée, and now he needs to deliver. Rowena and Adrian both have something the other needs, so a plan comes to fruition. A crazy plan, but when Adrian pops the question, Rowena accepts. Because they only need each other until they get what they want, right?

Ooh, Camilla Isley just did it again… writing not only a romance story, but one filled with so much more than just a sudden two people finding each other in time of need.

Everyone has a bad moment in life, where things don’t go how we expected them to go. Heck, there can be even more bad moments in life. Unfortunately for Rowena, those bad moments in her life come all at the same time…

While it’s good for her that she is no longer with her douchebag – boyfriend, discovering that she is pregnant for sure shocks her.

To make things even worse, she finds herself losing her job. Not because she is not competent enough, because she for sure is. But because let’s say the environment,  and especially her boss’s attitude, aren’t the healthiest of the places, and sure not a place where equality and righteousness prevails…

I felt both angry in her place and sad for her at the same time. The way she has been treated, both by her boss and even her ex, are just so wrong in many different aspects. And just the moment she is trying to get her life back on track after the break – up, she is faced with another setback. So could I blame her for feeling sick while leaving the building? Of course not! And I don’t think it’s all to blame on her pregnancy…

Her meeting Adrian, in the bathrooms of all places, of course is hilarious. Of all the places they could meet, even an elevator, but no, Camilla had to go a step further and make their first encounter in one of the most awkward and embarrassing places of the whole world. And yes, it was funny they meet in the same circumstances, being sick and needing the toilets. Of course their circumstances are completely different.

I have to say, Adrian doesn’t come off as a great guy at the start of the book. He is focused on his career, seems to care more about his wealth than anything else. And he makes it even ‘worse’ by lying to the CEO, just in order to get the position he has his eyes on.

Now, I knew that Camilla wouldn’t make the main character a horrible person, or a selfish one. So even if Adrian may look like one, I knew that we had to be patient and that Adrian’s real character would show and that we would fall for him.

Perhaps their plan is unconventional. Okay, not perhaps.. 😊 But I could understand where they were coming from. Rowena needs security in her insecure life, and Adrian needs a fake fiancée. So why wouldn’t they join forces and help each other out? This isn’t the kind of story where the main characters just go with the flow. Both Rowena and Adrian come with strict plans and rules. And we already start to see the kind of man Adrian is. Because he is adamant on taking care of Rowena, even just financially, even at the end of their agreement. I don’t think that many people would to that.

What this book isn’t either, is the kind where sparks fly immediately, the main characters share the bed immediately etcetera. No, in this book we see how Rowena and Adrian are not always finding it easy to adapt to the many changes in their lives.

And things don’t always go that smoothly, because not only Rowena isn’t used to all the luxury and sees how the other lives. But we also see that living together doesn’t mean that characters immediately warm towards each other. Adrian is still rather distant, even avoiding Rowena, not making this awkward situation any easier.

Yet slowly, very slowly and very funnily too, we see walls falling down. What starts as physical attraction becomes more. And I am not only talking about it in a romantic way. But we see Adrian opening up, and we see the man he truly is, and how he became the man he is now.

I found it sweet, funny – even hilarious – seeing this unlikely pair being together. I loved reading how they start to form a real unit together, having each other’s back, supporting each other and even help each other out to make their dreams come true.

Dreams that involve the reappearance of some characters that I already loved from previous books that made me literally ‘EEEEEEEEK!’ 😊. Their presence in this book was for sure an extra nice surprise in an already wonderful story!

There is one point that I didn’t fully agree with the author… It’s something that happens rather late in the story, and it involves a name. I understand the meaning behind it, and the idea is a wonderful one. But that doesn’t mean I had to fully like it. But… if that is the only thing I didn’t completely like in the whole story, it’s not that bad, right? 😊

This was absolutely a wonderful story, with a strong and flabbergasting start. A story that for sure kept me captivating. It was impossible to put it away. A story that shows that sometimes when things start off truly badly, it can be the start of a brand new adventure, something unconventional maybe, yet something wonderful.

With each book from this amazing author, I have extreme high expectations. Yet it doesn’t matter how impossible high those expectations may be, Camilla easily fulfils them and keeps on exceeded them! I just cannot wait for her next book!