Score: 4.5/5 Bookmarks

Steam Rating: 🍆🍆🍆/5

Thank you to Avon Books for gifting me a review copy of Like Lovers Do by Tracey Livesay. This is the second book in the Girls Trip series but I thought it worked well as a stand-alone.

Dr Nicole Allen is a hard-working orthopedic surgeon, her friend Benjamin Reed Van Mont runs his own financial management business. They agree on a trade of sorts. Nic will pretend to be Ben’s girlfriend for a week on Martha’s Vineyard to ward off his ex-girlfriend, and in return he’ll help make sure she doesn’t lose a fellowship that hangs in the balance.

Ben’s parents are work-a-holic doctors and after a lifetime of pressure from them he’s determined never to end up with a doctor himself. In fact, he wants a really sweet woman to call his own. Ambitious, tell-it-like-it-is Nic is not often called ‘sweet’—so clearly there’s no danger.

They’re friends, how hard can it be to pretend for a week? Apparently really hard….like, really h.a.r.d. if you get my drift. ;) Sorry, I couldn’t help myself, these characters have some serious chemistry, and this book is steamy in all the best ways! But they’re also smart, sweet, vulnerable, and real. I loved the amazing banter in this book, Nic’s girlfriends, and the emphasis on friendship and communication. It was wonderful to watch the ways in which both Nic and Ben grew during the book and discovered more about themselves as well as each other.

Basically, these two characters made me cheer them on for the happy ending they both so obviously deserved, and is there anything better than a good friends-to-lovers combined with fake dating story?! I was 100% here for it! Plus…Martha’s Vineyard y’all. I’ve only been there twice, but I love the place and enjoyed living vicariously through these two.

This was my first Tracey Livesay book and I will definitely be reading more. Lucky for me she has quite the impressive backlist of books! If you’d like to get your own copy, click the button below to buy from an indie bookseller.

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Synopsis:

Sometimes faking it can lead to the real thing…

Driven and focused, Dr. Nicole Allen is an accomplished surgeon. With a tough past, Nic’s gone above and beyond everyone’s expectations. But when she disciplines an intern—a powerful donor’s son—a prestigious fellowship she’s awaiting is placed in jeopardy.

Coming from a successful family who runs a medical business empire, Benjamin Reed Van Mont is the black sheep, having chosen to start his own business instead. Though he’s not ready to settle down, he knows when the time comes it definitely won’t be with a workaholic doctor like his friend Nic—even if she’s had him re-examining his edict…more than once.

When Ben’s status-climbing ex-girlfriend finds her way back into his orbit, Nic proposes a swap of services. She’ll spend the week with Ben on Martha’s Vineyard, pretending to be his girlfriend—but only if he’ll have his family intervene on her behalf so she won’t lose her fellowship. How hard can the charade be?

But as they’re about to discover, they’ve sorely underestimated their true feelings for each other…

Tracey Livesay continues her fun-filled Girls Trip series with this romance that will tug at your heartstrings.

Sometimes faking it can lead to the real thing…

Driven and focused, Dr. Nicole Allen is an accomplished surgeon. With a tough past, Nic’s gone above and beyond everyone’s expectations. But when she disciplines an intern—a powerful donor’s son—a prestigious fellowship she’s awaiting is placed in jeopardy.

Coming from a successful family who runs a medical business empire, Benjamin Reed Van Mont is the black sheep, having chosen to start his own business instead. Though he’s not ready to settle down, he knows when the time comes it definitely won’t be with a workaholic doctor like his friend Nic—even if she’s had him re-examining his edict…more than once.

When Ben’s status-climbing ex-girlfriend finds her way back into his orbit, Nic proposes a swap of services. She’ll spend the week with Ben on Martha’s Vineyard, pretending to be his girlfriend—but only if he’ll have his family intervene on her behalf so she won’t lose her fellowship. How hard can the charade be?

But as they’re about to discover, they’ve sorely underestimated their true feelings for each other…