ARC Review: Pretending With the Playboy (In Love With a Tycoon) by Tracey Livesay

Title: Pretending With the Playboy (In Love With a Tycoon)
Author: Tracey Livesay
Source: Entangled Indulgence
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Length: Novel
Release Date: December 29, 2014
Reviewed by: Jasmyn

Rating - 4
Sexual - 3

Commitment makes you weak. It's playboy Carter Richardson's motto. The only
exception to the rule is his aunt, and when Carter learns she's terminally ill, he rushes to her bedside. Filled with fear and guilt—and desperate to ease his aunt's mind—Carter does the only thing a guy could do...he panics and blurts out that he's engaged to his aunt's enticing protegée. Lauren Olsen has already had her heart crushed once by Carter. Against her better judgment, she agrees to keep up appearances—until Carter makes their “engagement” public in order to protect the family business. Now Lauren's torn between obeying her conscience, and obeying her desire. Because while she could never trust the womanizing Carter she once knew, she seems to be falling for the man beneath the playboy...

This was a very fun story.  Both characters were very real and I fell in love with them very quickly.  Carter is a man that is jaded to commitment, although I didn't quite grasp why until near the end.  There are a lot of hints and I was probably being a bit dense about it.  He's running from his family and his family's company and legacy.  He is forced to come back to it all when he finds out his Aunt is dying.

Enter Lauren - a blast from his past that he's never quite forgotten or gotten out of his system.  She's an art PhD (which I totally loved) and is trying so very very hard to prove herself to the world.  One of Carter's not so nice relatives insists on calling her "the help" and I just wanted to haul off and slap her each time.  She was such a sweetheart that I couldn't stand anyone being mean to her.

So, in order to put the dying Aunt's heart at peace, Carter and Lauren pretend an engagement - not the most original plot, but there are some very fun twists and turns in this one.  What was supposed to be a small lie kept in the family quickly snowballs out of control.

The ending was very touching and some of you may cry.  You can really tell that the family cares for each other and just didn't quite now how to show it at times.  The final scene was quite beautiful and made for the perfect ending.

*This book was received in exchange for an honest review*

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Jasmyn's Review of The Tycoon's Socialite Bride

Review: The Tycoon's Socialite Bride by Tracey Livesay

Title: The Tycoon's Socialite Bride

Author" Tracey Livesay
Source: Entangled - Indulgence
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Length: Novel
Release Date: February 10, 2014
Reviewed by: Jasmyn

Rating - 3
Sexual - 3

To avenge his mother's mistreatment at the hands of her upper-crust employer, self-made
real estate tycoon Marcus Pearson needs entree into their exclusive world. When D.C. socialite Pamela Harrington comes to him for help, Marcus realizes the golden admission ticket he's been seeking has suddenly fallen into his lap. Pamela will do anything to save her favorite cause, even agree to a marriage of convenience. The altruistic "it-girl" isn't worried about the pretend passion with Marcus turning real; she's sworn off powerful, driven men who use her for her family's connections. So she'll deny the way her pulse races with one look from his crystalline blue eyes. And he'll ignore the way his body throbs with each kiss from her full lips. Because there's no way he'll lose his blue-collar heart to the blue-blooded beauty..

D.C. can be a difficult city to maneuver politically and socially.  And Marcus is realizing it's even more difficult if you don't have the old money - the blue blood family.  His lack of history is causing problems with his most recent business deal, and when he discovers that the daughter of a senator needs something from him, he has the perfect solution.

This was a very new take on the marriage of convenience for me - I had only run into in historicals up to this point.  Both parties enter the agreement knowing all the facts, so there was no hiding or fibbing involved and I found I really enjoyed the concept.   Pamela was a little too much of a good girl through out the story though.  While Marcus made his fair share of mistakes - she seemed to be too far above it all to be real.

The background of the business deal is quite interesting, but outside of that there really wasn't a lot of action or suspenseful moments.  There were a couple, but they were wrapped up and moved on from rather quickly for my taste.  However, this has shown me that I won't be turning books away just because they don't marry for love anymore.

*This book was received in exchange for an honest review*

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