FAKING FOREVER – Catherine Bybee
First Wives, Book 4
Montlake Romance
ISBN: 978-1503905221
March 2019
Contemporary Romance
Tulum, Mexico & Los Angeles, California –Present Day
Shannon Wentworth is on her way to Mexico for her job as a wedding photographer when the guy next to her on the plane in first class turns out to be a jerk. She tells him off and figures she'll never see him again. To her mortification, it turns out he's the groom, Victor Brooks. Well, he still is a jerk and he's also much older than the bride, who Shannon can see is having second thoughts about the marriage. Shannon has no compunction in telling the bride that it's better to back out now than end up divorced. But even she is surprised when the bride ditches the wedding. Shrugging it off, Shannon goes to the next part of her trip to Mexico: finding a nameless man to be her baby daddy.
Victor is stunned when his bride, Corrie, dumps him at the altar and he goes on a drunken bender. It's Shannon, the woman he met on the plane and with whom he clashed, who rescues him after he passes out. Victor decides to stick around Tulum for a few days and it ends up with him encountering Shannon again. Soon, Victor is attracted to her and the feelings are mutual. But is it too early for him to get involved with another woman? Shannon seems to think so and proposes that instead of hopping into bed together they wait ninety days and then date. Can they last that long?
Shannon was once in a marriage contract with a guy to help him get elected as the governor of California (she was the trophy wife). She fell in love with her husband, but he wasn't interested in her and divorced her as part of their contract. Shannon got a nice settlement and has built a career in photography, which is her love. But as she is now feeling her biological clock, she's decided to have a baby. She just doesn't want a man “attached” to her. But once Shannon meets Victor, she must grapple with her decision. Not get pregnant and see where things go with Victor? Also, is he really over Corrie or using Shannon as a rebound relationship?
Victor is a successful businessman but somewhere along the way he missed out on romantic relationships and started looking around. He thought Corrie would be the perfect wife to be supportive of him and provide him with the children he wants. But was he ever in love with her? In a way, her ditching him at their wedding ceremony is a blessing because it gives him time to reflect on what he really wants. And it allows him to pursue the utterly beautiful and intriguing Shannon. Both of them do not know where their affair will lead, but he wants it to start as soon as possible. The postponement of their lovemaking only amps up the heat and sexual chemistry between Victor and Shannon in FAKING FOREVER. But even as much as he is falling for her, a part of him wonders if there is any future for them.
FAKING FOREVER is the final book in the First Wives series by Catherine Bybee, but this can be read as a standalone without too much difficulty even as her three fellow first wives (though they're now married) are integral to Shannon's decisions regarding Victor. Shannon's past has been dictated mostly by others and she thought that she was now in control of her life, but once she meets Victor, she doesn't know what she wants. They are a likable couple and readers will be rooting for them to find happiness together. Don't miss the entertaining and emotional FAKING FOREVER.
Patti Fisher
