First Review of 2023! Faking with Benefits by Lily Gold
5+ Stars | Reverse Harem Contemporary Romance | First novel of 2023, starting off with a bang!
Friends to Lovers | SPICY | Amazon + Goodreads + DISCREET COVER
Alright, Lily Gold, where does one sign up to live in an apartment building that oh so conveniently houses three soul mates? Because I want in on this!
Faking with Benefits is my third outing in Gold’s writing and it was so deliciously adorable, and spicy, with a bit of angst and just plain awesome romance. Plus, the writing itself is so on point and easy to read. I also really loved the switching of points of view, it adds depth to an RH romance to be able to see, feel, and absorb how the other people in the relationship are feeling and what is going on with their motivations.
Layla has been on 120 dates and to say it isn’t going well would be an understatement considering that the story begins with date 120 climbing out the bathroom window to get away from the gorgeous but intense Layla. To the rescue. . .one of her neighbors and friends, Zack.
Zack is an ex-rugby player, who is roommates with the ultimate silver fox himself, Luke, who also just happens to be one of Layla’s teachers when she was a teenager (side note here: Luke doesn’t remember her, nothing creepy or weird happened between them when she was a teenager, it’s not that kind of story). Then you’ve got Vietnamese British yummy personified, Josh, who is just – everything, he’s got it so bad for Layla and she has no clue, and Josh, well he isn’t owning up to it either.
“I should just focus on my work. Maybe one day, I’ll be rich enough to buy a husband.”
After the disaster of date 120 and getting drunk with Zack, Layla spills the beans to the three guys, she shares her lists, and her plans, she also shares that she feels she can’t land a guy or a date because you know, 120 dates. . .things get intriguing and embarrassing for Layla. However, an idea is born that fateful evening.
You see, these three delicious specimens, well, they’re not only flat-mates (they live in England), they’re also best friends and host a highly successful podcast called Three Single Guys. On the podcast they give out dating advice, they also share stories about dating the same woman, and answer listeners’ questions. They’re relationship gurus who aren’t in a relationship or relationships. . .
When the podcast starts to see a downward progression and Layla has laid out her cards on the table, a proposition of quid pro quo is born. They’ll help Layla with her dating issues – teach her the ways of men and she can come onto their podcast where they’ll discuss the fake dating experiment, a new segment that they hope will bring their ratings up. Plus it’ll provide some advertising to Layla’s lingerie business, which I totally forgot to mention. . .Layla is a Boss Bitch, she owns a successful lingerie business and the business is doing quite well, Layla is a master at following her goal list.
And so the experiment begins. And it is so good.
“Zilly @ZackHard0nForever
Twenty bucks they all fall in love.”
What begins as flirty shenanigans, soon turns into lessons in the bedroom. . .and other surfaces, and it’s all sorts of awesome. You see Layla’s got some fantasies and some issues in the bedroom, and her issues are about to get solved while fulfilling her deepest fantasies – more than one man. It becomes spice city, threesome this and threesome there until the last man falls and wham, bam, thank you ma’am we are in a poly romance situation. Cue the coming angst.
“Layla just looks at me, her chest rising and falling in little pants, and for a moment, everything else falls away. I’ve never seen her like this — so soft and pliable. A feeling I haven’t felt in a long time starts to grow in my chest.”
I loved this book. It’s my second favorite of Lily Gold’s novels that I’ve read so far. It’s sexy, spicy, funny, sweet, and charming. It also holds within its pages depth to the characters, each individual stands distinctly, with their own backstory, not one character could have been left out and this book have been the same.
Could I choose a favorite man out of the three? No. Why would I want to? They each fulfill what the other needs for each other, you add Layla to the mix, and it is just so freaking beautiful.
The spice is off-the-charts hot, with a bit of yum for everyone, and each of the guys shines in their own way. Don’t let the cover fool you, as Lily Gold herself warns at the beginning of the novel, they may be cutesy covers but the spice is literal fire. Buy a fan and get ready for some extremely well-written dirrrrty spice.
I’m so glad I chose to read Faking with Benefits as my first book of 2023. I loved it so much and super highly recommend it. Everything is pitch perfect, the characters, the flaws, and characterizations, motivations, misunderstandings, the love, the spice, the humor, the love, the poly relationship, the angst towards the end, the love – did I mention the love?
Because – the love!
“Everyone you love will hurt you, in some way. Most of them, I hope, will do it by accident. Some of them will do it on purpose. Don’t let them win by letting it harden you. Stay trusting. And hopeful. Fall in love again, and again, and again. It’ll be okay. I promise. . .”
