GRR Reviews Barefoot at Sunset (Barefoot Bay Timeles by Roxanne St. Claire

Barefoot at Sunset is a contemporary romance that featured an excellent meet-cute that was followed by "fake fiancee / real love" trope that escalated properly in a rom-com fashion as neither really knew anymore was it pretend or real affection. I find the grand gesture at the end a bit vague though.

To recap... Mark Solomon got wrangled into joining his high school reunion, even though the last thing he wanted was to be reminded that his wife Julia who died sixteen years ago, and no doubt every single woman at the reunion would be hitting on him. He was about to walk out when he found a woman sobbing on his doorstep... Copywriter Emma DeWitt was jaded, jilted, and jobless. She fell in love with her boss and even got engaged. Then two weeks ago he suddenly called it off, basically forcing her to resign as she can no longer work for him. She went to the island resort anyway and was sobbing on the doorstep of the villa she would have occupied for her honeymoon when Mark found her. And he made her an offer: spend a platonic week with him as his pretend fiancee to help him ward off all the advances and questions. Mark believes there was only one soul mate, and he already loved, married, and buried his love. Emma believes love is a marketing concept pitched to romantics to sell them even more stuff. But together, they fit so... right. But when the news of his engagement spread and his affection for her grew, how much of this is just pretend?

I think the idea of pretend fiancee was a bit iffy, though I can understand why Mark would want one after being harped on by the committee that snagged him. And you can tell fundamentally Mark's a good guy as he's trying to save Emma, as she basically arrived without even a reservation. Can spending a week with a gorgeous hunk help her get over her heartache... or only make it worse? Can Mark get through the week without telling even MORE lies? Can they coordinate their stories to ward off the advances of the harpies... and the well-wishers? For all that, you'll have to read the book, as I do find it entertaining, but a little lacking near the end.

Category: Contemporary

Primary Plot: Man needing a fake fiancee to ward off suitors found a jilted sobbing woman on his doorstep; can they help each other?

Tropes: fake engagement, jilted, forced proximity, protector

Overall Rating:  4/5