A Very Pretend Boyfriend: A Grumpy Sunshine Hockey Romance (Very Much in Love illustrated covers #1)
Scarlett Avery
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars
4.25
· Steam/Spice level: 5 of 5
Explicit and plentiful [?]
· 2 ratings · 460 pages · Published: 05 Feb 2026
The first time I met the NHL All-Star legend was at the hockey player’s Hamptons cottage to celebrate his stepson’s twenty-fifth birthday. There was no forgetting Kazimir Lindström’s mesmerizing blue eyes or the permanent sexy scowl that creased his thick eyebrows.
When the universe throws my ex-boyfriend’s stepdad back into my life a year later, I’m at my lowest. Broke. Jobless. And thanks to my Peeping Tom superintendent, without a home.
On the heels of a nasty divorce that was splattered all over the gossip rags, the 6’4” tattooed, brooding grump needs an image rehab because of the PR disaster.
I'm not sure if it's my desperation or his impulsive decision-making that causes the outrageous proposals to drop from his kissable lips. One of New York’s most eligible bachelors wants me to be his fake girlfriend. And he offers me a position as his social media manager. Oh, and he wants me to move in with him?
My bank balance is too anemic to refuse his offers. As long as we don’t blur our carefully drawn lines, I can pull this off…
Life with Kaz is so idyllic, I gaslight myself into believing a girl like me—born into a good-for-nothing family of thieves—can rewire her trailer trash DNA, and this fairytale can be my forever when I’m still holding onto a dark secret. One that if exposed, could taint Kaz’s reputation and ruin his empire.
USA Today Bestselling Author Scarlett Avery brings you a whirlwind of a sizzling hockey romance between a grumpy boy-obsessed (he falls first) who’s been dealing with abandonment issues his whole life and a woman who’s down on her luck and convinced she doesn’t deserve love because of her family’s sins.
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Tagged as:
- contemporary 2
- sports 2
- sweet/gentle heroine 1
- independent heroine 1
- cheerful/happy heroine 1
- tortured heroine 1
- angst 1
- funny 1
- new adult 1
- grumpy/cold hero 1
- alpha male 1
- possessive hero 1
- tortured hero 1
- athlete hero 1
- ceo/tycoon hero 1
- rich hero 1
- m-f romance 1
- grumpy & sunshine 1
- boss & employee 1
- age gap 1
- class difference 1
- fake relationship 1
- friends with benefits 1
- insta-love 1
- friends to lovers 1
- forced proximity 1
- forbidden love 1
- caretaking 1
- masc-dom 1
- spanking 1
- bdsm 1
- bondage 1
- daddy kink 1
- praise kink 1
- double anal 1
- hockey 1
- found family 1
- poor heroine 1
- Add topics
- geography
- usa 1
- new york state 1
- Format
- dual pov 1
- first person pov 1
romance tags
The 'Very Much in Love illustrated covers' series
4.25 · 2 ratings
dual-pov · independent heroine · super rich hero · poor heroine · praise-kink · cheerful heroine · cold hero · possessive hero · spanking · age difference · humor · forced proximity · usa · hockey · insta-love · bondage · caretaking · standalone-first · tortured heroine · first-person-pov
Very Much in Love illustrated covers reading order and complete book list ❯
