The Alphahole's Guide to Marrying the Enemy by Piper Marlowe

 Thank you to Social Butterfly PR and Piper Marlowe for sending me an e-ARC of this book to read and review!  As always, all thoughts are my honest opinions, and this review can also be found on my Goodreads.

The conclusion to the billionaire fake marriage trio from Piper Marlowe, this book features Max and Sydney as they navigate through a mutually beneficial agreement. When Max tries to convince his mom to sell him a building for a real estate deal he has in the works, she insists he needs to clear his aura and gain some good karma before she would consider it. Enter Sydney, the younger sister of Max’s best friend Easton and known social justice warrior.  When her friend fails to pitch her new tech device, Max offers an exchange - he’ll get the tech in front of an investor is Sydney will marry him so his deal goes through. Despite their mutual hatred, Sydney agrees. But along the way they explore new depths they never knew existed, and learn more about each other (and themselves) than expected. 

Photo from my bookstagram - @bookworminkayla

I really enjoyed the previous book, The Playboy’s Guide to the Fake Fiancée, and wanted to love this one as much. Unfortunately, I found this story a bit lackluster. Enemies to lovers is one of my favorite tropes but I think this book missed a lot of the steps that move a couple from enemies to lovers, and gave me some whiplash as I was left wondering how we went from A to Z so fast.  I did enjoy their interactions, and the fact that we start to discover more and more about the characters beyond their initial appearances. Their developing motivations, particularly in Max’s case, kept me interested in the story, and I liked their characterizations and personality quirks. There is a bit of humor, a bit of good karma, some good old-fashioned jealousy and a couple misunderstandings that make moments of the book pop out more than others. Overall, I did enjoy this book, but I found a lot of jumps in the build-up to the relationship and felt like I missed out on key moments. I was left with the sense that while Max and Sydney are a good pairing, some of their story was left untold. 

Enemies become lovers in this hot and hilarious marriage of convenience. 

The Alphahole's Guide to Marrying The Enemy, a best friend’s little sister romantic comedy from Piper Marlowe, is available now!

The Brooklyn warehouse is filled with graffiti and pigeon poo. It’s practically begging to be converted into luxury loft apartments.

And yet, will my mother sell it to me, her only son, the investment wunderkind?

“Darling, buildings have souls,” she says, between sips of green juice.

“Show me that you’re on the path to spiritual wellness, and I’ll give it to you.”

Enter Sydney Taylor, my best friend’s little sister, spiritually well enough for even my mother’s past selves to approve of, and my least favorite person on earth…in this life or any of the others I’ve supposedly lived. I wouldn’t date her if she was the last woman on earth. I’ve repeatedly fantasized about shipping her to Mars.

Instead, I marry her.

I know, I know, my crew has quite the history with phony relationships, but this one’s different.

No matter what my mother sees in our auras.

Or how much I want to hate-boink her maddeningly sweet little...

Yep, once my mother signs over that building, I’m definitely going to walk away from this hot-fakery totally unscathed.

And if you buy that, I’ve got a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you.

Fall in love today!

Amazon: https://amzn.to/3ESI7fr 

Amazon Worldwide: https://mybook.to/enemypm

Check out an excerpt below!

     Love means nothing. 

     In tennis, that is. 

     Love just means you haven’t scored yet. Keep playing. Keep hitting that ball until you make a winner out of yourself. In tennis, a winner can’t have love. 

     And I’m a winner. I’m the one who wins, and wins, and then sleeps with the prom queen. Normal people wish they could walk in my shoes for a few hours, then they feel jealous when they meet me. 

     I’m a stone-cold winner. Twenty-eight, TriBeCa penthouse, over a billion in the bank, a dick that could choke a giraffe. Women love me, then hate me later on. That’s fine, as long as they love me first. I’ve won every single game I’ve ever played. Well… except this one.

      “That’s the match!” my mother says, beaming at me from across the court. 

     Fuck, I let that last volley of hers sail right past my head. I glare at the stupid yellow ball as it bounces off the court. 

     Yep. That’s the set. Four games to two. At least I didn’t get love though. That’d make me a real fucking loser.

      “Good job, Maryann,” I mutter. Mom doesn’t mind that I call her by her first name. She didn’t think it was weird even when I started doing it at six. 

     “Chin up, sweetheart.” My mother walks off the court at my side, beaming as she slides her sunglasses on top of her ageless blond head.      

          “You know, you only lost because you never commit to your backhand.”

      “I lost,” I say, “because Sydney Taylor kept distracting me.”

     Honestly, the Kensington Tennis Club is the exact last place I ever thought Sydney fucking Taylor would show her face. It’s the summer meet-and-greet locale for all of New York’s high society. While Sydney got a membership to that club by being born into one of the richest families on the planet, she’s never wanted to hang around with any of us “trust-fund assholes.” Her term, not mine. Like I said, WASP-y tennis club isn’t her idea of a good time. I’d have expected her to be building outhouses down in Guatemala or getting into a fist fight with Richard Spencer. 

     Not that I’d blame her.

     But here she is, seated at a table on the patio, shooting me one smug grimace after another. When she catches me staring, she cheerfully flips me off. Then, in case anyone becomes shocked by her unladylike display, she uses her middle finger to scratch her forehead. 

     Classy save, Syd. 

     I fucking hate her, and the feeling’s mutual.

Add to Goodreads: https://bit.ly/3ER7ApV

About Piper Marlowe

Piper Marlowe is an absolute legend, if you know where to look. And trust us, you don’t.

For national security reasons, her identity is a secret. As a matter of fact, there’s a good chance that at this very moment, she’s undercover, speaking with a bad Lithuanian accent to a bunch of shady characters. She can neither confirm nor deny that she’s writing ultra-fun, uber-witty, hot-darn-sexy romance to distract from the stress of her current clandestine operation.

Or maybe romance writing is the cover for a cover?

She could tell you, but then she’d have to . . . you know. That.

Connect with Piper

Facebook: https://bit.ly/3MnIS2U

Stay up to date with all releases by signing up to Piper’s mailing list: https://bit.ly/3vsJptu

Goodreads: https://bit.ly/3EBcdUO

Amazon: https://amzn.to/3MlpTpt

Website: www.pipermarlowebooks.com