Review by Booklist Review
Sybil has a hard time with jobs and relationships, something her family never lets her forget. Her luck turns when she buys a lottery ticket and then has a steamy encounter with the donut shop worker, Kieran. Kieran is helping to run his family's bakery while on leave from medical school as his ailing grandfather heals. When the mysterious hottie he made out with leaves him a lottery ticket and a note, and the ticket wins big, he launches a social media campaign to find her. They continue a pretend courtship for the sake of the flagging donut shop, but as their feelings grow, it soon turns real. From steamy chemistry to each finding direction and purpose as they support each other, Sybil and Kieran are a fabulous pair. While winning the lottery may be a favorite fantasy, Williams expertly shows that it doesn't solve everything. Having the right partner helps even more. Plenty of humor and sexy banter will bring rising author Williams even more fans.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Williams (Technically Yours) charms in this steamy interracial rom-com. Recently jobless and ping-ponging between friends' apartments, Sybil Sweet decides to try her luck at the lottery, buying herself a ticket and a donut with her last few dollars. Donut shop proprietor Kevin Anderson deferred his medical school dreams to help his ailing grandfather's failing business. Sparks fly when these two meet, leading to a red-hot one-night stand. In the morning, Sybil jots a farewell note on the back of the lottery ticket before taking off--only for Kieran to later learn that it's the winning ticket. When he goes on a local news show to find Sybil and return the ticket, viewers take it for a grand romantic gesture and the segment goes viral, drawing much-needed business to the donut shop. So the reunited Sybil and Kieran make a pact: they'll keep the publicity going by fake-dating for three months, hoping to use the relationship to save the shop and convince Sybil's concerned family that she has at least one area of her life under control. The plot already has a lot going on, so the fake dating angle feels a bit contrived, but the story is fun enough and the relationship sparky enough to hold interest. Williams's fans will not be disappointed. (Mar.)
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Review by Library Journal Review
When Sybil Sweet loses her job and experiences another bad dating-app match, she decides to embrace her reputation as the aimless member of her family and spends her last few dollars on a lottery ticket and a late-night donut. Her visit to Joe's Donuts puts her in the path of Kieran Anderson, a hyper-responsible medical student who has put his education on hold to run the family business and care for his ailing grandfather. They have immediate chemistry, and an encounter in the shop's office results in Sybil rushing out, leaving her lottery ticket behind. When the ticket wins, Kieran makes a public appeal to return it to Sybil, and they decide to fake a relationship for the benefit of Sybil's reputation with her family and to bring business to the struggling donut shop. The arrangement has an expiration date, but the pair's increasing closeness has both questioning their futures. While a final moment of conflict is brushed over quickly, and readers may struggle with how Sybil's family treats her, the story will appeal to those who don't mind some family angst with their romance. VERDICT Williams (Technically Yours) writes a sexy fake-dating romance with charm, featuring a protagonist navigating the challenges of family expectations and love.--Meagan Day
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
A winning lottery ticket leads to a fake relationship between a baker with big dreams and a woman who is very much down on her luck. Sybil Sweet is what people might call a hot mess. She has trouble keeping a job and a relationship. Her mother is a tough character who makes it clear she has no faith in her, and Sybil sadly leans into the assumption that she's a perpetual failure. Her bank account is one big purchase away from an overdraft, but that doesn't stop her from putting all her financial eggs in one basket by buying a lottery ticket. When she stops off for a donut later that night, she flirts with the guy behind the counter and they end up having an impromptu steamy session in the bakery's office--and she leaves him the lottery ticket when she ducks out. It turns out luck was smiling on Sybil after all, because the ticket turns out to be a winner. Kieran Anderson knows the lottery ticket could change a lot for him. He's trying to decide whether to defer medical school while working in his grandfather's struggling donut shop while also caring for Granddad through declining health. The payout of $250 million could solve nearly all of those problems, but keeping the ticket from a woman who clearly needs a win doesn't sit right with him. As Kieran tries to track Sybil down through social media, the story becomes bigger than expected. His search is taken as a grand romantic gesture that immediately goes viral. Then Kieran and Sybil find a way to turn their newfound fame into something mutually beneficial--they decide to fake a relationship to gain more exposure. Unfortunately for the book, though, both characters freeze up and their chemistry doesn't come as easily once their fake relationship starts; they go from very hot to almost frigid. The strong and very sexy start to this romance quickly goes sour. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
