Olivia Dade

Desire and the Deep Blue Sea

Lynn Braden

Callie Adesso has been selected as a guest on an episode of HATV's show, Island Match.  Unfortunately Callie is supposed to appear with her boyfriend who has just dumped her.  Callie is desperate for the vacation that the show will provide, so she volunteers her nemesis at the library where she works, Thomas McKinney.  Thomas has made her life at the library difficult for the 6 months that she has been working there, so she is surprised when he not only accepts her offer, but he seems to relish the idea.  Little does Callie know that Thomas has been harboring a secret from her for the last 6 months.

Desire and the Deep Blue Sea suffers from the same issue that plagues most novellas; they are just too short.  In this novel, the fact that Callie has hated Thomas with a passion for months and now is willing to spend her vacation with him, comes across as pretty improbable.  However, the plot does include issues of neurodiversity, but I'm not sure how well the representation is presented.  Callie and Thomas are likable characters, but their lack of communication is disturbing.  Overall, Desire and the Deep Blue Sea is a cute story that doesn't take enough time to tackle the serious issues addressed in the time offered in a novella.

They’re pretending. Until they aren’t. Thomas McKinney has never wanted a woman the way he wants Callie Adesso. Since she started working alongside him at the Colonial Marysburg Research Library, he’s spent his desk shifts fumbling pencils, tripping over his own feet, and struggling to remember both the Dewey Decimal System and the existence of her inconvenient boyfriend. Now, however, Callie is suddenly single—and in need of a last-minute faux-boyfriend for an episode of HATV’s Island Match. Thomas is more than happy to play the part…and in the process, convince Callie that a week together isn’t nearly long enough. Callie has never found a man as irritating as she finds Thomas. He may be brilliant, kind, and frustratingly handsome, but the absent-minded librarian also makes every workday an anxiety-inducing exercise in stress. Even seven days in paradise by his side won’t change her opinion of him. Really. No matter how attentive he is. And gentle. And sexy. One plane ride later, the two of them are spending long, hot days under the sun and on display, pretending to be in love for a television show. This may be a vacation, but it’s also an act—as well as Thomas’s last chance to persuade the woman of his dreams to include him in hers. And soon, the island heat isn’t the only thing steaming up HATV’s cameras… • Title: Desire and the Deep Blue Sea • Author: Olivia Dade • Series and series number: Love Unscripted, Book 1 • Fake relationship, romantic comedy, curvy girl romance, workplace romance, vacation romance, reality television romance, banter, librarians • Content guidance for this story is available at my website: https://oliviadade.com/books/content-guidance

Becky

This was such a cute read. It was short and sweet and exactly what I needed.

Callie breaks up with her boyfriend right before she is due to go on a reality TV show where couples go on a romantic trip to three islands in the Caribbean before being treated to a luxury break when they choose their favourite. She really needs the holiday after the stress of starting a new job, the frustration of working with a coworker who seems to more of a hinderance than a help, and she needed the break after the stress of being stuck in a relationship with someone she didn't love. She really needed that holiday, so what did she do to get it? She lied like any sensible woman would that she already had a new boyfriend and could he not go instead? Only problem? The person she lied was her boyfriend was the coworker who has been driving her up the wall.

Look, the premise is obvious. You know this will be a hate to love romance... except Callie didn't even truly hate Thomas. So it was more an annoyance to love romance where Thomas is in love with her the whole time and she is learning about him and how wonderful he is. And him? Well he is learning consideration of other people and how accepting himself is brilliant but changing for those we love and those we work with isn't a bad thing. 

At times the shortness probably didn't do this story justice. I would have liked to see more of them before to really understand Callie's frustrations with Thomas, but I did think this was a great shrot read. perfect for a couple of hours by the pool or at the beach. Or at home daydreaming about going to the beach.

b.andherbooks

What's Callie to do when she's suddenly single a week before finally getting to take the tropical vacation of her dreams AND be on her favorite reality TV show Island Match? Maybe ask her totally beautiful but totally infuriating coworker Thomas to be her fake boyfriend, even if he's a big part of the reason she needs to get away?

Thomas, in love with Callie ever since she started working with him at the Colonial Marysburg Research Library, jumps at the chance to show her how good they could be together under the guise of pretending to be the perfect boyfriend for the cameras.

But as much as Thomas wants everything with Callie, Callie needs to come clean about her very real work problems she has with Thomas in real life.

Utterly delightful, and a perfect summer novella to read by the pool. I highly recommend! So many bonus points for great anxiety representation and for having a plus-sized heroine who's weight isn't the focus of the plot. Reading how Thomas appreciates Callie's body was so hot.

Here's my other blurb: 
A clumsy, sexier than he knows it librarian with a heart of gold woos a heroine who is badass yet struggles with anxiety when she asks him to be her fake boyfriend for a reality vacation show.

In all his life, Thomas has never wanted a woman the way he wants Callie. In all her life, Callie has never found a man as irritating as she finds Thomas. But now they're spending a week under the sun and on camera, pretending to be in love for a TV show-and this is his last chance to convince the woman of his dreams to include him in hers.

Desire and the Deep Blue Sea

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