HER FAKE ENGAGEMENT by Gigi Garrett
St. Martin’s
Paperbacks
Publication Date: August
29, 2017
ISBN: 9781250156136;
Price: $3.99
No artists,
no smokers, no men with beards… Manhattan real estate broker Lottie Langerman
feels confident that if she follows her long list of dating rules, she’ll meet
The One and her life will unfold exactly as planned. Everything changes when
her best friend decides to throw a fake bachelorette party—just to see what all
the fuss is about—and Lottie reluctantly agrees to play the role of bride-to-be
for a night.
Faking an
engagement turns out to be more fun—and trouble—than Lottie could have
imagined. Not only does her dream man think she’s taken, but Lottie keeps
running into bearded Brooklyn jewelry designer Tyler, who breaks every single
one of her rules...yet manages to get under her skin like no one else. Soon,
Lottie finds herself at a crossroads where she must decide: Play it safe—or
ditch the rules and follow her heart?
A
HeroesandHeartbreakers.com Original Novella!
Elsa May holds up two
ancient-looking hair crimpers and explains, “We’re going to pregame and go
totally eighties on everyone’s hair.” Then she hands me another piece of pink
paper, labeled “Lottie’s Dream Man and Dream Wedding.” “You’re going to fill
this out. After all, Rule Two says you need a story and you need to stick to
it. People are going to ask you about the lucky guy and the big day, and we all
need to be consistent with the stories.” She gives me a pen. “Get to work and
make up a guy and a life as fabulous as that ring.”
I lift my hand and stare at my
dream rock again. It’s heavier than I would’ve guessed, but I’ll admit it looks
perfect, even against my neon yellow T-shirt.
“First of all, we’re too old to use
words like ‘pregame.’ Second of all, I’m doing this for you, Elsa May,” I say.
“And you’re going to owe me big.”
I drain half of my glass of
champagne and sit down with the questionnaire.
My new plan: go along with this for tonight. The girls will realize how
ludicrous—and not actually fun—this for tonight. The girls will realize how
ludicrous—and not actually fun—this is, and we’ll go back to normal, boring
Friday nights.
I shake my head and start filling
out the worksheet. Mia crimps my hair.
Lottie’s Dream Man:
Let’s
call him Daniel Paddington since this is a preposterous idea and he can have an
equally silly last name. Hell, his nickname can even be Bear.
He’s
British, from just outside of London. Grew up in one of those picture-perfect
stone homes.
Very
Downton Abbey.
He’s
older.
He’s
an incredible dresser and wears only custom suits from Bond Street. (On the
weekends, he wears cashmere sweaters and nice dress pants. He doesn’t even own
jeans and if he did, he would still call them ‘trousers.’)
While
he embodies the best of all British stereotypes (the charming accent, an utter
gentleman, conversationalist), he’s found New York to be his true home.
He
works hard and makes good (okay, let’s say great) money, but also enjoys the
arts and sports although he doesn’t disappear every fall the second that
(American) football starts. In fact, he thinks fantasy football is simply
fantastical and not worthy of his actual time.
He
makes me laugh and he’s my best friend (other than you girls.)
How We Met:
We
both got off the 1 train at Christopher Street. When we exited on street level,
it was raining. Pouring. He turned the same way as I did and offered to share
his umbrella. Then he lied and said he was going the same direction as me and
walked five blocks out of his way before it stopped raining. He got my number
before he left and we were engaged six months later.
Dream Wedding:
Colors: Currant and Gold
Motif: Vineyard
Since
my family is small and his is across the pond, we decided on an intimate, Tuscan-vineyard
wedding. I’m going to wear Vera Wang and he’s going to wear a dark gray suit.
The bridesmaids will wear currant and there will be a harpist playing
throughout the ceremony. We will dance to “At Last.” Everyone will ask if we
took lessons, but we hadn’t. We just work well together.
The
dinner will go on forever, course after course. The cake will be lemon. We’ll
exit to friends popping bottles of champagne. We will honeymoon on the Amalfi
Coast.
I hand Elsa May the paper. “Here
you go,” I say, rolling my eyes even though I did surprise myself with how into
it I got. “CliffsNotes: handsome Brit and I are getting married soon in Italy.
Very George Clooney and Amal.”
Since
childhood, Gigi Garrett has loved
playing with and rearranging the 26 letters of the alphabet. When she's not
imagining and writing fictional lives, she's probably chasing her kids around
or thinking about pizza. She lives near the beach and believes the ocean fixes
almost everything. She loves to hear from readers! https://www.facebook.com/Gigi-Garrett-227334737731401/
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