Blurb
Lex hates Gabi. Gabi hates Lex. But, hey, at least the hate is mutual, right? All Lex has to do is survive the next few weeks training Gabi in all the ways of Wingmen Inc. and then he can be done with her. But now that they have to work together, the sexual tension and fighting is off the charts. He isn’t sure if he wants to strangle her or throw her against the nearest sturdy table and have his way with her.
But Gabi has a secret, something she’s keeping from not just her best friend but her nemesis too. Lines are blurred as Lex becomes less the villain she’s always painted him to be…and starts turning into something more. Gabi has always hated the way she’s been just a little bit attracted to him—no computer-science major should have that nice of a body or look that good in glasses—but “Lex Luthor” is an evil womanizer. He’s dangerous. Gabi should stay far, far away.
Then again, she’s always wanted a little danger.
Amazon US / Amazon UK / Amazon CA / Amazon AU
TAKE A LOOK AT THE EPIC COVER HERE
Review
Another fantastic story from Rachel Van Dyken and one of my
favorite tropes as well! If you looked
up frenemies in the dictionary you’d see their picture. They are Ian’s best friends and they straight
up hate each other. Now we’re getting
the full picture of how they got to that place.
Gabi needs a job; Lex and Ian own a business…seems simple right? Except for the fact that Lex doesn’t want her
working for them and it then becomes his responsibility to “train” her in how
to work with their clients.
This leads to a lot of snarky, feisty fights and banter
between the two. If this was a cartoon,
there’d be sparks flying between them and steam coming out of their ears. But you know what they say, there’s a thin
line between love and hate, and there was some definite chemistry hiding
beneath all that hate. This book had
me giggling and grinning. And there were
some “WTF?!” moments while I shook my head as I just wondered at their
audacity. I’m grinning just recalling
some of their antics (think condoms and tampons…).
This is definitely joining the rest of Rachel Van Dyken’s
romantic comedies on my “to be re-read” shelves. I absolutely enjoyed it and I can’t wait for
more. She never fails to make me laugh. -Peace and Love, Buxom J
Soooo. Soooo. Soooooo good. There something about a rom com that just gets me all happy and tingly inside and The Matchmakers Replacement is no exception. I absolutely adored the banter that came from Ian, Gabi, and Lex. These three are one of my new favorite groups and I am hoping there is still more to come from them. PLEASE! I NEED IT!
I love that this story starts with Gabi and Lex always wanting to kill each other and they work their way into some different situations. The back and forth in this book is probably some of the most hilarious lines I have ever read.
Rachel Van Dyken is shaping up to be one of my new favorite authors. So, if you need a light hearted fun read in your summer days this is a book for you! - Daddy L
Excerpt
I hated him.
HATED him.
Hate, hate, hate. I chanted the words to myself that very next
morning as I stomped toward his ridiculously expensive house, next to the
ridiculously nice lake, with his ridiculously loud red Mercedes parked out
front. Jackass.
I’d be doing society a favor if I set it on fire.
Seriously.
The thing was probably filled with so much bodily fluid and
disease that if he got in a car accident he’d infect the entire freeway and
start a citywide epidemic.
I shuddered.
I compartmentalized Lex into two boxes.
The first box was Childhood Lex, the friend who used to hang out
with Ian and me before he moved across town, never to be seen again. He used to
ride with me to school, and when I was sick he gave me my own box of
Kleenex—never mind that he stole it from his teacher’s desk. The point is,
Childhood Lex was a keeper.
Box number two?
Asshole Lex, also known as the version I was walking toward. The
Lex I met when I was eighteen, who momentarily stunned me speechless with his
godlike beauty, had been a figment of my overactive, sad, hormone-riddled
imagination.
On the outside? The perfect man.
With a brooding and sultry smile.
Biceps the size of my head.
Who gave me the distinct feeling that if I ran my hands over his
buzzed hair I’d orgasm before he even touched me.
Whatever. I was over it. So over it.
A lot of people had stupid crushes when they were eighteen,
right?
Now all I saw when I looked into his stormy blue eyes was syph
or the clap, and that was being generous. The dude was a walking STD and
seriously tried every nerve I had. He was an ass. Plain and simple, no sugar
coating. He was the type of guy who’d tell a chick that she looked fat in a
dress or who refused to share the communal breadbasket. See! He couldn’t even
adhere to typical manners during mealtime! Just thinking about him had me tied
up in knots.
Last year, when I went shopping and stupidly invited Ian
along—which of course meant Lex had to come—I was told in no uncertain terms
that if I would just stop drinking chocolate milk in the morning I’d be able to
fit into a smaller size.
He’d smiled.
His dimples had deepened.
He’d even crossed his arms as if to say, Look, I did you a
favor, pat me on the back.
Instead I had kicked him in the balls and tried to give him a
black eye, clocking Ian in the face.
My point? Lex. Was. The. Devil.
I made a point of only hanging out with Lex when absolutely
necessary, and even then I almost always had Ian as a buffer. But now that he
was playing love nest with my ex-roomie, Blake? Well, I was on my own.
Lex opened the door after my third aggressive knock. Black
sweatpants hung low on his hips, a vintage Mariners shirt fell open around his
neck, and he was wearing black-framed glasses that made his eyes more appealing
than should be legal.
“Sunshine,” he said, his smirk deepening as he crossed his burly
arms over his chest.
“Dickhead.” I smiled sweetly. “New glasses? They look thicker
than last time.”
“Better to see you with.” He leaned forward, his eyes narrowing
into tiny slits. “There they are.” He reached for one of my boobs.
I slapped his hand away so hard my palm stung.
“Probably not the best way to treat your new male clients.” He
shook his hand and turned towards the living room leaving the door wide open.
Manners were completely lost on him.
Gritting my teeth, I slammed the door behind me and took off my
shoes because I knew if I didn’t he’d give me hell.
He was a freak like that.
For as much ass as he got, it was shocking how much Lysol he
used around the house. His clothes were never wrinkled; everything was
pristine.
Even his breath.
Damn him.
He drank coffee like a Starbucks employee but never had coffee
breath.
It was almost painful, staring him in the face, knowing that
everything on the outside appeared perfect—but didn’t match the inside at all,
not even close!
Beauty like Lex’s was dangerous and wickedly tempting, like
something out of a paranormal romance novel. Sometimes, at night, when I
dreamed of Lex getting hit by a car, I imagined him as a vampire roaming the
streets in his favorite black sweats, shirtless, shimmering under the
streetlights, just waiting for whores to line up so he could take a few bites.
A pencil flew by my head.
“Yo.” Lex’s eyebrows shot up. “We have a lot of work to do if
we’re going to get you ready for the next two clients. Daydream about chicks on
your own time.”
“I’m not a lesbian.”
He bit on his bottom lip, sinking back in his chair as his eyes
slowly roamed from my mismatched socks all the way up to my head. “Okay,
whatever you say, Gabs.”
I will not commit homicide. I will not commit homicide. “You
know,” I said as I tossed my purse onto the table, “it’s offensive that you
assume all lesbians dress like crap.” So what? I was wearing a ratty white
T-shirt and ripped jeans, and I was pretty sure I still had mascara on from the
night before. It was my Lex repellant. He hated sloppiness.
“Offensive.” He nodded. “Also true . . .” He used the spare
pencil from behind his ear to slide my purse over to the farthest side of the
table. “It wouldn’t kill you to wear something other than jeans and T-shirts,
Gabs.” He sighed. “Say it with me: dresssss—”
I grabbed the pencil from his hand, broke it into two pieces,
and handed them back to him. “I wear dresses, just not for you. Dresses are
your kryptonite, especially short black ones. I refuse to be a part of your
‘shower time.’”
He snorted. “You wish.”
“Yes. Every night when I go to sleep I pray for Lex to dream of
me while he jerks off because yet another girl refused to follow his
instructions in bed : ‘Damn it, use the manual!’” I said, using my best
imitation of Lex’s voice. I’d only heard him shout instructions to a girl once,
and it had scarred me for life. What the hell are you doing? Do I look like I’m
satisfied? There’s a diagram! Ugh.
Lex rolled his eyes. “Very funny, and the manual is there for a
reason. Do you even know how many chicks get confused when I call out sexual
positions? It’s like, get there faster, you know?”
My feelings were torn between fascination and disgust. “So,” I
changed the subject. “Let’s train, because I have about ten years worth of
Organic Chem homework.”
Lex sighed and held out his hand.
“No.” I crossed my arms. “I don’t need help.”
Okay, I needed help, desperately needed help, and Lex wasn’t
just passably smart but a certified genius, at least when he applied himself. I
refused to ask him to go over my homework just because Organic Chem was, to me,
like reading a foreign language.
He cleared his throat.
I didn’t move.
Finally, he stood, slowly walked over to the end of the table,
and fished the chem book from my oversized purse. “What chapter?”
“Lex—”
“If I’m teaching you Organic Chem, at least say Professor Lex.”
“Listen very closely, Lex.” I went over and jerked my book out
of his hands. “I didn’t need your help last year when I almost failed biology,
and I sure as hell don’t need your help now. Let’s just get this training done
so I can go home and suffer in silence, alright?”
“Fine.” He dropped my book against the table and then, without
warning, grabbed me by my shoulders and pushed me against the counter that
bordered the kitchen. My butt hit the cupboard . “Up until now we’ve been helping
people find their perfect match. Basically acting like a wingman so that the
idiots of this world see the girl who’s been standing in front of them all
along .”
Why was he standing so close? Did we have to be touching? I told
my body not to respond to his proximity, but Lex was magnetic, even if every
part of him was evil. My brain was having trouble functioning while his large
palms were pressed into the tops of my shoulders.
“Okay.” I swallowed. “And now that you’re allowing guys to
become clients of Wingmen Inc., I basically do the same thing. Give them
confidence, help them capture the one girl who’s always seen them as the
friend—or worse, who they’ve been invisible to.”
“What’s that like, I wonder?” Lex still didn’t release me.
“Being invisible . . . Maybe next time a dude ignores you, take notes.”
And another insult.
“Lex.” I huffed out a breath. “Just get on with it.”
“Right.” His eyes momentarily locked on mine before he rubbed
the bridge of his nose where his glasses were perched. It was not sexy. It
wasn’t. Really. That. Sexy. “So whenever we take on a new client, we give them
a list of questions, meet them in a public place, and then use the power of
human emotions like jealousy and curiosity to get the other person interested.
That’s where you come in. If another girl sees our client as desirable, he
becomes desirable.”
“That easy?”
“Sort of.” Lex leaned forward. “But you can’t suck.”
“Suck?”
“At anything.” His lips hovered near my mouth. He was starting
to freak me out. I wanted to run away, but I was pinned.
“Lex, if you kiss me I will bite your tongue off. I swear.”
“If I was actually kissing you”—Lex released one of my shoulders
and placed a finger against my mouth—“you’d know it. This, my frumpy friend, is
training.”
His lips descended.
They pressed against mine, then pulled back. “Yeah.” He shook
his head. “Gabs, you’re going to need to open your mouth a bit more. Guys are
stupid. They always assume that more tongue means better kissing, when the
opposite is true, but you still need to have your lips parted, not locked down
like Fort Knox.”
“What’s happening?” I tried to push away from him.
Lex rolled his eyes. “Gabs, believe me, this is all business.
You can even keep your hand on my junk the whole time.”
“What!” I roared.
“So you know without a doubt that nothing about you turns me
on.” He grinned menacingly. “Seriously, I don’t mind.”
“I do!”
“Hey!” He chuckled. “I was just trying to help.”
“Grabbing your penis is not the answer, Lex!”
“Weird, because it so often is.”
“I hate today.”
“Is it the rain?” He frowned.
“It’s not—”
“It is.”
“Stop that!” I shoved him. “Hurry up and grade my kissing skills
so I can go home and study.”
“Kissing, hand holding, hugging, cuddling, laughing,
winking—just a few things you need to master.” He was firing off so many
horrible, body-numbing words.
“Just hurry up,” I grumbled in a defeated voice as I tried to
block out the fact that he was a good-looking ass who offended me with every
single breath he took.
“Ah . . .” Lex held up his hand. “One never hurries a kiss.”
“What about a passionate kiss?”
“A passionate kiss isn’t hurried, it’s frenzied. Damn, don’t you
know anything?”
Heat swamped my cheeks.
“How many guys have you kissed, Gabs?”
“Plenty!” Five. I’d kissed five.
“You blush down your neck when you lie.” Lex cupped my chin and
then brought his lips down against mine again. “Part.”
Sighing against his mouth, I relaxed my lips while his slid
across.
He pulled back, wearing a frown of irritation. “A bit more,
Gabs. Guys want access.”
I kept my eyes open.
So did he.
I didn’t want him assuming I was into it, which was probably his
exact line of thinking. Only keeping my eyes open was an entirely raw
experience, watching him watch me while I felt him.
I shivered.
“Cold?” That stupid smirk was back.
“Frigid.” I glared, putting myself down before he had a chance
to.
“You read my mind.” He nodded seriously. “Now stop being a
bitch, and let me teach you how to kiss.”
“I know how to kiss!” I don’t know what came over me—maybe it
was the need to prove myself, or possibly it was just stress over the entire
situation. Needing to stay in school and hating that he was the answer, I
wrapped my arms around his neck and jumped, my hips colliding with his as I
mauled his mouth with as much passion as I could conjure up, this time closing
my eyes and putting everything I had into it.
With a growl, Lex pushed me back against the countertop. As my
butt collided with the edge, his tongue plunged into my mouth and his hands dug
into my hair, pulling it free from its ponytail while he changed positions his
lips demanding a punishing kiss from a different angle as his he gave my hair a
harder tug back.
I grasped at his T-shirt, pulling him closer and nearly falling
backward into the sink.
And then, just when I was in danger of losing myself to the kiss
that would probably be the best kiss of my life, I bit down on his bottom lip.
That move didn’t work out the way I’d planned, not at all. In my
head it was smart. I’d piss him off, get him to pull back and leave me alone.
It did nothing of the sort.
Nothing of the sort at] all.
With a hiss he pulled back, fire blazing in his eyes. For a
split second that seemed to go on for an eternity, he hovered and I waited,
both of us on the edge of something. He wet his lips, I mimicked the movement,
and then, like a snake, he struck. His mouth fused to mine in a punishing kiss,
one that bruised my mouth while imprinting its essence on my soul.
About the Author
Rachel Van Dyken is the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today Bestselling author of regency and contemporary romances. When she's not writing you can find her drinking coffee at Starbucks and plotting her next book while watching The Bachelor.
She keeps her home in Idaho with her Husband, adorable son, and two snoring boxers! She loves to hear from readers!
Want to be kept up to date on new releases? Text MAFIA to 66866!
You can connect with her on Facebook www.facebook.com/rachelvandyken or join her fan group Rachel's New Rockin Readers. Her website is www.rachelvandykenauthor.com .
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