Too Friendly to Date by Nicole Helm

You ever go into a book thinking you know what to expect and ending up with something totally different? I was sure this was a light and fluffy friends to lovers story. I was so wrong. I cried through a good part of Too Friendly to Date (quietly, in the dark, lest some kid ask why!)

Here's the summary:

One little white lie…one big explanation! 
Okay, pretending her sexy boss is her boyfriend is more like a huge white lie. But electrician Leah Santino will take the risk. If her parents think she has someone, they won't go back to smothering her, and they can all be a family again. 
Problem is, Jacob McKnight isn't just her boss—he's her friend. And faking a relationship when the Santinos come to visit means those sparks she's always tried to ignore are hotter than ever. This thing between them is starting to feel real, but Leah has a very good reason to stay independent. Unless that's one lie that's outlived its purpose…

Sounds light and fun, no?  Turns out Leah has been estranged from her family for nearly ten years after running away from some pretty serious health and family stuff. Her family, particularly her mom, over worry about her real health problems and Leah needed to leave to prove she wasn't weak. Now she's trying to mend fences with them, and one of the things she needs is to show that she has someone watching out for her- enter the fake boyfriend.

Jacob agrees to help Leah out, because that's what friends DO and she wouldn't ask if she didn't need the help. It doesn't hurt that he's been thinking a lot about Leah lately in a not so "friendly" way. Once he discovers that she maybe has a thing for him as well, all bets are off. Jacob is determined to try and make this fake boyfriend stuff into a real relationship, but Leah will need a lot of convincing. She's always known that her health problems, which have always been her secret, make her a bad candidate for marriage. She's been through the process of having people stand over her and worry and she is not putting herself or anyone else through that again.

Guys, this book pretty much ripped my heart out. They both want each other so badly. Leah refuses to consider she can ever have a long relationship, and Jacob has a bad record of relationships for other reasons. He's convinced he has to be perfect for everyone because of some too-long-to-explain things in his past, and his anger at always putting on a front comes to a boil. Leah doesn't expect him to be perfect, but he does. I loved them both. The emotion is incredible. For the story and the romance, I highly recommend this.

However. This book could seriously have used an editor. The grammar errors nearly killed me. I honestly can't believe this was not a self published book. ("Her and Kyle exited.") Despite this, I did end up loving it, and wouldn't mind reading the others in the series.

Too Friendly To Date was published in October.