Playing House by Ruby Lang

3*

Playing House, the first book in the Uptown series by Ruby Lang, is a short novella featuring two urban planners in New York City. In just about 100 pages, there isn’t much time to develop a complete love story, but it’s a fun read nonetheless. Fay and Oliver, who have been casual acquaintances for years, run into each other at an open house. Fay is being harassed by a stranger, so she latches into Oliver when he walks in and they’re mistaken as a couple by the realtor. They continue this ruse as they attend more open houses together, all the while starting to develop romantic feelings for each other. After divorcing a year before, Fay is just getting back into dating while Oliver is struggling with his feelings of inadequacy since losing his job and having to move in with his successful younger brother. He’s working freelance and is waiting to hear if he’ll get an interview with Fay’s small firm. However, he fails to mention it to her because he fears she’ll think he’s only using her to get a job. She has trust issues, so it’s not a big surprise what happens next. There isn’t much character development given the brevity of the story, but it’s a cute and sexy read for what it is. Hopefully we’ll get more of their story in Book 2.


I received a complimentary ARC of this book from Carina Press through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.