I love books by Annabeth Albert – short or long; the first ones of hers that I read were novella length and I really loved them. Not everyone can write shorter length books and do it well but Annabeth sure does.

The blurb for this book is really good so I won’t rehash it. Annabeth Albert’s writing always gets all of my emotions involved and Mr. Right Now was no exception. Russ’s plans for cooking Thanksgiving dinner for his sister and her family go awry when his boyfriend bails on their relationship.

Enter his hot neighbor, Esteban, who knows way more about cooking than Russ does. Esteban agrees to help and, through a mix-up, ends up agreeing to be his fake boyfriend until after the dinner. One thing leads to another and their fake relationship has to continue for much longer than originally planned.

I love how this book slowly goes from fake boyfriends, to real friends, to short-term lovers to a real relationship. The story has a wonderful HEA and gives us a look at Russ and Esteban a year down the road; this always makes me so happy!

Reviews for Annabeth Albert

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“Russ!” A very tall, very pregnant woman engulfed the big guy in a hug. But right as Esteban was about to slip away, she locked her gaze on him. “Oh! And this must be the new guy! We’re so delighted to meet you.”“Yes, we’re so happy for Russ,” an older, elegant woman with cropped hair added.

Russ looked utterly miserable standing behind the women, expression stricken, like Esteban’s nephews after hearing one too many siguanaba monster stories.

Hell. Russ apparently hadn’t told them about the breakup. And now he had to come clean, which would undoubtedly cast a shadow over the gathering and make Russ’s predicament the center of attention. That had to be the last thing Russ wanted.

Esteban’s stomach churned unhappily in sympathy. If Esteban had figured out one thing about Russ in their time in the kitchen, it was that he was way more comfortable talking about others than himself. He wished there was some way to spare Russ the humiliation.

Wait. They don’t even know his name. Wasn’t that what Russ had said about his ex?

Esteban tried to catch Russ’s eyes. Should I pretend? Want me to?

He’d never had a blockbuster role, but Esteban wasn’t some scenery chewer either. He could still act, spare a nice guy a little awkwardness, and maybe ease his holiday burden. That earlier moment when Russ had talked about leaving the marines still lingered in Esteban’s brain. He understood all too well that change was hard. And Russ had surely been through enough of it.

Esteban’s unspoken question seemed to hang between them for an eternity. Russ’s nose wrinkled as his mouth twisted. Then he gave an almost imperceptible nod.

“Russ, aren’t you going to introduce us to your boyfriend?” the tall woman, who had to be Judy, prompted while her husband juggled both a pie and the toddler.

“This is…uh…” Russ looked like he’d rather be auditioning for a hemorrhoid cream ad rather than deal with his family. He was back to the dejected guy he’d been when Esteban had met up with him at the dumpster. And that just wouldn’t do.

“Esteban. Or you can just call me the boyfriend. I’m easy.” With a wink, he stuck out a hand for Judy. He could do this, could act the part, and remove that air of failure from Russ’s otherwise impressive self.

Russ’s jaw had fallen open wide enough to land a 747. “Yeah…”

Roll with it, Esteban tried to tell him with a quick smile his direction.

“And you’re charming. Rusty, you didn’t tell me he was charming.”

“I didn’t know.” The grateful wonder in Russ’s tone was enough to convince Esteban that this was worth a few hours of pro-bono acting.

“What do you mean you didn’t know? You big goof.” Judy lightly docked her brother’s shoulder. She then shook Esteban’s hand, and introduced, her husband, Bob, and his mother, Connie, and the toddler, Benny.

“Here, let me take the pie,” Esteban offered. “Russ, you can help with their coats?”

“Yeah.” Russ continued to sound delightfully befuddled. As Esteban passed with the pie, Russ lowered his voice and asked, “What did you get yourself into?”

“Nothing I can’t handle.” And as he took the pie to the kitchen, he could only hope he wasn’t lying.