Brianna has rules. Keep her grades up. Stay invisible. And never let her two lives collide.
To the world, she’s just a quiet college student who prefers to stay in her own lane. But under the fake lashes, black wig, and a name that isn’t hers, she’s something else entirely—a high-end escort with a schedule and a secret to protect.
Everything works fine... until Zaiden McLauren walks in.
He’s rich, rude, and used to getting what he wants. What he needs now is a fake girlfriend to play nice in front of his family—and to Brianna’s horror, he picks her. The same arrogant billionaire who once made her blood boil is now the man she has to smile at in public and keep up appearances with behind closed doors.
But this isn’t the job she signed up for.
Because the closer they pretend to be, the harder it gets to remember what’s real... and what’s just part of the act.
Review:
Sofialexandra Shalom’s Darling For Hire is a whip-smart, emotionally layered romance that blends sharp humor, simmering tension, and the ache of double lives.
Brianna, the protagonist, is a master of compartmentalization: college student by day, high-end escort by night. Her rules are simple—stay invisible, stay sharp, and never let the masks slip. But when Zaiden McLauren, a billionaire with a chip on his shoulder and a family to appease, hires her to play the role of his fake girlfriend, Brianna’s carefully curated world begins to unravel.
The story starts with a delicious bait-and-switch: a steamy dream sequence interrupted by the blunt reality of morning chaos and Maureen, Brianna’s best friend and comic foil. Shalom’s voice is breezy and biting, capturing the rhythm of female friendship, the exhaustion of survival, and the yearning for something more. Brianna’s inner monologue is a cocktail of sarcasm, longing, and grit.
This isn’t just a romance novel. It’s a story about performance, boundaries, and the blurry line between fantasy and reality. Brianna’s job at Deja’s Darlings is transactional, but her emotional landscape is anything but. She’s juggling the complexities of her own life, all while navigating the emotional minefield of pretending to be someone’s perfect partner.
Zaiden’s entrance promises friction and fire. He’s the kind of man Brianna swore off—arrogant, entitled, and far too observant. But as the fake relationship deepens, so does the danger of forgetting what’s real.
Shalom doesn’t just explore romantic chemistry; she interrogates power, vulnerability, and the cost of keeping secrets.
Darling For Hire is ideal for readers who crave banter, tension, and heroines who are equal parts sharp and soft. It’s a story that laughs in the face of tropes, then turns them into something raw, real, and irresistibly readable.
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