Susan's Review of Samantha Chase's Save Me--Donovan Series #3

Pretending to date the town’s bad boy seemed like a good idea.
But who knew that being bad could feel so good…
A small town, fake dating, opposites attract standalone romance from NY Times Best Selling Author Samantha Chase
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Ryleigh Donovan has been unsuccessfully dodging her mother’s matchmaking attempts for far too long. In an act of desperation, she finds the one guy in her small town who is guaranteed to shock everyone to be her fake boyfriend. It doesn’t need to be for long, she just needs to buy herself enough time to recover from her mother’s last disastrous fix-up. It’s really a fool-proof plan. But when a few staged kisses lead to some very real feelings, she realizes she might be in over her head.
Ryker Masella has been patiently waiting for the perfect opportunity to get Ryleigh to take him—and his numerous attempts at asking her out—seriously. When she grabs him and kisses him in front of her family to prove a point, he’s more than on board. But when she proposes a fake—and temporary—relationship, he’s 100% on board. After all, she might be all about pretending, but he sees it as a way for Ryleigh to truly see the real him.
Fake flirting and orchestrated dates quickly bring on real feelings. For Ryker, they’ve always been there and he’ll be as patient as he needs to be. She might have asked him to save her from her family, but what he wants is to save her from herself.

Save Me is the third novel in Samantha Chase’s Donovan series. The chemistry between Ryleigh Donovan and Ryker Massella has been simmering for the past few months—I was so excited to read this novel!

 
Ryleigh Donovan is tired of her mother’s over the top matchmaking. Kate’s last fix up for Ryleigh was a complete disaster and Ryleigh needs to figure out a way to stop this nonsense. She leaves the pub and runs into Ryker Massella. Ryker is the opposite of what Kate views as boyfriend material for Ryleigh—he’s kinda scruffy looking with a beard and tattoos. Ryleigh asks Ryker to be her fake boyfriend and he agrees.

 
Ryker had asked Ryleigh out and she’d refused him. Now, he has the chance to romance Ryleigh and let her see the man behind the beard and tattoos. I enjoyed how this story evolved-at first Ryker supported Ryleigh. And when Ryker needed support-Ryleigh was there for him.

 
Ryleigh and Ryker are creative people; Ryleigh designs websites and Ryker is a well- known tattoo artist who is on a sabbatical as he figures out the next step in his career.. The chemistry between the couple is off the charts and it was so much fun to read their love story. Loved that Ryker put his feelings for Ryleigh out there first and waited for Ryleigh to fall for him—this was beautifully written.
Loved all the Donovan drama and that Ryker shaved his beard and got a haircut before his first family dinner—Ryleigh’s reaction was priceless—she knew he didn’t have to change his appearance to be accepted….this was such a key element in the storyline. Ryker’s interest in Ryleigh drew me into this emotional love story—the characters are beautifully developed, their love story is passionate and the addition of Donovan drama adds humor and light to the novel.

 
I highly recommend Samantha Chase’s save Me—Ryker is Ryleigh’s perfect Valentine!