The Publisher's Fake Fiancé (A Contemporary Interracial Romance): UnReal Marriage, #8

By Tasha Hart

Jhennay Oakland is a single mother working for a magazine. But it's this Black Queen's life that's going to get all tabloid-worthy!

 

Jhennay may work at a magazine but her dream is to write hard-hitting investigative journal news pieces. And that's just hard to do as a single mother.

 

That's where Matty enters the picture…

 

He's gunning on taking full control of the publishing company. Only one problem. His mother refuses to relinquish control until he gets married. Now Matty has one choice—get married or give up the publishing company.

 

To pursue the truth, will these two hatch a lie?

 

And is it even a lie if they fall in love while pretending to be engaged? Is it a lie when they start believing the lovey-dovey things they do and say? Or what about when they take it to the next level and get physical? When does the lie go from pretending to be in love to pretending to not be?

 

Discover what happens by one-clicking this sensually sweet contemporary romance! Part of the UnReal Marriage series of standalone romances!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Summerhouse Publishing
• Release date: Mar 23, 2023
• ISBN: 9798215618820

Book preview

Chapter One

Honestly, how is the clock moving so slowly? It feels like I’ve been on my last hour of work for the past four hours. Every "tick, tick, tick" of the clock feels like it’s mocking me.

Ugh. I sigh to myself, staring blankly at the article in front of me. Honestly, I don’t understand people’s obsession with plants, I think to myself as I write more about – you guessed it – plants. The article I was assigned to yesterday is called Do’s and Don’ts of Choosing an Appropriate House Plant and I couldn’t care less about the topic.

I’ve never been interested in plants, it took me so long yesterday to research the topic and talk to some of my friends. Hours unpaid, of course. And yet here I am, writing on and on about how easy it is to care for Devil’s Ivy and a Snake Plant.

I type another paragraph—something boring about how buying a rubber tree plant is a great investment that eventually grows into an indoor tree. It’s hilarious to pretend I am any sort of authority on the subject, with how not green my thumb is in actuality.

Looking up at the clock, I nearly groan out loud at seeing that only three minutes have passed. Writing stories like this has been a staple these past months. I’ve been gunning for a promotion, but nothing is likely to come, and so instead of writing hard-hitting news stories, here I am, stuck writing about how pretty a Calathea is.

I’m fed up and frustrated, and there’s still half an hour left here with my article nearly finished, so, tentatively, I head toward my boss’s office.

There’s something I’ve been putting off asking for too long.

I can’t believe this whole thing happened, I hear as I walk towards the office, it’s Nadine, a woman who is the bane of my existence.

And no other journalists seem to have got the scoop yet, so we’ll be the first to publish! That voice is my boss, May. They’re probably talking about the latest government scandal that Nadine bragged about getting the scoop on earlier today. The woman makes my teeth grind.

Oh, Jhennay, hello, come in. May says once she sees me in the doorway, We’ll talk later Nadine. She finishes with a smile.

Nadine walks out past me, and shoots a smirk in my direction. I barely stifle the urge to roll my eyes, and only bother doing so because May would see me.

All right Jhennay, May starts once Nadine is gone, What can I help you with?

I take a deep breath, steeling myself, and remembering the speech I’ve practiced. I have been an excellent writer for this company for over a year now, and I think my growing potential is being wasted on the lifestyle columns. I want to be writing news articles, important things about what’s going on in the world.

May’s eyebrows raise, her curly black hair bouncing as she tilts her head slightly to the side, but she doesn’t say anything.

"I’m a good writer, I continue, I’ve been writing a romance novel for nearly a year now, and that proves I’m dedicated and able to stick to hard, real stories. I think I’d be a great candidate for a promotion, and I know I’d be the hardest working employee within this position, you wouldn’t regret your decision." I say, exhaling the stress that built up inside me.

Jhennay, listen, May starts, and by her tone I know right away this isn’t going to go well. I don’t disagree with anything you’ve said. You’re a good employee, and your lifestyle articles are wonderful. I think you’re well suited for writing in that department.

But— I start, but May cuts me off.

Besides, your romance novel doesn’t mean anything. Ouch, I think. You can’t possibly write romance when you’re single.

I stutter, looking for words but losing all steam hearing her opinion.

She smiles, her dark eyes lighting up with a joke, Find a husband, and I’ll promote you to the wedding column. She says, and then laughs to herself.

I smile with some difficulty and leave. Quickly, I submit my article after finishing it with some stupid tip about how plants make your mental health infinitely better. Ha, maybe I should get some then.

I head over to school to pick up my nephew, Jamar. He’s fourteen and has recently taken a huge interest in sports, especially lacrosse. Thankfully, he’s quite good, so it’s fun for me to watch him succeed. I’m quite proud of him, he’s my brother’s son, but my brother passed away, and so I took in Jamar. He’s become my own now, but I know that there’s still a void in his life that a male parental-figure should fill.

Hey! Jamar gets into the car and gives me a big smile. He loves me too, even if I wasn’t a great parent when he first came into my life.

We head to Jamar’s lacrosse practice, and after he runs into the change room one of the parents approaches me. Hey, Jhennay.

Hey! How’ve you been?

Well, I was better before hearing about the new uniforms eh? He says with a laugh, but quickly realizes I have no idea what he’s talking about. Oh, you haven’t heard? We’ve got new uniforms coming in for the upcoming season, since last year we went up a level. Here’s the paper about it. See you around!

I look down as he walks away.

Oh god, I think, that’s too big of a number.

On my salary I can’t afford the new uniforms. It’s embarrassing, but I have to consider May’s ridiculous idea as I drive home alone. Get married and I get a promotion… Hmm…

Chapter Two

Why is this meeting room always so stuffy? My eyes water from irritation caused by plentiful amounts of dust. I may not oversee staffing, but I’m pretty sure we do hire cleaning staff. My mother, Director Kipps, and Andrea Kipps are sitting here with me. I sneeze as Co-Owner and Director Ronald Kipps gives his monthly team building speech.

Is there something wrong, Mr. Fredrickson? Am I boring you? His eyes bore into me with general annoyance.

No, Mr. Kipps. I clear my throat. It’s just dusty in here.

Well, please try to keep it down. I want your full attention.

All right old man, I just won’t sneeze. It’s not like sneezing is an entirely normal thing that humans do, right? I peer over to Mr. Kipps’s daughter Andrea to find her entangled in her phone. With duckfaces and peace signs, she takes selfies of herself and posts them to her social media. Of course, Ronald isn’t going to chastise his own daughter.

With a big hoorah, Ronald finishes his less than spectacular speech. I wonder why he feels