Review: My favorite type of romance!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 08 13, 2013
Of late, I have been reading a great deal of books which are heavy dramas.  So, I decided to take a day off and read something light and refreshing.  As I was looking for something on Amazon to post on my Facebook page to list as 'Free today', I ran across one that fit the bill perfectly!  Duping Cupid is only about 90 pages, so it is a quick read.Unlike most romance novels I have read, Duping Cupid revolves around best friends.  So many involve people that just meet, fall in love, and are married within a couple of months.  Ugh!  Personally, I prefer a more realism to my romances when I deign to read them.Vivian Maxwell, or Vivi to her friends, and Bass (Sebastian) Lawrence have been best friends for 8 years.  They met shortly after both of them exited nightmare relationships of their own.  Everything has been strictly platonic, and both think getting involved with the other would be too weird.Vivi owns, along with Bass, a company called 'Cupid to go'.  Due to her marketing campaigns, she is known to most of New York City as 'Cupid'.  Most of their agents are actors, actresses or models in between paying gigs.  There are also several university students working to help pay tuition.  "Cupid To Go provides dates for women - and men - to steer them through an awkward social situation or to save face when packed into a corner by well-meaning matchmakers.  Can't bear the idea of going to your high-school reunion because your wife's just left you?  Call Cupid To Go and arrive with a gorgeous blonde on your arm.  Trying to avoid social Siberia of the singles table at your cousin's wedding? Cupid To Go can provide a charming escort that will gain you the envy of all your relatives."  And so on.  In my opinion, I like the business plan!Enter Ava Featherstone Bannerman.  Ava is a former super model who gave up her career on the runway to marry Cecil Bannerman - New York financier and descendant of one of the country's oldest banking families.  Ava informs Vivi that she requires a 'date' for the next 5 months.  Cecil has just informed her that he's leaving her for his 'former' executive assistant, and Ava needs to socially 'beat him to the punch'.  It's a day or two before thanksgiving, and most of the agents have been booked for events during the holiday season.  In looking through the portfolios, Ava declares most of the men 'boys' and none will do.  ...Then Bass shows up to take Vivi to lunch.  Ava declares his perfect, and insists only he will do!  Bass is already well known as the 'hunky doctor' from a TV series Our Small Town that was extremely popular several years.  He has not lost any of his good looks or charm.  Of course he'll do!  And, he declares he's up for it.Immediately, Ava realizes the relationship between Bass and Vivi is more than the platonic one they claim...and neither of them realizes it.  She says as much to Bass, and it starts him really thinking about it.  Ava tells him that by spending the next four months with her, they will dupe Cupid into realizing how she feels about him.Because Vivi and Bass now need to cut off contact with each other due to Ava's demands - especially since the gossip-mongers and paparazzi are all over this new relationship like white on rice!  Just how Ava wants it.  Fortunately for Bass, he has not lost an ounce of his acting abilities...and every day he is grateful just to get through it!  As he suffers at the shallowness of Ava's 'friends' and cronies, he misses Vivi more and more.Vivi, whose family has high expectations for everyone in the family, continually belittles her about how she can't keep a guy long enough to marry her.  Trust me, the way her family treats her - it's UGLY!  If my family were like this, I doubt I would ever go back for the holidays.Vivi is miserable without Bass, and misses him more and more each day.  Bass is doing such a good job with his assignment with Ava, that even Vivi is fooled when the gossip websites publish a picture of Bass leaving Tiffany's with one of their signature bags.  Bass knew going in that none of the employees will talk, but another customer tattles that they overheard a discussion around 'ring sizing'.  Vivi, never considering the possibility, doesn't realize that while yes, he actually DID buy an engagement ring, it's for HER!  Vivi assumes it's for Ava.I could very easily keep going and tell you more about what happens, but you'll just have to read it for yourself!