Vow to Hate You: Club Facade

by Kay Riley

My dear runaway wife,

Blocking me on everything except this email address does not change the fact that you are still my wife. You ran after the wedding, but you’re home now. Our families expect you to behave as a wife should in this elite world. It’s time to act like you promised you would five years ago. Or do you need a reminder?

Your impatient husband,
Damian

P.S. Don’t think I forgot about how you stole my entire life savings.


My dear delusional husband,

Isn’t revenge sweet? Our marriage was a business contract to keep both of us happy. You failed to hold up your end, so I took what’s mine. But I know your dirty little secret. How would your father feel if he found out that his upstanding son owned an exclusive club? One with masked dancers, where secret fantasies come true. Better be nice to me, or I might let that secret slip.

Hating you lots,
Talie

P.S. Give me all the reminders you want. Payback is always a game I love playing with you.


*This story is an enemies to lovers, marriage of convenience stand alone romance with a splash of dark.*

Genres: Enemies To Lovers, Dark Romance, Marriage Of Convenience, Romance, BDSM, Second Chance, Forced Proximity

Kindle Edition

Published June 6, 2025

About the author

Kay Riley writes dark contemporary and paranormal romance. She loves writing feisty, strong heroines, and keeps things interesting with unexpected twists. Kay grew up in the Midwest but has lived in some amazing places, including Japan.
When she's not writing, she is spending time with her husband and kids. She loves cats, coffee, reading, and her guilty pleasure is watching reality shows.

Reviews

[Nerlie౨ৎ🎧📚 · Rating 5 out of 5]

“My wife doesn’t want this life. I’ll do anything to make sure she gets what she desires.”


⋆˚࿔ review 𝜗𝜚˚⋆
4.5⭐️

Ahhh finally my curse is gone (mostly). I’ve been suffering and the universe finally rewarded me. I PRAYED for days like this 😭🤍

★ ̗̀⇢ Thoughts on the book as a whole
This book was SO. SO. GOOD. I was giggling 🤭 smiling like an idiot, kicking my feet, pausing just to breathe because my heart was so full.
The chemistry?? Insane.
The banter?? Perfect.
The spice?? Delicious.
Everything about this hit exactly where it needed to.
This is arranged marriage done to absolute PERFECTION. No notes.
This book gave me everything I wanted and then said actually here’s more 🥹
And them arguing even in the middle of them going at it ?? I eat that up every single time. This author is officially my niche.
Only 4.5 because I think the plot could have been better.

°ᡣ𐭩.°.જ⁀➴ Talie
Talie… oh I loved her bad. She’s ambitious, confident, and refuses to let Damian walk all over her.
I mean the woman stole a MILLION dollars from him and left him to deal with the chaos himself. Icon behavior. Baddie energy 🙂‍↕️
She had a few moments where she slightly irritated me, but honestly that just made her feel real. And every time I understood her reasoning.
I loved that she never lets this man have peace because why would she?? She keeps him on his toes at all times 😌
She’s EXACTLY the kind of FMC I adore. Smart mouth, sharp tongue, knows how to push buttons. They always do it best 😝
And yes she’s a jealous wife and she wears it proudly.

°ᡣ𐭩.°.જ⁀➴ Damian
Damian… oh Damian. Such a good, GOOD man.
The things he does for Talie had me clutching my chest. I want my own Damian immediately.
The fact that he reads romance books and lets her tease him about it??? And then she recreates those scenes WITH him??? I folded. Completely 🙂‍↔️
If my man knew I stole from him, left him, and STILL lied to protect me?? That’s my husband forever. No questions asked.
He loves Talie so deeply, so openly, with no shame at all. Fully obsessed. Fully whipped. And he LOVES it 😩
He’s also ridiculously hot which is just unfair. A perfect book boyfriend in every sense.
I could go on and on about everything he does for her but I refuse to spoil the joy 🤭
Everyone around them knows he’s obsessed with his wife and honestly good for him.

The ONLY downside is that I hate agreeing with men and this book had me agreeing with him more often than I wanted to… because unfortunately he was right 😒

“Did you miss me, wife?”
The moment I read this line I knew I was about to have the BEST time 👌

“This necklace is just for you, baby. And I’ll give it to you whenever you want.”
Me next 🤭 and the baby part??? I’m already gone.

“Falling for you isn’t enough,” “There’s more to life than being in love. While I want that, I want it all. Love. A career. Freedom. I won’t give into one to lose everything else.”
I love a woman who knows love isn’t the only thing in life 🥹

“This isn’t one of those sexy romance books you read. You can’t go around killing people for touching your wife.”
I was laughing and screaming at the same time 😭


Thank you for reading xx💋



ෆ ༚︶︶︶︶ෆ ༚꒰ ෆ ꒱༚ ෆ︶︶︶︶༚ ෆ



⋆. 𐙚 ˚ pre read ⋆. 𐙚 ˚
I’m reading this because I saw one quote, and even though I KNOW I shouldn’t trust it… I’m weak 😔
So I’m over here hoping against all odds that it’s at least decent 🤞🥹

[Allie MacDonald · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hate You was one of those books that had all the right ingredients—luxury, angst, spice, a morally messy power couple—and yet I never quite clicked with it the way I hoped to. The writing itself is solid and smooth, and the pacing kept me intrigued enough to see it through. But the characters? I just couldn’t mesh with Talie and Damien, no matter how many times the story tried to get me on board.

I can appreciate the layered backstory and emotional tension between them, but the constant push and pull, lack of trust, and overall toxicity made it hard for me to root for them. There were moments—especially the steamier scenes—where the book came alive, but emotionally, I felt like a bystander instead of being pulled in.

That said, fans of high-heat billionaire romance with a splash of revenge and power struggles might find more to love here. It just wasn’t the right emotional fit for me.

[Canan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tallie kitabın %80'inde beni sinir etti. Hep kendi bakış açısına takılıp kalmış durumda. İlerleme sıfırdı neredeyse.Damian'da bir gelişim görebiliyorken o hala yerinde sayıyordu.
Adamı suçluyor suçluyor ama kendinin bir halt ettiği yok.Aynı gemideler halbuki. Babalarının piyonu ikiside.

Erkeğin daha çok değer verdiğini hissettirdiği bir kitaptı.Tallie'nin direnmek için yaptığı oyunlar zaman zaman beni sinir etti.İleri gittiğini düşündüğüm yerler vardı.

Karakterlerden birine bile ısınamayınca kitap bende pek iyi yer etmiyor ama kendini okuttu, yalan yok.

Smut sahneleri de boldu. Her iki aile babası rezaletti.

[Miss Library Girl · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely fell hard for this one. I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN. I was having vivid dreams of the club scenes and oozing jealousy when it came to FMC's luck in the husband department. From the very beginning to the HEA end, I was hooked like kids are on phonics when they learn how to read. The only struggle I had was getting enough sleep at night and not staying up reading all the dirty dirty things the MMC did to the FMC. I was lucky enough to get a copy in advance, and I truly devoured this book like a fat kid devours the last piece of chocolate cake at a birthday party. My thighs were shaking with how much clenching I was doing because this book was so HOT, I felt like I was a pre menopausal woman, stroking out for the first time in excess heat. It was so hot I needed to turn the air conditioning up and beg my man to extinguish the fire my thighs caused from the chauffing. If you love a touch of dark, a touch my woman and die, and a Bratty FMC, ADD THIS TO YOUR TBR!

[Pamela Spry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Talie and Damian are childhood friends turned reluctant husband and wife from five years ago. Their marriage came about because of a business agreement between their unsavory millionaire businessmen fathers. The day they are married, Talie overhears a conversation between Damian and his father which leads her to run away to Europe and Asia for 5 years, but not before stealing a significant amount from her new husband. She stays away, the story being she was at college in Europe, until her beloved sister’s 21st birthday, when she flies back to NYC and joins her sister at an exclusive secret club where she interacts with a masked man who she later discovers to be Damian.

 

I would consider this book to be a slow burn, but there are definite sparks along the way. The charged back and forth between the main characters keeps you engaged, and curious to see what comes next in their battle. They obviously have feelings for each other, all the way back to before they were married. The side characters of Damian’s loyal hot friends and Talie’s sister bring much added color to the story, fleshing It out. The reader sees Talie as a rebellious woman who needed to separate from her overbearing father to become an independent person and learn to make her own way. She is a brat but begins to see how Damian has secretly been protecting her all these years from their fathers. Damian is working for his father to pacify him and has built his own business (the exclusive, secret club). He struggles with keeping his 2 professional endeavors separate and having Talie back in his life adds to the complications he faces.

 

Now, while it did take a while for the spice to come, trust me, it blew up when it did. The love-hate-love relationship between the main characters made for some mouth agape, breathless moments for the reader. I’ve been reading romance novels for a long time and this one had a novel scenario I had never come across in any of my previous books. I had to Google it!!

 

Definitely worth reading! It had romance, spice, action, and suspense. Will be keeping an eye out for future novels by this writer.

 

I received an ARC for this review.

[Lauren (lololovesthings) · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

"Vow to Hate You" by Kay Riley is an enemies-to-lovers business deal marriage of convenience with a loooooooooooooooooooooooot of spice, money, secrets, and scandal. I enjoyed the banter between the main characters, Damien and Talie. Their mutual cattiness made me laugh and snicker multiple times throughout the book. Their hatred of one another fuels the fire between them. Talie and Damien goof around a lot, they try to make each other as mad as possible, and then are passionate and fiery in their make-up sessions. Talie doesn't just want to be a businessman's wife. She has ambitions to be a DJ, ambitions she intends to see come to fruition no matter what the cost. Damien owns a scandalous dance club for women to fulfill their fantasies, which could ruin him should his father find out his involvement. My main complaint is that this book gets a little repetitive. The first half of the book consists mainly of pranks that Talie and Damien play on one another over and over again, and the last half is basically several (and *I do* mean *several*) spicy scenes in between a power struggle between them and their parents. The pacing felt a little uneven to me, and the book as a whole felt a little bit too long. Some of the dialogue and spicy scenes felt a little cringe to me. Still, I have a feeling that this will find a dedicated audience with the TikTok crowd. It's fine, but it's definitely not my favorite book of the year.

Thank you to Kay Riley and The Smuthood PR for the complimentary ARC of this book. All opinions are my own. I was not compensated for this review.

[Devonne Hahn · Rating 4 out of 5]

ARC Review - This is my honest thoughts & opinions

Rating: 4.5/5 ⭐️
Spice Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

An interesting twist to the arranged marriage/marriage of convenience trope. Talie and Damian get married when Talie is 18, a marriage that would tighten business between their fathers and one that Talie had hoped, would guarenteed she gets to have her freedom too. Only Talie disappears for 5 years overseas when she feels betrayed. When Talie returns to the states to celebrate her sister's birthday, hoping she goes unnoticed, she ends up caught & is forced to stay. Damian, who is furious with her for stealing his money and leaving, forcing him to deal with their fathers on his own, does what he can to keep her there, not just for the families but, because secretly, he wants her. These two clearly get under the other's skin, pulling pranks and teasing, it's hilarious. Let's say, a certain kind of "belt" gets used and honestly, a scene I will probably remember forever because not only was it hot, but what plays out afterwards will make you laugh.

The tension between these two MC's is clearly there and you are so ready for their "fuck it" moment by 30% in, The tension, the pranks, the kinks ... absolutely enjoyed this story from start to finish.

[Liz | Bookslizreads90 · Rating 5 out of 5]

ARC Review

Tropes-
Childhood friends to enemies to lovers
Marriage of convenience
Possessive MMC
Badass FMC
Spicy Club

✨️ Thank you to Kay and Smuthood PR for this ARC for my honest review! This book sucked me in from the first chapter. The tension between these two was seeping off the pages. I felt the hate, and I loved it 🤭. I had such a good time reading this book. The banter had me giggling and kicking my feet. Also, Damian was so freaking down bad for Talie, even through all their games and fighting, I love him so much 😍. The spicy scenes had me sweating 🥵. There was even a splash of darkness and suspense in this story, and I was thoroughly entertained the whole time. I definitely recommend this book to all my friends who enjoy top-notch banter and a good enemies to lovers story 🤭🫶!

[Tina M · Rating 5 out of 5]

smutty and exciting! The characters were interesting and fun. the spice was sooo good. This was definitely a 5 star read for me. I absolutely loved the banter, as well as the involvement of side characters. If this turned into a series, I would blindly buy them all solely based on this one.

[Aisling]

Thank you to the author and the smuthood for the arc of this book.

Unfortunately it just didn’t work for me. I DNFed at 12%. Like first of all, who brings their sister to sex club? Aside from that it just felt kind of juvenile, I guess. That’s not really the best way to describe it but it felt like a fantasy that just hadn’t been fleshed out. The characters acted weird, like they were waaaay younger than they were and hadn’t thought anything through. The whole set up was just overly convenient too.

I think if I had been in the right mood this could have worked for me, but I was hoping for a spicy dark romance and got more of a wattpad style erotica (not saying wattpad as a bad thing but that vibe). I wanted tension but wasn’t feeling it. It was just “I hate you” “well, I hate you too” plus erotica?

Long story short, it didn’t work for me.

[❥LADYT | 𓃠 ꫂ ၴႅၴ ☕︎ · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 ⭐️/ 3 🌶️
Where do we begin? -
Let’s start with the FMC and MMC
Natalia and Damian, both from extremely wealthy families, where Damian is expected to take over for his dad when he retires, and Natalia is to be the good house wife to the one she marries of her dads choosing.

Natalia and Damian were extremely good friends and something more as kids/teens, both coming from same societal families, but it never got to that stage of more than friends, even though Damian always liked her. So when Natalia proposed an arrangement of marriage, that could benefit them both. Natalia could get out from under her controlling father, keep up appearances by marrying someone she trusted would never hurt her, Damian swore he would get her out of that life and give her freedom like she wanted. That was until he had to betray her when he had to prove his loyalty to his father.

She stole from her husband, Damian. And then took off, leaving Damian to keep up the charades for 5 years, that they were in a happy marriage.

Until she came back for her sisters birthday.
Where her sister takes her into a masquerade dance club for women (male dancers) more spicier than magic mike iykyk, neither knowing that Natalia’s husband secretly owns the club with his best friends.. 🤭

The chemistry between Natalia and Damian, is absolutely phenomenal, you can tell, they were meant for each other. They have so much pent up sexual tension and banter. This is not a slow burn, but it’s a push-pull situation. I love Natalia’s attitude, her pranks are hilarious! And a cock cage!? I’ve read a lot of books now, a lot of them spicy, but this is the first for a Chasity cage for a cock! (That I have personally seen),Absolutely brilliant incorporating, definitely did not predict something like this!

This story contains a few plot twists, blackmail, kidnapping, stealing, pranks, controlling fathers, secrets.

I don’t want to give too much away though.
This was an exceptional read, I finished it in a day. I didn’t want to put it down. This for me, was a 5 star read. I love a book that can have spice and banter and flows well. The writing was really good and I LOVE dual POV , I think it really makes a story , especially these kinds.

Thank you to The Smuthood for the opportunity of another arc read, and thank you Kat Riley, for a fantastic read.

[Maegen Lange · Rating 5 out of 5]

ARC Review

Kay Riley has done it again. Vow to hate you is the perfect combination of steamy, swoon-worthy and hilarious. I knew from the moment I heard she was going to write a standalone romance that was marriage of convenience WITH a masked club that I would fall in love with this book.

The plot: *chefs kiss*
The banter: 10/10!
The spice: is it hot in here or just me?! 🥵

I absolutely loved the characters and their development as well as their backstories. Kay has yet again written them perfectly and I love how it’s unlike other marriage of convenience books I’ve read before. The way the characters interacted was hilarious, steamy and downright perfection.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
🌶️🌶️🌶️.5/5

10/10 recommend you add this to your TBR ASAPPPPP!

[Sybrenna · Rating 4 out of 5]

4⭐️ Damien “My wife”’d me to DEATH and I was ABSOLUTELY HERE FOR IT. First and foremost I love Kay Riley’s work so much, her writing always hooks me in immediately and the way that she does enemies to lovers with fmc’s that take no ones shit???! PLEASE MY FAVVVV. The push/pull, cat/mouse energy between Damien and Talie had me absolutely SCREAMING at times because I sincerely just wanted Talie to give in, but I also understood her so so much! I had fun with this one.. arranged marriage (yet they secretly always liked eachother) like.. to hate.. to love, baddie FMC, “MY WIFE” MMC, & spicy spice… Damien didn’t play about her AT ALL, and I’m such a stan.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this story. Natalia “Talie,” and Damien were perfection. The banter was so fun to read, and I loved that it was a slow burn. The tension was crazy along with their chemistry. The level of pettiness was so funny and how the mcs interacted with each other. The fathers were awful, and so were the henchmen. The side character were fun, and I hope to read more about them as they work at Club Facade.

Tropes:
🩷 enemies to lovers
💍 marriage of convenience
🩷 spicy masked club
💍 my wife
🩷 touch her and d!e
💍 banter

Thank you The Smuthood and Kay Riley for the opportunity to read this early. This is my honest review.

[Kaitlin Dice · Rating 5 out of 5]

Vow To Hate you is my very first Kay Riley book and I devoured it from start to finish. From the banter to the tension I was hooked. This book had the perfect balance between spicy and sweet moments. Safe to say I will now be searching the internet for anything written by Kay Riley.

[Kalene · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this in about a day. I couldn't stop reading once I started! This was my first read from Kay and it would be my last. I wanted more of Talie and Damian!!!! this story kept me in a way of what's gonna go on next?! I loved this story and wish there had been more to it.

[Kaija · Rating 5 out of 5]

Where do I start? This is SO good!
It’s got all the angst and tension from a true Hate-to-Love romance and I ATE THAT SHIT UP!!!

I’m obsessed with all things involving this book and I love the way Damian and Talie came back together, and the truth about what happened in the past was so emotional and getting it out for both of them was incredibly healing and a large part of how they were able to move forward.

It was such a page turner and I devoured it, there’s truly nothing better than a good hate to love, arranged marriage romance especially when he’s been in love with her since they were kids!!!

I was beyond lucky to be able to ARC read this!!

[Jayme Muraco · Rating 5 out of 5]

KAY RILEY, I LOVE YOU! … i was hooked with this from page 1. Damian is my favorite part of this book and is perfection. The way you introduced him into this was SO good! Gave me all the possessive and sexy vibes.

Natalia (Talie) and Damian Valentin have been controlled by their families for far too long. Growing up as best friends and then getting married young as a business transaction was not exactly ideal. But was their relationship always just business to them?

Right after the marriage, Talie stole all of Damian’s life savings and fled the country for 5 YEARS! She couldn’t deal with the lies and sneakiness she stumbled upon, and just wanted her freedom that she saw slipping away.

The email exchanges between Damian and Talie while she was away was impeccable. The banter. The sarcasm. I loved it.

When Talie finally returns, she wasn’t planning on staying long OR planning on running into her husband. She finds out a secret of his that could possibly set her free from this marriage.

Talie is a strong and independent woman just trying to guard her heart and have the freedom to do whatever she pleases without being constantly under watch. She has a wall up with Damian that really isn’t necessary because you really see from the start how good of a man he is and just wants her to be happy. You won’t want to miss his dominance and protectiveness, and the hatred that they definitely don’t have for each other. It’s actually just amazing foreplay if you ask me. 😉

Their games and pranks are also pretty fun and hilarious, and you’ll definitely want to check them out. (google chastity cage) 🤭

I highly recommend this if you love enemies to lovers, marriage of convenience, and a splash of dark romance. There is so much sexual tension and desire in this that I was just waitinggggg for shit to go down. AND 👏🏻SHIT👏🏻DOES👏🏻GO👏🏻DOWN!

This releases on JUNE 6th! Run and get it bc you will not be disappointed.

[Stephanie Chapin · Rating 5 out of 5]

ARC Review of Vow to Hate You a Club Façade Standalone by Kay Riley. I am obsessed with this book I couldn’t put it down. This is definitely a 5 Star read and I loved the spice level I consider it really spicy. This is a friends to enemies to lovers, marriage of convenience, forced proximity, secret club, spicy romance. This is Talie (Natalia) and Damian's story. Talie and Damian both come from very rich, successful, and powerful families they have extremely controlling fathers and don’t really have a say in their lives or paths they take. At 18 Talie who has been friends with Damian for awhile asks him to marry her as a way to avoid being stuck in a marriage where she would only be seen as an object and would have to play the role of supportive house wife with no freedom. Their fathers allow them to marry and their marriage is a contract uniting their fathers as business partners. Something happens after their wedding and Talia takes off and leaves the country. The story goes forward 5 years and Talie finally returns to the states for her sisters 21st birthday they go to Club Façade which is an exclusive secret entertainment club. Damian owns and dances at Club Façade. Now with Talie back in the states see can’t leave again and is stuck living with Damian he has been covering for her the last 5 years acting like she was away at university over seas and that they have a happy marriage. Now with her back Damian won’t let his wife go again. I love Damian and Talie I love watching them play pranks and games on each other. Damian wants to make it work but even though I like Talie and totally understand her wanting the freedom to live her life without every decision being made for her, she’s o stubborn and impulsive at times that I just want to shake her. I am happy how the story plays out and love the ending.

[Here To Escape Reality · Rating 3 out of 5]

Romance books can usually be broken into 2 parts: the outside story or problem bringing our characters together, and the evolution of their relationship.

I enjoyed the evolution of their relationship - the smut is spicy, interesting, and quite fun. The "cage" scene(s) especially were fun to read. Their back-and-forth relationship power pull added an enjoyable take on the "I'll sub only for you" microtrope.

The outside story? Just not as well done as I would have liked. This is a forced marriage trope, but every part of that is weak. "Forced" marriage, but actually they chose it because the alternative *might* have been worse? She ran away for 5 years living her best life in Asia, but stayed in touch with MMC and her family the whole time? "Powerful" Businessmen Dad's forcing this for... reasons? What kind of business? Who knows? Just take the author's word for it. They are POWERFUL and can make their kids' lives miserable ... somehow? MFC and MMC are both so afraid of standing up to their Dads, but I just don't see why? And the big conflict is MFC mad at MMC for not standing up to his dad for her, but she won't either? He owns a secret Chip-N-Dales, but super powerful scary dad has no idea and he would hate it because "image". This would be better if the families were in politics or mafia - give me a REASON they are powerful and the main characters are afraid of them. Because it's just not there.

I read the whole thing - it was good enough not to DNF. It's not BAD, it's just not AMAZING. 3 stars for just being just OK, and a extra 1/2 star for the cage scene(s).

[Pana · Rating 5 out of 5]

My first Kay Riley book, and let me just say. I’m coming back for more! Especially the way I scooped, chewed, gobbled, and devoured. Ya, I’m not done here with you Miss Kay.

Rating: 5⭐️
Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

𝗜𝗻 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲, 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗮 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗳𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗲. 𝗠𝘆 𝗳𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗹𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗺𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝗰𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗜 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗿𝘆 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗼𝘀𝗲. 𝗔𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗺𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗸 𝗶𝗻 𝗺𝘆 𝘁𝗲𝗲𝗻𝘀, 𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗿𝘆 𝗺𝗲 𝗼𝗳𝗳 𝗮𝘀 𝘀𝗼𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝘀 𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱. 𝗚𝗼𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗯𝗶𝗱 𝗮 𝘄𝗼𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗮 𝗺𝗮𝗻.

Now this is how you write a contractual marriage!
Two people who were friends as kids until one of them betrayed the other, forcing the other to flee for years.
The grudge that was held was absolutely held by a death grip.

I’m obsessed with Damien & Talie, she really held her own and her ground. Talie’s personality is a strong one too.
Damien really rolled with the punches that she was delivering too.

Also, if you’re a fan of magic mike. Read this. Like today.
And the secrets they both kept from each other, OH MY GOD!
The beginning of this book, may be one of my absolute favorites.

Tropes:
Marriage of convenience
Friends to enemies to lovers
MY WIFE 💍🤤
Rich AF
Secret identities
Elite families
Mask k!nk
Toys
BDSM 😮‍💨

[Brandi Dise · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was privileged to receive a copy of this book as an advanced reader copy. I did generally enjoy the book as a whole, so I'm giving 4 stars.

The world this was set it was contemporary and business-like. It almost gave mafia vibes without that being the case. Both of the MCs are held to high expectations by their fathers, and they are both ready to be free of those same expectations.

I did enjoy both MCs, especially their banter. Dual POV was definitely helpful to see both of their differing experiences and motivations. In the end, they are probably more similar than they expected, which is why they ended up clicking so well.

The reason for the 4 instead of 5 is the heavy repetition of certain things throughout the book, like her leaving and coming back. In addition, there was one spicy scene that really had me shaking my head as someone familiar with BDSM.

Overall, I did enjoy and would probably be willing to read if there are further books with the friends Ash and Rhyett.

Marriage of convenience, enemies to lovers, touch her and die, dark romance, masks

[₊⋆ Nyxia ☾ · Rating 5 out of 5]

"𝐃𝐢𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬 𝐦𝐞, 𝐰𝐢𝐟𝐞?"

This standalone romance was everything!
The chemistry between these two was intense. There’s a lot of angst, emotional moments, banter, and very hot spice!

"ᴍɪɴᴇ. ɴᴏᴡ, ꜱᴛᴀʏ ꜱᴛɪʟʟ ᴡʜɪʟᴇ ɪ ᴡᴏʀꜱʜɪᴘ ᴍʏ ᴡᴏᴍᴀɴ."

Damian was amazing. I just loved him and how obsessed he is with Talie. He had me giggling and kicking my feet, swoon! Talie is amazing too. Very strong, and she doesn’t back down. She made me laugh with all the pranks.

The groveling in this was amazing! I just melt with books when the characters fight against what they want. There were a lot of sweet moments too!

"𝒜𝓃𝑜𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓅𝒾𝒸𝓀𝑒𝒹 𝓊𝓅 𝒻𝓇𝑜𝓂 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝓇𝑜𝓂𝒶𝓃𝒸𝑒 𝒷𝑜𝑜𝓀𝓈?"

"𝐼 𝒸𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓂 𝓂𝒶𝓃𝓊𝒶𝓁𝓈 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝒶 𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓈𝑜𝓃. 𝒜𝓃𝒹 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓎'𝓇𝑒 𝒻𝓊𝓃 𝓉𝑜 𝓇𝑒𝒶𝒹."

This author’s writing was amazing. I love all of their books and I was so excited for a standalone! If you want a sweet & spicy romance I recommend so much!

"𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚖𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚒𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚝 𝚖𝚢 𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎."

“𝙸 𝚊𝚕𝚠𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚎."

🇹​​🇷​​🇴​​🇵​​🇪​​🇸​

🩷Spicy club
🌸Marriage of convenience
💍Second chances
🩷Spicy
🌸Enemies to lovers
💍“My wife”
🩷Pranks & banter
💍Possessive mmc

[Jess McDaniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great standalone!!

These characters were so much fun to read! From the moment it began, until the end, it was gripping. Natalia, Talie for short, ran away from her arranged marriage to Damian. She has been out of the country and doing pretty well for herself, but she comes back for her sister's birthday. Of course with how Damian is, he knew how to get her to come back to him. These two have a lot of banter between the two of them, but in the end they only have each other, even through all the "hate."

Talie and Damian got their HEA that they have always deserved, along with a little extra on the side of them being able to do what they want to do. There were a few times that I wasn't sure what was going to happen, but in the end, all is well and spi cy....

I am excited for more in the Club Facade world!

[Kelsey 📖 · Rating 5 out of 5]

A big thank you to Smuthood PR for this arc!

This book was so good!! It really delivered for me. It gave everything! And I enjoyed it.

Some of the strengths are:
• plot
• character development
• spice level!!

Damian and Talie were everything! Also, that world of the rich and portraying a certain image for their families. Club Facade and the spice was keeping me SAT. Also, I need good banter between main characters and IT WAS.

Side note: when Damian said the romance books were manuals for the club. And he reads them for ideas. It honestly, gave the same vibes as Jiraiya from Naruto doing his “research.” 😅🤣

OVERALL. A good time! Read this!

[Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Talie flees a business marriage for 5 years but is forced to return (and makes sure her husband knows how much she resents it). Meanwhile, Damien is secretly running a sexy club while also trying to appease their families and help run the (shady) family businesses. I did enjoy the premise and Kay Riley’s writing style, however, the FMC was a bit too bratty for me and the pranks a tad over the top-just a personal preference. But if that’s your thing, you’ll love the tension, drama, and spice this book provides!

[Christie Hardin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was absolutely delicious! Smutty with a lot of character depth. You will fall in love with Damien and Tallie. I also loved the side characters. The side hustle for Damien, Ash and Rhyett was not like anything I’ve read in the past and I loved it. The chastity cage scene is chef’s kiss.

I’m hoping this will turn into a series as Ash, Rhyett and Charlotte deserve a book of their own.

Thank you Kay Riley and The Smuthood for the opportunity to review an advanced copy and discover a “new to me” author. I’m definitely interested reading more books by Kay.

[Erin Pasket · Rating 5 out of 5]

“The way she challenged me in every aspect of our marriage only made my obsession with her grow.”

Five years later the sexual tension and want between these two didn’t go away. I loved Talie’s sass and pranks on Damien. She made being back in his life and world a challenge. The expectations and attitudes of both Damien and Talie’s fathers made me hate them more and more throughout this book. These two proved how jealous and possessive they were of one another with the comments of “my wife” or “my husband.” Their chemistry was off the charts and the twists in this book keep you hooked.

[Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

4⭐️ ARC review - Thankyou so much to Kay and Smuthood for this arc!!!

This was a really fun read, I loved the magic Mike vibes. I liked both Damian and Talie. Their hate to love had some good banter and I loved the push and pull between them. I also really like the fact they grew up together, definitely adds to their connection and chemistry.

Honestly would love it if this became a series. Ash, Rhyett and Charlotte were entertaining side characters!

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Childhood friends to enemies to lovers • marriage of convenience/arranged marriage • possessive MMC • brat tamer
After running from her new husband and demanding father, Talie gets caught while visiting her sister. We watch Talie and Damian bicker and prank each other while falling for each other. I found this story to be engaging and funny, as well as inspiring one to be who they want to me, a regardless of what their parents say. Oh, and the spice was spicin’ 🌶️ 🔥