Playing The Part

by Carol Wyatt

A steamy age gap sapphic romance.

When 46-year-old history professor Quinn Sullivan receives an invitation to her ex-husband's wedding, she refuses to show up alone and be pitied by their academic colleagues. In a moment of desperation, she hires Casey Carr, a charming 29-year-old bartender drowning in student loans, to pose as her girlfriend for the event.

Quinn thinks it's the perfect power move—showing up with a younger woman will definitely rattle her ex, who left her for his own graduate student. After all, she's completely straight, so what could go wrong? It's strictly business, complete with a contract and clear boundaries. No real feelings allowed.

But Casey has other ideas. She insists on practice dates, casual touches, and getting to know the real Quinn beneath the professor facade. As their fake relationship heats up, Quinn starts questioning everything she thought she knew about herself—including her sexuality.

With the wedding fast approaching, Quinn faces an unexpected Is she falling for Casey, or is she just discovering who she's been all along? And can Casey trust that Quinn's newfound feelings are real and not just part of an awakening that will pass once the performance ends?

2nd Edition

Genres: Romance, LGBT, Adult, Lesbian Romance, Contemporary

347 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 3, 2025

Reviews

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Middle of the road with this book….

I was fully invested in the 1st half of the book but my interest kinda dropped off in the second half of the book and end up skipping many pages…. I’m no prude but at some point, I just got tired of reading all the sexy time…

[Rebecca MacAlister · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hmmm

Let me start off by saying that I really enjoyed the story. Pulls you in with that sexual tension that has you wanting more.

My problem is that in the second half of the book, about 50% of that was all "bedroom scenes." I know lesbians can't keep their hands off each other at the beginning of a serious relationship, but I don't think we need it beaten into our heads in literature. I think sometimes there could be too much.

There were some minor inconsistencies. Nothing that takes away from the story, but they're there. There were also instances where they were run-on sentences, sometimes even no space or punctuation between them.

All said and done, I still gave this story four stars.

[Milena · Rating 4 out of 5]

loved it!

What a twist of fate! It was an awesome idea to invite someone along to the ex’s wedding and then realize as time went on, things and feelings can change. What an eye opening learning curve that Quinn got! I’m glad she was able to find a possible happy ever after.

[Betty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good

OK this book was really good. I loved the sweetness of it. No 3rd act breakup just love. BUT I really must point out 1st half of the book Quinn is filling out an emergency contact update. She is thinking her mom is farther away it would just worry her and her sister has her own family in California. Then in the last almost end she is alone both parents died and no other family. This threw me off so much I had to reread some parts making sure I didn't mistake what I read originally. So hopefully you see this before reading and it saves you some confusion. Still recommend if you love age gap (17 yrs).

[Jamie (TheRebelliousReader) · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars. An age gap, fake dating romance that leads to a coming out later in life for one of our leads. Yeah, I adored this. It has some of my most favorite tropes. Quinn needs a date for her ex husbands wedding and gets set up with Casey who is not only younger than her but is a woman. Quinn starts to question everything about herself as she gets closer to Casey and it was wonderful. I love that once she realized that she was a lesbian it wasn’t a big deal and instead she felt relieved and I thought that was a wonderful way to handle it.

The romance between the two of them was so good. They have fantastic chemistry and I thought the way that their relationship developed was felt natural. I also appreciate that the age gap was never a big deal and also there was no third act break up! Wyatt loves to rip my heart out with her third act break ups so the fact that she avoided doing one here was a nice twist and was greatly appreciated. This was a beautiful and sexy story and now I’m back having to wait for Wyatt’s next release with bated breath.

[Morgan Park · Rating 4 out of 5]

If it weren't for the spelling and punctuation errors, this would be a 5 star read.

[Deb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great story by Wyatt.
Gotta say I’m enjoying these longer stories, gives you a chance to get to know the characters better.
Both main characters are relatable and have such chemistry it leaps off the page.

I only deducted a star as the editing could be better. It doesn’t detract from the story though.

[Suzi Vilkman (Hautaniemi) · Rating 5 out of 5]

So beautiful!

Carol Wyatt definitely knows how to create an age-gap romance. She just never lets you down. The chemistry between the main characters is out of this world, and the love scenes are swoonworthy. Every time.

[L · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the storyline and the characters. The reason I gave it three stars is because I could not believe the utter lack of editing. It seems like whenever the author intended to use an em-dash, there was a glitch where there was no space or punctuation whatsoever. There was a similar glitch when dialogue was interrupted with no punctuation. It also seemed repetitive in points, as if the author was debating between which sentence to keep, by rewriting one slightly, but forgetting to delete one. Beyond that, there were a lot of inconsistencies that made me question if I had completely misremembered earlier parts of the book. Even the physical descriptions of the character characters changed. I found this all very distracting, and it took my focus away from the story. Finally, as some other reviewers mentioned, the last third of the book morphed into almost solely “spicy” scenes. It seemed like too much and too over the top, and it felt unsatisfying in the sense that we didn’t get to see much of how the relationship played out beyond the sheets.

[Kaila · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing! Loved this book.

This is one of my new favorite books that I know I’ll be reading years from now!! This is the kind of book that makes you feel all the feels. It’s not overly cliché and doesn’t focus so much on the angst and miscommunication most books have. Instead, you have real MCs that have fears, hopes, desires and take the time to talk to each other and actually express their feelings. You feel the passion and chemistry from start to finish! I didn’t give a crap about misspellings or repeated words. I was to caught up in this beautiful love story that I can’t wait to read again and again. 10/10 no notes simply amazing!❤️

[Nat E · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can understand why some reviewers felt the spicy scenes went on for too long. I am sure they could have been trimmed down a bit as they felt repetitive. There were inconsistencies that threw me off with one of the MCs mother. Also when they check into hotel and run into ex husband and soon to be wife. The author got the last name wrong, “Soon to be Natalie Sullivan” when it was going to be “Johnson”. The story was silly. The MCs were very like able. They were open and honest with each other. Good Chemistry.

[Sandi D · Rating 5 out of 5]

straight older woman fake date what can go wrong or right!

Older woman who happens to be straight needs a date for her ex husband’s wedding. Enter Casey. The connection is instant with them both trying to remember this is all fake. Fortunately Quinn has little reservations about how she feels and is willing to make the leap.

There were a few inconsistencies in the story but they didn’t take away from the enjoyment. Carol Wyatt writes wonderful stories. Don’t miss this one.

[wren4777 · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first half was okay ish, but then it just devolved into the same boring sex scene repeated over and over again. I guess I should have know what I was getting in for, when I saw the name of the author.

[Paige]

This needs to be edited significantly.

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Carol Wyatt always delivers if you're looking for a steamy age gap romance. I love a good toaster oven story too. Kindle Unlimited.