Faking it All

Hellfire Riders MC #10

by Kati Wilde

Everything about me is fake…

I’m a small-town nobody named Olivia Burke, but I look exactly like a Hollywood somebody—that somebody being Keri Bishop, one of the most famous movie stars in the world. Now a threat against her life is going to change mine, freeing me and my little sister from my stepfather’s abusive control. All I have to do is pretend to be the actress until the danger is eliminated. I won’t even be in the public eye; I’ll be hidden away in a remote location owned by the Hellfire Riders—a motorcycle club hired by Keri’s husband to guard me—and under the personal protection of a sexy, lethal biker named Duke.

…except how fast I’m falling for him.

I can’t tell anyone who I really am—not even the man protecting me. His stormy gaze threatens to pierce the glamorous mask I’m wearing, but if Duke discovers the truth, I’ll destroy my chance to escape the hell I’ve been living in. Yet I don’t know how long I can keep this secret. Because Duke’s got demons of his own, and I’m desperate to soothe his tormented soul with my soft touch, with a lingering kiss. But I’m impersonating a married woman. And if I slip up even once, I risk losing everyone I love…

Starting with Duke, when he finds out how badly I’ve deceived him.

Genres: Romance, Contemporary, Contemporary Romance, Erotica, Abuse, Dark Romance, Romantic Suspense

316 pages, Paperback

First published March 28, 2017

About the author

Kati Wilde is a tight-lipped, loose-hipped woman of indeterminate age and low breeding. Born into a very large family, she now has a very small family (no laws were broken in this transition), and she writes romantic fiction to assuage her darker urge to write Transformers erotica. She lives in Oregon, so most of you are safely far enough away, and has two old cats.

Kati writes the Hellfire Riders MC romance series and will be publishing her first New Adult novel, Going Nowhere Fast, with Berkley later this year.



About Our Series:

The Motorcycle Clubs series is for romance readers who want all the heat and emotion, but who don’t have all of the time. At this time, we are only publishing novellas — our intention is to provide readers with short (yet satisfying) MC romances. Sometimes we might continue one couple’s story over several novellas, but each individual novella will have a satisfying romantic resolution. Because they are short, we focus the stories on the eroticism and romance, and will be building the MC worlds as each series progresses.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me -- kati@katiwilde.com.

Reviews

[Val ⚓️ Shameless Handmaiden ⚓️ · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 Stars - This is an awesome addition to a solid series.

I have some serious ish going on at home right now.
So this is going to be a short review, sorry.

This is one of my most-loved MC series.
It's not as "realistic" or as... "gritty" as some other MC books out there...

But homie don't care.
I love it.



Kati Wilde writes solid characters with solid connections and I always like her plots.

For those questioning if this could be read as a standalone...sure, I suppose it could be, although I personally think it's always more enjoyable to read things in order, especially if the earlier books are worth it.

In this series, books 1-3 focus on one couple, Saxon (who is scrumptious by the way) and Jenny.
Books 4-6 focus on Blowback (who is even scrumptious-er) and Zoomie (who is badass).

After that, the other books all focus on single book couples (all of whom are introduced throughout books 1-6 and so forth).

All worth it.

In general, I just really like the world Wilde has created in this series.

Even though I said above that it's not as "realistic" and "gritty" as some other MC series out there (think Susan Kill-Them-Off-and-Make-You-Cry Fanetti), this club is still the Real Deal.

Some of their members have legit military backgrounds and so when they do shit, they DO shit.





So many times, authors make MC club too...soft in certain ways (Looking at you...as much as I love you.)

So it's always refreshing when authors have a little bit of believable tactical badassery.

Anyway, I personally love this series and really enjoyed this addition to it.

[Namera [The Literary Invertebrate] · Rating 3 out of 5]

⤅ Reread

I don't know why I even reread this, it's only been two years and I only gave it three stars... but it's a testament to how compelling Kati Wilde's writing can be (and how poor my memory is) that I did in fact read all the way through again!
_
⤅ Interesting premise, meh on the characters.

Olivia is the lookalike to a famous actress, Keri Bishop, who's being hunted by the Russian bratva. So Keri's husband Ivan hires her to pretend to be Keri and sticks her under the protection of a motorcycle club. Duke is the one who'll be watching over her, but he figures out pretty quickly that Olivia isn't who she says she is.

I vaguely liked Olivia but I could never fully get behind Duke. He was all over the place - saying he loved her one second, the next throwing her out of his house because of a miscommunication he wouldn't let her explain. It doesn't help that the hero and heroine are both blonds, which is one of my weirder pet peeves in romance novels... I just feel like it's such a rare hair colour (at least naturally) that if two blonds date each other, I picture them as looking too similar to each other in my head. Same with two redheads. I'm not a big fan of blonde/redhaired heroines, either, because 99% of the time the hair colour is fetishised or dragged into the storyline in some way. Maybe it's just me...

[Bev · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it! A fab addition to one of my favourite MC series. Hot, short but not rushed.

4.5 stars

[Giorgia Reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was good for awhile but I wasn’t thrilled at the stuff that happened towards the end. It felt silly how thing took that turn in order to create the necessary conflict before the HEA.

[B.E.Love · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love MC books but I have to admit I got a little burnt out with them, after reading as many as I could get my hands on I just needed a slow down from them. Not really a break because I still read a few here and there. This book has made me want to find more MC books. I enjoyed reading this book so much I want more. Ive read several book from this series(not all) and I have to say I think this one may be my favorite.

Coming to the clubhouse for a meeting Duke knows he has a babysitting job coming, what he never expected was a beautiful woman who happens to be a constant reminder to the worst day in his life. But a job for the club is what he does and though looking at her just brings the past up Duke also can't deny how beautiful she is or how married she is.

Olivia's only concern is her sister and getting her safe so she agreed to the job with the end result being that she and her sister are safe and gone. What she never planned on was Duke. He's like no man she has ever met and the more time she spends with him the more she has to remind herself of the agreement she made. Duke can't deny the draw he has for this married woman but thats one thing Duke won't do, but the more time he spends with her the more he see's things aren't adding up not only with the woman he's babysitting and keeping safe but the supposed reason he and the club are watching her. When the truth is reveled both think they may actually be able to have it all but others have different plans for them.

Duke was a great hero he's a stand up guy, his family was crap and he went through more than anyone should but he was a great person. His niece and her grandma were his priority and he loved them both and did everything he could for them and when Olivia came into his life she was added into that small category as well. He loved Olivia and that was it she was the love of his life and he was going to do anything and everything to keep her, and when he made a mistake he fixed it. I do wish we had had a little more with Duke and his mom, the back story behind their strained relationship was so interesting (and sad) that I would have loved to have had more with Duke and his mom including whatever happened with his mom. I also think Duke was way too patient with his sister, I couldn't stand her and he gave her way too many chances (but I get it) and was happy in the end.

Olivia was a great character and though this theme has been done before(because really hasn't everything to some extent) I loved the story idea. And I was actually a little surprised where the story went(in a good way). Olivia was a great heroine she loved her stepsister unconditionally and everything she did was to protect her. Meeting Duke wasn't planned and she never would have dreamed to meet a man like him. I loved watching their love grow and seeing how their story would turn out.

As I said earlier I haven't read all the books in this series and I had no problem following the story. Did I know everything about all the side characters, no but I wasn't lost and I never felt like I was missing anything important and I was never confused. I will say reading the ones I have(in this series) always makes me want to check out the books I missed and I plan to do that. I highly recommend this book especially if your like me and want a great MC book but want a romance without triggers, and maybe more importantly need good story with your romance.

*thank you Kati Wilde for this ARC:}

[sara j · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars..

the other books in this series are damn fantastic but this one doesn't keep me that intrigue to the end....

however the book has excellent character development,but lack of good plotine.....
...
as usual writing is at the best by kati Wilde but the book has lack of mystery and suspense for me....

[Astraycat · Rating 3 out of 5]

Both H and h had sorrowful backgrounds. Although H was a jerk at first becauae he couldn't endure his attraction towards a "married" woman, he found the truth soon.

I couldn't endure h's refuse to tell H who Erin was even after he found her identity…that's what lead to H be a jerk again.

Glad there's an epilogue.

[Tiina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oooh, this was good. I may reduce the rating but right now - right after finishing it - I'm on such a high that I'm giving it full marks. Of course, it's not a perfect novel, but it was exactly what I wanted at the time. Also, it really has all the best aspects of the whole series. I also loved the little epilogue, which was chronologically set after the next book in the series.

I mean, sure I had some issues with the guy's backstory. It felt like a plot twist used purely for the shock value, without really being explored. The author could have done so much more with it. As it stood, it fell a little flat, although it was darker than a lot of the other issues in the series. In my opinion.

All in all, though, the romance was sweet and steamy (very racy, actually). I think this novel featured my favourite couple of the whole series. It was instalove-y, but I loved it. It worked. Sometimes feelings ARE heightened in extreme situations where adrenaline is involved.

So yeah, read the series in order, but they technically do function as standalones. They explain a lot of the background of the motorcycle club and main events. The overarching bad-guy storyline didn't reach this novel, it felt quite separate in that regard, which I enjoyed. The threat was cartoonish, but I loved the story. In fact, I stayed up way past my bedtime - paying for it now - just to read more of it. I rarely do that when I've work the next day.
I approve this message ;-).

[Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I absolutely love this series. This book is a great addition to the series and again the author has given characters that draw me in and make me like them. Duke is one of the best heroes I've read about in a long time. Guilt over not protecting his young sister years ago when she was abducted and murdered has always been in the front of his mind. He loves his young niece very much and takes care of her like she's his child. Olivia, likewise, is plagued by guilt for not protecting her little sister from abuse. Yes it was a little insta/lust/love on Duke's part but it was written in such a way it didn't bother me. The book had me on edge with suspense, had me cheering on the good guys and praying the villains didn't succeed. Again I love this series and this author's writing style. I really don't want this series to end and I'm anxiously awaiting the next book in the series.
4 1/2 big stars for me. No cheating and a HEA. Can be read as a stand alone but I recommend the whole series.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good premise.

[Tinabooklover · Rating 4 out of 5]

As always, loved it!

[Rachael*Caribbean*girl*bibliophile · Rating 3 out of 5]

Spoilers ahead


Olivia bears a very strong resemblance to an actress that is currently being hunted by a terrifying Russian. She's hired to pretend to be Keri and hide out at the Riders compound under their protection. Desperate to get custody of her sister from her abusive stepfather Olivia agrees to the plan
Duke is in charge of the babysitting part of the Riders. He knows "Keri" is married but he's attracted to her nonetheless. But things just don't add up with this situation and with the help of his buddies Duke uncovers the true story behind this latest gig..... freeing him to finally be with the woman he can't stop thinking about.

******
This was pretty good until that last stupid breakup, I understand Duke had issues because of his sister's kidnapping but dang give her a chance to explain 🙄 thankfully that didn't last long and I got my hea and epilogue

No cheating of course
Olivia was a virgin
Abuse by her stepfather
Duke's sister disappeared and her body was found with multiple others years later

[Molly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun, short, steamy and sweet!

[Elizabeth Neal · Rating 4 out of 5]

**3.5 Stars**

[Elle ♡ [semi-hiatus] · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars!
Another great book in this series (and we're back to full-length books after book 9 was another novella). I've taken a few breaks while reading this series, but it's so nice to know that I have a great book to come back to whenever I feel like it. It's rare for me to find a series that I love all the way through so this has been so nice🥰I will say I was still anxious to get to Stone's book (book 10) and the premise of this book sounded...interesting...to say the least lol Idk I barely knew Duke so again, like with book 9, I wasn't excited for his story, but I should have had more faith because I ended up really liking it!

Now on to this crazy premise for the story...I feel like Olivia really sucked at her job haha. She's been hired to impersonate a famous actress that she looks like, but she made like zero effort to be convincing other than doing her makeup and hair and wearing fancy clothes. She's this sweet southern peach, doing chores around the house, becoming BFFs with everyone, letting details slip that don't fit with Keri Bishop, etc. etc. I get changing your accent is really hard, so that's fine, but I feel like with all she had riding on this she could have been a little more reclusive and less friendly, acted a bit more like a 'Hollywood Princess' and brushed up on some Keri Bishop facts before trying to impersonate her. That said, obviously I loved how sweet she was to all the bikers and how everything went down with Duke I just felt like it didn't jive with her overall goals very well.

Also I personally didn't love the last ~25% of the novel as much as I was loving the first 75%. Right around then is when our "big miscommunication" occurs between Duke and Olivia and 🙄.... the fact that Duke would ever think she's capable of what he was accusing her of, the fact that Olivia ever thought if she fully explained her situation Duke would judge her and therefore left him to come to his own conclusions was so dumb.
*Spoilers*
I also hated the way Tataurov screwed her over at the end especially after he lied to her and the MC club about what he was really going to do and lead the murdering crazy dude right to her. Thankfully Duke gets that all sorted out, BUT while he does he leaves her in the hands of her abusive step-dad FOR TWO DAYS. Dude knows exactly who he is and what he's capable of at this point and I get why he had to go to Vegas, but he had no way of knowing how the step-dad would react to Olivia coming back without the money. He could've flown into a rage and been beating her for days... awfully convenient that the first time he hits her in two days is minutes before Duke shows up to save the day 🙄 It's a romance novel though, so we'll excuse that. I also just felt like Duke should've groveled way more, Olivia was so forgiving and I honestly feel like he fucked up pretty huge, but 🤷🏼‍♀️*shrug*
*spoilers over*

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and I can't wait to read Stone's story finally!!

[Darcy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found it interesting how much Duke had in common with Olivia, despite Olivia pretending to be someone else. It seemed like she was being as real as she could with Duke and I think had she told him the truth before he found the messed up verision things would have went so much smoother for them.

I also loved what Duke was willing to do for Jessie, how the truck wasn't even a second thought with what he would get in return for it.

The last scene in this book made it! I loved how finally they were building their family!

[Janice Somers · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoy read MC books. The testosterone oozes out of the pages with each featured member.
The Riders have been hired to provide security/protection for a famous actress, Keri Bishop. Only it's not the real actress, it's a decoy. Olivia has been promised one million if she will be the Keri Bishop, by the actresses husband as she has a stalker that is threatening to kill her.
Duke, is the head of the Hellfire Riders security/protection. When he finds out who and why they are providing protection for he doesn't have any problem assigning members to help.
Duke thinks that there is something not right about the actress he's protecting and he hasn't had this reaction to a woman in a long time and he's going to get to the bottom of this.
Keri/Olivia is having a hard time staying in the role that she has agreed to, her southern accent is just too hard to cover up. She's also attracted to Duke and that can't happen. She has to stay on track and not mess it up. No one can find out or she looses the money and she needs it to much.
Great story and so many misunderstandings.

[book_luv_r · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read several books in this particular series, and not cared for them that much. Then I read Nowhere To Hide (not this series) and it blew me away. I decided to give her another try with the other series. Boy I'm glad I did. Her writing has improved significantly. The story line isn't cheesy like previous books.

This story is very original. The sexual tension between Duke and Olivia (Duchess) was really good. I especially loved that the motorcycle club business is in the background, not front and center. I was hesitant to read this because it's number 10 in the series. My biggest pet peeve is when every single character and couple from previous books make an appearance in the story, when I've been told it's a standalone. This book has a few characters, but you'd never know they might've had their own story. Well, excluding the epilogue. I skimmed it because I didn't know who the heck they were talking about. But I got the gist of it.

[Badh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kati Wilde has done it again. Her Hellfire Riders MC has once again managed to produce another hot biker who is undeniably alpha and who is incredibly protective of a woman.

Olivia is being paid to pretend to be a movie star whom she looks almost exactly like. The real star is being stalked by a Russian mobster. The star's husband leaves Olivia under the care of the Hellfire Riders in general, and Duke in particular.

Duke has a reason to not particularly like the movie star that Olivia is pretending to be. That's not going to stop him from doing his job as he should. However, his instincts are telling him that there is something odd about this job and about "Keri". He isn't willing to stop until he figures out what it is.

Great story. Lots of tension in it for so many reasons. Ivan is a massive prick and deserves so much terrible to happen to him. I really need at least one more in this series. The book says that Stone's story is coming soon, and I really wish it would.

[Nicole P · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the Hellfire Riders MC series and this addition makes it even more awesome. I would recommend you read the previous books in the series so that you know the various characters. Faking It All deals with Duke, the clubs "babysitter". He is the usual alpha man - strong, hot, protective. He is tasked with babysitting a "Hollywood superstar". From the get go he knows something isn't right about the job. Olivia Burke jumps at the opportunity to impersonate a Hollywood superstar because it would be the answer to all her prayers for the problems she has at home. She was so strong and smart. She was kind and compassionate. I just loved her and that is saying a lot because I usually get annoyed by the heroine.

Kati Wilde did an excellent job with this one and I look forward to reading Stone's story.

[Sue · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received an advance copy to read and review and I really liked it a lot. I have read most of this series and they are very exciting and sexual, while showing glimpses of club life and the relationships between the brothers.
Faking it All was exactly what it implies...faking who you are, faking how you are supposed to feel but then letting the truth ring out in the end and finding that elusive happiness and real love.
If you have read the rest of the Hellfire Riders MC books you will definitely want to read Duke's story...he is all man, very rough at first glance but definitely a sweetheart inside. Loved the super sweet HEA ending.

***** 4.5 ***** "they both had reasons for what they did" stars

[Catheryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Possibly my favorite of the series so far! I loved the relationship between these two. This was a quick read and the plot never drags. Olivia was a great heroine and she was always looking out for her sister. I wasn't sure why KW picked Duke to write about, but I'm glad she did. He was a great hero in the book and was able to explain why he originally left the Riders. This was refreshing, because it did take place almost entirely at the clubhouse, we didn't see any typical MC antics. We saw a few familiar faces but not too much of the MC drama.

Overall, I just loved how Duke and Olivia were able to find happiness after having such troubling pasts.

The ending of this book felt like a great ending to the series, but I'm glad she came back to show Stone's story next.

[Biondatina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Olivia Burke is very beautiful and she looks like the famous Hollywood actress Keri Bishop. When a Russian murderer threats to kill Keri, her husband promise Olivia a million dollars to acts as Keri.
Olivia is left under the hired protection of Hellfire Riders who don't know that the truth her and they believe they have the Hollywood actress under their security. Duke the head of security of Hellfire Riders fall in love with her, but reacts bad till he finds who out who really is who.

[Lara · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rating: 2.5

So many characters now, it's hard to keep track of everyone. Another highly sexual paint-by-numbers offering from Wilde. (1. Attraction. 2. Sex. 3. Danger. 4. Misunderstanding. 5. HEA.)

Part of me wants to just stop, but I've been waiting for Stone's story for too long to give up now. (And, btw, I'm calling it now that "Cherry" was doing things for much the same reason that Olivia was.)

[Xerxia · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is definitely a case of ‘it’s not you, it’s me.’ Because a lot of this book was well done. The writing is clean, the characters well developed, the plot interesting. Though it’s the middle is a series, it functions beautifully as a stand-alone. The motorcycle gang stuff was muted, not egregiously violent, the gross manwhore trope minimal.

But I didn’t care for it. Sorry.

[Bubbles The Book Pimp · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another instalment in the hellfire riders series.

The concept of this story was great, with appearances from familiar faces and the same well crafted chemistry and connection between our leading couple.

I’m really hope that more from the series are released soon as I’ve enjoyed this series from the start

[Robin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I actually shed a tear that this series is over. I have read them all and what a lovely ride it was for me. This has become one of my favorite MC reads because you get it all.... rough, tough alpha men who love their ladies hard, some outlaw madness, strong women and some of the hottest scenes around. I do love a filthy talker. Great series for MC readers.

[Jeen Patch · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the best book I have read so far from Kati and the Hellfire Riders.
It's so good in every aspect: the way it's written make you want to keep reading untill you finished.
The story is so good, the personality of the leads are beautiful, the tension between them and the spicy when they are together.
Also the drama and action parts makes the book so much better.

[Sarah Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

No strong representation of diverse characters or minority identities.

Overall 4-stars

Safety Rating: Safe with Exceptions
• No cheating
– But the Hero thinks the Heroine is married when they hook up for the first time (she's not, she's just impersonating a woman who is)
• No OW/OM drama
– Although, the Hero is jealous of who the Hero assumes is the Heroine's husband
• Does have the Hero pushing the Heroine away
• Does have ~1-week separation (both celibate)


Possible Triggers: Yes
• physical and emotional abuse by parental figure (Hero is abused by her step-father)
• Gun violence
• Physical assault
• Hero's sister attempts to trade her daughter for a car
• Hero's other sister was abducted and killed by a pedophile/serial killer when they were kids at the movies together
• Discussion of death of side character's child
• Discussion of drug abuse


Ending: HEA with Epilogue

[RCK *don’t be all, like, uncool* · Rating 4 out of 5]

Likable Hero and heroine. First book I read in the series and I don’t feel as though I needed to read the others.