Is This Real or Just Pretend?

Last year I loved Emily Sullivan‘s novel, Duchess Material. That series continues with Is This Real or Just Pretend?, in which eldest sister Alexandra decides a fake courtship with Lucien, son of her family’s coachman, will be necessary for business. Not only would it deter her younger sister, Freddie, from ruining a possible marriage to a new client, it would also make Alex look more appealing to the board of old-fashioned men at her family’s business. In exchange, Lucien will get a renewed chance at his own entrepreneurial endeavors of reopening his dinner club. What could go wrong when the business deals are this good?

What I Liked:

• Alex! She’s so serious, business-minded, maybe even cold-hearted? But underneath it all she really does care and shows this in her own way. I love that she’s so intelligent, ambitious, and hard-working. I always appreciate a historical romance with a woman like her breaking conventions of the time. It was sad to see her thinking she’s unlovable or undesirable, but I think Lucien slowly proves to her that she is exactly who he wants.
• Lucien is much more open with his feelings. He’s friendly and kind, but he has a short temper, too. There’s some good background information on him, from his family to his years in Paris. I only wish his personality was more fleshed out or nuanced.
• 1890s setting and seeing women’s roles evolving. Most Victorian era romances I’ve read are set between the 1860s and 1880s. I love that this one goes into the final decade of the 19th century, and it shows how things were rapidly changing for women in particular. Alex works in an upper-level role at her family’s business, and while her full contributions are still minimized and dismissed by many of the men there, it’s still progress to see her at least somewhat being taken seriously. I love how she and Lucien discuss further ways the world needs to evolve in its understanding of women’s intelligence and value.
• A different take on fake dating. This one doesn’t put our characters in silly and uncomfortable positions, and others don’t even comment too much on the new romance. Instead of going to balls and flaunting their relationship, Alex and Lucien simply attend some lowkey events together and that’s enough. Their business arrangement is also not a complete secret; her dad knows everything, which was refreshing.

What Didn’t Work for Me:

• Alex and Lucien don’t quite work as a couple… While I enjoy both of their characters and usually love opposites attract romances, I never fully felt that spark between Alex and Lucien. One or both of them would need some minor character adjustments, or maybe some dialogue would need to change or internal emotions would need to be displayed a bit more. I wanted to root for them, but they were missing the chemistry that makes them belong together.
• From sister to sister. I just don’t like when a love interest flits from one sibling to the next. I wish Lucien’s childhood crush on Freddie had been removed, even if that would affect the start of his agreement with Alex.
• The tone of this is very different from Duchess Material. The first book was a romance driven by a mystery, but Is This Real or Just Pretend? puts that mystery on the backburner. While the danger does come up at one point (a highlight in this story!), this is more of a standard historical romance. However, it seems that the upcoming third book in the series will likely return to the mystery and adventure, so I look forward to that.

Final Thoughts

As different as this was from Duchess Material, I enjoyed Is This Real or Just Pretend?, especially for our Ice Queen, Alex. It has a lot of great themes, even if there are some things I’d like to change. It also has great setup for the next book in the series, starring Freddie and a certain someone who’s been here since book one. I can’t wait to read that one next year!

Special thanks to Forever and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book!

Get the Book

You can buy Is This Real or Just Pretend? here – it’s available as a paperback, ebook, and audiobook.

Is This Real or Just Pretend? by Emily Sullivan
Series	(#2)
Audience	Adult
Genre	Historical Romance
Setting	England
Number of Pages	352
Format I Read	Ebook (NetGalley ARC)
Original Publication Date	September 9, 2025
Publisher	Forever

Official Summary

They thought they could fool everyone with a fake courtship, but they may be fooling only themselves…

Alexandra Atkinson prides herself on being in control. It’s why she’s such an asset to her father’s investment firm—along with her utter lack of a social life and her talent for spotting successful ventures for investors. But with her father nearing retirement and the board unwilling to have a female head, Alex could lose everything . . .

After his business partner burned him, Lucien Taylor is determined to start over. But he doesn’t know how until his childhood friend’s sister, Alexandra Atkinson, comes to him with a most unusual proposal: She’ll help Lucien find the funding he needs if he pretends to court her long enough to secure her claim to her father’s company.

But Alex and Lucien soon realize they didn’t quite account for all the details in their arrangement—like how they can undo each other with just a look. And the more time they spend together, the more the intensity shimmering between them can’t be controlled. Not even by Alex. And if they give in? Well, she’s not sure which of them will be in more trouble . . . but she’s willing to find out.