What is Black Ties and White Lies by Kat Singleton about? (Synopsis)

Life is never black and white.

One minute you’re a struggling graphic designer in LA that’s finally coming to terms with being single forever, and the next you’re flying to New York in a private jet to get engaged to your ex-boyfriend’s older brother.

At least…that’s what everyone thinks. Forced to clean up his playboy image in order to protect his company, Beckham Sinclair, the city’s most eligible billionaire bachelor, wants me to be his fake fiancée and personal assistant.

Now I’m spending every spare second with a man I thought I’d never see again.

My freshly mended heart has barely recovered from the first time a Sinclair broke it. But with each passing day, Beck’s dirty mouth and lingering stares make me question his motives—and mine.

As the line blurs between real and pretend, only one thing is certain: there are secrets hiding in this city full of black ties and white lies.

Black Ties and White Lies is a billionaire, fake relationship, forced proximity, and ex’s older brother novel and a complete standalone by Kat Singleton.

Rating: 4/5 Stars

Review:

For the record, I think this title is so clever, and I love it a lot. There was a reference to Kat’s most recent series, the Mixtape series, right at the start of the book, and it made me smile. Margo had a bobblehead of Nash Pierce (from “Founded on Goodbye”) on her desk, and every time it was mentioned it made me so happy. I love little nods to previous books by an author, and this was such a cute way of telling us that this book is set in the same universe as her other series.

That being said, it did take me awhile to get into the book. I liked Margo a lot, and I liked her friends, Emma and Winnie. I did find it kind of odd how much she pushed back at Beck so quickly without really knowing him yet, because I would’ve thought she would’ve been more intimidated at first. But Beck starts off the book as being really controlling with her, and it rubbed me the wrong way when one time when they’re getting out of the car, he grabs her arm and won’t let go for awhile even though she makes it clear she doesn’t want him to keep holding onto her so roughly like that. I liked him a lot more as the book progressed, but he didn’t make the best first impression for me.

As for Margo’s ex (aka Beck’s younger brother), he sucks. That’s enough time spent talking about him.

There was a little sequence in the book that was emails back and forth between Beck and Margo (definitely stressed me out with the HR aspect of some of the content of those emails…) that was a cool way to show time passing without doing a “one month later” etc. type of time jump.

Books where the guy falls first/harder are always fun to read, and Beck definitely falls faster and harder than Margo. Pair that with a workplace romance and fake fiancé plot (and ex-boyfriend’s older brother), and there’s a lot of push and pull going on. They have a lot of sexual tension right from the start, and it was interesting to watch Margo resist it while toying with Beck at the same time.

As with all new adult/adult romance books, I recommend this one for 18+ due to the sexual content — this one definitely has a lot of it, so read at your own risk! But as always, don’t let me tell you what to do. If this is your first time reading Kat’s books and you haven’t read the Mixtape series, I definitely recommend reading that one to fully appreciate the bobblehead moments 🙂 Plus, “Founded on Goodbye,” the first book in the series, is my favorite of Kat’s, so here’s your excuse to read an awesome book. Huge thanks to Kat and her team for allowing me to read an early copy in exchange for an honest review — the book is available now, and is free on Kindle Unlimited!

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Reviews of Kat Singleton’s Books:

Founded on Goodbye (Mixtape Series #1)

Founded on Temptation (Mixtape Series #2) – ARC

Founded on Deception (Mixtape Series #3) — ARC

Holden (Hot Boy Summer Anthology) — ARC

Founded on Rejection (Mixtape Series #4) – ARC

Playlists of Kat Singleton’s Books:

Founded on Goodbye (Mixtape Series #1) ♪

Founded on Temptation (Mixtape Series #2) ♪

Founded on Deception (Mixtape Series #3) ♪