Secret Kisses by Layla Hagen

Secret Kisses by Layla Hagen
The Sterling Brothers #3
Contemporary Romance
Release: December 5, 2025

What to expect:
💋Billionaire romance
💋Fake dating
💋Opposites attract
💋He protects her from her ex
💋He is a flirt/She is a little more cautious

I don’t give a damn what people say about me. I’m successful and confident—one of San Diego’s youngest CEOs.
But when my womanizer rep costs me a major business deal, I’ve got a problem.

One of my brothers suggests a fake girlfriend. Ridiculous.

Then I spot the perfect opportunity.

At a bar, I overhear a stunning blonde getting utterly humiliated by her ex—who casually informs her he dumped her to marry someone else. What an idiot.

She looks like she needs rescuing. So I sit at their table and kiss her like I’ve done it a million times. After the jerk bails, I make her a deal: be my fake date for one business dinner.

Phoebe agrees.

It should’ve been simple, but the dinner turns into a weekend at a beach house.
One bedroom.
Too much wine.
One unforgettable night.

The next morning, she tries to pretend it didn’t happen.

Phoebe is nothing like the women I usually date. She’s hardworking, has a sharp sense of humor, and she’s the most selfless person I’ve met. That’s why I want more.

I just have to prove that there’s more to me than she thinks. I’m close to my family. I spoil my nephew. I’m ready to change.

Phoebe is still hurting and wants to play it safe. But I won’t give up. Because this fake relationship is starting to feel very real.

Add to 𝑮𝒐𝒐𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒔: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/239172741-secret-kisses

➡️𝗢𝗡𝗘 𝗖𝗟𝗜𝗖𝗞 𝗧𝗢𝗗𝗔𝗬!
𝗙𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗞𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗹𝗲 𝗨𝗻𝗹𝗶𝗺𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗱: https://laylahagen.com/SecretKisses

Audible: https://laylahagen.com/secretkissesaudible
🎧Narrated by Stephen Dexter and Emma Wilder!

“What happened to your business deal? Did you manage to turn it around?”

I’d almost forgotten that I even told her about it. “No. I even shared everything with my brothers this morning in our business meeting.”

“You work with your brothers?”

“Sort of. We own Sterling Investments.”

“Oh, I think I’ve heard of it.” She didn’t sound stunned, or in awe, like people usually were when they made the connection. It was refreshing.

“We each own separate businesses, but on Mondays, we meet to brainstorm. None of them had any ideas I could actually use. They just fooled around, talking bullshit.”

“Meaning?” she asked.

I hesitated, but why not tell her? We could laugh about it. She certainly seemed to need that distraction.

I couldn’t believe I’d just called this stranger out of nowhere and that I was willing to share things with her.

“When I told them that one of the reasons he shot me down was because I had a reputation as a womanizer—”

“Oh. That would explain a few things,” she muttered.

“What things?” I asked.

“Never mind. Go on.”

Hmm… “Anyway, one thing led to another, and I told them that I ran into you.”

“Wow, I feel so good now. Worthy of being mentioned in a business meeting.”

“One of them suggested that I could present you to Jude as my girlfriend.”

She started laughing. “Your brothers have a fantastic imagination. It wouldn’t be such a bad idea,” she said, then rushed to add, “For business reasons, of course.”

For a second, I was certain that I’d misheard her. My intention was just to make her laugh, but now she had me thinking.

“Wait, what? Are you serious?”

“You did save my butt. I guess it could be a ‘you scratch my back, I scratch yours’ situation.”

I rose from my chair, adrenaline coursing through my body the way it did when I was on the verge of sealing a very important deal.

“I haven’t seriously considered this until now,” I confessed. Though that wasn’t strictly true, because from the second my brothers mentioned it, the idea had percolated in my mind. But Phoebe didn’t need to know that. “Are you sure?” I double-checked. It was a dangerous idea, and not at all my style. I hated lying and pretending. And yet, pretending to date Phoebe didn’t feel wrong.

This is insane.

“Honestly, no. I’m just figuring things out. But you would just need me to go with you to a dinner or something, right?”

“Yes.”

She laughed. “I can’t believe you’d put a deal in the hands of a stranger.”

That was the insane thing. She didn’t really feel like a stranger, though I couldn’t explain why.

“The way I see it, as things stand right now, I wouldn’t have a chance in hell to make the deal otherwise. I could probably find some arguments to convince him, but somehow I prefer showing up with a smoking-hot date on my arm, pretending she’s my girlfriend.”

I heard her suck in a breath at that. But it was 100 percent true.

“Sure, why not?”

Secret Kisses by Layla Hagen
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

🎧🎧AUDIOBOOK REVIEW🎧🎧

I loved 🎧listening 🎧 to this story SO HARD! The 🎙️DUAL🎙️ narration performance by 🎤Stephen Dexter & Emma Wilder🎤 was incredible! They were both so intune with their characters and the story that I actually felt like I was living inside their world. Seriously, huge round of 👏👏applause👏👏 to them both! I didn’t get to read this story yet, only listen, but something tells me that if I had, I’d still be saying that if you get the opportunity to listen, do it!

Layla Hagen has fast become a go-to author for me in the last year. Her stories are relatable, organic and realistic. There are no dramatic plot points thrown in for dramatics’ sake and the characters feel “everyday” to me, even when we are talking about billionaires! GAH, she has a gift, and I’ve been trying to play catch-up with her backlist for almost a year now because she always delivers (or at least she has so far)!

The story of Griffin & Phoebe made me happy from the very beginning. Their meet-cute was adorably unique and it just got better and better from that point. There’s a deep emotional tone underlying this story, but it was never angsty, rather more uplifting and hopeful. I LIKED THAT A LOT! There are circumstances that both Griffin & Phoebe (but mostly Phoebe lol) had to hurdle or break free from in order for their future to be bright and Layla developed them and the story so incredibly well, that I couldn’t help but cheer for them for almost the entire story.

An incredible story with an incredible listening experience! #winning

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Secret Kisses by Layla Hagen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

You know i really like Griffin and Phoebe together. They just made sense – even when they first started as pretend. He was to focused on work and doing short terms limbo with women, she was coming off a disasters relationship, but still had positive attitude about love, even though she was careful. I like the idea that he(sort of) fell first and would stop at nothing to make her happy.

She was a bit reluctant at first but with spending time together and meeting his crazy family, she saw what true love and good relationship could look like .This story has kinda drama feeling, but never really develops into it, which i appreciate, I’ve developed disliking for 3rd act breakups (I’m showing my age).

The story was spicy in just the right places, sweet in others. Overall a great read!

***Review copy requested and reviewed on behalf of OMGReads Blog***

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