Review Tuesday: Tiny House, Big Fake Fiance by Sadira Stone -- #SecondChanceRomance #EnemiesToLovers #ReviewTuesday

Tiny House, Big Fake Fiance by Sadira Stone

May, 2026

After years on the road, selling her artisanal leather products at craft shows and Renaissance Faires, Lilah Avo – aka Lilith’s Leathers – longs to put down some roots. The tiny house she’s contracted for in rural Washington seems like the perfect place to start her new life. Too bad that it has been taken over by a man whom she both desires and despises.

Zax Dupré is building a new career, using social media to market his carpentry and design skills. He wants to transform his aunt’s run-down holiday park into a tiny house community. As a first step, he’s in the process customizing his own tiny dwelling when Lilah shows up to claim it as her own.

Neither Lilah nor Zax can forget the night of intoxicated passion that first brought them together. At the same time, neither can quite forgive the other for apparently stealing their respective dreams. A fake engagement seems like a clever way to buy time in order to finish the house and work out their conflicts, but the ruse just leads to more complications.

Tiny House, Big Fake Fiance is a classic Sadira Stone romance. Two distinctive and sexy protagonists with off-the-charts chemistry, a gorgeous Pacific Northwest setting, a crafty elderly aunt, a host of colorful secondary characters and a lusciously romantic happy ending... what's not to love?

Sadira Stone's latest book has all the features that make me her fan. Her characters feel real, with families, histories, conflicts and secrets. Oh, and occupations they love. It's rare to read romance where the story is driven at least partly by the main characters' career aspirations, but Sadira Stone excels at portraying this very realistic situation.

I had two minor criticisms. First, the beginning of the story felt rushed. The fake engagement happens in the first or maybe second chapter, before we have any real feel for the characters or their histories. Furthermore, I didn’t follow the reasoning behind Aunt Aggie’s deadline for finishing the house. Second, I think the author assumes that the reader knows something about the "tiny house" movement, but that's not really true of me. So I had some trouble imagining just how "tiny" this house might be... with a loft and a full kitchen, it struck me as larger than I would have expected.

All in all though, this is a steamy and satisfying read. Recommended!