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.
Oh my HEART. I loved this book! Beck and Margo were such a ride in the best way. I melted. I kicked my feet. I blushed my way through five straight chapters of spice. Their chemistry isn’t fleeting or forced — it’s combustible and constant, a slow-burn obsession that finally has the space to ignite.
And that chemistry hits Margo at the worst possible moment. One second she’s a struggling LA graphic designer trying to accept that permanent singleness might just be her future, and the next she’s on a private jet headed to New York, suddenly agreeing to be the fake fiancée (and newly minted assistant) of her ex-boyfriend’s older, hotter, extremely complicated brother, Beckham Sinclair. He needs to clean up his image to protect his company. She wants a real chance to chase her art dreams. On paper, the deal looks simple. In practice? Absolutely not.
“Normal people don’t buy companies to talk with their brother’s ex-girlfriends.”
And that’s exactly where everything starts to unravel.
Because once they’re thrown into each other’s orbit again, every boundary they try to keep in place starts to fray. What begins as a clean, professional arrangement, quickly shifts, to stolen glances in boardrooms, late-night conversations that mean more than they should, and a tension so thick it practically hums. Beck’s dirty mouth, the way he moves into her space, the subtle possessive touches meant for the cameras, all of it chips away at Margo’s resolve. Before long, even she can’t tell where their lie ends and their truth begins.
“I hate that I wasted time ever kissing anyone else. None of them knew how to kiss the way he does. He does it with such haste, but such expertise, that I could get lost in doing it forever.”
And the world notices. Friends, family, the media (everyone) believes the engagement is real. The dangerous part? Even they start believing it. Their banter softens into something warmer, their touches linger, and emotions they’re supposed to be faking begin slipping into something too honest to ignore. Suddenly, they’re making choices they can’t chalk up to the deal — choices rooted in history, longing, and feelings they never fully put to rest.
But that kind of closeness comes with consequences. The cracks form first around the secrets they’ve both tried to bury, and once they start surfacing, everything Beck has worked to control begins to unravel. Paparazzi swarm. Her ex’s jealousy ignites. Lies told with the best intentions twist into something sharper. And when the truth finally detonates, the twist that hits right in the chest, it sets off a tidal wave of emotional chaos neither of them is prepared for.
It’s raw. It’s messy. It’s real.
And somehow, it’s exactly what pushes them toward the love they were always meant to choose.
“I’d call anywhere home if it meant I was with her, because my home is no longer a physical place. My home is her.”
What anchors all of this, and what made me fall so hard, is how perfectly matched Margo and Beck are. She’s no-nonsense, confident, a little bratty when she wants to be, and absolutely refuses to let him bulldoze her. And Beck? If only he’d been the Sinclair brother she fell for first. Because the way he finally gets his chance with her is unconventional, yes, but he never makes her feel anything but cherished. Every gesture, every word, every carefully thought-out gift is for her. With Beck, it’s always about what he can do to lift her up, soften her life, and keep her steady. Nothing about this relationship is fake for him. From the moment she steps back into his life, he’s all in: love, devotion, obsession, and a good dose of bossiness.
“This woman. She’ll be my undoing. My ruin. And I’m going to savor every fucking second of it.”
And let’s talk about the spice for a second, because Kat Singleton did not hold back. This isn’t sprinkle-of-sizzle spice. This is full-body heat, breathless pacing, and five straight chapters that could melt steel. But what makes it so good isn’t just the steam itself, it’s how deeply emotional it is. Every kiss, every touch, every filthy word is layered with longing and years of unspoken want. The spice isn’t just hot…it’s storytelling. And it proves just how far gone they both are for each other.
“You can bring me to my knees, anytime, Margo. Matter of fact, I think I’ve been on them from the moment we met.”
Black Ties & White Lies is everything I love in a billionaire romance: sharp banter, explosive chemistry, messy emotions, and characters who feel deeply human beneath all the glamour. Margo shines with her bravery and ambition, Beck absolutely ruins you with his devotion, and together they feel inevitable in the most addictive way. This story made me laugh, blush, panic, swoon, and to be honest, I reread the spicy scenes multiple times. It’s raw, intoxicating, beautifully written, and easily a standout in the fake-dating trope. I would give it a hundred stars if I could. Beck and Margo own me now.