The Dating Dilemma is the third book in the Mile High Firefighters series by Mariah Ankenman. You do not need to read the books as a series to enjoy them, but returning readers will enjoy seeing favorites make an appearance and understand the references to relationship woes in the previous books.
Lexi’s Reminders: Work, Don’t think about your birthday tomorrow. Or debt, your crappy apartment, and nonexistent social life. Re-stock wine and ice cream because that’s coming. Die in a raging blaze of humiliation when the super-hot and very delicious fireman waiting in your office is not in fact the strip-o-gram birthday present you suspected. Reschedule the fire safety inspection you 100 percent failed because of said humiliation. Figure out how you, in fact, agreed to fake dating Mr. Not a Strip-O-Gram Fireman to help him with a bet. Oh yeah, and do not fall for this guy. Seriously, they call him One Night O’Neil. Red flags all over the place. Remember, this is fake dating, even though his very talented, very real lips are doing some sexy things you definitely like. Realize bending one tiny rule can’t be that bad, can it? Except bend too far, and something breaks. Something you can’t get back.
The Dating Dilemma is a contemporary romantic comedy that had me dealing with sympathetic embarrassment on several occasions. I liked that Dyson and Lexi are both not looking for romance, and feel some intense sparks right away. I got a huge kick out of the fact that they both knew going into the fake dating scheme that it rarely works out as intended- and since they were already deep into lust their story would most likely take the rom com track. I will say that Lexi's thing about speaking her thoughts out loud lent itself to several moments of second hand embarrassment, there were also moments when I really was not sure what exactly she had sad- because of how much she had going on in her head at any given moment. I loved the secondary characters, and think that they added a special layer of interest for me. The new characters were just as interesting and complex as the main characters and the other secondary characters that I remembered from the first book (I somehow missed the second). I enjoyed the read and will be keeping an eye out for more.