Lush Money

What starts as a million-dollar contract leads to real feelings in Lopez’s steamy contemporary debut. Billionaire Roxanne Medina doesn’t want a relationship, but she does want a baby. Mateo de Esperanza, the crown prince of Monte del Vino Real, is struggling to keep his kingdom afloat. When Roxanne learns of Mateo’s financial crisis, she offers him a deal. She’ll bankroll his country if he’ll marry her and help her to conceive a royal child. Her terms are clear: they’ll spend three days a month together and have sex only for conception. After the press finds out about the marriage, the pair are forced to spend more time together to keep up appearances. As sparks fly between them, the CEO of a resort threatens to leak Roxanne’s contract with Mateo and reveal the true nature of their relationship if she won’t sell him half the country. The only hope to save the kingdom and their marriage is for Mateo and Roxanne to work together. Though the plot meanders in the second half, the romance burns slow and hot throughout. Fans of fake-relationship romances will delight in this fresh spin on the trope. Agent: Sara Megibow, KT Literary. (Oct.)