
How to Fake a Southern Gentleman
Atria/Primero Sueno Press
Will be published approx. on 7. April 2026
Book
Paperback/Softback
288 pages
978-1-6680-9895-0 (ISBN)
Description
This bighearted rom-com debut reimagines My Fair Lady, as two women team up to make over a sexy hustler and take down one of Atlanta’s most corrupt men. Along the way, their story sizzles with unexpected friendship and swoony love.
Proud single mom Holly Simmons and ambitious journalist Luisa Martín Moreno have nothing in common—until Atlanta’s most powerful man, Griggs Caldecott Johnson III, turns both their lives upside down. Griggs is threatening Holly’s job as the events manager at the hoity-toity Dogwood Hills Country Club, while Luisa gets fired for trying to expose his scheme to defraud an immigrant family and snatch up their land for a luxury development.
Determined to fight back, the women team up to infiltrate Griggs’s inner circle. Their secret weapon? Elijah Denvil Sweet, a sexy hustler with a knack for reinvention. With a makeover, etiquette lessons, and a little help from Professor Pridmore—a charming, handsome, and single linguistics professor—Eli transforms into “Tripp,” the kind of Southern gentleman Griggs might just trust.
But as the plan takes shape, so do tender and unexpected feelings neither woman saw coming—with the very men helping them get justice.
With sparkling wit, strong female friendship, and slow-burn romance, How to Fake a Southern Gentleman is perfect for anyone who’s ever felt underestimated—and longs for a love that plays by its own rules.
Proud single mom Holly Simmons and ambitious journalist Luisa Martín Moreno have nothing in common—until Atlanta’s most powerful man, Griggs Caldecott Johnson III, turns both their lives upside down. Griggs is threatening Holly’s job as the events manager at the hoity-toity Dogwood Hills Country Club, while Luisa gets fired for trying to expose his scheme to defraud an immigrant family and snatch up their land for a luxury development.
Determined to fight back, the women team up to infiltrate Griggs’s inner circle. Their secret weapon? Elijah Denvil Sweet, a sexy hustler with a knack for reinvention. With a makeover, etiquette lessons, and a little help from Professor Pridmore—a charming, handsome, and single linguistics professor—Eli transforms into “Tripp,” the kind of Southern gentleman Griggs might just trust.
But as the plan takes shape, so do tender and unexpected feelings neither woman saw coming—with the very men helping them get justice.
With sparkling wit, strong female friendship, and slow-burn romance, How to Fake a Southern Gentleman is perfect for anyone who’s ever felt underestimated—and longs for a love that plays by its own rules.
More details
Language
English
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Unsewn / adhesive bound
Dimensions
Height: 209 mm
Width: 141 mm
Thickness: 21 mm
Weight
245 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-6680-9895-0 (9781668098950)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
04/2026
Simon + Schuster LLC
€13.84
Available for download
Persons
Mayra Cuevas and Marie Marquardt