I am a fan of the 1984 film Sixteen Candles and have always thought Jake Ryan was dreamy. So does Mackenzie “Mac” Huntress. Subconsciously, she has been evaluating her dates based upon the standard set by the fictional Jake Ryan, but she is okay with waiting for whenever a real man meets that potential. But her mom isn’t, so to avoid all her harping, Mac invents a boyfriend that her mother will approve of until she finds her Jake Ryan.

This is all well and good until her sister announces her upcoming wedding when Mac needs to bring her boyfriend “Michael to this event.

On the way to finding someone to become “Michael”, she stumbles upon her dream Jake, but he comes with secrets and complications.

There are numerous references to the movie Sixteen Candles (crazy end to the wedding, understanding father, that great song from the ending, etc.) that were fun to read.

The Jake Ryan Complex was an enjoyable story for those who remember the movie fondly.

Thank you NetGalley and Montlake Books for the ARC.

What a great ode to Sixteen Candles! This book was the perfect mix of laugh out loud funny, nail biting teen (I mean, thirtysomething) angst, and swooning over love in the form of Jake Ryan. Between rolling my eyes at Mac's relationship with her mother and her sister, cringing at Aunt's Ginn's comments (the Chinaman!) and cheering on Mac and J.T., I felt like I was in a John Hughes movie. The ending was perfect and I was absolutely hearing the ending credits in my head as I read it! On a side note- I LOVED Caroline's character (my namesake!). She (and her foul mouth) were a hoot!

The Jake Ryan Complex by Bethany Crandell a fine five-star read. This was my first by this author, but I really hope it wont be the last, I could see how this author has wrote for younger audiences before as there was a young-ness to the characters, they didn’t seem bogged down by age, it was nice and refreshing. I will admit I adored Mac and her relationship with her mother just reminded me so much of mine and made me chuckle so much. I really got behind the Michael relationship as even though my mum was never bothered about boys and relationships there were other similarities and I could understand the need to make things up. Also, Sixteen Candles rocks so hard, who wouldn’t want their own Jake Ryan, especially one who is good with wood. There is so much drama and laughter in this story, but there is also most importantly a very good story.

Most romance novels follow some sort of a formula, and usually I love that because I know how it will end. But this just felt glaringly formulaic — 3 bad dates in the search for a fake boyfriend, unexpected and seemingly unavailable guy in the background — and I think it’s mostly because I didn’t connect with the characters or particularly like them very much, so I didn’t feel like there was a lot of nuance to those beloved tropes.

I love 80s movies like Sixteen Candles, so I was excited to check out The Jake Ryan Complex. Plus, the synopsis reminded me a bit of the plot of The Wedding Date movie, so that also seemed like a win.

Bethany Crandell's book is a bit of a combo of these themes with obstetrician Mackenzie “Mac” Huntress needing a date for her sister's wedding. The issue is that she's made up a boyfriend, and now she needs a real date to take to the event.

While I loved the premise, some of the character development fell just a bit flat, though it was still overall an enjoyable read.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book. All thoughts are my own.

I loved the premise of this. Who doesn't want their very own Jake Ryan. I know I would. That being said, I just didn't connect with these characters. I wanted a little more from them. They fell a little flat. However, I would read this author again and I did find the idea really cute.

Having loved Sixteen Candles and Jake Ryan I picked this book up because of the title. I was not let down...I absolutely loved the book. Mac is an obstetrician who has been waiting for her Jake Ryan. JT is a contractor who after a horrible past thinks he is ready to move on. When the two of them meet there is almost instant chemistry but neither one gives into it right away. Mac thinks he's married so she goes on several dates with real losers. If I say anymore there will be a lot of spoilers so I'm going to leave it at that.

The book was extremely well written and kept me guessing around every corner. I haven't read anything by Bethany Crandell before but I look forward to reading more by her soon. She has a great writing style and I loved every second of this book. Highly recommend this book.

Thank you #Netgalley for the advanced copy! I now have the urge to watch Sixteen Candles :)

Mac is a an OB doctor looking for a nice man, in a hurry, as her sister is getting married and her mother is expecting her to bring a date. During this whirlwind wedding season, Mac creates "Michael" a neuro doctor who is her BF. She thought this bought her some time until she was able to replace him with an actual person. Mac is set up on a few dates by friend and her patient. But unexpectedly, Mac becomes attracted to her handyman working on her home. As the story plays out, more characters are connected than expected. Such a fun read as Mac holds all men up to the "Jake Ryan" standard.

DNF at 49%.

I loved the film Sixteen Candles so I loved the premise of a woman desperately seeking her very own Jake Ryan, complicated by the fact that she's told her overbearing mother that she has a boyfriend who is also a doctor. Maybe that second bit should have been a warning signal?

Mackenzie Huntress is an obstetrician who struggles to find a guy to date more than once, even when her so-called friends set her up with guys they turn out to be cry-babies, or open-mouthed eaters, or over-users of innuendo. Mac's younger sister is getting married and now she has to produce her fictional boyfriend in less than two months to avoid her mother creating a scene and ruining the wedding.

So there were three things that made me give up with this book:

1. Mac is a doctor with her own practice but she acts like a tweenager
2. Mac is comparing every man to her teenage crush, who was a fictional character, I get having a soft spot for a swoon-worthy character but not comparing every man to him!
3. the ludicrous way Mac's mother decides that a man she's never met can babysit an awkward aunt at the wedding FFS

I'm almost halfway through and the characters are grating, so I'm giving up.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

I have to be honest, upon reading the blurb for this I was entirely sure if this was the book for me, however certain aspects of the blurb hit upon things I enjoy. Unfortunately, within the first few chapters and seeing how the fauxmance was coming to be, I could tell this wasn't my style.. It will certainly appeal to those who enjoy a good fake romance and family drama.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

I love 80's movies and when I saw this cover on NetGalley I knew I needed to read it.

The blurb talked about fake dating and although the execution of it in the book was different than what I had expected, I really enjoyed the plot!

Mac has been single for quite some time and to get her mom off her back she made up a lie. We all know that these types of lies in books, or even movies, never end well. Although it does make for something interesting moments, haha.

There wasn't anything I didn't like about Mac. I think that we all have tried to please someone and maybe even told a white lie expecting to make everything better. We are humans and we seek approval. She can be quick to jump to conclusions but again, can't we all? I know I have done it more than once! Mac does care for her family but you get to see their bonds grow stronger by the end of the book.

I wouldn't say there is much character development besides that and the book does heavily rely on the plot. There are plot twists that come out of nowhere and I was quite shocked! There is a few moments where she goes on dates and they were quite hilarious.

The romance does seem to be quite instant and the relationships also progresses pretty quickly but I didn't mind it for this particular book. I liked both of the characters and wanted to see them happy. Plus, they were just cute together and I did smile a lot!

If you are like me and don't like sexy scenes, there isn't any in this book. There is a bit of language and dirty jokes but no scenes left unread.

Overall, it was a very enjoyable read. It boosted my mood and that's a win for me.

This story was a quick read and adorable. For everyone woman of a certain age we can honestly say that we wanted to be the girl chosen to sit on the dining room table and blow out our candles with Jake Ryan. He was the dreamy guy that so many women swooned over so it was appropriate that our main character Mac compared every man in her real life to the perfect fictional boyfriend, Jake. I really enjoyed how the author took us on dates with Mac and showed us what was wrong with every guy. The relationship building between J.T. and Mac was a little lacking for me and they seemed to go from 0 to 120 quickly. I would have liked to see a bit more slow burning but I also loved the twist at the end of the story to close out Mac and J.T.'s story.

Thank you to Montlake and netgalley for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

It was a nice witty light read romance with a hilarious protagonist. I have to thank NetGalley and Montlake for a chance to read and review this advance readers copy. I was looking for a light headed romance to read after I finished some heavy reading and this book was perfect. If you are a fan of rom com books then it's perfect for you! This is my first book by the author and certainly not my last one. I am looking forward to read more of her work in the future.

I enjoyed this and thought it was pretty good. I love the 80’s reference to pretty in pink. Thank you to netgalley for the ARC.

This just never hooked me. I found Mac to be annoying and a little juvenile. I get that the idea of clinging on to the perfect image of a Jack Ryan. But as an educated, intelligent and independent woman you would think that she would have realised that was problematic. I also hate the pressure the world around her seems to put on Mac for being single, the pressure her Mum puts on her to be in a relationship and her friends calling her unreasonably picky. To me the idea that a woman needs to be in a relationship seems a little outdated, plus I also believe everyone has the right to be picky - we shouldn't be settling, obviously, there is compromising but the point stands. What do I think I think the idea of this book had huge potential, in execution not quite there. Nevertheless, Bethany Crandall is clearly a very talented author and even though this wasn't quite the book for me I will definitely check out her future releases.

I received a NetGalley arc in exchange for an honest review.

I wasn't overly sold on this book. I feel like it was written by someone who has never had children, based on all the noise the women in labour made and the absurd things that they said.
It seemed like the author de ised to make the hero the father of someone else's baby half way through and then changed her mind so made the baby a completely different race.

These are just a couple of memorable things that bothered me but I fell the whole story was lazily done and ended up skimming the last quarter of the book.

The Jake Ryan Complex by Bethany Crandell is a quick read that delivers a nice dose of nostalgia for Sixteen Candles.

Obstetrician Mac has been unconsciously measuring up every potential love interest to Jake Ryan, the 1980s fictional heartthrob from Sixteen Candles, for the past twenty years. Often too quick to dismiss men that don't measure up to Jake, Mac's been single for years and has even concocted a fictional boyfriend named Michael to get her mother off her back. The Michael lie goes over smoothly until her baby sister announces her engagement and leaves Mac with only a few weeks to find someone to fill Michael's fake shoes as her wedding date. But looking for a wedding date on short notice proves to be even harder than Mac first anticipated, especially when her heart seems to be set on her new contractor who may or may not be married.

As a huge fan of Sixteen Candles and Jake Ryan, I jumped at the chance to read this ARC. The premise of a woman comparing every man she dates to a fictional character seemed to funny and I was eager to see if she ever got over her Jake Ryan complex. Unfortunately, I didn't love the execution - see below my spoilers line for some areas where I felt the execution fell short.

With that said, I did appreciate Bethany Crandell's quick-paced writing style that made for an easy read. I also enjoyed the many nods to Sixteen Candles in some of the characters' names as well as a few plot points.

Read further below for a spoiler-filled look at my take on where the execution fell short.

**This part of the review contains spoilers so read at your own risk**

With The Jake Ryan Complex being a romance novel, I expected to watch both Mac and her love interest grow as individuals. The journey of personal growth is honestly one of my favourite aspects of romance novels because there's nothing sweeter than seeing how the right person can bring out the best in someone else. However, that never happened for Mac or her love interest J.T. The whole reason Mac falls for J.T. is because he reminds her of Jake and at one point she even tells him that he's her Jake Ryan. She never got over her Jake Ryan complex, she just doubled down on it and consequently fell flat as a character. To be fair to J.T., he grows a little bit but he also spent half the novel wearing a wedding ring (PRETENDING TO BE MARRIED) to ward off unwanted attention until he was ready for a relationship. Even though he ends up being single, I still had a hard time watching Mac pine over and then fall for a man she thought was married.

I also never really understood why J.T. fell for Mac., which made it hard to believe in their HEA. This is sometimes an issue with romances told exclusively from one POV, but I feel like it could have been avoided had the novel should featured a few more scenes of Mac and J.T. together at the beginning to show what about Mac even appeals to J.T.

Thank you to NetGalley, Montlake and Bethany Crandell for the digital advance reader copy.

Ok first off the title of this book had me. My favorite all time movie is Sixteen Candles. I can recite lines from that movie like nobody's business. When I was reading The Jake Ryan Complex and the wording in the book would be exact to the movie it felt like a warm hug. Quick cute read and loves the characters Mac and J.T
I am a little biased since I did name my 2nd son Ryan. I tried for a Jake Ryan but my husband was having no part of that. Lol

Okay, you got me. Just attach the name of everyone’s favorite fictional ‘80s heartthrob to the title of a book and reel me right in. I similarly fell for last year’s WAITING FOR TOM HANKS, and unfortunately this is a case of fool me twice shame on me.

THE JAKE RYAN COMPLEX is a fairly benign PG-13 romance about a woman figuring out at the ripe old age of 39 that she’s still single because she’s held every man up to the standard set by the romantic lead in “Sixteen Candles.” Naturally her younger sister is getting married, and she’s made up a boyfriend since it’s absolutely mortifying that a woman could be 39 and still single. Not just any woman… a successful obstetrician who’s great at her job, is independent, and volunteers during her extra time. But she’s not married (gasp).

Needless to say, this is not a book I’d recommend to those who identify as feminists. I think the story of a professional woman looking for love is one worth telling, but the story told here just reeks too much of desperation and cliché for me as the reader. I wish I had liked this one more, and maybe you will if you go in just looking for a bit of nostalgia. (Heck, it even takes place in the suburbs of Chicago!)

The expected US publication date of THE JAKE RYAN COMPLEX is January 21, 2021. Many thanks to NetGalley and Montlake Romance for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

What a lovely book! I am a big fan of this recent trend of romances that examine our nostaglia, and this was such a fun read in that vein! 4.5 stars!