Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Cheat Sheet by Sarah Adams
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Bree Camden is in love with her best friend, and after a night of too much Tequila and a nosey reporter, the world now knows how she feel. But, a very secret contract needs them to act like they are actually dating for the next three weeks. How is she going to survive the attention, and the touches, and the kisses of the one she's been pinning after for forever, without ruining their friendship.
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Sarah Adams created incredibly swoony characters for this one. Nathan was the sweetest cinnamon roll ever and Bree was quirky and fun, and I loved how even if the lines of their friendship were a little blurry, she still wished to be independent and had other friends and her own apartment. I loved their friendship, I loved how secure they both were in it, they trusted each other implicitly. There was never any doubt in Bree's mind that he was loyal to her, not if one of his girlfriend asked him to choose, or his mother got especially nasty, he would always choose her. I wish there was a little more character growth, I feel like the only thing they had to work through is the courage to say they loved each other romantically. The middle of the book was entertaining, but it didn't feel specific enough to those two characters, it could have happened to any other couple because the scenes were not about growth but just about getting them to admit their feelings. But, I had so much fun reading this one, it was light and beautifully written, this is not going to be my last Sarah Adams! I'm told I should read The Off Limits Rule next!
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A special thank you to Sarah Adams via Netgalley for gifting me her book in exchange of a review. As always, all opinions are and will be honest and my own.
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In a slump? Need something to make you smile? Look no further than The Cheat Sheet! 😍⁣
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I haven’t read a friends-to-lovers book in a while and I always forget how much I love the trope until I read it! Bree and Nathan were the cutest best friends. Both wanted out of the friend zone but were worried it would ruin their friendship. Bring on the fake dating!⁣
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Bree was amazing and I loved her! She has the biggest heart and loves her dance student so much that she takes on extra work to make sure they can afford their tuition. She’s sassy, independent, and her inner monologue was lovably awkward! ❤️⁣
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Nathan was the biggest, sweetest cinnamon roll and I could not have loved him more! He’s a natural leader, caring, and generous to a fault. He doesn’t know how to take time for himself to decompress and this manifests in anxiety and panic attacks. ⁣
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There is a sensitivity warning about anxiety and panic attacks, which I always appreciate. The topic was handled so well and so realistically that my heart really broke for Nathan. I’ve felt those feelings and could empathize with how he was feeling. ⁣
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Sarah writes amazing tension and the lead-up to their relationship was no exception! They were dripping with chemistry! ⁣
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Nathan’s sweet grand gesture at the end was perfect and had me swooning! ⁣
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I don’t know how she does it, but Sarah’s books just get better and better. Do yourself a favor and download or order this one now! It’s a touchdown for sure! 🏈 Well done, Sarah! 🙌🏻⁣
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Thank you to the author and NetGalley for an arc of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

OMG this book is so wonderful, it’s my new favorite Sarah Adam’s book. The Cheat Sheet is Bree and Nathan’s friends to lovers story, but thanks to a night of too much tequila and a hilarious life-changing moment, it’s also a fake dating story. Obviously that means a whole lot of blurring the lines of friendship and wondering what’s real and what’s part of the plan. The way these two care about each other, it’s just so adorable and swoon-worthy. Oh, and did I mention that Nathan is a hot quarterback? Yes, it’s descriptive enough that I know he is eye-candy for sure. The Cheat Sheet is also hilarious, featuring lots of Sarah’s witty humor. I really appreciated the way the subject of anxiety is realistically handled in this book. I also like that this is a sports romance that I can recommend to any of my romance reading friends. It’s closed door yet has a sizzly slow burn that makes you want to keep hoping for these two to have their HEA.
Thank you to @netgalley and Sarah Adams for a Digital ARC of this book. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher or gifting me this early copy in exchange for an honest review.

I want to start saying that I love Sarah Adams. I think she's an amazing rom com author and her stories always give me all the gooey and swoony feelings I look for in a romance. I wanted to absolute love this book but I have certain mixed feelings about it.

What I loved:

- I loved Nathan. He's probably my favorite hero of Sara Adam's books. He was so caring and loving and seeing this man in love with Bree and how much his heart was bleeding and hoping for her was absolutely adorable. Loved he always wanted to choose her and care for her.
- I loved the secondary characters, especially the guys from the team. They were hilarious together.
- I loved the ending and the moment they FINALLY got to the turning point in their relationship.
- The emotional connection was so strong, there were so many swoony moments where I felt my heart bursting with love for both of them.
-I loved the reasons why they had to fake the relationship in the first place, I thought it was adorable and funny.
- The writing was amazing as always, Sarah Adams is an amazing storyteller.

What I did not like (and this is with all the respect and love I have for this author):

- It was clear from the beginning that this was a close door romance, but the sexual tension was extremely high for a CD in my opinion. The physical reactions were fit for an open door for this kind of slow burn and I got frustrated. Hence the next point.
- There was a gap between the 25% mark to the 88% where I felt like nothing was happening and when something finally happened between them, Bree closed off again and I felt she was torturing Nathan a little too much. I cringed a little bit with some of her reactions to him wanting to move things forward, although I understood her reasons and motivations, it felt a little too immature for my liking.
- I kept wanting a plot flow similar to what we had in The Off Limits Rule, where there was definitely a lot of hesitation on how to move on with the relationship status, but I ended up skipping pages to see what happened next. It went from hot and cold suddenly and it buried all the sweet moments I had.

I will keep reading Sarah Adams books and will continue to share her promos, but this book in particular wasn't my favorite. I wish her all the best and I'm sure there will be a lot of people who will love it.

Is it ever too late to leave the friend zone?

Nathan and Bree have been best friends since high school with a standing Tuesday running date. Both of them have feelings but they don't want to ruin their friendship by letting the other know. Everyone can see that they love each other but themselves.

Nathan, who is from a privileged background and is now a quarterback for a NFL team, wants to help Bree out since she has always had to work hard for what she has. She runs a ballet school out of a small building and had her dreams of dancing in a company dashed by an accident right after high school.

This book was so cute! I loved the two of them fighting their feelings and trying so hard not to ruin anything. He always wanted her around and she thought she was one of the guys. But seriously I loved TequilaGate that caused the whole fake relationship. And of course his team helping him develop the cheat sheet to help him flirt with her to finally get her to realize that he was in love with her.

Thank you for victoryeditingngc  netgalley for the e-ARC for my honest and voluntary review.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Gush: 😍😍😍
Steam: 🔥

I am the BIGGEST Sarah Adams fangirl. Her books The Match and The Enemy are some of my favorites of all time and mean the absolute world to me! When she announced her newest book was not only a sports romance between a dancer and a football player but also FRIENDS TO LOVERS, I could not have been more thrilled and excited!

Friends, I don’t have the words to express how much I ADORED this book! I had some pretty high hopes for it, and Sarah blew every single one of them completely out of the water!

Sarah has such a talent for making you care so deeply about her characters from the very first page, and this book was no exception! I immediately felt so much love for and connection with Bree and Nathan, and watching them learn and grow over the course of the story was such an amazing and emotional experience!

I have ALWAYS been a die-hard friends-to-lovers fan, but I’ve noticed that a lot of those stories I have been reading lately take the mutual-pining to such an extent that you just want to shake the characters and yell “WHY CAN’T YOU JUST TALK TO EACH OTHER ALREADY??” I did not feel even a twinge of that kind of irritation while reading this book. I thought the pacing was perfect! Just the right amount of slow-burn to feel real without making you want to slap the characters and tell them to get their acts together.

Personally, I thought this book had the PERFECT amount of romance and steamy-ness. The chemistry between Bree and Nathan was AMAZING and the two of them together were so utterly swoony, but there was nothing open-door or explicit in terms of sexual content. I LOVED it!

This book had me laughing, crying, grinning, nail-biting, and everything in between! Sarah’s unique voice and writing style were absolutely perfect to tell this story of love and friendship and connection and anxiety and self-acceptance, and she did it so beautifully!

This book is by far my favorite read of 2021 and in my top 3 books I’ve ever read IN MY LIFE!! This story made me so incandescently happy, and these characters mean the absolute world to me! This will 100% be a book I return to over and over again for a very long time. It’s just that good!

Friends, when I tell you you should read this book, I mean READ THIS BOOK! Truly one of the best books I’ve ever read, and the whole world deserves to feel the joy of this story!

Trigger Warnings: Anxiety, panic attacks, bad relationship with parents, mentions of eating disorders

Thanks SO MUCH to the author and Netgalley for an ARC copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are 100% my own.

So so good. I read this in under three hours! The chemistry between the characters was addicting and I loved it. I loved the plot and how Bree kept pushing off her happy ending. It made the book even better! I also really loved the theme of this book, it was just a sweet and happy romcom. I really enjoyed this one! I recommend it to anyone who loves Sarah Adams or a good friends to lovers idea.

Somehow, in some magic way, I received an ARC of Sarah Adams’s latest book, The Cheat Sheet. While I’m sure somebody at NetGalley hit the wrong button by mistake, I am not going to complain. It was as if my birthday came a few weeks early.

Ballerina Bree has loved Nathan since high school. NFL Nathan has loved Bree for just as long. Somehow they are stuck in each other friend zones and are both too terrified to get out. That is, until Bree opens her big mouth to the exact wrong person… oops.

Sarah Adams absolutely hit this book out of the park — I know, wrong sport. I wracked my brain for an appropriate football idiom and couldn’t think of a single one. Appropriate idiom or not, this book was a total slam dunk.

The heat brought between Bree and Nathan was just short of an inferno. This is exactly what I have come to expect from Adams; sizzlingly perfect closed-door steam. I think I may have even blushed a time or two. Oofda. If I didn’t have complete trust in Adams work, I would have definitely expected more to happen.

I sometimes cringe at professional athlete story lines. The characters of often one dimensional and way too full of themselves; even if that’s just my prejudice against real life professional athletes. When we were introduced to The Cheat Sheet on instagram I honestly thought it was going to focus around college ball just for that reason.

While Adams doesn’t surprise me in her amazing character build, she does surprise my in delivering an NFL heartthrob I actually wanted to fall in love with. This was an absolute delight to read.

🧼 Cleanliness: some adult language, alcohol with intoxication, steamy kisses with main character closed-door romance

I started following Sarah Adams on Instagram before I read any of her books. And I loved how funny she was and started buying up all of her books. So it's no surprise that I loved this book from the beginning. The dialogue is so good. She makes me laugh out loud.

The story is a friends-to-lovers paired with fake dating. Those are probably my two favorite tropes of all time, so you can see why I was sold. And Sarah does an amazing job writing the will they/won't they tension between Bree and Nathan in a way that feels believable.

Bree runs a dance studio with tuition on a sliding scale for low income families. Nathan is the quarterback of an LA football team. They first got to know each other in high school and are now best friends. We get both of their perspectives, and both of them believe the other is the most wonderful, kind, and generous person. I love reading about good people. And happy endings.

I adore Nathan's teammates. They provide hilarious advice and are genuinely the sweetest guys. And Bree's oldest students are hilarious. In fact, all of the secondary characters are beautifully written. Each has a unique personality that shines through.

This book make me smile and laugh and made my day. And it also tackled more serious issues. I really appreciated the coverage of mental health. I have experience with exactly what was described, and it resonated so strongly. I can't say enough good things about this book.

Thank you to Sarah Adams and NetGalley for the advanced reader copy. These opinions are my own. This book is available August 17.

TW: car accident (off page), burnout

I am posting to Goodreads now, posting to Instagram August 14 and posted to Amazon on the paperback pub date of August 13.

You know when you read a book and you can’t help but smile the entire time? The overflowing good feeling in your chest that just glows? That’s reading a Sarah Adam’s book. And it’s a pure JOY!

I loved THE CHEAT SHEET. It was hilarious and real. I felt like the book was having a conversation with me. Sarah’s writing style is so smooth and her one liners will have you clutching your stomach from laughing so hard!

Bree and Nathan’s friendship was a breath of fresh air. It was honest, open and completely weird, mainly Bree 😂 (like most true friendship are).

If you want a book to make you smile, laugh, and leave you feeling light (and completely in love with Bree and Nathan.) Pick this up!

I hope we get more spins off of this series because I need Nathan’s teammate’s stories!

Steam: closed-door

Sarah Adams is the queen of charming, slow burn, closed door romance.

You know I'm right.

The Cheat Sheet is laugh-out-loud funny and full of heart. I adored Bree and Nathan, but the supporting characters (especially Dylan!) really stole the show in this book.

I do think that the character of Nathan bordered on cartoonish/fairy tale perfection. I also think it's unrealistic that their relationship remained platonic for 10+ years, considering they were madly in love with each other from the day they met.

Still, nothing will ever beat the amazingly swoony ending of this one! 😍

I'm fairly obsessed with Sarah Adams, but this was my least favorite of her books. It's not a BAD book, by any means, but it wasn't great for me.

Bree and Nathan are both incredibly likable! Bree is hard-working, giving, quirky, and so funny! And Nathan! Talk about a Cinnamon Roll Hero. He is all gushiness and sweetness, wrapped in a stressed out NFL player's body.

The primary reason this book didn't work for me was there was practically no conflict. There was nothing standing in their way or impeding their relationship besides the Will They/Won't They of a Friends-To-Lovers book.

And this is the slowest of slow burns. I just didn't feel there was enough propelling the story forward. The characters are great, there are funny parts, but this story isn't structured like a story. It's a lot of both characters internally ruminating about how secretly in love they are with each other and not doing anything about it for fear of ruining their friendship.

I did really like the mention of mental health issues and the positive portrayal of professional therapy.

This is a cute story with lovable characters that just fell a bit flat for me.

A few words I would use to describe EVERY ONE of Sarah’s contemporary romance books:
•Laugh out loud funny
•Unputdownable
•Bingeable
•Sweet as pie
•Great side characters

The Cheat Sheet was absolutely no exception! A best friends to lovers sports romance with a simmering slow burn - I was hooked from the very beginning! Sarah is an absolute MASTER of closed door steam and managed to make the most incredible chemistry between Nathan and Bree. I totally loved Bree (cheese) and her quirky, giving, and hard working personality. But I am OBSESSED with Nathan. He was a damn dream man!!! 😍😍😍 Be sure that you are sitting down for the end, because you will swoon so hard you could lose consciousness for a moment.

I loved the bits about panic disorder and even wish there had been a bit more of that. The only other thing I was looking for was more conflict… which is probably a silly thing to want. As always, her self designed covers are perfection and here I am attracted to an illustrated no faced man….
4.5⭐️

Oh this book! I adored it so much! I've read Sarah Adams' last three releases and she's quickly become a favorite author. This might be my favorite so far!

I loved Bree and Nathan. They've been friends since high school. They are both keeping their relationship in the friend zone even though they're both in love with each other. Nathan is the star quarterback for the local NFL team and it makes all of the gossip magazines when Bree drunkenly tells a reporter that she'd like to spot release all of the other women from Nathan's life. They receive a Tide sponsorship if they agree to film a commercial and be in a real or fake relationship.

One of my favorite parts of Adams writing is the chemistry she creates between her characters. Her books are closed door, but you don't need the steam because the characters are obviously so into each other. The banter is her books is perfect and this was no different. I think one of the things i love the most is that i would gladly befriend any of the characters in her books. They are quirky and fun. The Cheat Sheet had a slow burn friends to lovers trope and I loved it. i honestly can't wait to read more of Sarah Adams; books. I would give this more than 5 stars if possible. It had me smiling, laughing, and crying.

The Cheat Sheet will be released on August 17, 2021 and you should grab yourself a copy now!

I will update with the link as soon as I share on my bookstagram account.

I am a pile of mush after reading The Cheat Sheet by Sarah Adams. This was the sweetest friends-to-lovers closed-door romance I've read.

CW: anxiety, panic attacks

Bree and Nathan are best friends that are different and perfect for each other. They are both in love with the other and don't want to risk their friendship. After a drunken chat with a reporter in a bathroom, the two end up fake dating and Nathan knows this is his chance to make this something real.

I absolutely loved that from the beginning we got both Bree and Nathan's POV. It made this slow-burn romance amazing. I couldn't put this on down because I just wanted the two of them to realize how in love with each other they were.

Bree was the sweetest and I loved the concept of her dance studio. Having tuition based on your parent's economic status definitely would make it a more accessible option for struggling families. I loved that she just knew Nathan and how to help him, even when she didn't necessarily realize that's what she was doing. I loved Bree's relationship with her sister it was the absolute best and reminded me of my sister.

Nathan was a big ole cinnamon roll. I loved how he was always there for Bree and tried his best to be supportive of her even when he didn't get credit for it. I loved how he was tender with Bree and knew her well enough to know that he had to transition from friends to lovers slowly and carefully. Nathan's teammates were great friends and I loved that they encouraged him to make his move on Bree.

I appreciated the care with which Sarah described anxiety and panic attacks. Speaking as someone that has experience with both, I thought that the way they were described and interwoven into the story felt real. It melted my heart when both Nathan and Bree told the other that it was safe with them and that they could cry in front of each other. I loved the vulnerability and realistic depiction of bad days. Mental health is so important and it's important to be open and honest with your partner about it.

Thank you to the author and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Cheat Sheet - Sarah Adam’s

My oh my I just love Sarah Adam’s writing and her newest release, out August 17th is no exception!

You know when you pick up a book and everything about it just connects with you? That’s me with Sarah’s books. Her writing is flawless, her humour is spot on and her characters are so darn lovable.

Nathan and Bree have been best friends since high school. They are both in love with one another other, but keep their feelings inside and feel there is NO way the other could possibly feel the same. After a drunken slip up, a touch of fake romance and some hilarity along the way - you get a front row seat to their love story.

Friends to lovers might be inching its way up to my favourite trope (sorry hate to love you’ve been bumped😬). There is just something about that base connection that best friends already have, the sweetness and awkward blips along the way of navigating a new relationship that gets me every time - all things that the author did seamlessly.

Bree - hilarious, witty, vulnerable, sweet and kind - the perfect lead.
Nathan - charming, head over heels in love, generous, caring - the perfect love interest.

Slow burn, high tension, and intense. You guys know I like my steam - but this is a closed door romance, and I LOVED that it was- all the things I love in a romance are there - and the steam isn’t even missed because you know it’s there behind that door.

I could go on and on about all the things I loved about this, but just trust me. Read this and try not to fall in love with Bree & Nathan too. In fact - read all of Sarah Adam’s books too - if you need me, I’ll be working my way through her entire backlist!

This had a really cute storyline and the storytelling didn't stall at any point. I would definitely recommend.

The Cheat Sheet is a friends to lovers, mutual pining and longing romance set in Los Angeles. Nathan and Bree have been friends for so long and yet neither have a clue that they have been in love with each other for years. Stuck on wrong timing, slow burn, wrong people, will they, won’t they? etc. You’re begging for them to finally say it and kiss! and when they finally do, you’re a puddle of emotions because they’ve been rooting so hard for these two to finally get it right!

Truly one of my favorite romance books this year. Sarah Adams books are all 5 star reads for me and this one is no different so do yourself a favor and read this book for all the feels and a sunshine soft football player because come on, who doesn’t want that? Now my only question is… why isn’t Nathan real?

THE CHEAT SHEET - SARAH ADAMS

TROUPES -
Friends to lovers
Closed door/ slow burn
Fake dating
Sports romance

T/W - Panic attack/anxiety.

MY THOUGHTS -
OMG!!! I loved this one...it's a perfect friends to lovers romance...and i only want to say this that everyone should have a NATHAN in their life!!! He is my absolute favourite book boyfriend!!
Bree is a sincere and damn funny!! While Nathan is a gem , a darling...and they both have each other's back throughout and help and support each other unconditionally!!!
There are so many cute and laugh aloud moments which made me smile throughout!!!
Love the dual POV it works so so well here!!!
The way Sarah writes - (this is my 3rd book and will be reading The match pretty soon) it's beautiful...esp how the anxiety part has been so well crafted into the story....it's her best work so far!!!
The side characters are fab too...they all are trying to get them together and can see how they are meant for each other exp these two!!
Highly recommend!!

Bree Camden and Nathan Donelson have been best friends since high school. Bree is in love with Nathan but so is everyone else. Nathan is a professional football player and Bree doesn't believe Nathan feels the same. Which is fine with Bree, until a drunken interview with a reporter has her spilling her secret love for Nathan. The result of her confession being broadcasted everywhere? An excellent fake dating, slow burn, sports rom com.

Bree and Nathan have so many will they-won't they moments and internal struggles. They both have feelings for each other but worry about their friendship. Their fake dating gives each of them the opportunity to explore those feelings and internal struggles which is when the line begins to blur between fake and real dating.

Sarah Adams wrote character who were relatable. Characters who had real issues that made the emotional connection feel complete and had me truly invested in the story. As a person that struggles with anxiety and panic attacks, Sarah did a wonderful job creating a character with these issues. The relationship development between Bree and Nathan was perfect. It had the perfect amount of sexual tension, chemistry, and humor. The slow-burn development of the relationship felt necessary for each character.

I truly loved this slow-burn, closed door, fake dating romantic comedy filled with heartfelt moments, chemistry, and humor that kept me laughing throughout the book.

Thank you to Sarah Adams and NetGalley for the advance copy.