Super cute fake dating romance. Great character development, a meddling but adorable grandma, an NFL star who breaks with convention and bakes, a strong female protagonist, really there's nothing not to love. This is a fun romance that I'd quickly recommend to pretty much anyone.

I really liked this story. Jada and Donovan were amazing characters. I loved the way they met at his cupcake shop. Definitely not the best circumstances, but it was entertaining. They had great chemistry, and I loved the dynamic between these two. Jada was a sassy, fierce woman, who was just trying to figure out her life. I enjoyed her journey. Donovan was stuck in a safe life with no passion and adventure. They balanced each other out wonderfully. Definitely recommend this book.

Fake dating and cupcakes are definitely an easy way for a book to make it onto my TBR pile and this book definitely knocked those two out of the park. The initial meeting was fun because it wasn’t insta-love and all their banter in between made them a fun couple to read. I also love Nicholas and August, as well as Olivia and Grams. The side characters added to the story and I always love when they know the mains and don’t let them get away with ignoring their feelings. This book did start out slow for me but picked up and had me loving them after the first few chapters.

Fake It Till You Bake It is a sweet love story about a professional football player who loves to bake. Excuse me sir, get out of my dreams, get into my pants!

Donovan plays for the NFL and owns a struggling cupcake store with two other teammates. He meets Jada, a mouthy, internet-famous former contestant on a reality dating show. She’s also the granddaughter of Dominic’s team owner and somehow he’s never heard of her ever. Due to nepotism, Jada is hired to sell cupcakes.

Stern, football daddy immediately falls for the lighthearted Jada and goes along with it when she pretends to be his girlfriend when a nosy reporter shows up…And that’s about it. There was too much “ I have dyslexia and people don’t take me seriously” and “we’ve gotta make this cupcake store profitable” and not enough smearing frosting upon and then licking it off all the body parts. Less talk of the threat of the cupcake empire crumbling and more “Ya baby, you can lick the spoon”. I needed sex in the back office during work hours. Sex on the football field. Sex in a vat of cupcake batter.

So overall, this was ok. It’s a nice, fairly low steam romance. If you are looking for a cute romantic confection, this would fit the bill. If you are looking for people doing kinky things in a commercial bakery that the department of health would frown upon you may want to look elsewhere.

Smut- 2.1 stars
Romance- 3.9 stars
Story- 3.78 stars
When your kinks aren’t OSHA approved- 15 stars

I love reading and baking, so a book about baking is a win win situation for me. This book was very funny and I loved the banter between Donovan and Jada. This is a very cute story and a very enjoyable read.

Cute read! I wasn't sure what I was getting into, but I couldn't put down my Kindle.

When Jada Townsend-Matthews walks into Sugar Blitz, a new cupcake shop in San Diego, she gets herself into trouble with her big mouth as usual. Her best friend, Olivia, wanted a cupcake and she dragged Jada with her to make sure that she got out of her apartment where she's been hiding. Jada was on a dating reality TV show where she turned down a marriage proposal, because she went with her gut. It was screaming at her to run. Now people on social media are attacking her at every turn. So she's hiding in her condo and ignoring all media platforms because the haters in the world didn't agree with her decision not to marry a guy.

Jada had a very privileged childhood, she grew up with money. But her parents, both whom are doctors, were always disappointed with her. She wasn't a genius like her sister was, so she ruined their perfect family image. After college in NY, she traveled around Europe trying to find herself. But after agreeing to do a reality TV show, ignoring her parent's pleas, they have now given her 10 days until she's cut off. She can live in the condo that's owned by her family, but no more credit cards and allowance. Now she needs to convince her grandmother to release her trust fund before her 26th birthday, that's 4 months away.

Donovan Dell is the best running back in NFL history. After a rough childhood with his father gambling away their family's rent every month, he vowed to never struggle in life. With his 2 best friends/football brothers, August and Nicholas, they finally opened up their dream; a cupcake shop. All three men love to bake and opening the shop is also something they can do when they retire from football. When the shop first opened up six months ago, they did great. Now its slow due to other cupcake shops to go to. When Donovan needs sound business advice, he goes to Mrs. T, the owner of their team, for help.

But when Mrs. T. asks Donovan to give her granddaughter, Jada, a job he agrees. Then he realizes that he met her the day before when she criticized his cupcakes. Their attraction is immediate but they both know that it will be a disaster to act on it.

But when a reporter sees Jada working at the shop, Jada tells a little lie involving Donovan as her new boyfriend. He's not happy with her lie and when social media goes nuts about their fake relationship he's furious. That is until the next day the line of customers is around the block. Donovan and the guys are thrilled about the traffic and he sees the potential it will bring to the shop. So Jada and Donovan take a few pictures for the crowds and in the process sell a lot of cupcakes. But Jada has ideas on how to help increase business and they work.

Donovan realizes he likes being around Jada, more than he wants to admit. When real feelings get involved, they decide to test the dating waters with each other.

Even though they started out as a lie, they are both falling in love with each other. But when someone from Jada's past starts to blackmail her and Donovan, Jada will do anything to protect him; even end things and leave.

A must read!

Sometimes the first book in a series is fine, but you’re more excited about the secondary characters. This is that kind of book for me. This was perfectly ok but I can’t wait for future books with the more interesting (to me) heroes.

Pros:
I loved that the heroine was a dating reality star who was villainized for saying no to a proposal.

I liked that the icky power dynamic of a owner/employee relationship was limited by having the heroine’s family own the team the hero played for.

Cons:
Totally not the books fault, but enemies to lovers and football players are not my fave tropes. The hero’s personality seemed to be distilled to alpha + football.

As a baker, I was super distracted by how the recipes made no sense…like having the characters start a batter by mixing eggs and flour. And the cupcake flavors themselves actually sounded boring. This book did not make me want to eat cake. And I pretty much always want cake.

I sometimes enjoy poor little rich girl heroines, but I struggled to sympathize with this one. She was fragile with a mean streak, and at first glance, didn’t seem to have many interests outside of herself and fashion.

FAKE IT TILL YOU BAKE IT has three hunky professional football players who also own a cupcake bakery called Sugar Blitz. It also has a reality television star, Jada, who said no when the bachelor proposed to her on live tv. She's not well-liked by the public as a result and ends up working at Sugar Blitz even after insulting Donovan, one of the owners. You'll have to read the book to see how that happens.

Jada and Donovan have chemistry and seem to get each other. All their sniping at each other seems to be covering up other feelings especially after Jada says she turned down the proposal on reality tv in order to return to Donovan whom she had been dating. There are twists and turns to the story along with family issues, lots of drama, football, cupcakes galore along with baking, anger and angst, laughter, tears, romance, loving and love. There is closure and a happily ever after along with hints of what's to come in the next book in the series. I liked the playfulness of the cover.

Ms. Wesley is a new to me author. I've added several of her books to my always growing TBR pile.

"I should have told you that I love you, and I’ll go to the ends of the earth for you.”

#SWOON

Omg this book! A Cupcake Meet Cute sprinkled with fake dating, witty banter and a badass woman finding out her own strength. I'm all for strong women.

Donovan and Jada are a power couple and I just honestly adored them making digs at each other and rilling the other up. 😂

The side characters were the perfect blend of comic relief as well as support for growth for our MC's.

I am a #JaDon fan

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me an ARC! ❤️

I hate to say this, but everything about this book felt fake and it wasn't just the fake relationship from the title. Both leads are too perfect with obvious imperfections to make them feel less fake that didn't really count as imperfections to me. I mean, leading man Donovan is utterly perfect except that he's a logical perfectionist. I don't see how that's an issue. And leading lady Jada is gorgeous and smart and sociable but has dyslexia, so what? It all just read as a foregone conclusion that whatever obstacles they'd run into would be easily surpassed and the HEA didn't feel earned.
So overall, it wasn't a story that I enjoyed.
Then again, it might just be that this particular story was not my kind of cupcake and I missed the whole point of the story.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Griffin for the read!

A fake romance between a football player/cupcake shop owner and a woman at a crossroads in her life turns real in Fake It Till You Bake It. It’s a romance with a lot of potential, but I struggled with rating this book because I wanted to like it a lot more than I did.

Donovan likes order and Jada’s arrival upends his carefully structured life. She’s the most reviled woman on social media after turning down a marriage proposal on a reality dating show. When she comes into his shop and insults his cupcakes, Donovan is irritated – but also incredibly attracted. Then her grandmother – the owner of the football team Donovan plays for – asks Donovan to give Jada a job and things only get more confusing. Cue a mixture of kitchen mishaps, fake dating, image rehabilitation, and finding love where you least expect it and you have a recipe for a delightful book. Jada is prickly at first, but a lot of that is armor against the censure of the world and those who should love her but have beaten down her self-esteem. Jada intrigued me because her attitude masks vulnerability and a fear of messing up and being judged. She comes into her own over the course of the story and I liked seeing her find her way planning events and becoming a part of Sugar Blitz. Her personal journey was the strongest plotline of this book and I was cheering for her to believe in herself and her abilities, to carve her own path and be able to overcome the haters and the parents who criticize her for being dyslexic and not following in their prestigious footsteps.

Where I struggled with Fake It Till You Bake It was the writing. Jamie Wesley had all the elements of an engaging story but as much as I wanted to fall into it I never did. Jada and Donovan are characters ripe with potential and though there’s a lot I enjoyed about Jada’s personal journey, Donovan’s kind of fell flat (also, he and his partners are professional football players and none of the work or training that goes into that is ever shown). The romance was also flat, lacking any zip or zing that would have kept me from putting down the book as often as I did. That being said, I really liked that Donovan supported and believed in Jada. They fit well; I just wanted some more sparks. The book isn’t bad, but it's slow-paced and never came alive. Add in a last-minute series of obstacles that felt more manufactured than organic and I finished the story feeling just OK about the read overall.

Donovan has two jobs that might at first seem completely opposite: he’s a professional football player who has turned his baking hobby into a cupcake shop, and the shop is struggling to stay afloat. Jada is a reality TV star infamous for turning down a marriage proposal live on national television. The two of them get off on the wrong foot when Jada, never afraid to speak her mind, is critical of Donovan’s cupcake shop. But when his team’s owner – who happens to be Jada’s grandmother – asks Donovan to hire her granddaughter at the cupcake shop, they’re forced to learn how to get along. And when a reporter mistakenly believes that the two are an item, they realize that they can use the press coverage to promote the shop while also providing Jada with some positive press for a change.

It’s a fake dating book! This trope is hit-or-miss for me, and in general I prefer genre or historical romance over contemporary, but this book was very cute. I liked the characters and the way they complemented each other, with Jada getting dour Donovan to loosen up and Donovan keeping impulsive Jada a little more grounded. There were some bits that were cheesy or contrived, but in a romance novel that’s generally part of the territory, so I can get past it. The end seems to indicate that there is a series in the works – and I liked this book enough to pick up the next one if it crosses my path.

Representation: Black main and side characters, dyslexic character

Cute though somewhat quirky read.
The story moved along nicely and most of it was entertaining.
The characters were interesting in their own way.
The setting of the cupcake shop was nice.
Overall, a ok read that will keep you entertained.
Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and author for the opportunity to read this book for my honest review. All opinions and thoughts expressed are my own.

Gosh this one made me hungry and it was the perfect level of cute and romantic. I'm realizing I am loving well-rounded football players as characters as well so I guess my sports romance bracket maybe expanding.

This book was so sweet! Do I wish I had cupcakes in the house when I read it? Absolutely! If you can, make some cupcakes to enjoy with this one.

Jada and Donovan meet when she visits his cupcake place with her best friend. He overhears Jada insulting Sugar Blitz. His immediate reaction is to want to change her opinion. He wants people to love his cupcakes. And, if he’s honest about it, he definitely wants to impress Jada. She’s a beautiful woman and there’s just something about her.
And if Jada had been honest she might have admitted that she’d never even been to Sugar Blitz or tried his cupcakes. She’s just upset because she’s become a bit of a minor celebrity lately due to her being on a dating show and turning down the lead’s proposal.
She’s also broke because her parents have stopped supporting her and she hasn’t gotten her trust fund from her grandmother yet.

Donovan is a also football player who plays on Jada’s grandmother’s team, but neither of them know this when they meet.

A few days later, Jada’s grandmother explains the terms for her to get her trust fund. Jada’s grandmother has found a job for her and she has to work there successfully for four months.

It turns out her idea involves Jada working at Donovan’s cupcake place.
Of course it doesn’t take long before they start to fall for each other. Donovan is a really lovable love interest. He is sweet, thoughtful, patient and he bakes amazing cupcakes. But their potential relationship is complicated by her reality show infamy.

I thought this was a really sweet story about two people who definitely bring out the best in each other.

I got to read an early ebook edition from NetGalley. Thanks!

I don't know what's wrong with me that no matter how many bakery/restaurant centric romances I read, they never quite hit with me. WHY??

This was a quick, cute romance that had its fair share of spice and sweetness. As a book, there is a ton of mass appeal between these pages. I especially enjoyed our hero, Donovan Dell. While I wouldn't say I loved this, it was a good time and I feel confident recommending it!

A disaster waiting to happen, Jada Townsend-Matthews shoots her mouth off regarding her opinion of Donovan Dell's bakery, little realizing that he is one of her grandmother's star football players. Donovan is already having a bad day when the diva shoots down his bakery and his cupcakes, but when she rises to his challenge and tastes one on the cupcakes, he knows he has a draw, if not a win. Meeting Jada the following day in his manager's office, Donovan's heart sinks when he realizes that he actually has to work with the opinionated young woman. Not understanding her background and the pressures she is under, it takes Donovan a while to recognize a woman who needs his protectiveness and the shield he can provide. This romance is witty and entertaining and had elements that every parent needs to read. However, I did find the story somewhat disjointed and it came to an abrupt conclusion, although a good one. I received a copy of this romance as a gift through NetGalley and this is my honest and voluntary review.

3.5⭐ Rounded up.
Such a cute plot...
Fake dating, grumpy/sunshine and football players who bake cupcakes?
Yup, totally down for this one.
I know the MC Donovan is supposed to be a bit stiff, but I felt like he and Jada were both a bit too stiff for me. I wish they had had a bit more whimsy and banter flowing.
Still good times, and will definitely be looking for more from Jamie Wesley.
Especially if she writes a book with August as the MC.
Dude is like a cupcake baking football playing version of Azriel from ACOTAR without wings😍😍😍
Much love to NetGalley & St. Martin's Press for my DRC.

Cute fake dating to get what they want kind of story.

Although, I have to say, they fell hard for each other, even as they started to fake-date.

Jada needs a job, and Donovan doesn't know, it, but he needs Jada to help run his cupcake shop, that he started with some of his fellow football players. Oh, and Jada is the granddaughter of the owner of his team.

There is also a former boyfriend in the form of a reality show that didn't work out quite well, as well as the producer of the reality show, trying to get Jada to come back and do a new series.

Good fast read. Jada is a good strong character, her parents are annoying, and Donavan is sweet, as all love interests of protagonists should be.

If anything, it was all over too quickly.

<em>Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.</em>

This is a really cute romance with some of my fave tropes! You've got a fake dating situation, a grumpy/sunshine dynamic, and it's all set under the lovely backdrop of a cupcake store. It would be really hard to screw that up for sure! This book has a lot of charm and I really loved both of the protagonists (and all the side characters!!). I don't think this book does anything especially groundbreaking with it's story but it's definitely a lovely breath of fresh air and I would highly recommend to any romance reader!