Thank you Net Galley for an ARC of Fake It Till You Bake It by Jamie Wesley. This was a cutesy, fun fake dating romance. I liked it, didn't love it. I'm giving it 3 stars.

This book has the right amount of banter <3 Was such a fun and quick read and hope to read more from the author and maybe the other characters!!! I love how everyone had a challenge and had to overcome it, the character development, and how love is shown in more than 1 way!! Over all amazing read!!!

Thank you @netgalley @jamiewesleyauthor @stmartinpress for the chance to read the eARC.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (0-5)
Steam: 🔥🔥🔥 (0-5)

What I’m Starry-Eyed Over:
🤩 Where are my romcom lovers? This one is for us—adorable and funny but still has some feels.
🤩 Amazing Meet Cute—so much personality!
🤩 Enemies-to-lovers, workplace romance (close proximity, forbidden), and fake dating—some good banter.
🤩 Cupcakes and romance! Football player MC owns a cupcake business called Sugar Blitz! Heart eyes cupcake
🤩 Book club at the cupcakery venue—yes please! Really fun romance book talk, cupcakes, wine, and a cover recreate trend!!
🤩 Dyslexia representation is empowering.
🤩 Meddling grandmas are the best!
🤩 CROCS appreciation is fun and fantastic for a girl MC who loves fashion and fancy footwear.
🤩 Realistic family conflict: domineering parent expectations, parent addictions (gambling).

What I’m Wishing/Dizzy About:
💫 The end caught me off guard and rubbed me the wrong way.
💫 I was hoping for more physical closeness (steam) toward the end after emotional turmoil.

Story is about Jada, who was on a reality dating show and turned down the proposal and now is hated by all. Donovan is a professional NFL player, as well as owns a cupcake shop with two other players. As usual, her mouth gets her into trouble when she walks into his shop and says his cupcakes are probably stale. As she plans on lying low for a while, she is contacted by her grandmother, who incidentally owns Donovan’s team, telling her she has got to learn to be responsible so made the ultimatum that she has to hold a job for six months to get access to her trust fund. A cute read for you to see how it all turns out in the end.
I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving a complimentary copy.

I love the idea of this story however I felt like we did not get to see a lot about the couple's actual relatitonship and instead got too much of the fake-dating. I was not able to connect with the characters either and some parts felt too convenient, with Jada walking into the shop and then all of a sudden her grandma owns the team so she can get someone to get a job for her.

However, it was still a fun read and I am always loving romance books where someone owns a shop.

Fake It Till You Bake It by Jamie Wesley is a cute, humorous, light-hearted fake dating relationship featuring Jada Townsend-Matthews, who is fresh off of a reality dating show, and Donovan Dell, a professional NFL player and co-owner of a cupcake shop, Sugar Blitz. Donovan loves to bake. He establishes goals and works to meet them. He’s driven, calm, and controlled. Jada has no clue what she wants to do with her life and things don’t seem to be working out well for her either. She’s confused, uncertain, and insecure as well as being impulsive. Because of her impulsiveness and need to earn money, Jada agrees to a plan her grandmother cooked up, working for Donovan. When a reporter mistakenly believes they’re a couple, and they decide to take advantage of it by faking a relationship. This way, they can help the business and improve Jada’s image. It doesn’t hurt that the chemistry between Jada and Donovan is off-the-charts and the attraction is magnetic.

This story seems to have it all, a fake relationship, enemies to lovers, opposites attract, sizzling chemistry, a star football player who can make cupcakes and an unpopular reality star teaming up to repair public images and save the cupcake business. Combining romance and humor, the story also covers some deep themes ranging from gambling addiction to the impact of social media on lives to blackmail to teamwork to how parents’ opinions and actions affect their children even as adults.

Ms. Wesley wrote the perfect start to a new series of football players who open a cupcake bakery together. She provided a tale rich with humor, emotions, sizzling chemistry, clever banter, and endearing secondary characters giving Jada and Donovan a chance at love, and a future together. I highly recommend Fake It Till You Bake It to other readers.

I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book.

The perfect little fake relationship to lovers story! The banter and spice was perfect. Donovan - a NFL player slash cupcake store owner finds himself in a whole new world when Jada comes into his life.

3.5 stars. A fun enemies(?) to friends to lovers fake dating romance. With cupcakes.

Jada Townsend-Matthews just turned down a proposal on a reality dating show and now everyone in America hates her. A few weeks later, she ends up, for a series of reasons, working a Sugar Blitz, a new cupcake store co-owned by pro football player Donovan Dell. They are opposites in every way. But a reporter ends up thinking that Jada and Donovan are an item and they go viral. When it turns out that opportunity might help the bakery get some much-needed business and rehabilitate Jada's image, they decide to keep faking it. But maybe it's not so fake after all.

I always enjoy foodie romances, and this book is no exception. The cupcakes honestly all sound super amazing and I wish I could go to Sugar Blitz in real life. The characters, including Jada and Donovan but also their super-involved friends and family, were quirky and kept me invested in the story. I also appreciated how Donovan and Jada's relationship and trust in one another builds throughout the book and doesn't get ruined by something stupid. It felt more realistic.

In terms of things that didn't work as well for me, I think the biggest challenges was the third act conflict. It was so over-the-top and I'm not sure why that was the choice that was made. I feel like there could have been a different, slightly more realistic, direction this book could have gone in. A much more minor issue, but one that bothered me a lot nonetheless, is the height difference between Donovan and Jada (he's 6'3", she's about 5'0"). Most of their interactions would be physically impossible, and definitely not cute or steamy! He would have to be basically bent in half for them to be staring into each others' eyes and almost kissing, so I don't think it would look like the cover of a romance novel like was suggested in one scene.

Overall, I did enjoy this book and I thought it was a fun, quick read perfect for summer. Find a cupcake and a coffee and sit down for a good story. I am definitely curious to read the other (future) books in this series as well!

I was soooo looking forward to a fun new fake dating story when I was given this eARC. Baking and fake dating are quite literally the perfect combo. So I was very optimistic going into this one and even as the story started. I liked how Jada and Donovan were originally introduced with their own respective stories.

Unfortunately, the book quickly went downhill for me. The story just felt too focused on sticking to the fake dating plot without really delving into the characters’ actual relationship. It almost felt like things were just happening to Jada and Donovan because “this is how the romance arc is supposed to go”.

I felt no connection between the two. Really disappointing because this story could’ve been the perfect amount of cute and spice.

In the end, it just felt really underdeveloped to the point I almost DNF’d at 60%. Even the side characters felt pushed to the side.

I feel like this story had a lot of potential, though, especially at the outset. I wouldn’t completely rule out reading something else by this author, but this one was just a disappointment.

DNF'ed at around 60%, but for reasons of extreme mediocrity, so it still gets the 'it was ok' rating. I didn't dislike it! Except for being extremely bored I was fine. I like fake dating but this one was so weird in that it felt like it took so many pressure points to get the couple into that situation? Like first she is a customer in his cupcake shop - then her grandma is the owner of his NFL team - then she has to work in his shop to come into her trust fund - THEN they get into the fake dating - and at this point I'm really unconvinced that they have any connection lmao it all seems extremely external. Possibly I would be more engaged if they got to the fake dating sooner rather than like 50% in. Also the she-has-to-work-in-his-shop plot point is engineered by her grandmother and I truly shrivelled up in my soul reading it lol if you WORK the shop you can hire whatever wastrel relative you like but if you employ in a totally different capacity the man who runs the shop it seems like extremely poor taste to foist your granddaughter on him! Anyway I'm sure this book has an audience and will find it somewhere, meanwhile my dreadful record in the romance genre continues. Thanks to St Martin's Press and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for this arc for an honest review!

Honestly, the cover art drew me to this book, and I’m a sucker for a pretty cover (lol). The story opens in the California cupcake shop that serves as main backdrop for most of the book’s action, where the main characters Jada and Donovan have a sort of “meet hostile” situation. The author does a great job of quickly setting up the circumstances that lead to the fake relationship the title describes. Lots of funny and sweet moments follow as our main characters interact. It is a bit of a slow burn, but when the heat comes it is well worth the wait.

If you like black rom coms, fake relationships, and grumpy / sunshine, you're gonna enjoy this book.

What does a cupcake baking football player business owner and a dyslexic fashion aware social pariah have in common? They need each other. Jada has been skewered due to her performance in a reality show and Donovan’s business venture is turning into crumbs. They decide to fake date to salvage both of their endeavors.
The first baking scene was enough to make me throw on an apron and fling some flour around so a hunk would rescue me. It’s quite funny.
Both characters grow a lot and make some important life decisions. My favorite character is Jada’s grandmother. She’s a savvy woman who holds people’s feet to the fire.
If you love romance and cupcakes, indulge in this delectable tale.

3.5 Stars
Jada Townsend-Matthews is the most reviled woman in America after turning down a proposal on a reality dating show. When she comes home to lick her wounds, Jada finds herself working at San Diego's newest cupcake bakery, Sugar Blitz, alongside the uptight owner and professional football player Donovan Dell. When a reporter mistakenly believes Jada and Donovan are an item, they realize they can use the misunderstanding to their advantage to help the struggling bakery and rehabilitate Jada's image. Faking a relationship should be simple, but sometimes love is the most unexpected ingredient.
A well written, light hearted read which I enjoyed but didn’t love. The characters had depth & were likeable. I liked the chemistry between Donovan & Jada & how their relationship changed & grew. I liked the humour & the fact that footballer Donovan makes cup cakes, I also enjoyed the banter. An easy to read frothy romance ideal for whiling away a few hours over the summer
My honest review is for a special copy I voluntarily read

I’m sorry to say that I did not enjoy this book. I liked the characters enough and the premise was fun though far-fetched (but I’m an experienced-enough romance reader to be OK with far-fetched.) My main challenge with this book was that there didn’t seem to be any stakes. Jada was trying to work at the cupcake store to get her trust, but I didn’t believe that her grandmother wouldn’t give it to her anyway. Donovan was worried about the revenue of the cupcake store, but he is a multi-millionaire professional athlete so it seemed like it was not going to make or break his fortune. They didn’t seem to really have any reason not to be together, so it wasn’t that tense or exciting when they did get together. I liked the writing and most of the characters, but was not pulled in by the plot.

I won’t be sharing this review elsewhere because I prefer not to share constructive reviews publicly.

Solid three stars. It read like a sexy Hallmark movie. The dialogue frustrated me at times because it felt stilted and awkward. Overall though, it was a good time, I laughed a few times and there was heat. I honestly hope Hallmark picks it up because it would work great there and I would watch it.

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC of this!

So cute! I love a fake dating scenario, add in cupcakes and you have a great time. The characters had such good chemistry, and I loved the side characters - I hope they get their own stories!

So this was....fine? Think Hallmark movie but with more interesting characters....kinda? The entire plot is a series of coincidences and absurdities that, of course, all work out in the end. The writing is stttrrreeetched out to the point that you can skim entire chapters and not miss a dang thing. It's very repetitive (you know, you might forget that thing she said 2 paragraphs ago, so let's repeat it. Oh here again in another 3 pages. Next chapter? definitely need a recap of the last one). It's like this was meant to be a screenplay for a mini-series and ended up as a book with no edits to pacing.

Gripes aside, this really was fine. If you want a chance to turn off your brain and read an easy rom-com, this is your bread and butter. I wasn't in that mindset while reading, so it was a slog, but if I'd've had a few drinks in me, it may have gained a star or two.

**Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the eARC**

I’m a sucker for books about books and or baking and Fake It Till You Bake It was the icing on the cupcake.

Donovan and his two teammates recently opened this cupcake shop and business had leveled out and they were looking for ways to revitalize interest. Jada just turned down a proposal on national tv and is now public enemy number one on social media. While in Donovan’s shop, she criticizes his cupcakes and a battle of sharp wit and stoic stares ensued with each unaware of who the other was. As luck would have it, Jada’s grandma is the owner of the football team Donovan plays for and suggested that Jada work for him for a bit to mutually benefit each other’s endeavors. In a moment of panic, Jada tells a nosy reporter that she and Donovan were dating and things start to get complicated in Donovan’s orderly world.

Jada and Donovan’s love story is the trope trifecta of opposites attract, enemies to lovers with some fake dating thrown it. It’s a slow burn full of sharp wit, unapologetic laughter, supportive friends and tender moments.

Fake It Till You Bake It is the first book in the series about the trio of NFL cupcake bakers and August’s story will be next!


Thank you @stmartinspress and @netgalley for this eARC in exchange for my honest feedback.

This was a fast-paced, easy to read rom com that I really enjoyed. The leads have good chemistry and banter and while I honestly could have used more scenes with Mrs. T because she was great, I had a good time. Warning, though this book did contain the word “bougie” about a hundred times which seemed a little excessive but maybe that’s a nitpick.

Thank you to NetGalley for my digital ARC

DNFed…

I couldn’t get into Jada. She felt snobby to me… all she wants is her trust fund and it was super annoying to me. She was fake ditsy, and it made me annoyed when black female characters are portrayed in negative lights since it happens far too often.

There’s something about this that just wasn’t keeping me hooked. I wish I liked it, but I’d rather be honest… 😬