This book was super cute! I really liked Donovan - I’m often ambivalent about male leads, but not this time. I also really enjoyed how they took on the toxicity of reality show fandoms.

#fakeittillyoubakeit by Jamie Wesley is a fun and light hearted fake dating book. This book has athletes, reality stars and baking...what's more to love 📚🤓❤️

Thank you to #NetGallery and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for a review

For release June 21, 2022

Ended up DNF'ing this one 😕. I was very excited to read this title, the cover is stunning, some of my favorite tropes and showcasing black love... sign me up. But after a couple of chapters I just wasn't feeling the characters, which is pretty important to be able to enjoy a book. There also were not a lot of aspects that stood out to me. Felt like something I have read before. This might have been one of those books that I had to take a break from and come back and enjoy, but as of now I won't be doing that.

I wasn’t sure about this one at first. I found the main characters unlikable and un-relatable. It was very Ritchie rich bougie problems hahaha. Not that everyone can’t have problems, and the book quickly made that clear and I found myself very invested in their HEA!

Grams aka Mrs T is the best character in the books!! Jada the heroine grew on me and I ended up loving her. Donovan was opened up and I totally fell for him. His best friends are excellent and I hope to see books on them in the near future. August definitely should end up with Donovan’s sister and Nicholas should definitely end up with Claudia!!

Thank you netgalley for my advanced copy in return for my honest opinion.

I was fortunate enough to be an advanced reader on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I requested the book because the whole cupcake thing seemed cute. Not disappointed.

Hot football player, aspiring actress who just got off a reality tv show, and a fake dating trope are all ingredients in this novel. Oh, I forgot to mention, the meet cute isn’t all that cute. So technically enemies to lovers. Just enough sassy banter to make you love them.

It starts out a little slow, but it is such a lighthearted novel that I didn’t mind it. Overall, it’s a cute, feel good read. I recommend you read, but it’s late because I stayed up to finish so I’m not the best saleswoman.

This book was such a fast read. I couldn't put it down. I found myself connecting with characters. They were written very well. It was a light hearted romance. I laughed at times. I loved Jada's character. Definitely going to be recommending this one.

God bless this book and Jamie Wesley, for my romance novel slump has come to a crashing end!

Yes, after several duds in a row that resulted in my lowest rated books this year, my faith in romance novels always being a good time has been restored! A friend suggested I read my ARC of this next and I am so glad I listened! Immediately, I was sucked into the story and the characters. The writing is so smooth and enjoyable to read that it was truly impossible to put down. Not to mention it was highly amusing and funny. A certain book club scene had me absolutely cackling.

Let's talk about our stars, shall we? Please know that I love them both to death. Their chemistry was incredible and I am obsessed with how their fake dating inevitably rolled into something more.

Jada Townsend-Matthews is as impulsive as they come. She is the complete opposite of her parents, both doctors with their lives revolving around science and research. Imagine how disappointed they are in Jada when she not only doesn't pursue a degree in science, but travels across the world, DJs in Europe, tries out acting in LA, and winds up on a The Bachelor-type show. And now she's had a serious dent to her public image after turning down the final proposal. Enough is enough. In order to prove that she is responsible enough to claim her trust fund, her grandmother sets her up with a job at Donovan Dell's cupcake shop. Too bad she already insulted him and the store days before.

Together with two other fellow San Diego Knights football teammates, Donovan opened a cupcake shop that is now bleeding money. Logical and orderly to a fault, he genuinely doesn't know what to do when Jada comes whirling into his shop and nearly burns the kitchen down with a single batch of cupcakes. She turns his world upside down, but also she has some excellent ideas for how to get more business into the store. And if their fake relationship that developed by mistake can help even more with some publicity, great!

Admittedly, I'm not a big fan of the ending. I definitely wish it had been done differently, gone on another trajectory, because what did happen felt a little forced and silly. Not to mention it was barely a blip, since we crossed the span of three months over a chapter break and didn't get to see the development that was meant to happen before the happy ending. And I have thoughts on the epilogue.

But all that aside, I still loved this book! And even better, my suspicion halfway through that this might be a series following each of the cupcake shop owners was proven right! August, baby, can't wait for your book!

Fake It Till You Bake It is the first book I've read by Jamie Wesley, but it will not be the last, that's for sure!

I loved this book ~ Jada was such an awesome character and once she pulled out her confidence and woman power, she definitely rocked this story! Donovan ~ seriously, what can be said for someone who stands with the woman he loves so unflinchingly?

Yes, this book had great cupcakes, which I really wanted to try. Can we make edible words a thing now please? Yes, it had meet cute, but above all it had friendship, loyalty, love, and a strong woman as the MC. Those are all such great attributes that it's no wonder I loved this book.

Definitely do yourself a favor and pick up this book when it's released. You will love it.

Thank you to Netgalley, the author, and publisher for an ARC at my request. All thoughts are my own.

Jasmine Guillory meets It Happened One Summer.

This book starts out with Jada, a former reality star, who is down on her luck trying to gain access to her trust fund early. Her grandmother sets her up to work for Donovan Dell, a football player and owner of a struggling cupcake bakery. What her grandmother didn’t know was that Jada and Donovan have met before, and didn’t get off on the right foot. Now this pair must work together for both of them to succeed.

This book was a good escape. While the first half seemed to start off a bit slow, the story started to build and I found myself really rooting for these two. If you enjoy enemies to lovers and a good fake dating trope, this one’s for you.

Thank you St. Martin Press and NetGalley for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

This was a good read, but it did feel like the chemistry was a little forced with Donovan and Jada. The pace of the story was good - the twist wasn’t my favorite as it was just a bomb in the book that didn’t really add too much.

I’m hoping August and Nicholas get their own books as well.

Jada and Donovan are simply the best!!

From their first meeting to the very end they are hilarious and their chemistry is off the charts!

Jada is lost in the world and trying to figure out her place hasn’t been easy! Bad decision after bad decision has her questioning everything but with a fierce grandma like hers Jada now has a job opportunity except it’s with a man she finds hot but can’t stand!!

Donovan is a man who is strong in what he wants and what he knows! Jada is a loose canon and threatens everything he has built! Yet he can’t stay away and finds himself drawn to her! Together they don’t make sense yet everything is right!

I absolutely loved how cute these two were and how well they worked together! Seeing them find their way was what really made this book one of my current faves!

3.5/5 stars!

Fake it Till You Bake it is a sweet as sugar story, that made me want to go and get cupcakes! It is a cute, lighthearted read that was quirky, just like main character Jada. I generally don't love romances with famous people in this one, but was pleasantly surprised by this one. This is a fake-dating, enemies to lovers type of romance, which usually only works for me if done right, and I really think that Jamie Wesley did a great job with it.

I liked the characters in this book a lot, and especially liked that they actually communicated. So many times, in books, miscommunication to create conflict is a pet peeve of mind. I loved that both Donovan and Jada were open and honest with each other, communicating, rather than bottling it up. Their banter back and forth was also amazing. Even more, I loved how Donovan went to bat for Jada in many occasions, and stood up for her in so many situations, showing just how much he believed in her.

One of my favourite parts was Donovan's friendship with Nicholas and August. Yes, they were "bros", but they had this awesome closeness to each other, which was completely normalized here. I also loved Grams in this book, she was so no-nonsense and the cool grandma everyone wanted!

I did find that the end of the book dragged out a bit and could have ended when the initial conflict resolved itself, rather than throwing another one in their.

Overall, this was a solid read for me and I enjoyed checking out a new to me author. I look forward to reading more of Jamie Wesley's books in the future! Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for a copy of this book. All opinions are 100% mine.

I couldn't get into this book and finally DNFed it. Not sure why I couldn't click with it. I think the baking/cooking thing is pretty overdone.

Book: Fake It Till You Bake It
Author: Jamie Wesley
Rating: 4/5

Synopsis:
A reality star and a cupcake-baking football player pretend to be a couple in order to save his bakery in this sweet and sexy romance from Jamie Wesley, Fake It Till You Bake It.

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.

Fake it Till You Bake It is a sweet confection of a novel, the perfect story to curl up with and enjoy with a cupcake on the side.

Review:
I really enjoyed this book! This book is not something I would normally pick up, as I don't usually enjoy books where the characters are celebrities, but Jamie made that work for me. I loved the baking aspect of the book, and the football aspect of the book was also enjoyable for me, although I don't love football and usually don't like reading about it. I loved Jada and Donovan together, and the fake dating trope worked well with them. This is one of my favorite tropes so I loved seeing it represented.

Thank you to Netgalley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I used to take homemade baked goods to Cal football practices when I covered the team (gotta get someone to eat all the extras!), so a book that combines football players and working in a bakery has my name all over it. And, for the most part, this book filled that craving. It’s cute with crackling moments and interesting characters, but it didn’t leave me wanting more.

I liked the characters a lot, and I liked their communication even more. The relationship between Jada and Donovan felt fluid and natural, and some of their adorableness had me blushing. But the writing held no real allure for me — I felt like I could have cut at least one sentence from every paragraph — and was never subtle with so much tell and so little show. I wish the side characters had been a bit more dynamic, because there was definitely plenty of room for exploration, and I occasionally got lost on the timeline. (I also had trouble imaging a bakery owned and worked by, essentially, TJ Watt, Derek Watt, and Najee Harris (go, Steelers!) would have trouble getting customers to come in, but I suppose that plot point was needed to move the story along.) The book definitely got better after the first 100 or so pages when the heart of the story was given a chance to open up — gimme all the fake dating tropes — but I still devoured this read in one sitting. Because, overall, this is a sweet story with tons of heart and a lovely romance at its core. But it’s a basic Toll House chocolate chip cookie, not a fluffy Levain one.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, in my experience, linebackers typically prefer brownies.

Special thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Jamie Wesley for proving me with an e-ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

if there’s food and romance…. count me IN!! i really enjoyed this book and the characters, i can see myself reading more of this authors books in the future!

Honestly, I wish Fake It Till You Bake It had been a little longer. I felt like Jada and Donovan were well-fleshed out characters. Romance novels such as this one work really well becaue of the dual perspectives. Each element, from the bakery to being a reality tv star, to figuring out what you want to do with your life, felt pretty interesting. This fast paced romance novel is one you'll fly through in a day.

fake it til you bake it was a sweet romance with a good ol fashioned meet cue and lots of cupcakes! i liked this book, but felt like it dragged a bit. i wasn’t as invested in the characters and wanted a little more for their story. even with that it was still a sweet book and i enjoyed reading it! jada is a strong lead and the banter between her and donovan always brought a smile to my face!

I don't know what I was expecting from Fake It Till You Bake It but I had such a great time reading. A football player who bakes cupcakes and a reality TV star? Sign me up. Fake dating is not one of my favorite tropes but it was done well in this book. Donovan and Jada had great chemistry and they developed pretty well as individuals. They were complete opposites of each other in every way. Also, I loved the family and friend dynamics in this book.

‘Fake It Til You Bake It’ has so many of the tropes that I like. There’s enemies-to-lovers vibes, forced proximity, and a fake relationship all interwoven brilliantly into this delightful tale of a maligned reality star and an NFL player/cupcake shop owner.

When Jada Townsend-Matthews turns down a proposal on a popular dating show, she has no idea how severe the backlash would be. Football player and cupcake shop owner, Donovan Dell, has never seen a reality show in his life, but when Jada starts working at his shop, he can’t help but be intrigued by her and the way she makes him feel. And when a reporter mistakenly believes that Jada and Donovan are dating? They both decide to use that to their advantage. It’s all cupcakes and icing until their hearts get involved.

This is the first book I’ve read by Jamie Wesley, and it will not be my last. I am already intrigued by other characters who pop up in this story, and would love to see books written about them as well. I loved the whimsy of the story and the tension and the romance. And Donovan is just the kind of grumpy on the outside, gooey on the inside, type of hero that I love to read.

If you’re looking for a book that is a sweet and delightful as your favorite dessert, this is the book for you.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.