Entertaining and engaging romance. I liked the couple and enjoyed their personal growth. I skipped over the intimate details. I was eager for them to get to their happily ever after. Thanks to the publisher for providing a copy via NetGalley.

Super cute story. Funny cause I literally hate football just like Jada.

I enjoyed how this story played out. Cute, funny and some drama.

Definitely a great summer/beach read. Going to be checking out more from this author.

Thank you publisher and netgalley for the e-ARC.

I wanted to love this book more then I did. I know this book will be well received by many but it just wasn’t for me. I didn’t feel as connected to the Jada as I would’ve liked and couldn’t get into the banter. I love the setting with the bakery, it was unique and fun. The writing style was good but the banter seemed to like chemistry. I appreciate the opportunity to read and review this book.

Thank you to Jamie Wesley and the publisher for the eARC! I absolutely adored this book from start to finish. I loved the dynamic between Donovan and Jade. It was the perfect mix of funny, steamy, and romantic! I would recommend this to any of my friends that love sports and reality TV.

If you love fake dating trope, you will love this one. Also, bakery set story. Treats with side of roamnce and drama. What not to love? This is an easy and light read. I finished in one afternoon. I’m excited to read more books from this author.

Thank you net gallery for this arc!

I loved the concept of this book the aesthetic and the characters but I just didn’t feel that feeling when I read a book
But it was really entertaining and good overall! I’d recommend this if you want a cute lighthearted read

Well there’s no surprise why I love this book so much! It has everything I love to watch on TV. Dating show scandals, sports, and baking! It was fun and cute and the right amount of drama. I was engaged the whole way through and can easily recommend this as an entertaining romantic summer read.

Thank you netgalley for the advance copy.

This was a light hearted easy read. A fake dating football baker who doesn’t love fake dating? You could 100% feel the chemistry between these two characters and lately in a world where I feel like I’m being told what to feel in my recent books this was a huge plus for me. Anytime I can connect to the characters easily, the characters have chemistry, and the book is light it’s automatically a recommendation from me. There wasn’t anything that stood out from the crowd that would make this an amazing read but it’s going to be the perfect beach read this summer!

Oh, man. Jada is not in a great place when we first meet her. She's emotionally exhausted, mentally down on herself, and completely unsure of what to do next with her life. Working for Donovan Dell, the guy whose bakery she just trash-talked right in front of him, isn't her idea of a good time, but a lady's got to do what a lady's got to do. And Jada isn't one to back down. Not normally at least. She squares her shoulders, lifts her chin, and barrels in to get to work.

Donovan, on the other hand, is a planner. Jada isn't part of his plan and she ruffles him in the best way. She challenges him and pushes him, but he can grudgingly admit she has good ideas. Ideas that might keep his bakery from crashing and burning. The more time he spends with her, the more he sees the vulnerability she hides.

And fake dating? Yeah, no. These two are great at it because it's something both of them kinda, sorta want, but don't want to admit they want. Pretending to be a couple just makes those kinda, sorta feelings deepen. AS YOU MIGHT IMAGINE!

A fake kiss, a fake relationship, very real feelings. OH YEAH. (On a side note, Donovan's two partners need some long lasting romance in their lives. I am all for the playboy and the stoic grump finding their special someones!)

Jada appeared on a dating reality show and ultimately turned down the proposal. The fans of the show, and even her family, turn against her and she retreats. In order to receive her trust from her wealthy grandmother, she needs to work until her 26th birthday. She takes a job at a cupcake shop owned by several pro football players. Soon the fans of the reality show find her, and she fakes a relationship with Donovan one of the shop owners. The relationship helps the cupcake store and Jada is great with the customers. As you expect, Donovan and Jada fall in love. This was a cute story and I liked Jada and Donovan as couple. I was happy to see their HEA.

Beautiful, heartwarming romance story that made me want to bake late into the night while reading it. I loved the characters and their interaction and throughout the story they grown so much. Loved it

Very grateful to the publisher for my review copy

Fake It Till You Bake It by Jaime Wesley is an excellent contemporary romance that is just beyond fabulous. I loved it! Mix together a strong woman who doesn't shy away from sharing her feelings, a burly guy who finds peace in cupcakes, the cutest title + cover ever, and you get this book. Sprinkle some classic romance tropes in for good measure and you have the recipe for a good rom-com! I would love to see this as a movie.

Football player, cupcakes and reality tv star?! I. Am. In. Come for the fab cover and sweet plot, stay for the swoony love interest, the vulnerable main character, and the hilarious and badass grandma.

Jada and Donovan are sweet, funny, sexy. I loved Jada a lot in this - she could seem like a vapid social media influencer but that is quickly turned on its head. Plus a strong, silent, steady Black love interest?! SOLD. I really enjoyed this book.

Last thing, I loved the dyslexia rep - Jada having dyslexia isn't something you see in romance novels much so appreciated Jamie for including that.

And I can't wait for August and Nicholas' books!

Thanks to @stmartinspress for my copy.

Thanks @smpromance for my ARC of this sweet read!

Pub date: 6/21/22
Genre: rom com, fake dating trope
In one sentence: Jada's infamous after turning down a reality show proposal - her grandmother thinks working at Sugar Blitz will bring her back to earth, but football player Donovan has other plans.

Oh, how I love a bakery-set book! Delicious sugary treats with a side of drama and romance. Here we get a twist on the typical bakery - cupcake bakery Sugar Blitz is run by three football players! Donovan and his friends were so fun to get to know - there are echoes of the Bromance Book Club here. I also loved Jada - her struggles with fitting into her family were very relatable, and I loved how she supported Donovan and worked to make the bakery successful. They're a true power couple - even if they're the last to realize that fake dating may not be so fake after all.

If you like fake dating, I bet you'll enjoy this one. It's not super steamy, but there are a few moments to satisfy steam fans.

Review posted to Goodreads and Instagram 4/16/22.

Professional football player Donovan and two of his teammates have started a cupcake bakery. Their cupcakes are delicious, but the bakery is not thriving. The team owner asks Donovan to employ her granddaughter, Jada, who needs some space to recover from her social-media lambasting after she turned down a reality show proposal. The two have personalities that aren't at all alike, but they seem to each fill the others' weaknesses.

I enjoyed this fake - relationship turning into a real friendship and then love, and I especially liked Jada's feisty personality. I also liked Donovan's steady support. So I was really rooting for them to succeed!

Thanks to Jamie Wesley for the book and to Netgalley and St. Martin's Griffin for letting me read an ARC!

Truthfully, I couldn’t finish this book. I’d only made it about 25% through (because there’s little time until the e-book expiration) but here are few things that I felt could have changed from what I did read.
Cons:
<>I feel that there is not enough world building. It’s difficult for me to picture what is going on in the setting of a few scenes set in Sugary Blitz because (for me, and I imagine most people) cupcake shops are quite rare to find. I’d be great to have little descriptions of the kinds of people Jada sees in the shop, or maybe the weather outside the window to set the scene.
<>“‘It’s okay’, a soft, bougie voice answered. ‘No harm no foul’” (Ch. 4) I’m having trouble imagining this, but what exactly does a “bougie” voice sound like? How can you tell if a voice is not bougie? What makes a voice sound low class? I already knew what the word meant but it’s strange to the ear.
<>There is a strange switch from third to first perspective in Chapter Four “A tension headache pulsed behind his right eye. FML” (Ch. 4) that should be changed. Added, “FML” comes off as not very expressive, and I think there are words more effective like ‘God’ or ‘what the hell’. “FML” is the kind of word seen in messages, tweets, social media bios— not really books.
Pros:
Other than these points, I do think this story is refreshing due to it’s combination of the fake dating trope and baking, which I wouldn’t usually be fond of. I also enjoyed Jada’s flawed character more than Donovan. In the first meeting, she comes off as a determined ice queen yet we begin to see, even early has chapter 6, we learn how stressed and realistically panicked she is at given times.

“Never change Jada. Never change”
I’m sad to say that one of my most anticipated books of the year was honestly quite boring. I wanted to love this so much and received an arc but it was the most predictable, somewhat anticlimactic book I’ve ever read. I love the fake dating trope and I’ve learned that I love books centered around baking/cooking. Plus this was a Black romance, so even better but that didn’t save it for me.

One thing that irritated me the most was the time jumps and not being told it took place days or months later until we’re paragraphs or sentences in. They jumped to three months later and then eight months later in the last chapter and we aren’t told until we’re paragraphs in. They also fall in love two weeks after meeting each other.

I didn’t like nor connected with Jada. I liked her attitude but just not her and Donovan was too robotic. The miscommunication was so ridiculous. There was no need for it. The break up pissed me off. She broke up with him at the 92% mark and they were back together like two pages later. No spoilers but the reasoning was stupid.

An important plot was that her parents cut her off and took her credit cards. Well, her grandmother is a billionaire and already promised she’d give her her trust fund so?? This plot didn’t seem at all important. I liked the grandmother though.

Oh and they didn’t sleep together until 73% in and I prefer smutty books but eh. 2.75 rounded to a 3 star.

When Jada's life has been turned upside down due to a reality dating show and her parents taking away her money she has to figure out quickly what she is going to do. Then there is Donovan hunky football player turned cupcake shop owner whose business is not attracting enough people. Jada and Donovan's path cross and she insults his cupcakes and business. Then by fate when Donovan goes to see the owner of the football team he is asked if he can hire her niece. Of course her niece happens to be Jada. Will these two be able to become friends or more than friends.

It was a funny and cute read. It was a quick read and easy to tell what is going to happen in the story. It also appears from the ending that there will be a second book. If you are looking for a book that will take you away from everyday life then pick this book up. I enjoyed it and thought it was cute.

This book was fun, entertaining, and I enjoyed the banter between Jada and Donovan. For a rom-com, this book was exactly what i was expecting, and the fake dating trope was great. However, the pacing was a bit off for me. The beginning was slow and felt dragged out, and then the end was rushed. The timeline was fuzzy and it did not feel like a cohesive, smooth read for me. It made it hard for me to connect to Jada and Donovan's relationship when I was confused about the timeline.

Overall, this was a fun read and I did enjoy it, the pacing just was not for me.

This was super cute! I enjoyed the story and it was a fun quick read. I enjoyed the idea of the football players opening a bakery. I would have wanted to see more about how that came about. Prequel maybe?