This one was really cute! I enjoyed the character dynamic. If you love reality tv and baking this one is for you!

Fake It Till You Bake It by Jamie Wesley has some of my favorite rom-com tropes: fake dating, bake shops, professional athletes, reality TV starts. A real mash-up of greatness. This is a super cute read!

Many thanks to the author, publish, and NetGalley for sharing this book with me. All thoughts are my own.

Well, this book had me craving cupcakes. Donovan always has a game plan, on the field or off. During football season he’s a professional football player. Off season he runs a bakery with fellow teammates.
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Jada was hoping to take her fifteen minutes of fame from a reality show and become an influencer. Instead she’s hiding out and finds herself working at the bakery and faking a relationship with Donovan to save her reputation and the bakery. Just like any good fake dating relationship they of course fall in love. I really liked the two of them together and the growth of both of these characters throughout.
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Thank you #StMartinsPress and #NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
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The best part about this book was the cupcakes. I usually love the fake dating trope, but the characters in this book have no chemistry.

A snooze. I was utterly disappointed, and the love story just fell...flat. The premise was cute but the execution was boring.

I found this to be a really cute book! But be warned, you will crave cupcakes the whole time you read it. This is a really fun and quick read. I would recommend it!

Sweetly heartwarming, emotional, yet fun small-town journey that was filled with intriguing charters, witty banter and simmering passion. Highly entertaining and emotionally trilling journey that was so hard to put down.

3.5 stars

This was a fun, fluffy book that also touched on some more serious issues. The initial meet-cute was sweet, and the plot itself was fine, although the expected misunderstanding near the end was a bit underwhelming. Overall, it was a nice little rom-com.

Cute romcom from a new to me author.

From Jada and Donovan’s rather eventful first meeting, the author keep me turning the pages til the end. Their banter was adorable and the buildup to the steam drove me nuts but didn’t disappoint when they finally got down and dirty.

Look forward to reading more from the author.

3,5*
Pros: I love a good culinary context, so this story centered around baking hit the spot. PoC protagonists and cast. Super cute moments. Steamy and engaging dynamic between the two leads. Also delves into the dangers of reality TV and cyberbullying. Dyslexia representation.
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Cons: Immediate sexualization of both leads. Clunky descriptive style.

I really enjoyed this book! It's an adorable fake dating story centered around great characters. The female lead Jada is a little standoffish at first but I grew to like her character and root for her and Donovan.

If you're looking for a cheesy romcom type book this is the book for you!

Thank you to the publisher for providing me with a copy via Netgalley.

I could have sworn I gave feedback on this but I’ll write thee review again. I love that we have two black mc’s in a book that’s not indie (while k live my indie authors) is amazing!

I loved cupcake based stories since I love the great British baking show.
Donovan who is a prior pro football player has opened a cupcake shop and Jada joins him after failing at adulting.

What follows is a cute romance with a lot of baking, some tension and a fake dating trope. Who doesn't love a fate dating trope. Ammarite?

I totally picked Fake It Till You Bake It by Jamie Wesley up based on the cover and title, and even though it does have steam, it's something I could definitely see on the Hallmark channel or as a Lifetime movie. It is mostly a lighthearted read, but Wesley also talks about pressure from overbearing parents as well as dyslexia which isn't a topic I see all that much in books. I really liked the viewpoint changes between Jada and Donovan, and having this story set mostly in a cupcake shop made me crave them like no other. Like cupcakes, the relationship between our MCs is super sweet and I really liked the chemistry between them. This is in the fake-dating/enemies-to-friends-to-lovers romance tropes which I am a huge fan of, and I was rooting for our couple from the very first chapter. They were completely adorable together despite their initial meet-cute, and Wesley did a great job of creating a romance that basically reads like a romcom with open-door spice.

Kassiopia DeVora is the narrator for the audiobook, and even though it was a bit of a bummer that Donovan didn't get a male narrator, I thought DeVora did a splendid job and I enjoyed listening to her very much. Besides Jada and Donovan, my favorite character was Jada's grandmother by far. She was whip-smart and didn't have time for anyone's nonsense, making her a great addition to the story. Fake It Till You Bake pretty much ended how I expected it would, but it also had a touch of a cliffhanger, so I see a series coming! I thought this book was a lot of fun, and it would make an excellent palate cleanser after a heavy read. Now that Christmas is only about a month away, I am craving more of these cute romances, and even though this one doesn't have a holiday setting, I recommend it if you want something to give you the warm and fuzzies while also making you laugh.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This was a super fun and cute read but overall I felt the storyline was a little hectic while also lacking something. The two extremes of Jada having been on a reality tv show and ending up working in a cupcake store with a pro NFL football player (who loves baking????) because she's lived a privileged life was a little over the top for me.
But all in all, I'll read anything about baking, meet cutes, and romance novels!

A sweet (pun intended) romance with nice steamy scenes and a particularly smoky one (burnt cupcakes!). I wasn’t sure about Jada at first as her privilege (losing access to family money money and having to get a “real job” at 25) didn’t endear me to her, but she won me over. Donovan was lovely from the start and I wish I could visit his cupcake shop for real. Mrs T was possibly my fave character so I like that she was the link between the two MCs. Looking forward to reading the next one!

Cute, quick & cozy! I really enjoyed this one for an afternoon read, and thought it was a great library find. It wasn’t particularly groundbreaking or stunningly written, but it had solid characters and mild spice, so I was satisfied.

Synopsis: A cupcake shop owned by a NFL player gets a much needed boost when the granddaughter of the team’s owner joins their staff — but maybe not in the way anyone expected.

Tropes: fake dating, grumpy/sunshine, enemies-to-lovers

TW: emotionally complicated families (I’m not it would be classified directly as abuse, but it’s certainly got some hints at that)

Could definitely see it becoming an interconnected series featuring other side characters!

I have to admit that I was interested in this purely for the cover, but I quickly got into the fun bakery-based plots and found myself rooting for the characters. Fake It Till You Bake It follows a pro-football player who also runs a bakery, and a disgraced reality TV star who team up once she is forced to work at the bakery. Its a fun, if ridiculous, setup that only gets more chaotic once they begin a fake relationship. I'm learning that while I like the fake-dating trope, I need a really great reason for why the characters are doing it. These two did not. Sure, one of them had a reputation to fix, and one had a business to help, but there are easier ways to do that. Furthermore, I couldn't really find a reason for them not to make their relationship real. The whole time I was like "just date already". Other than that, this was fun!

Both characters were likable, and I wanted them to succeed. I thought the chemistry was there, but I do wish it was a little more slow burn. In particular, I really liked Jada's growth, and her discovering what she wants to do with her life. I also love any mention of dating shows like The Bachelor, and this definitely nailed that. The author really nailed the toxic fandom vibes there. So yeah, this was fun, but a little messy. It was a quick read that me laugh and also made me crave cupcakes. Can't complain.

This had a strong start, I really loved the premise but the main character unfortunately fell a bit flat for me. She was just the right amount of too annoying for me to like, I don’t need to love a character and all they do but when it is a romance book that’s really all I’m here for along with romantic encounters. Unfortunately I didn’t get to fully enjoy those aspects due to character development.

This novel is unique in how it does the fake relationship/enemies to lovers trope and for that alone it gets a high rating.
From the literal first encounter of Donovan and Jada, the sparks fly and what starts at irritation and hatred quickly turns to sexual tension, which then leads to an accidental fake relationship and then begins the sweet, delicious slow burn of attraction that turns into full blown admiration, respect, and maybe even love.

I loved the build up of these two. The tension just swirls around them and it was hard to put this novel down.

I do think some of the dialogue was a bit much and the conflict at the end was a bit contrived, but overall, the book was enjoyable.