3.5 stars! I was expecting a lighthearted romance based on the title and cover but there was definitely more to it than that. Two Hollywood stars fake dating to boost their acting careers sounded like a fun storyline and it was. Although this book also tackles difficult topics like alcoholism, it would make for a good beach read this summer. Thanks so much to NetGalley and Random House for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!

Grey is a woman in her late 20's who has been an actress since childhood. Ethan is a major star in his late 30's who has been a recluse since the passing of his best friend, Sam. Their publicist suggests they fake date to put each other in the public eye and help their careers. From the start, Ethan is captivated by Grey and initially fights his attraction to her as he sees himself as a liability. Good story - will definitely read more by this author!

How to Fake It in Hollywood is one of my favorite books this year. It's an angsty and emotional romance with a fake dating trope that touches on themes of fame, addiction, and grief. With fascinating characters, scorching hot chemistry between them, and engaging writing, How to Fake It in Hollywood satisfied all my romance cravings! I highly recommend it!

TW: alcohol abuse, death of a loved one.

This book is a love letter to every mid to late-20s girl who rewatch shows movies like One Tree Hill and The Parent Trap at least once a year.
This book does a great job at tackling a range of issues like alcoholism, grief, and toxic relationships as they would be in life. The issues are believably mixed in with the happiness of falling in love. This book does a great job at showing that while love doesn’t fix a person, it does improve everyone it impacts.
Also, fake dating is my favorite trope, so how could I not love this book!

“Five days, four nights. One bed.” Perfect recipe for a romcom book!
This book is basically an ode to the crazy-obsessed fans of 2000s teen dramas like me! I loved the idea of a love story told from the perspective of the actresses I grew up idolizing. Grey was the perfect heroine for this story, famous and successful, but also felt so real. A lot of books don’t have truly believable dialogue. I never thought that for this book, especially with Grey.
In short, this book was really well written.
I also thought that Ethan was a great complex character. I’ve never see a perspective like his in a book before, which definitely humanized him and the story at large.
Grey and Ethan had great chemistry that didn’t downplay their issues, especially his. The book does a great job at showing how problematic relationships can become if problems are ignored.

I absolutely adored this rom-com novel! Grey Brooks is a TV actress trying to break into the movie scene and Ethan Atkins is a mega movie star that's been laying low since he got divorced and the death of his best friend. They are brought together by their publicist for a fake dating scheme, but as it turns out, when they let down their guards to get to know each other, they have a lot in common and start to fall for one another. I really liked all the layers to this story, especially dealing with grief and different life stages.

Going into this book, I thought this was a rom-com, however, it was more of a contemporary romance. That being said, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and was invested in the characters from the very beginning. I loved seeing them grow and develop both as a couple and individually and devoured their story. It was well-written and engaging. I gave this book 3.75-4 stars and would highly recommend it.

A Hollywood starlet and reclusive A-lister enter into a fake relationship, but realize their feelings may be more than a PR stunt.

If anyone can pull off the fake dating trope, it's a celebrity romance story. And don't let the cute cover fool you because this one comes with some depth as our leads struggle with addiction, grief, mental health, and privacy violations.

I loved the dual POV as we get to see both Grey and Ethan's perception of the relationship and the attraction and emotions they're experiencing. We get a range of banter and flirtation as well as angst as they try to determine what is real and what is for show.

It's a great story with a lot of heart as we see our characters grow together — I highly recommend picking up for a beach read this summer.

I chose this book because I love the fake dating trope. I was expecting a light-hearted read and got so much more out of the book. Grey and Ethan both go through struggles throughout the book and that really took the book to the next level. Grey is an actor who has finished a television series and is trying to find her next big break. Ethan is a well known actor who is trying to clean up his image after he went down a rabbit hole of drugs and alcohol after his best friend died, which lead to a mess divorce and custody battle. Through a "mutual friend" they contractually agree to date each other in the hopes that it solves both of their problems. While there is instant chemistry, they both try to keep each other at arms length to avoid the emotions and trust that comes with a relationship. How To Fake it in Hollywood has the classic romantic getaway and big gestures you would expect out of a romance book alongside scandals, mental health and addiction issues. Through the messy and complicated relationship, the author reminds us that sometimes love isn't enough.

Thank you to Ava Wilder, Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, and NetGalley for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A Hollywood starlet and reclusive A-lister enter into a fake relationship, but realize their feelings may be more than a PR stunt.

If anyone can pull off the fake dating trope, it's a celebrity romance story. And don't let the cute cover fool you because this one comes with some depth as our leads struggle with addiction, grief, mental health, and privacy violations.

I loved the dual POV as we get to see both Grey and Ethan's perception of the relationship and the attraction and emotions they're experiencing. We get a range of banter and flirtation as well as angst as they try to determine what is real and what is for show.

It's a great story with a lot of heart as we see our characters grow together — I highly recommend picking up for a beach read this summer.

I snagged this ARC after hearing that How to Fake it in Hollywood was an emotional, somewhat-heavier take on celebrity fake dating romance, and on that count it did not disappoint. I've seen this called "angsty" and that's not the word I'd use myself - I never hit that point of desperately pining for the characters to be together - but this is an absorbingly-written and fresh take on a well-trodden subgenre, with an extraordinary amount of polish and assuredness for a debut.

The basic outline of the story is that Grey is an actress whose tenure on a CW-style TV drama series has just ended, and she's looking for her next big break. Ethan is a much more established, much higher-octane star who receded from the public eye after the death of his best friend Sam in a car accident, and his own subsequent public struggles with alcoholism and addiction. Both Grey and Ethan's publicists see the benefits of a publicity-grabbing relationship, and with the help of a bevy of lawyers and agents, set up a formal six-month agreement of pre-negotiated red carpet appearances, trips to coffee shops, hikes, and pictures of late-night visits to each others homes. Inevitably, of course, this develops into Something More, and Grey and Ethan have to negotiate what a real relationship would look like.

Given the plethora of "celebrity fake dating" romances out there, I think the most useful place to start is by talking about what makes How to Fake it in Hollywood stand out. The very best part, to me, is the amount of specificity and texture that Ava Wilder gives to the experience of celebrity. Grey, in particular, has had such a recognizable type of medium-famous-person trajectory: from the body double for a set of twins as a child actress, to the runner-up for the starring role in a Hannah Montana type tween show, to part of an ensemble cast in a generic CW drama full of extremely attractive people that garners her a small coterie of super-devoted fans, and a lot of blank looks or vaguely-embarrassed admissions of familiarity from the general public. Watching this hyper-specific type of semi-celebrity get pulled into the orbit of Ethan's much more traditionally-famous persona was really fascinating, and Wilder didn't shy away from how scary and privacy-invading that could be. Obviously I have nothing to say about whether this was a realistic portrait of being a celebrity. But as a consumer of celebrity content I one thousand percent knew exactly where and how Grey and Ethan fit into the modern media landscape, and that was really fun to read.

Grey was, just generally, a great character. I loved being in her head from the very first chapter. I have the brain of a slice of Swiss cheese at the moment, and increasingly find myself abandoning books on page 2 in a pile of "What? Who are you? Where are we? What's going on and am I really supposed to remember all of these names?" This experience could not have been more opposite. I was IN IT from word one, with Grey's POV expertly guiding me from scene to scene, subtly layering in backstory and stakes and contemporary world-building and secondary characters (though I felt many of them were ultimately underdevelopped). "Assured" is the word I keep coming back to for this book: I felt like I was in good hands; I was happy to be in any hands at all.

Ethan, on the other hand, I had a hard time getting a handle on. I can see how he'd be a difficult type of character to write: he's in denial over the pain of his friend's death, and numbing himself through substance abuse, and denial/numbness is probably hard to imbue with personality on the page. But - and let's file this under "things you can say about a fictional character and not a real person" - it was hard to understand how his grief was supposed to shape my understanding of him as a person. Because we never really got many specifics about the nature of his relationship to Sam. Or his divorce. Or his two daughters. Or his fears for the future. Or his feelings about his own substance abuse. Each one of those things felt like it was handed to the reader with a generic "you know this is sad, I don't have to tell you how it is."

That said, this book is very tightly plotted, and it never felt boring, despite my feeling that the chemistry was a bit subdued. There were a series of small conflicts along the way, none of which felt contrived, and the bigger drawn-out conflict of Ethan's substance abuse was handled sensitively, and clearly had stakes for both characters: for Ethan, whether he'd reach a place where he could seek out help, and for Grey, whether she could bring herself to confront the signs of how bad things had gotten.

The thing I loved the most, though? For anyone who has ever side-eyed a hero doing a grand gesture and thought "um, sir, this is kind of all about you," this book has the GREATEST subtle takedown of that. I won't discuss it here because it's very spoilery, but it's a great understanding of actual romance, and it's also so clever about the genre and its obsession with grand gestures. *chefs kiss*

Ultimately, I think whether a fictional couple's chemistry lands for a reader can be incredibly subjective, and this may have been a case of "it's not the book, it's me." If I'd been feeling Grey and Ethan's chemistry just a bit more, this would have been a five-star read: it's got heart, and heft, and depth to it. As it is, I'm still glad I picked it up, and would absolutely try more from the author.

Thank you Penguin Random House International for my e-ARC in exchange for the honest review.

Grey was keeping her career afloat now that the end of her long running teen soap has her unsuccessfully pounding the pavement again. She was desperate to agree with her publicist for the fake love affair with Ethan.

Ethan needs to clean up his reputation and step back into the spotlight again and it needed to be Grey who he need to fake date on tv. His been in a miserable life but he is fighting now.

I really want to like this book. My favorite trope is in this book but I got more bored.

Unfortunately, I actually DNF'd this book at 28%. There were a lot of heavy topics that I wasn't quite expecting and one of them ended up being a little triggering for me. I was expecting a much more lighthearted/romcom type of book.

I would definitely check trigger warnings for this book! I've seen excellent ratings enjoyed the writing style. Ultimately, it just wasn't for me.

How to Fake in Hollywood was a sweet romance that also dealt with some pretty hefty topics. A contractual romance between MC's Grey Brooks and Ethan Atkins leads to love, heart ache, and self discovery in this sweet adult romance. Grey, down on her luck after her long-running show comes to an end, agrees to fake date former Hollywood heart-throb, Ethan Atkins in an attempt to make her name more recognizable and finally get her, her big break. Ethan, on the other hand, is just trying clean up his image after the tragic death of his best friend left him wallowing in drugs and alcohol leading to a messy divorce and lost custody of his two daughters. The two are instantly attracted to one another but try to keep the other at arms length because to give into those desires means opening their hearts to feelings neither of them are quite ready for yet. How to Fake it in Hollywood is a refreshing take on the fake-dating trope in which, alongside paparazzi shenanigans, candle lit dinners, and romantic vacation getaways, the author also shows us the messy, and sometimes tragic, struggles of addiction, and that sometimes love just isn't always going to be enough.

4.5 Stars

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Ballantine for providing me with this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

How to Fake It in Hollywood was a journey of emotions for me. From the flirtatious frenemies to lovers' banter to being overwhelmed with emotion by both characters' past and present trauma to it all crashing down and breaking my heart! And finally ending on the happily ever after that each character deserves as well as the reader. I can appreciate that this book did not feel like it wrapped up quickly at all and really dived into each character learning to heal and become understanding of one another. If you are looking for a book that leads you through a fake-dating PR stunt Hollywood romance with an emotional roller coaster and a splash of steamy goodness, then this book is for you!

Content Warnings: < alcohol and substance abuse, death of a loved one (past), grief, invasion of privacy, brief mentions of body shaming (past), and open-door/graphic-sexual content. >

This is the kind of book that has all the tropes to grab your attention, and the story to actually back it up. I was surprised by how deeply this book went into some issues—namely Ethan's mental health issues and alcoholism, and ultimately the book was made better by not ignoring the dire consequences of its stakes. There were a few arcs I would have liked to see paced differently, but overall I genuinely enjoyed and fell in love with this star-studded romance.

HOW TO FAKE IT IN HOLLYWOOD is the story of two actors, a younger starlet trying to find her path after a career made in a teen soap opera, and an A-list actor who's been out of the game for 5 years following the death of his best friend and his divorce. To help both their careers, they make a deal to pretend to date for six months. And because this is a romance, they fall in love. I'm a huge fan of the fake dating trope, and I loved getting to read through Grey and Ethan insisting that they weren't going to fall for the other, while doing just that. I was a fan of their romance from the beginning, and I'm a fan of it still.

There was one issue that I started to have as they started to fall was the wealth of personal issues, and the distance created between their actual lives. However, these aren't skated over. There are a wealth of heavy themes, grief, addiction, invasion into private lives, etc, and all of them were given weight within the story. Ethan's struggles with grief and addiction are painful and intense at times, but they aren't ignored. Really, my only actual issue is how quickly it seemed that Grey moved past all of it. But the happy ending is there, and oh so satisfying, individually, romantically, and as Hollywood stars.

Though they weren't a huge part of the story, I want to briefly talk about the supporting characters in this book that truly brought it to life. For the most part they felt fairly well developed and I loved getting a peek at the side plots like Kamilah and her pop star partner, Andromeda X, Ethan's ex-wife Nora creating her own production company, and Kamilah and Grey's work on their own movie script. And honestly, I'd love to see more of these characters (as well as Audrey and Renata), in the future!

At the end of the day, while this certainly isn't a light romance, it is a thoroughly enjoyable one. With well explored characters, and an ending that made me cry, this is definitely one to keep an eye out for.

The premise of this romance sounded great, but I didn't feel like the two lead characters had genuine chemistry together.

Hello friends! I was lucky enough to receive an eARC of How to Fake It in Hollywood by Ava Wilder from @netgalley , and I’m excited to share my thoughts! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2 out of 5 stars!!

I really enjoyed this book. We follow Grey Brooks, a B-list actress trying to catch her big break as her publicist sets her up with a fake relationship with Hollywood super star turned recluse Ethan Atkins.

With things quickly heating up between them, Ethan struggles to deal with his past while Grey struggles with the present implications of their relationship. Will Grey and Ethan be able to navigate the press, their past, and their budding romance? I think so 😏

While I’m not famous and hope I never am, this book gives an exciting glimpse into Hollywood life, and what it means to struggle with your demons amidst constant public scrutiny. The limelight isn’t always what it’s cracked up to be- and how you deal with it can make or break you.

A big thanks to netgalley and @randomhousepublishing for the chance to read this eARC!

(To be posted on instagram June 9, 2022 closer to the publication date @navarro_books )

How to Fake It in Hollywood deserves all the hype I've seen and more! It's been such a long time since I've been entirely captivated and totally engrossed in a book. This celebrity romance that starts off with fake-dating is filled with so much heart, pain, and tension. It is so beautifully written and I love that we get to see two individuals fall deeply in love and navigate the complexities of grief and addiction together.

This book absolutely broke my heart and then put it back together, and I so wish I could read it for the first time again. It has definitely got to be one of my favorite reads of 2022. I mean I loved it so much that I immediately pre-ordered my own copy after finishing the ARC.

Thank you so much NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for this ARC!

5⭐
PG-13 for a open door, not graphic romance

Okay maybe I'm just figuring it out now, but I think I really enjoy famous people relationships?? Or just grisly misunderstood famous actors that are charming but also need to work on themselves??

Grey is just trying to hit reset on her acting career and Ethan is trying to improve his image when they start a fake relationship for publicity, but they can't help it if they're attracted to each other. Their chemistry was off the charts and I loved their banter as they tried to resist one another.

This book was such a classic case of right people but wrong time as Ethan struggled with alcoholism and mental health while Grey tried to figure out how to help. But the reality is that you can't fix someone who doesn't want to be helped. I loved watching these characters grow and find what made sense for them. Ava Wilder threw in the right level of tension and challenges as well as some awesome supporting characters--Nora and Kamalah rock!

If you enjoyed Funny You Should Ask or always wondered what it would be like to date the actor you had a crush on at 16, I'd definitely recommend picking this one up.

Content warnings for alcoholism, drug abuse, grief and mental health challenges.