Finally... contemporary romance with depth! Loved this quick (but not super light) read. Pleasantly surprised by the well developed characters and twists/turns this book presented. Will be swooning over this one for awhile.
Thank you to Net Galley and Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine for sharing this ARC with me in exchange for an honest review.

Ava Wilder has written a beautiful, emotional, sweet, Hollywood "faux-mance"/romance. The story is well written, the characters are well developed and the storyline is fun and exciting yet emotional and raw.

Grey Brooks is a younger actress whose career is at a standstill after a recent breakup with a former colleague. She is looking for the next big part but she also tends to stay to herself. Grey's best friend, Kamilah has been traveling in her new job and is newly dating the star of the show she does videography for so Grey has been reclusive in a way.

Ethan Atkins is a seasoned well-known and loved actor and a recluse. He is divorced and the father of 2. His ex-wife and former co-star, Nora has helped keep him sober enough to see their daughters a few times a month. Lucas, his assistant has been ensuring that his basic needs are met.

Audrey, the publicist for both Grey and Ethan decides that it would be good for both of their careers if they had a budding romance. They agree to a fake romance and the crazy, wild, emotional, romantic situations follow.. But does this fake relationship ever come to light and does it have the power to become real?

Read this amazing novel to find out all of the answers. This is a quick read. A can't-put-it-down novel. Trust me. . . you'll love it!

This is kind of different from things that I've read. I don't read Hollywood portrayed books much so this is a bit out of my comfort zone. So this was a fake doing trope along with wha seemed to be an age gap romance. while I do have a love hate relationship with Fake Dating this was ok and I was actually excited about that aspect of the tale. Now age gaped romance is something I've recently dived into but now something I have really gotten into. This story was better than most of the age situation that I have read but it still fell a bit flat for me. I wasn't feeling the chemistry between Grey and Ethan but overall I enjoyed this read.

This one gets ALL the stars!!
Grey and Ethan are just goals AF 😍
I love how powerful Greys character is. I feel like a lot of the times you get a female romance character who is timid, needs saving, feels not good enough, etc. Or you get the girl who’s “superwoman” and a total badass, oozing with confidence. Grey wasn’t either. She was a perfect blend - making her more than just relatable. She was the woman you want to see get the guy. She works hard, stays humble, sometimes anxious, witty and head strong, opinionated but forgiving. I just absolutely loved her from the start to finish of this book.
I just can’t help but be in love with this book. The story being told from both perspectives just made it so juicy and captivating.

Not a spoiler (per se) but... the level of steaminess 🔥🔥🔥👅💦🍑🍆👍👍🔥🔥👏👏😍🎆🎆
That’s all I’ve got to say about that 😜
You’ll just have to give it a read to know what i mean!

I was incredibly surprised by this one. I expected it to be a silly romcom for whatever reason but there was so much depth and growth between the characters. The story was anything but shallow. I immediately fell in love with both characters— easy recommendation.

⭐3.5⭐
This book was amazing and I enjoyed it all throughout the book. It was a fun time and I enjoyed reading Ethan's and Grey's love life and how it had become real love. However, I think the love they have in the book could have been expanded because it was more focused on Ethan's problems and the relationship with the ex-wife Nora. Other than that it is a great to read and I enjoyed it over all

This was a delight. This book had so much more depth than the description implied. I expected a fluffy happily ever after rom com— it was that, but so much more. The characters are real with flaws and pasts that have caused damage just like the rest of us have experienced, making the characters much more raw and real. There were steamy scenes that kept the rom com romance a central theme but also the drama and hollywood fun to make it so much more. Highly recommend!

Thank you netgalley and the publisher for the advanced copy

Major rom-com vibes! This book was so much fun. I started it in a plane ride and couldn't put it down once I got home later that night. Truly felt like I was watching a rom-com back in the 2000s. I loved the characters and the writing, it was very impressive for a debut author. I can't wait to see what she writes next, and truly hope this does get made into a movie because it was such a fun book. Perfect vacation book, will be great for the summertime when it comes out later this year. Thanks to #netgalley and #randomhouse for the early access!

este libro me atrajo de inmediato. Después de terminarlo, puedo decir que lo disfruté en general, pero no me atrevo para darle más de 3 estrellas porque no tuve absolutamente ningún problema dejarlo y luego no volver a levantarlo durante días. Era un Buen libro, simplemente no me atrajo ni me llamó tanto la atención. como esperaba que fuera. No tuve ningún problema para conectarme con el aunque personajes. Gray y Ethan encajaban bien el uno con el otro,
perfecto el uno para el otro incluso, pero el libro se sintió largo a veces. También largo y extenso, demasiados detalles y repeticiones innecesarias.
Entonces, lo disfruté, pero no me encantó. Me faltaba algo. disfruté el último 20% más que el resto del libro. tuvo un gran epílogo. Este fue mi primer libro de Ava Wilder. todavía estoy deseando leyendo más libros suyos porque el libro no estaba mal, ni mucho menos
simplemente no fue tan bueno como esperaba que fuera después de leer.

I enjoyed How to Fake It in Hollywood by Ava Wilder, but it lacked the sort of realism I look for in a novel. Especially when it comes to romance. I liked it, but it wasn't my cup of tea.

I had mixed feelings on this book. For the most part, I enjoyed it, but it just seemed so unrealistic and unavoidable. Like if they just communicated they wouldn’t have had such an issue. It was so obvious they had feelings. I don’t know how two people could be so ignorant. But it was fun, and well written, and I didn’t think it was a waste.

3.75 stars (to be exact!)

This was not a light read, as the synopsis and cover would have you believe. That threw me off in the beginning, but I really came to enjoy how the book did not shy away from hard hitting topics like abuse and addiction.

The reason I detracted a star was due to the lack of chemistry between the leads in the beginning and there dynamic seemed off to me. There was so much tension between Grey and Ethan from the beginning, and I was left confused about 1) why they were attracted to each other and 2) why there was tension when they could easily just be together. This was all resolved halfway through the book luckily, but it was strange...

If you are looking for a romance about celebrities that has more depth than the usual books in this genre, than this is the perfect book for you!

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review!

Review posted on Goodreads 2/9/22

Angsty romcom with a fake dating trope and celebrities? Sign me up!

Ava Wilders debut novel covers topics from issues with fame in Hollywood to Alcoholism all have been approached incredibly well with majorly sensitivity and caution. The one issue I had was that there was no clear build up of chemistry with the main characters while the chemistry was there it felt like it just appeared rather than a proper build up.

E-arc acquired on NetGalley

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4537779387

3.75 / 5 stars

When I first started reading this, I thought this could be a 5 star read for me. The book cover is absolutely gorgeous, and the fake dating trope definitely had me interested. It was only when the story hit the 60ish% mark that it started to lose me a little bit.

(Minor spoiler ahead/content warning.) This book had both the miscommunication trope not once but twice. I truly do despise that trope. And to see it twice in the specific way it was used (I don't want to spoil anything major) did not vibe with me.

I can see other people reading this and really enjoying it. I will keep an eye out on this author to see if they come out with another book. Overall, I did enjoy this story, and it was very close to being a 4 star read for me.

ARC provided by Netgalley for an honest review.
Ugh! I'm struggling on whether I want to rate this with 3 or 4 stars. So let's meet in the middle and say 3.5 🌟. I loved the premise of How to Fake It in Hollywood. Two struggling actors, a fake relationship and then they actually fall in love. However, while reading through their relationship woes, I didn't really feel the love and chemistry between them. I wanted more love and compassion between them, instead it was all too rushed and the reader is made to believe they're in love. Don't get me wrong, Ava is a talented writer. I just can't find it in me to be an insta love fan. I've tried.

I love a fake dating trope so I was so excited to read this! It did not disappoint, I actually thought I was getting a fluffy romance but it went so much deeper and I loved that!

Grey is such a strong and witty character. She always has great comeback/one-liners and is definitely someone I would want in my friend group!

Ethan is the movie star we all grew up with a massive crush on. He’s sweet but angsty and dark and you can’t help but want to give him a hug!

I loved the relationship development between these two characters and how they help each other in so many ways! Also as someone who lives in Los Angeles, I appreciated the accuracy of locations and descriptions. You always hear about couples dating for publicity so I thought this was such a fun creative take on it! Highly recommend for the celeb obsessed fans!

I enjoyed How to Fake It in Hollywood. This book follows Grey Brooks and Ethan Atkins as they navigate a fake relationship for a PR stunt to boost their careers. Grey is a 27 year old, unemployed actress, who is desperately trying to find meaningful roles since her departure from a hit teen TV show. Her agent and publicist set her up with Ethan Atkins, a 38 year old actor, who has hidden from the spotlight for the past 5 years after the death of his best friend. He is struggling with alcoholism and depression as he suffers from grief and guilt as a result of the loss.

Grey and Ethan decide to enter into a 6 month fake relationship to try and re-establish their dwindling careers. Ethan tries to keep his distance from Grey, both emotionally and physically, but they end up falling for each other.

This book was a little heavy with Ethan’s struggles, which isn’t a bad thing, but I just want readers to know what they are getting!

Read if you enjoy books with:
• Fake Relationships
• Forced Proximity
• Celebrity Romance
• Age Gaps (11 years)

If you enjoyed To Love Jason Thorne by Ella Maise, I think you will really like this one. It includes all the same tropes without the second chance aspect. The synopsis says fans of Beach Read will enjoy it and I think that is true too! Ethan shares a lot of similarities with Gus.

Trigger Warnings: Alcoholism, Substance Abuse, Death of a loved one or close friend, Depression

I think this was a really great debut for Ava Wilder! Thank you to Net Galley and Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine for sharing this ARC with me in exchange for an honest review.

Review has been posted on Goodreads and I will post a review on my Instagram account on release day.

This was a super cute romance! I LOVED Grey I thought she was absolutely amazing. Honestly, though I wasn’t the biggest fan of Ethan. I think he was realistic but honestly, I just disliked him so at times it made it a little hard to swoon for certain scenes in this. Overall I would recommend this book because it was a cute romance and I did enjoy it and I’m sure if you like Ethan then this book will be perfect for you.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with this arc in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this one! Going into this, I knew it was a fake dating storyline between two actors so I thought it would be your normal rom-com. I was expecting light hearted and easy breezy. This was a lot deeper than that though. This book includes some hard and touchy subjects and the author handled them wonderfully. I enjoyed Grey and Ethan’s character and the development of both of them throughout the book. Overall, a really good solid read!!

Thank you Net Galley and Random House/ Ballantine for an ARC in return for my honest review.

When I first read the description, I was expecting a light read. Fake dating in Hollywood between two actors seems like it would be a feel good story. But, boy was I wrong. Of course there were light, funny moments as well, but I feel like this book had so much more. This story had depth and a lot of emotion. I felt for the main characters as they dealt with their individual struggles as well as their struggles together. I highly recommend How to Fake it in Hollywood!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this advance copy!