This is a great book for what it is: a story about two actors in Hollywood trying to repair and boost their reputations by pretending to date each other.

I loved the book however it was very emotionally draining still the love story between Ethan and greybwas very well written but I would definitely worn that if your struggling with aa like me it's very triggering but I couldn't put it down

The Fake Dating troupe. Not something I would normally pick up and read. But when I read the synopsis on NetGalley I felt like I had to request it. I’M SO GLAD I DID!! Now normally when I see something about the fake dating troupe it usually has something to do with an inheritance or trying to make an ex jealous by showing up to their wedding, or a wedding they are going to be at with a date. This is definitely not the case in this book. Grey is an actress who has been working since the age of 8. Ethan is a well established and famous actor who has been out of the lime light for around 5 years. Since the death of his best friend and the falling apart of his marriage due. He has been laying low. Their agents decided it would be best for them to go into a contract for a fake dating relationship to boost their carreers. They both being reluctant decide to go ahead with it.
This book made me laugh so much. Even when they got into topics where got into serious topics and started to really learn about one another, there would always be some type of comic relief in the form of jokes or funny comments.
The growth of Ethan’s character and seeing him go through, and try to still get over, the death of his best friend from 5 years ago is still very relevant to the story and his relationship with his ex-wife and Grey. I totally will be picking up a phsyical copy of this book when it comes out so I can reread it again!

I can't even begin to tell you how much I loved this book. Right from the start I was hooked and read it in two days. Right away you get who Grey is as a character and she stays true to herself the entire way through. It was so relatable enough though you were reading about two movie stars. I can not even to begin to say how much I loved their relationship. This was beyond a 5 star read for me, would recommend this to everyone I know.

(wrote my review on goodreads aswell)

(ARC kindly provided by NetGalley in return of an honest review 🤍)

As a big fan of romance books myself this really caught my eye. I mean, look at that cover! How To Fake it in Hollywood follows Ethan and Greys story. The beginning automatically drew me in and I loved the character descriptions and build up of everyone. This was such a cute read and I couldn’t stop turning the pages. I loved the whole hollywood vibe ESPECIALLY with the fake dating (that’s one of my fave tropes)

Ava Wilder is definitely super talented!! 🤍

Omg I loved this one! I am a sucker for a fake dating trope and boy did this deliver. Fantastic writing, witty banter, a swoon worthy story. As a fan of Christina Lauren and Emily Henry I am rather picky when it comes to romance. I will definitely check out Avas other books.

This review will be published on @libraryofspooky on February 1st for my feed up to Valentine’s Day. This review is already posted on Goodreads.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for the story arc in return for an honest review!

I rarely, if ever, give a romance 5 stars. This book wholeheartedly deserves it though.

How to Fake it in Hollywood is a captivating and charming romance novel. On the trope of fake dating and partly in the public eye, Grey and Ethan must navigate unknown territories that will make them uncomfortable and deeply in each other’s arms.

Grey is a d list celebrity who recently finished the wrap up on her teen drama. She hasn’t worked in a year and is yearning for her next role, to pick up the momentum on her career and her manuscript. She’s witty, cunning and alluring. The perfect protagonist to make you laugh, but also make you cry. A celebrity that’s so humble, she feels more like a friend. Also her first name is Emily, so we have something in common!

Ethan is an a list celebrity, not working on any projects for the past five years. He’s mysterious and bewitching. He’s broken and trying to pick up the pieces to see if they still fit.

This story contains the multitude about loving somebody with an addiction, it’s what I think gave this an extra star. Nobody wins when you love somebody with an addiction, it was beautifully written to reflect that. It can be hard to grasp and put into writing.

Spice level was a few scenes and I liked that! It’s nice to not read a book full of attraction to sex, a very nice love story between two celebrities that shows the good, the bad and the ugly. It’s nice to compare the book and how so much of our generation being online idolizes celebrities when they are their own people.

I seriously adored this book. fake dating trope? immediate read for me. but this wasn’t just a cutesty rom com either, Ava Wilder really tackled some hard issues in this book in such an elegant way. i cried and laughed equal parts while reading! to top it off, ethan was as swoon worthy as ever, love declarations TOP TIER.

This book was not at all what I expected going in, and I was so pleasantly surprised! I went in thinking it would be a light rom-com, but the author delivers a fantastic love story while discussing very heavy topics (alcohol abuse, death, grief). Overall I really liked the characters and felt like this was well written! I would definitely recommend.

Thank you to the author, Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, and NetGalley for providing an advance reader copy for review!

Rating: 2.5

I liked the idea of the fake relationship. I just dont think it was executed well. The characters didn't have any chemistry and there was no build up in the relationship. There also wasn't much fake relationship shenanigans happening, so that part of the book was disappointing and boring. It does deal with some serious things too (alcoholism, death of a friend) and I thought that part was well-written.

This book was actually really good! I figured it would be your typical boy meets girl romance they fight their attraction, then they fall in love, then an obstacle stands in their way, and then in the end they live happily ever after.... No I basically just outlined the storyline for you but what made this book special was it was way more realistic than a lot of romance novels. The characters each had their own issues and problems that people have every day and they struggle to overcome them and be better people. I would definitely recommend this book for anyone that's looking for a quick romance read! Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for a honest review!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishing team for providing me with this ARC!

The premise of the book was something I enjoyed/was excited about but unfortunately, everything else fell flat for me. The fake dating didn't really get the build-up it needed to deliver it well; it was more insta-love. I felt like we ended up reading about things they do and going through time jumps that it didn't give us enough time with them to actually see how Grey and Ethan would navigate their circumstances and fall in love. It seemed like Grey liked him from the beginning and she grew on him later on. There was more telling than showing and it made it hard for me to connect with the characters, let alone believe in their romance. You knew Ethan's problem with alcoholism and overall messy way of life would impact whatever relationship they tried to have. He was not in a healthy place for a relationship to thrive and I definitely think it's another reason why the romance didn't grab me.

I liked Grey as a character and loved seeing her work hard for herself. It was a pretty realistic view of a celebrity that started as a child actor with dreams and a complicated family relationship. While it addressed some heavier subjects with alcoholism, death, and family drama, the romance wasn't enough for me to enjoy it as much as I wanted to.

Overall, okay read! If you like reading about relationships that move at a faster pace set in Hollywood, this is for you!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this arc. I really enjoyed this book. Grey and Ethan portray fake dating really well here. While it isn’t quite slow burn, the tension between the two of them certainly kept me on the edge of my seat. There many moments where I couldn’t put it down, even though I should’ve been sleeping. It did, however, suffer from the conflict-in-the-last-60-pages trope. It helped with their personal growth but it was an uncomfortable place to add waves to the story, especially since there were only four more chapters left. The pacing was pretty good up until that moment. I also would’ve liked to see more scenes with his children because he frequently mentions how important they are to him. But even so, I’d read it again.

I was lucky enough to get approved for an e-ARC of this on NetGalley and I loved it. I couldn’t put it down and spent the last few days looking forward to any free moments I had so I could finish reading this book. Not only did this book provide some sexy and funny moments, it also offered depth and some surprising subplots and background stories that took the book in a surprising and interesting direction. The chemistry between Grey and Ethan is sizzling and wha starts as a fake relationship soon evolves into something so much deeper. You would expect these two Hollywood characters to be vapid and shallow but they are anything but. They are each struggling with their own insecurities and haunted by moments of their past. It was nice to see this book tackle tough topics and not shy away from serious issues. It made the story more real and made the characters more relatable. It felt like I was reading a real love story and watching a relationship evolve as two people work on themselves and grow. I appreciated that aspect because sometimes romance novels can shy away from realistic plot points. I can’t wait to purchase my physical copy and highly recommend this entertaining ride.

actual rating: 4.5/5
I adore this book! The premise is nearly everything I could want in a romance book: fake-dating with Hollywood actors. This book was deceptively fluffy at the beginning, but as the story progressed, it became so real with so much more substance. It deals with real issues (such as alcoholism) and the fact that being in love doesn't just solve all of your problems. It reminded me of how Emily Henry writes her books (aka fantastically). I loved Grey and Ethan's relationship. I thought that they fit really well together, and they both grew so much throughout this book that I could really see them together. Read this book!!

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5

fake dating! and a great hollywood dynamic. i liked grey and ethan as a couple, and as compliments to each other.

#netgalley

a former teen soap star and a brooding a-list dilf enters a fake relationship to better their Hollywood imagery but soon discover that their mutual feelings and attraction towards each other definitely became more than just a PR stunt....

this has been the first proper celebrity romance I've read in...probably forever.
i truly enjoyed the authenticity of the characters, and that the celebrity aspect was written really well and with maturity

it really has a lot going for it, from being celebrities to entering a fake relationship, an older Hero, being in forced proximity, to a situation where "just once to get it out of our system" comes to play

i loved the atmosphere this novel brought alongside our main characters, Grey and Ethan. the sizzling attraction between them were off the charts and i just didn't want to stop reading about them. you'd think of Grey as this timid little thing but she's no dumb blonde. and then Ethan is this beloved famous actor but gets easily tongue tied and aww-struck around Grey. there's a small time jump that i did not see coming and it also broke my heart for them but it all worked out so beautifully for them

𝙃𝙚 𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙩𝙤𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙙 𝙝𝙚𝙧, 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙗𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙚𝙮𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙘𝙩.
“𝙄𝙛 𝙨𝙝𝙚’𝙡𝙡 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙢𝙚.”

and even with all of this, there's still heavy situations coming up that was at times hard to read but also made it a real and heartfelt story

tw for: grief over death of a loved one, alcoholism/addiction, mild weight/body discussions

*𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳, 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘙𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘮 𝘏𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘗𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘎𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘱 - 𝘉𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘳𝘤 𝘪𝘯-𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸*

This book had me up so I can finish it!! Wow!! This romance definitely fit all of my boxes and exceeded them!! The two main characters had great chemistry!!! If I had one note, I would say I wish this was in first person point of view! 4/5

Looking at the title, cover, and blurb I assumed I would like this debut as it seemed right up my alley...BUT let me tell you I LOVED this book. Run and preorder this book right this second, but also maybe check for content warnings just because there are heavier topics. I would like to list all the things I loved about this book, but we would be here all day and I do not think anyone would be interested in reading my ten page review. This book featured an ex wife character who was so refreshing, we love a supportive woman and being more creative than writing the typical catty ex. The writing felt so exceptional that I was in awe that this was a debut. First book I’ve read that mentioned a sex-induced UTI, just felt realistic and fresh. No spoilers, however, I was happy to see that the problems the characters faced seemed to be solved realistically. The steam was there, but really the romance stole the show. I really believe this book will be a big success and hit the mark for a lot of readers in the romance genre and hopefully more.

4.5/5
*includes spoilers

I expected this book to be a fluffy romance book with the fake-dating trope but that’s not was this book was at all! I was impressed by the story and the characters. Some books with fake dating tend to feel unrealistic and predictable but this book felt much more real and human. Towards the end, I was nervous that Ethan’s drinking was going to be swept under the rug or magically solved so I liked the way the ending unfolded.

I am excited for this book to be released as I can see it being a hit