I enjoyed this one. Daniel and Samaya were pretty cute together. Althouuugh at times I did want to shake some sense into Samaya >.> but eh we all get a bit caught up in what others think of us. And I did like that she was a complicated individual with flaws like we all have. But whew her so called friends were not it!! Except Cass, they were cool.

Samaya is a better person than me cuz after everything her ex Devin did??? no sir we were not speaking again.

I also will say that i expected the elusive Earl Whispers reveal to be a bit more dramatic. But overall i enjoyed the book.

A solid pick for the right reader. I am not in high school anymore and I felt it, but the style is charming and it had moments. I will be keeping an eye on it for our YA section. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an opportunity with the title.

Farah Heron is one of my favorite authors but I realized that young adult books are just not for me. I didn’t review this on any sites as I didn’t want the rating to affect it.

This is very much a YA romance so keep that in mind before you read it! I thoroughly enjoyed this fake dating trope!

I am so sorry I waited so long to read this amazingly sweet and poignant YA fake dating romance story because it was Samaya's growth and love that truly blossomed. As the description states Samaya is dumped by the IT guy at school and there is a bunch of negativity thrown her way. What she does in response is create a fake boyfriend using her gamer friends photo.

On a volunteer gig at the bake sale she meets the one an only gamer guy (who is as cute in person as he is in his photo). With the help of her friends and Daniel (the hot gamer guy) they make take the romance to school. Of course they make waves along the way. Daniel learns some calculus, bakes some treats and shows Samaya a new side of a gamer-Jock. And Samaya grows up, learns to respect herself and others as well as not to judge a book buy it cover. She also might just realize that the IT guy for her is her gamer guy, Daniel.

Farah Heron is one of my favorite authors and her YA novel is just as well done as her regular work. I am most impressed with her writing style for this novel, her YA themes, the plot and the way in which she was able to develop such interesting and complex characters for a YA romance novel. Well done.

Super cute YA Fake dating troupe. Wasn’t sure if I was “too old”to read this book as the book was set in high school. But I ended up really enjoying this one and cheering for the FMC to get her happiness that she deserved. There was some hiccups through out the book but all it took was a bit of “growing up” and all was good in the end. This was my first read by this author and I do look forward to reading more from her. Recommend this book if YA is your thing!!

Gosh, this was so adorable and fun! I’ve loved Farah Heron’s adult books and I’m a complete sucker for fake dating, so when I saw this I knew I needed to read it. Samaya’s growth over the course of the book was especially good, helped along by her bestie Cass, who isn’t afraid to tell her when she’s being elitist or being selfish in a way that’s harming their friendship. Daniel is such a sweet, sweet guy and I loved his joy in baking and sharing baked goods. Just, all around this was a delightful story and I love these characters, and I’m looking forward to going backwards to read Tahira’s story~

Samaya returns for the new year of school post-breakup from golden boy, Devin. She’s the topic of gossip specifically by the social media account devoted to all the juicy happening at school. Since the breakup, Samaya had a rough time, but found kinship with a fellow online gamer. They’d become somewhat friends, and curb the gossip at school, she and her friends concoct a story that they’re together and post an edited photo of them together. She ends up meeting the guy in the photo through a volunteer gig. She and Daniel, a hockey player and pretty amazing baker, get along, and they agree to fake date to help her image. In return she helps him with math.

It’s a cute story where Samaya goes through a long and uneasy character growth. She’s a bit immature at the start and eventually gets that she’s been self-centered to the point of neglectful of her friends, and inconsiderate towards Daniel. Differentiating between what’s important, loosening up on her judgmental tendencies, standing up to bullies, accepting people as they are, gaining awareness of other people’s lives … so much packed into this amazing story.

There were things that bugged me like her overbearing mother. Also her ex Devin, his snobby parents. They were unpleasant. Who wasn’t? Daniel! He was a joy.

A bonus of reading this story are all the treats that Daniel teaches Samaya to bake at their volunteer assignment - cookies, pies, tarts. It’s all yummy! He challenges her perception that all jocks are macho and dumb.

This book reminded me of why YA can be a delight to read as an adult. Heron tackled so many topics, and wonderfully, too. She allowed her heroine to be flawed and to grow, and I love everything about that in this coming of age story.

Thanks to @netgalley & #skyscape an imprint of @amazonpublishing for my ARC. This is my honest review.

This was a good book. The relationship between Samaya and Daniel was fun to read about. Sometimes I thought Samaya was a little bit annoying, but she showed growth and by the end I liked her. I enjoyed seeing stereotypes being broken with Daniel being a jock who enjoys baking and seeing a girl who is a giant nerd and loves gaming.

3/5 stars, there was so much teenage drama lol

Thank you to Skyscape for the arc through netgalley in exchange for an honest review!

This was a really intense book for a young adult contemporary, and that was really because of some of the themes present as well as the unnecessary high school drama haha. While I did expect a bit of this, especially as the main character, Samaya, is fake-dating a boy to get back at her ex-boyfriend, it wasn't ultimately what I wanted from the story. This is okay, as I think this book will be a lot more entertaining for people, there were just some things that were not my favorite but in total I think it was still interesting.

One of the biggest parts that was a turn-off for me was the petty and selfish drama that happened at the main character's high school. Being someone who recently left high school behind and was very happy to not have to deal with that sort of drama anymore (in theory) I just didn't love reading about the gossip account, rumors, and how everyone wanted a certain "status". I understand that this is how it is in high school, but I think there can also be successful young adult books without all of this being "normalized", though I do understand that was part of the point of the story. I think I was just expecting something a little different.

The plot was alright, I really enjoy the fake dating trope so getting to see that present here was super fun! I love seeing people slowly fall for each other. But because the drama was such a big part of this plot, it really affected how the characters acted, and I was SO annoyed at Samaya's supposed friends. They were all acting so shitty to her, both to her face and behind her back, and I got so frustrated with this book. Don't even get me started on her ex-boyfriend, he was so annoying, and especially how this book ended with him I would honestly have gone insane if he was real in my life. But, this drama did get the anticipated reaction out of me so I have to give the book that, the writing style just wasn't anything super unique so while I got the feelings that were intended, I just didn't connect very deeply.

That being said, I think Samaya as a main character had a lot to learn and isn't perfect, but she is pretty realistic and over the course of the book comes to realize some of her faults that are harming other people. This was great character growth, more than I can say for most people in this story. And the main love interest, Daniel was the star of the show for me. He was so sweet to everyone all the time even if they didn't deserve it, loved baking and playing hockey, and volunteered at a shelter for people. He just really deserved better than what he went through in this book haha. I also loved Samaya's best friend, Cass, they were also really sweet and willing to acknowledge and tell Samaya when she was wrong or being rude without being rude themselves.

Overall, this wasn't a bad book as I really enjoyed seeing how the character learned her lesson and became a better person but there was just way too much petty drama for me to enjoy it fully. But Daniel was an amazing main love interest and while most of the characters were mean in this book, there were a few good ones that stood out. Also, I definitely need more books with baking and hockey in them.

[TW: breakup with a partner, rumors and gossip, racist slurs mentioned, harassment and cyberbullying, abusive stepfather mentioned, catfishing, homelessness mentioned, controlling family figures, missing child]

The writing is so info-dumpy and stilted; I was very bored and irritated while reading this. I just cannot conjure any emotion to care about Sam and her problems.

I typically stay away from stories set in high school because they often veer towards too dramatic with a really annoying group of characters. 'How to Win a Breakup' was so hilarious that the annoying characters didn't really feel all that annoying.

'How to Win a Breakup' is a quick and chaotic read! Having teens at the peak of their hormones and romantic relationships is bound to be wild from start to finish.

The main character, Samaya's, ex-boyfriend Devin randomly breaks up with her right before summer break and totally derails her emotion and life plans. There's a Gossip Girl-esque account going around spreading hurtful commentary about Samaya post-breakup. Samaya is a gamer girl and decides to post an edited picture of her and the anonymous gamer buddy. She starts volunteering at a family shelter and meets the human sunshine, Daniel, who also just happens to be the guy in the photo she sent into this story's Gossip Girl. Daniel and Samaya start up a fake dating situation so Samaya can take control of the rumours spreading about her and in return she tutors him in math.

All the choices made by any of the teens in this book gave me so much secondhand embarrassment. When you're reading it as an adult, it's easy to think the characters are doing the most but just tape into your cringe teen memories and you'll realize it's not that far from reality.

Samaya and Daniel started fake dating so quickly and fell in love just as quick. They get into a lot of shenanigans along the way and have to think on their feet to make sure everyone believes they're actually dating. There's entirely too many people scrutinizing their every move.

Samaya's ex-boyfriend Devin was such a pathetic menace. He shows up so often and every time I'm like "please get off the page right now". Also most of her friends are so mean and sometimes I was left thinking "why on Earth are you being like this right now?"

My main issue with this story was that ultimately no choices or consequences held any gravity. Everyone kind of just moves on and the story wraps up quick. While this isn't fully unrealistic, it just feels a little strange to have so much chaos to have such little time spent on the resolution.

Overall, 'How to Win A Breakup' was an entertaining read with a really dramatic, cast of teenage characters. I'm excited to read more of Farah Heron's work!

Thank you so much to Netgalley and Skyscape for the eARC!

I have a lot of issues about this book and some of them I'm gonna keep to myself, but it was mentioned in the book that samaya and her family were Muslim but they didn't act anything like being a Muslim and all the characters were so immature and Daniel was so sunshiney which is so much for me.

This was an entertaining book. I don't always enjoy a high-school-based tale(given my current age), but I tend to give it a shot here and there and end up liking some of them.
This was one such book, and I ended up reading this in almost a single sitting. The writing was good, and the diverse cast was all introduced with proper background information, providing a complete picture of everything that was going on.
Our almost-over-achieving leading lady is in a fix. She had a bad ending to the previous year and is now short of a few things on her resume that she thought she would have by now. This is a direct impact of a very public breakup at the end of the previous year. There is a subtle mix of childish tantrums as well as calm ruminations of those on the brink of independence and adulthood by the time we see the entire story through.
Samaya has a finger in a lot of pies. She wants to get a game app up and running as well as add something different to her resume. The latter leads her to help cook (since she cannot cook at all) at a community centre. The former means life in school is hard.
Samaya is also playing a game with an anonymous person online who is someone she is getting quite close to. She uses that person's profile picture to announce to her school that she has moved on. This complicates matters even further, adding chaos to an extremely chaotic year.
I thought that the book could have been shorter (even as it felt like a quick read) because once the chaos piles up, things seem to drag. This is probably the only negative I have for the entire book. We meet different kinds of students with differing priorities who all end up showing their true colours by the time the end rolls around.
Each individual character felt like their own person. This is the story's strongest part. I would recommend it to readers of this genre.
I received an ARC thanks to NetGalley and the publishers but the review is entirely based on my own reading experience.

This one is such a great ride. A villain that you love to hate and a FMC you really root for. The secondhand embarrassment of how the breakup plays out made me cringe a little but I really enjoyed the budding romance. Revenge romance typically isn't my favorite (it feels a bit manipulative) but I think I enjoyed them together so much it didn't even cross my mind reading this one.

Samaya and her friends brought me right back to the high school years as we navigate exes, friends and preparing for college with them. When Samaya begins to volunteer for a local shelter, she meets Daniel and the connection between them two is quick! I found myself having a hard time connecting with Samaya, at first, but by the end of the story I was rooting for her and glad to see her growth and self-discovery! Thank you to NetGalley and Skyscape! All thoughts and opinions are my own

This is my first Farah Heron book and I am on my way to read all of her others.

Samaya is going through it, she was dumped at the beginning of the summer, lost a job because of her ex-boyfriend and her frenemy is now dating her ex. So after losing an opportunity that would look good on her college applications, she is given a volunteer opportunity where she meets hockey playing, baking, Daniel.

Confession time: I usually don’t like fake-dating, I know, I know. I just haven’t found one to convince me of the trope. UNTIL this one, I think I get it now.

I loved the side characters and how unlikeable they were and my brain was constantly trying to play detective with the mystery element.

I loved how true to high school this felt, with the ease of getting caught up in your own life and problems that nothing else existed.

Easy to say that I loved this book a lot.

Thank you to Netgalley for the eArc.

Loved everything about this one! It has gossip girl and lady whistledown drama happening but online and poor Samaya who had been broken up with before the summer is the center of all the tea. Her ex bf/friend is back when school starts up again and now with someone she knows. So her friends help her by posting a pic with her and the guy she's been playing online games with.
This turns into a huge problem as the guy in the picture is a guy at her new volunteer job and not the guy she was talking to online.
This was so sweet and had so many different important topics that are important for teens to hear about organically. Like gossip, toxic relationships, your worth isn't tied to your academic success or relationship partner. Also real life realities such as homelessness and extreme privilege. Also not putting everyone in a box by type and judging by their interests.

Thank you skyscape

Thank you so much to the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Smart girl Samaya is dumped by who she thought was her picture-perfect boyfriend. Her job is sabotaged and her ex starts dating her enemy. Samaya isn’t winning the breakup until she meets Daniel. Daniel offers to fake date her in exchange for tutoring. What could possibly go wrong?

A lot could go wrong. And they did. However, it was handled very well. Elitism was a theme throughout the story and Samaya learning about her own was very well done. Daniel and Samaya had a very cute relationship and I was rooting for them the whole way through. As someone who’s half South Asian, the representation was on point.

Overall, it was a fun read and I’d recommend it to fans of Jennifer Yen and her book A Taste for Love!

An “it” couple’s breakup becomes a sporting event in a deliciously charming novel about the games people play in the name of love. First, math genius and gamer-nerd Samaya gets dumped by her boyfriend. Then he sabotages her job and hooks up with her frenemy. What could be worse? Clearly, her golden-boy ex is winning the breakup. The only way Samaya can get some rebound cred is to find someone new. Even if she has to fake it. At a volunteer bake sale, Samaya meets a sweet opportunity. Daniel is a handsome hockey jock and a whiz when it comes to lemon squares and brownies. And he agrees to play along. Quid pro quo. He’ll pretend to be the boyfriend of her dreams if Samaya helps him pass calculus. This may well be the recipe for the best revenge, but Samaya has no idea how complicated it will get. As they whip up an imitation romance, and a bumbleberry pie, resisting each other’s very real charms proves impossible. Samaya finds herself on an unexpected journey of secrets, self-discovery, and the true meaning of moving on.

I loved this story. Will recommend this to others.