I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley for an honest review.


⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

The first thing that came to mind when I was reading this book was the Taylor Swift lyric, “I had a marvelous time ruinin’ everything.” At least that’s what Ashley makes you think, but then again, what makes a villain really?

I enjoyed Ashley’s character arc from the beginning to the end but found Gabe a little lacking (which is also probably the point in that the one typecast as perfect isn’t so perfect after all :)).

The spice was solid without taking away from the storyline and while this is book three, it can easily be read as a standalone book.

So I stayed up until 4am to read this in one sitting. It was so good! I ate up the banter and the tension between Ashley and Gabe! Watching “the villain everyone loves to hate” and “hollywoods golden boy” come together in a fake dating reputation rehab scheme was magical. But honestly, I probably cried as much as I giggled. Reading Ashley’s thoughts and feelings definitely hit me in the gut. Gabe has his own story too, but I really felt for Ashley. Overall this story really did give me a little dose of exactly what I needed. Also, I would die for Aunt Cora, she is a real mvp.

‘Golden boy’ Gabe gets caught in the middle of ‘the villain’ Ashley’s complicated feelings for her cousins husband. Forced to fake date to save their reputations, what happens when the they spend too much time together? Lots of sexual tension & secrets. If you love angst, enemies to lovers & forced proximity you’ll love this book!

I went into this book completely blind and I had an amazing time! I read it in one day as I couldn’t put it down.

I love how much character development we got from both Gabe & Ash and I’m glad they got their happy ending!

4.5 Stars!!! 🌟

Ashley Foley is the ultimate villain and she has absolutely no problem claiming that she is. She plans on seducing her cousin's husband, Nic, on the DAY OF THEIR WEDDING! However, when the wrong guy walks into the room, she has no other choice but still play it off and kisses Golden Boy Gabriel Sinclair anyway. He should have walked away the moment that she kissed him, but they are thrown into a fake dating scenario, with a cross-country roadtrip full of exciting adventures and possible mishaps along the way.
I read this in less than two days because I was on such an emotional high the entire time that I haven't had with a book in a LONG time. I am a total sucker for dual POV's, so being able to see Ashley & Gabe's POV switching off was *chef's kiss*. Ashley & Gabe truly have so much development the entire book and as you see it unfold, you truly begin to just love each of them even more.
"I hate that I want her so bad I can taste her."
"It's my cock you're going to come on, not his."
"You could never drag me down, not when you've helped me find my way up. I was drowning before you, in guilt and fear. You saved me."
Absolutely swooning over this book & I want MORE!

Ashley Foley is the girl they love to hate, the girl who coldly schemed to bring down her competitors in a reality TV programme and she has no problem living up to that reputation. Unfortunately, it has meant the work has all but dried up. She's been in love with her former neighbour Nic Fontana since she was a child, but he is about to marry her cousin Jessie later unless Ashley can seduce him now. However, Ashley's PA directs Hollywood heartthrob and all-round golden boy Gabriel Sinclair to her room by mistake.

Gabriel is the adopted son of a notable film director and he struggles to live up to his father's moral code. He seems indifferent to Ashley, but when the paparazzi (primed by Ashley for a different scoop) snap a picture of his leaving her room covered in her lipstick while she watches en dishabille from the door he sees it as a chance to show the public that he isn't just good for fluffy rom-coms, something he desperately needs in order to hang on to his new role as a superhero in an upcoming film.

Gabriel and Ashley's agents and PR people decide the bad girl and the good guy could play for both of them, but only if they spin it as the two of them dating, rather than a sleazy one-night stand. Reluctant companions on a road trip across America, neither of them can deny the physical attraction, but can they see behind the masks to the real people underneath?

I really enjoyed this, it was super steamy as Ash and Gabe gave in to their animal lusts (and Ash liked to try to shock boy scout Gabe), yet there was also a strong plot which didn't tread the same tired old path as other opposites attract romances are wont to do. I also liked that although we see a softer side of Ash she doesn't change beyond all recognition, she's still the exhibitionist, straight-talker at the end.

I haven't read any of the previous books in the series, but this is easy to read as a standalone.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley for an honest review.

Stuck between a 4 and a 4.5 here!

I loved almost everything about this book! My only sticking point is the fact that the MMC was nearly irredeemable, he was such an ass in the last half of the book and he just did not grovel nearly enough (or at all?). The FMC completely martyred herself for him when he did absolutely nothing to deserve it and would never have done the same for her. I think I could have moved past this if the FMC had any kind of redemption arc with her public image, but she basically just leaves her reputation in tatters and then moves on with her life.

While I'm not saying it matters what the public thinks, his assholery might have been more forgivable if it didn't leave her reputation in tatters for the rest of forever.

But despite this I still really loved it!

This book rocked my world. It is the perfect read for fans of heart-racingly intense angst, smoking hot romance, and passionate love stories. I highly recommend grabbing it immediately.

Wow. Just… Wow. I absolutely adored this book. This was an emotional ride I was not prepared to go on, but am so thankful for the journey. There were times I hated the main characters, and times I loved them. So much, I would have fought anyone who said they weren’t great and been willing to die on that hill! I laughed, I swooned, I cried a little and my heart ached in my chest as we went through the ups and downs of their unconventional love story.

Ashley is a person we all love to hate - there’s a real life version of her out there, no doubt… reality TV has made sure of that! And Gabriel is the golden boy we all swoon over and swear could do no wrong. But this isn’t a story about Ashley and Gabriel, this is a story about Ash and Gabe, two people trying to figure out who they are and where they are going. Their roadtrip showed them the lies they live and the truths that are destined to be uncovered… and brought them both some extra steamy fun as well as the sweet, quiet moments together . And the ultimate truth that I think everyone should hear again and again… everyone deserves to be loved for exactly who they are, even the villain.

The writing was amazing, the character development and plot were phenomenal and I would highly recommend this book to anyone who asks!!

Thank you, Sarah Brenton for giving me the opportunity to read and share with this ARC and I am happily downloading all your other books this minute because I loved this so much!!

Rounded up for 3.5 stars

Ashley Foley is the bad girl everyone loves to hate, and Gabriel Sinclair is Hollywoods golden boy. Ashley's villain shenanigans create a situation where they have to fake date, and turns out they might not be exactly what people see them as.

I have not read the other Over The Top Love books so I am probably missing a bit of context on why Ashley is the villain but I really enjoyed my time reading this book. The character development for Ashley is really solid, its a slow warm up (she is the villain after all) but I grew to love her and cheer for her. I unfortunately felt the opposite about Gabriel, where I immediately liked him but by the end... not so much. I'm solidly on the "actions speak louder then words" train and Gabriels actions/words do not match.

I would recommend if you're looking for a quick read with spice, fake dating, celebrity romance, a villain FMC and a great redemption story.

*Thank you to NetGalley, Victory Editing, and to the author, Sarah Brenton, for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.*

“𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐈 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐦𝐲𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐈’𝐦 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮,”

TV villain Ashley Foley and golden boy actor Gabriel Sinclair are the subjects of Sarah Brenton's fake dating romance, The Villain Edit.

You guys know that one viral TikTok audio that goes, “It is so bad I want to give you a zero but that’s not possible, so I give you a one.” Yeah, that audio, Simply put that audio captures my thoughts of this book in its entirety.

I knew from the beginning that I wouldn’t enjoy this book, but initially for all the wrong reasons. Since Ashley, you know, attempted to ruin her cousin's wedding by convincing the groom that she was the better woman for him, I initially thought I wouldn't enjoy this novel. However, I quickly moved past that and began to feel sorry for Ashley.

Don't get me wrong, because after Gabriel and Ashley began pretending to date in order to help one another, I had assumed that I would at least enjoy this novel a little bit. Of course, though, everything seemed too good to be true.

Things started to go wrong after months of fake dating, at least I think it was months. However, Gabriel turned into a dick as soon as things went south since he didn't want to be associated with or seen with Ashley. In the end, he put his career ahead of his feelings for her, even going so far as to ruin her reputation even more than it already was. I could go on forever about all the things Gabriel did to Ashley and why I hated him so much, but that would take up too much time.

Even though I hated this book, I must say that my heart hurt for Ashley. Not only was my poor girl dealing with the world and all of its haters, but she was also dealing with her parents and Gabriel.

But that empathy didn't continue for very long. Ashley thought it would be better to focus on herself rather than on other people or on Gabriel after going through what she had, but that thought lasted for a mere five seconds. Ultimately, Gabriel comes to the realization that what he had done to Ashley was wrong, and he goes back to her to beg for her forgiveness. Ashley readily forgives him without any groveling on his part. I was genuinely unsure at the time who was more pathetic, Gabriel for pleading with Ashley for forgiveness or Ashley for accepting his apology without even asking for the barest minimum.

This is the kind of book that is really awful, but because it's so awful, it was really entertaining. I hated every minute of this book, so much that I doubt I could think of a single thing in it that I enjoyed.

*Thank you to NetGalley, Victory Editing, and to the author, Sarah Brenton, for providing me with this e-arc in exchange for an honest review.*

This was a lot of hot, spicy fun, and had way more depth than I had anticipated. When a writer makes you care about the bad guy, you know you’re in for a good story, and Sarah Brenton delivers.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Rating: 4.5/5 Stars

Wow, this book completely blew me away! I have never read this author and I was definitely pleasantly surprised. Will definitely be picking up more books by this author in the future!

Return flight read 1 got me blushing in my airplane seat and slobbering into my napkin. This was a hella quick read only because I couldn't put it down. I would've had to have the flight attendant boot me from my seat if my flight wasn't so long so I could finish this book. Brenton has written an additive story of mistaken personalities. Definite discovery book of the year for me.

Thank you to Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for providing an eARC for an honest review.

*Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*

oh wow this was totally unexpected!I couldn't put it down. loved the plot, the characters and the writing. Opposite attract-check!one of my favourite tropes!fun,quick and easy read. I will be checking this author's other work.
Definitely recommend if you are up for a great read!

📖 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙑𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙀𝙙𝙞𝙩 𝙗𝙮 𝙎𝙖𝙧𝙖𝙝 𝘽𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙤𝙣

"𝘛𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘯: 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘨𝘶𝘺, 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘯𝘶𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦."
"𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰 𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘯," 𝘐 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘮𝘦. "𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥."

Ashley is THE villain. The world loves to hate her after she was on a reality show and did whatever it took to win. Now her career is in the gutter and she is struggling with her forever crush, Nic, marrying her cousin. She decides to seduce him at his wedding. Everything is going to plan until Hollywood’s golden boy, Gabriel, walks in instead of Nic. When the two are photographed together in a compromising position, their agents force them to fake a relationship to improve Ashley’s image, and roughen up Gabriel’s for his new dark acting role. The two go on cross country roadtrip and try not to kill each other.

The role reversal was insane in this book! You start out hating Ashley and then the tables turn and the impossible happens, you HATE Gabe! The title really is perfect for this story. Nothing is black and white, people are more than just one thing. The story evolved nicely and the romance between the two leads was believable.

This was a hella spicy book! I loved it! 🥵👏🏼
Spice level: 3/3.5🔥

Tropes:
🫶🏼 Contemporary Romance
💃🏻 Fake Dating
🩶 Enemies to Lovers
💞 Dual POV
🥵 Swim Lessons

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for my early copy of this story so that I could share this honest review! The Villain Edit will be available on January 16, 2024; you’re not going to want to miss it!

I was not prepared to enjoy this as much as I did. I laughed, I cried, I swooned, I devoured it in a single day.

We have a dual POV (Ashley: The “Villain” and Gabe: The “Golden Boy”) fake dating, forced proximity, celebrity, contemporary romance. Ashley starts out strong by trying to seduce her cousin’s fiance… on their wedding day. But instead, in walks Gabriel Sinclair. After getting photographed by the paps, Ashley and Gabriel’s agents and PR people decide to use the situation to everyone’s advantage and set up a fake dating scenario that is going to kick off with the two of them spending the next two weeks in Gabe’s muscle car, travelling the scenic route back to LA. And all that is within the first 5%. I was hooked immediately.

This book is SPICY. But it’s plot AND vibes. The characters grow and you are rooting for both of them by the end (there’s a minute there where you want to throttle Gabe, but it passes when he GETS DOWN ON HIS KNEES).

I highly recommend this good-time read!

⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

Gawd, what can I say? Sarah Brenton was one of my new found favourite authors ❤️ of 2023. The Villain Edit is Book 3 of a series and Im telling you now… GO BUY books 1&2 and pre order book 3 AND READ THEM! - available on amazon.

I literally couldn’t put the book down. My only regret was I started in the evening and had to sleep (I stayed up to 1am until I couldn’t) and finished it off in the morning. It was SOOO GOOODDD!!! It kept me on an emotional rollercoaster!

Ashley, FMC, is known as the villain on a reality tv show. I personally love watching reality tv, and who doesn’t love to hate the villain right? But as much as Ashley played the part, she’s human too and words do hurt, especially when it’s constant from trolls, paps and news outlets. You know the awful things she’s done, but the author did an amazing job of getting the reader to LOVE and empathize with her and route for her!

On the flip side, you have a golden boy movie star, Gabriel, who is an a-list do-gooder. Not an evil bone on his body and is the typical perfect male specimen… or so that’s what he wants the public to see….he has an image he has to live up to and Ashley just seems like bad news….or is she? 😉

Forced on a roadtrip, the author gives us one bed, fake dating, forced proximity, enemies to lovers and opposites attract troupes! Everything about this book was so delicious I gobbled it up quickly and it took me from laughing out loud to Tears! Yes seriously, I cried… there were MOMENTS ❤️.

Sigh…. I want to re-read the whole series again it was all soo good! Sarah, please keep writing more books! 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I just downloaded NetGalley and while I’m still figuring that out this was the first book that caught my eye (yes I judged a book by its cover 😱) and was readily available for me to read.

I enjoyed it, it made me laugh, made me cry and even though I’m not a celebrity in anyway it still felt relatable in the aspect of personal real life issues. I really liked how based off their reputation and the roles they play after opening up (their legs and souls) they find that they aren’t all that different. It comes full circle both become the villain and both get their redemption arc.

As for spice, its is definitely there starts off very detailed then I feel it trails off to be less explicit since the scene was painted very well for you. Some were more than others but no scenes were too much.

Definitely recommend and I have not read any others in the series (Over the Top Love) since this can be read as a standalone but I want to check the previous ones out for sure.

Such a fun read to start the year! I loved the plot and characters. The ending did drag on a little bit but overall it was a good read.

Thanks to NetGalley and Victory Editing for this eARC in exchange for my honest review!

Supposedly golden retriever boy Gabriel meets bad reputation girl Ashley.
This book had me by surprise. To be honest, I went into it assuming it will be a easy, mildly spicy romance but I was wrong. The characters had me by surprise and even if it's not the longest of reads, there was enough time for a appropriate amount of characters developed and a surprising amount of backstory.
I recommend this book as a fast romance read with a good amount of not to heavy described spice.