3.5⭐ rounded up

Celebrity follows Emmy Ellison, who has had the dream of making it big in hollywood, basically all her life. After a failed attempt to get her foot in the door, emmy decides to move away from hollywood and lick her wounds.

Years later, she is a social media manager and a published author making her way up the NYT best sellers list. As the buzz around her book grows, its revealed that the male love interest is based on her real-life celebrity crush. She gets to meet said crush (Jason Conner) and gets a movie deal! The only thing left she wants to achieve is making it to the #1 spot on the NYT list. So she teams up with Jason to help repair his image while also giving her fans the ability to live vicariously through her as she lives her dream.

This book was a fun one. It had ups and downs, twists and turns, and a ton of pop culture lore. If you like a book that has great banter, relatable characters, and overall a fun read? I recommend you pick this book up!

Big thanks to Forever/ Grand Central Publishing and Netgalley for gifting this ARC in exchange for an honest review. ❤

I usually reserve one star reviews for offensive books but this book makes my blood boil so, here we are.

Okay, spoiler time.

First, the FMC is awful. She comes off as an immature celebrity stalker. She's written a book about an IRL celebrity and added real life, personal details. Gross. There are many instances that I hate about her interaction with him but at the point that she's in his house, with his kid (meeting for the first time, ICK), she's still referring to him as the celebrity crush. Like a trophy and not like a person. Gross. She literally uses him for clout and admits to it.

Secondly, she's a mom....who never has her kid....who is meeting a man and his kid for the first time in his apt and taking care of the kid...so many red flags. As a mother, she should know better. Especially because neither of them are in a relationship or really considering it. Also, he's not even desirable as a man. He's not redeemable.

I hate the social media/pop culture references. They always cheapen books for me and these were too much. The FMC was obsessed with social media. Then the name dropping of real celebrities in the book was too much. And I hated all the mean girl podcasts and characters. Women can be more than villains for other women.

Ugh, the third act breakup. Come on.

Also Thank God and Tom Hanks is ...something


OHMYGAWD SHE TOLD HER BABY DADDY ABOUT HIS KID LIKE THAT.

Okay, the one star is warranted.

Emmy Ellison is becoming a celebrity in her own right after writing a best selling novel and landing a movie deal. It is inspired by her own celebrity crush and as part of the promotion she gets to meet him on a national talk show. Also he is going to be the star of the movie so it makes sense to build up the pair by using social media. It is helping her book sales and it is helping tv star Jason get over some image problems. Much of them are of his own making.

The book is at its best when the couple are bantering with nerdy film and pop culture references. Emmy’s hard working, funny and enthusiastic. She genuinely wants to help Jason. And she is fan-girling from the start wondering if they could be something real. I think it is a stretch to say the book is a fake dating trope. When they meet he is still on and off with his girlfriend, who is the mother of his three year old son. Jason is the weak spot in the story. It is hard to feel bad for the successful tv/movie star with a bad PR problem. I get that he is lusty for her but that didn’t translate to feelings for me. I also thought both of their kids were side props to the story.

The author can write funny but I wasn’t sold on the romantic relationship. The grand gesture was cute but again comes after he intentionally tanks his and her career in a selfish snit. There was zero thought to other people who worked on their movie or how his impulsiveness impacts their careers and lives. I alternated between reading and listening to the story. And can recommend either depending on your preferences. Thank you to Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for the ARC and Hachette Audio for the audiobook both via NetGalley. And I am leaving an honest review.

I’m not sure where to start. Celebrity crush was cute, funny, weird, chaotic and unpredictable all simultaneously, but somehow still worked (mostly).
Emmy is a new author with a book based on her celebrity crush. Her crush then becomes the lead actor in the movie adaptation, and of course they get to meet.
Although the start of the book was really promising, I didn’t really feel the connection between the two of them. I wish there had been more time for them to get to know each other before falling for each other. There were also a ton of TikTok references that didn’t land with me, but may be more enjoyable for another reader.
Thanks for the eARC NetGalley.

Celebrity Crush is a cute romance between an author and the actor who inspired her popular rom-com book. As the book becomes a movie with him starring in it, they agree to date to help his image. The attraction feels minor on his end at the beginning -- he thinks she's cute but has her clearly in the "fan" category so is trying not to get too close. There's also an element of them both being single parents and he coparents with the female star of the movie. I didn't completely understand all of the pop culture references but overall I thought this was a really cute celebrity romance.

📖 ARC/ALC REVIEW 📖

Thank you @readforeverpub and @hachetteaudio for an early copy of Celebrity Crush by Christy Swift. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. 🤍

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐.25/5
Release date: February 11th, 2025

Blurb: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/214175072-celebrity-crush?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=0nZtkj7Zvi&rank=1

🛑Read on with caution; review may contain spoilers🛑


Celebrity Crush is a light and fun celebrity romance novel. It centers around Emmy, a debut author and social media influencer, who meets Jason, her celebrity crush who inspired her novel and stars in the movie version of her book. But Jason is on the fence of having his celebrity image entirely ruined, and Emmy agrees to help him repair it, if only to gain more fame.

Emmy and Jason’s insta-lust didn’t feel exactly natural, but I really enjoyed their banter. There were some hiccups along the way, but their eventual romance is sweet, though I feel like Jason needed a little bit more character growth, on the other hand, Emmy was quite relatable, and her quirks were hilarious – she’s the com in this romcom! Though it is sort of the central them of the book, it could have also gone without a ton of the social media references, which didn’t really make me connect with the characters, but I did enjoy the snippets of tweets and vlogs included in the pre-chapters.

I really enjoyed the audiobook though! The narrators really gave life to the characters!

This is a promising debut novel. If you’re a fan of celebrity romances, pick this one up when it releases on February 11th!

Celebrity Crush by Christy Swift

Rating: 3.5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Thank you to Forever, Grand Central Publishing, Netgalley, and the author for access to this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Celebrity Crush was a fun, lighthearted, exciting contemporary romance read! Celebrity romance books are usually pretty enjoyable, and I liked how the author added some drama to the story to further up the ante.

Emmy is an author who loves a happy ending, but she has decided to be focused on her career goals instead of her love life, hoping she might find success. And now that her newest book is going to become a movie, she’s determined to become a social media star. And when her secret celebrity crush accepts the starring role in the movie adaptation of her novel, she’s determined to fake date him since he needs good PR too. Then, the fame starts to expose the truth, and the question is whether they will try to turn their on-camera chemistry into a real-life relationship.

Overall, seeing Emmy and Jason fall in love and become a family was so great! There were some struggles along the way for them, which I felt that the author navigated well, but the happy ending was wonderfully sweet! I’d certainly recommend this to all fans of celebrity romance novels and fake dating!

This was a pretty fun read! I was invested in the romance and the drama (oh the drama!!) and though the characters were pretty flawed, I was rooting for them to get their happy ending.

I’m a big fan of celebrity romances and as lots of them do, this one was full of lots of drama. Now, I’ll be the first one to admit that that’s not my favourite thing, but it wasn’t so excessive in this book that got on my nerves. Having said that, I think a little bit less drama would have made this a tad more enjoyable for me.

I did really like Jason and Emmy and seeing them fall in love and become a little family with their kids. I wish we’d seen a bit more of the single parent sides of their lives but the little bits we did see were adorable and I ate them up.

Overall, a solid celebrity romance that was extremely entertaining and that I had a hard time putting down.

I am a sucker for all things pop culture and celebrity and especially love celebrity romances. This one sucked me in immediately. I thought the premise was so fun. I really liked both Emmy and Jason. It was fun getting to watch them interact as they did press and promo for Emmy’s book-turned-movie (that Jason is the star of). I also really enjoyed the alternating chapters of interviews and news articles. I love stuff like that in books and it really worked well here.

There was a moment in the middle of the book where I felt a little lost-like I felt like these two went from “nothing can happen” to “let me hold your hand and kiss you and what not” way to fast and I felt like I had maybe missed something. But then the third act conflict drops and my heart was breaking! I was so sad for both of them and while I wanted resolution, I did enjoy that we got to see them interact with each other before the resolution occurred. I felt like it gave us opportunities to see their pain and emotions projected to each other, rather than just internally.

Overall I thought this was a great book. If you love celebrity romances then I think you’ll really enjoy this one.

Thank you to NetGalley, Forever, and the author for an ARC!

👍🏻Read If You Like:
•celebrity romances
•To Love Jason Thorn
•writer MCs
•Duran Duran

🛑Content Warnings: mild language

🚪🖤Closed Door/Fade to Black Romance

CELEBRITY CRUSH by Christy Swift is not fake dating, despite what you might have heard. It's more complicated than that.

Hollywood heartthrob Jason has a bit of a reputation as a bad boy, even though he's turned a new leaf. Social media influencer and single mom Emmy published a romance novel, which started climbing the charts as people speculated which member of space sci-fi/singing and dancing TV show was her celebrity Crush that inspired it. (Spoiler alert: it's Jason!) They meet on a talk show and that's that. Except...

Jason needs to keep his reputation squeaky clean so he doesn't get fired. Emmy's agent is certain a fling with Jason could get Emmy to number one on the best seller list. She doesn't want to hurt him, but they ARE drawn to each other, and she is determined to achieve her goal in any way possible. Fortunately, she's got the social media chops to get people to love him again, which won't exactly hurt her objective, either.

It's a fun and sometimes zany story about ambition and responsibility, and I definitely need to talk to someone else who has read it, because I don't think my husband fully understood or appreciated it when explained how wild [redacted - no spoilers here!!] was.

CELEBRITY CRUSH is out February 11.

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#NetGalley #ARCreview #CelebrityCrush

If you love Hollywood romance stories with lots of fun and heart, Celebrity Crush is a great pick! Emmy Ellison, a romance writer, finally gets her big break- a movie deal, social media fame and a chance to fake date her celebrity crush, Jason. But as their fake romance heats up, Emmy starts to wonder if it could turn into something real. The story has a unique and exciting plot, mixing fake dating with the glamour of Hollywood. Emmy and Jason’s relationship is full of funny and sweet moments, making their journey a joy to read. It reminded me a lot of 'To Love Jason Thorn', but with its own twists. While the idea of the story was amazing, I think some parts could have been written better. Still, it’s a fun and lighthearted book with lots of potential and I’m excited to see more from Christy Swift in the future! If you enjoy romantic comedies, fake dating and charming funny characters, this book is worth a try<3

A contemporary romance with lots of nerdy references, I wanted to like this so much more than I did. Unfortunately, I didn’t feel for either of the main characters and realize how much I am not into the whole Hollywood celebrity thing and do not appreciate social media influencer antics. If you like those, along with romances that are all tied up neatly at the end, you will probably find this an enjoyable read.

Thank you Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley.

This was an incredibly cute rom-com perfect for anyone who is a fan of Win a Date with Tad Hamilton! Emmy and Jason's story was so fun to watch unfold. I loved the use of multiple media types between chapters to add a unique element to the book.

I REALLY wanted to enjoy this book, but about halfway I just couldn’t understand the WHY of these characters wanting to be together?!? I also have a hard time with so many real life celeb references in books because I get kind of sucked out of it.

Overall I really enjoyed the FMC vibe and her growth over the book. I loved the side characters and the kiddos in it. I will be on the lookout for another book by this author and try her again.

Thank you NetGalley for this arc! The book was a cute, flirty and quick read. Nothing ground breaking or life changing. It was very meh and kinda predictable.

This book was fun and a quick read! Emmy is an upcoming author who wants to and does meet her celebrity crush! Cute, silly, and I loved the mixed media format between chapters, blogs, interviews, etc as well as dial POV. was surprised when I realized I was almost at the end but thoroughly enjoyed.

Celebrity Crush has everything I like in a romcom, real characters with real problems, banter, drama and laughs.
It was such a a bingable book, loved the pop culture references and the little interviews- tv talk shows segments. Even though I'm not a sci-fi fan and didn't get most of the references, that didn't hinder my overall experience.

This is the story of Emmy, an author whose debut book is trending because everyone wants to know which actor inspired the male protagonist.
When the secret comes out and she finally meets him, sparks fly. To complicate matters, he’s cast as the male lead when the book is adapted into a movie. But is what they’re feeling real, or just an in-person crush? Their lives are worlds apart, can they find common ground, or is their connection doomed from the start?

This is the debut book of Christy Swift and I just can't wait to see what she writes next!

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for the eARC.

2.75 stars rounded up. The premise of this book was great! I was so intrigued, but it fell a bit flat for me. I flew through this and was interested in what was going to happen. I really liked the side characters and the dynamic between the guys from the tv show. This was very pop culture-y, which isn’t bad but also isn’t for everyone. I didn’t really love either of the main characters by themselves or together. The insane insta-love was just not it for me. It was just a bit too cringe and way too much going on for me, kind of all over the place. I really liked the different media included, like the interviews, podcast scripts, etc. I thought that was great to give more info but not info dump. I don’t think I would recommend.

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

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🫑

This book was truly written for the girlies.

Think about writing a book where the male character is your celebrity crush. Now think about publishing that book and getting a movie deal out of it. Now think about meeting the celebrity your MMC is based off of and spending time with them to sell your book and the movie.

That’s essentially the plot of this book and if I were Emmy, my Jason Connor would be Dylan O’Brien. The amount of times I imagined this exact book plot as my life??? Unmeasurable.

This was such a fun read and I loved all the little bits in Hollywood, the real life-ness, the relationships and all the drama. It’s set in Hollywood, complete with celebrities, of course there’s drama.

This book was everything I needed and more! I LOVED the little interview bits, the vlogs, and the podcast stuff, too! That made the whole story feel very newsworthy!

I hope there’s another book set in this world because I would 1000000% read it!!! Josie maybe??? 👀

Thank you so much to Forever for the ARC of this book!!! 🫶🏻

Thank you to NetGalley, Forever, and Grand Central Publishing for this advanced copy! You can pick up Celebrity Crush on February 11, 2025.

This was a fun, nerdy read! While the writing style wasn't my favorite (especially the abundance of pop culture references) and the romance could have been a bit less insta-lusty, I still had a fun time. I loved the premise and how much Emmy and Jason leaped off the page. Def pick this up if you enjoy celebrity romances and single-parent romances.