This was a cute, fun read.

The audiobook was especially enjoyable with the narrated interviews and celebrity gossip. It felt like real snippets of a celebrity podcast inserted into the book. Both narrators did a phenomenal job!

I wasn’t anticipating a fade-to-black romance, so that’s good to know going in if you prefer a bit more spice.

0/5 🌶️
4/5 ⭐️

Audio ARC provided by Netgalley.

Thank you to NetGalley and @HachetteAudio for the ALC, in exchange for an honest review.

*Celebrity Crush* follows Emmy, a writer whose bestselling book, *#CelebrityCrush,* is secretly based on her dreamy obsession with Jason, a famous Hollywood superhero actor. Life takes a wild turn when Emmy's book gets adapted into a movie, and surprise—Jason himself lands the lead role playing… well, basically himself. Even crazier, the two are thrown together to hype up the film, faking a close relationship for the cameras. We’re talking lots of time spent together, which leads to sparks flying—quickly. If you’re into stories with 'stuck-together' situations, whirlwind romance, and single-parent vibes, this one’s in your lane.

This book has a lot of charm and a fast-moving plot that keeps you hooked, which makes it perfect for listening on audio. The narrators, especially the male voice, nailed their performances and made it easy to follow the story. The setting also had a nice vibe—it definitely felt glamorous with a touch of real-life complications.

Now, onto what didn’t quite work for me: I’ll be blunt, I didn’t really vibe with Emmy or Jason. They came across as shallow at times, and their personality quirks often felt more annoying than endearing. Also in my opinion, the story leaned too much on their lust for each other rather than building a deeper connection.

The beginning started strong and sucked me in, but after about a third of the way through, the conflicts felt forced and less believable. By the end, I’d kind of lost the excitement I had at the start.
This audiobook was light, feel-good read, but don’t expect super deep character development. Give it a go if you love celebrity romances and don’t mind a little fluff!
4 Stars!

This book was cute with just the right amount of geeky sci-fi references!

Emmy writes a book inspired by her celebrity crush and it gets turned into a movie and she meets her crush. The premise was great, the storyline was ok but there was still something missing. The "conflict" between the characters seemed a bit too fabricated. There also seemed to be too many plot points introduced and not explored enough. They were either dropped or wrapped up quickly in the end when you had more or less forgotten about them. I also found that the chemistry wasn't there with the characters. I would have loved to see an actual fake dating scenario or something to bring the chemistry up.

Overall, not my favourite romcom, but it was cute and did have some great moments.

I love me a celebrity romance!
This was a great "palette cleansing" read but overall, it won't be a read that sticks with me.
I love the single dad/mom trope so much so that was fun here!

“Celebrity Crush” by Christy Swift is a closed door rom-com about an author that wrote a book inspired by her celebrity crush.
Thank you Forever and Hachette Audio for the ARC and ALC. The opinions from this review are completely my own.
Emmy is an author and social media manager. She is also a single mother. After a viral poll where the internet guesses who is the celebrity that inspired her book she gets to meet his. Jason is an actor and a single dad. After the success of the book, it will be adapted for screen with Jason as main lead.

The audiobook is a dual narration by Andrew Eiden and Stephanie Willing. They both did a good job with the characters and managed to make the book even more entertaining. I liked the banter between them and all the sci-fi jokes. What I did not enjoy was the unnecessary drama with Jason’s ex.

Overall this is a fun read.

Jason is Emmy's celebrity crush and the subject of her NYT bestselling book, #CelebrityCrush. It is veiled portrayal and easily comes out that Jason, who is a TV superhero Hollywood star, is who her novel is based on. Emmy's dream comes true when her agent sells the movie rights and Jason's part will be played by Jason. To add to the truly miraculous fantasy, Jason and Emmy will do marketing together for the film. And they play up their relationship for the cameras. So we have forced proximity, insta-love, single mom/dad as our main tropes.

For fans of Tessa Bailey, similar tropes, similar character-types and spice level.

This book had a lot of heart but I didn't love either of the main characters, they came across as whiny and entitled and simplistic. I could do without his chapters that kept describing her "muscular and curvy" body and her suntan. Her internal dialogue referred a lot to his "rock hard body"- I dont know, it was just heavy on the lust language. I liked the book a lot until around 30% but the conflicts were contrived and it went downhill from there.

I would read another book by the author and liked the setting but this one wasn't a big win.

Audiobook narrators did well- particularly the performance of the male narrator, I found it easy to follow. This story does have good pacing so it lends itself well to the audio format.

Thanks to Netgalley and Hachette Audio for the ARC. Book to be published 2/11/25.

I got hooked immediately on this story. A writer meets her celeb crush and her dreams come true?! Yes please. Loved the chemistry between the two characters and truly wished that was me, meeting my celeb crush. 4.5/5

If someone had told me I would enjoy the audiobook version of Celebrity Crush more than the ebook version, I'm not sure I would have believed them. But listening to Stephanie Willing and Andrew Eiden bring Emmy and Jason to life was extra enjoyable. The Dual POV narration and the comedic timing of both narrators really enhanced the story, including the parts of the story that were told in media formats (like video transcripts or podcast clips.) It was easy to tell chapters apart, and the voices were distinct enough that it was cohesive to track which characters were speaking at any given time. While I missed the little doodles, I enjoyed finding a deeper appreciation for the supporting characters in Jason and Emmy's lives.

Does Celebrity Crush play out in an endearingly Y/N-esque fashion with Jason and Emmy? Absolutely. Did that make it any less enjoyable? Not in the slightest. This fade-to-black romance had some great tension, some great side characters, and definitely had me laughing out loud on mutliple occasions.

Emmy is an author with dreams of Hollywood. She’d lost her first chance when she was younger, after an unplanned pregnancy paired with a ruthless producer who crushed her dreams.

But she’s back nearly a decade later with a preteen daughter and a bestselling romance called Hashtag Celebrity Crush which is being made into a movie.

There’s a lot of hubbub about who the book is based on, who her celebrity crush is.

Meet Jason, costar on a popular sci-fi television show, a reformed cad and bad boy with a young son and hopes of turning things around.

He’s the crush.

But when the public leans into the crush Emmy has on him, they also lean in, even though Jason knows that his public image needs to be squeaky clean if he wants to keep his job.

But when Emmy gets it into her head that he’s using her, she decides to take some for herself as well - and everyone goes down in flames.

ONE CONVERSATION. They just needed to have one conversation, but both are too juvenile to broach the elephant in the room.

Yikes this one was problematic.

The FMC is immature and stalker-y, admittedly using Jason to further her career. Meanwhile Jason is barely redeemable. He ruins her career in a selfish tantrum, his impulsiveness alienating the reader. His character arc isn’t an arc at all, it’s a straight line that runs into a brick wall. Both characters are dishonest and kind of awful.

And while this is advertised as fake dating, it’s more like insta-lust, and honestly doesn’t work. It also feels icky using their kids as props.

There are some cute pop culture references and nerdy banter, but these two would have worked better as friends looking to straighten out their deeply flawed lives than potential lovers. Lots of celebrity name drops, a funny “fat Thor” joke, mixed media presentation, and lots of influencer vibes, which gave it texture.

The audio does the best it can with the material it was given. This is a pass for me.

A very cute and funny celebrity/non celebrity type of romance story. It is a closed door romance as no explicit scenes but that did not take away from my enjoyment of this book.

Emmy is a wanted to be actor turned writer. She has written a book based on her Celebrity Crush from a show her and her daughter watch.
Jason is a famous actor who is struggling with his public image.

These two need each other for different reasons and decide to be “friends”. This progress from there. This book is cute, corky and a fun listen. I would recommend it to a friend for sure. Loved these narrators! Dual narration done well!

I thought this was super cute! Nothing super special but I did like it! Thank you to Hachette for the free audiobook!

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

First, don't come for me, I did not like Teddy Hamilton. There..I said it.

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.

In this closed-door romance, author Emmy has a best-selling romance titled #CelebrityCrush where the MMC is based on her real life celebrity crush, Jason. They get thrown together during publicity for the book and later when Jason is cast in the movie based on Emmy's book. Can Emmy convert this crush into something more?

(Real) author Christy Swift is a very funny writer with lots of quippy dialog. Narrators Stephanie Willing and Andrew Eiden are great, really bringing the characters to life and making Swift's writing even funnier. This is kind of an E(verybody)S(ucks)H(ere) situation with two deeply flawed characters, and a major plot driver is one character's deception of the other. However, they ultimately manage to learn some valuable lessons and turn things around. The well-developed supporting characters also add a lot of charm to the book.

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.

3.5/5
Thank you so much to Forever and NetGalley for the advance listener copy of Celebrity Crush by Christy Swift.

The premise for this one was really great. Emmy writes a book which is becoming a bestseller. At the beginning, she is put in a position to identify the celebrity crush that her book is based on, Jason Connor. After the reveal, she ends up working more with Jason and the two soon find themselves being drawn more and more to each other.

I was excited to check out an advance listener copy of this book. While the ALC didn’t end up adjusting much of what my review was from the eARC, I will highlight that the narrators do a really phenomenal job with this story. If you enjoyed this book then you'll really love how the audiobook narrators bring the story to life!

🎧4⭐⭐⭐⭐.5🎧

This book is witty!
I really enjoyed Emmy Ellison’s character. She is passionate about her work and her family, and it shows. She is high-energy but not overbearing. I wanted to be her friend.

What would you do if you wrote a book about your celebrity crush and then you got to meet him? I think she held herself very well and let’s not mention it happens on TV!

Jason is struggling with social media only seeing the dark sides or seeing things skewed and running with the wrong story. It’s affecting his work and jeopardizing his employment, so he needs to turn it around ASAP.
When Jason meets Emmy something about her, he is just drawn to. Just as she is to him.

The podcasters in this book were funny and harsh, but I get it they needed to see all sides or just pick a side and root for that person.

Their story was fun and if I am honest a page-turner for me. I didn’t want to press stop.
The narrators Stephanie Willing and Andrew Eiden bring us all the charm and nuance giving these characters just the right voices.

I kind of feel like a bait and switch with the blurb. I thought I was getting a fake dating book. Instead, it was two people attracted but told to not lean into it. Kind of the opposite. It kind of threw me off for the entire book.

It was overall an okay read. I am not into sci-fi anything, so all of the references to sci-fi movies and shows were distracting.

This is a debut author. I'd read another of her books. While I still overall enjoyed it, the things I didn't love (the bait and switch of the trope and the sci-fi references) are specific to this book, not her writing.

<spoiler> I hate that nothing come to be of the one cast member basically sabotaging the relationship by getting in their heads. </spoiler>

Andrew Eiden and Stephanie Willing narrate. I always love Andrew Eiden's narrations. I will say that the podcast sections were SUPER annoying.

I received an advance audio book in exchange for an honest review.

📖 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!

This book was so fun and sweet.

Emmy is an author and she based her romance novel off of her celebrity crush, Jason Conner. Now Jason is starring in the movie adaptation of her book and they embark on some classic fake dating for their PR tour. Things don’t always go as planned though…

Read/listen if you love:
Hollywood rom-coms
Fake dating
Single mom x single dad
Famous person x normal person
Bookish romances
Baby mama and baby daddy subplots
Clean romance

The audiobook was fantastically narrated by both Andrew Eiden and Stephanie Willing (dual POV). Highly recommend checking out the audio version!

I’m pretty sure i’m the wrong demographic for this book. It was a lighthearted romcom about Emmy who is an author who writes a book about her celebrity crush, Jason who is an actor. They meet on a talk show and then start working through publicity stunts together to promote the book and movie.

This book is for you if you like closed door romance, cheesy jokes and an easy read.

The love story felt very rushed and I would’ve like to seen it be built out a little more. I also did not connect with either of the characters. I really wish I enjoyed this more!

The narrators did a great job with the material they had!