Book Review: Fake It Till You Bake It (arc)

Fake It Till You Bake It (arc) (2022) by Jamie Wesley

Fiction | Romance | Rom-Com

Disclaimer: In every review that I complete, I try my best to avoid spoilers of any kind and include spoiler warnings when necessary.

About the book (from Goodreads)

A reality star and a cupcake-baking football player pretend to be a couple in order to save his bakery in this sweet and sexy romance from Jamie Wesley, Fake It Till You Bake It.

Jada Townsend-Matthews is the most reviled woman in America after turning down a proposal on a reality dating show. When she comes home to lick her wounds, Jada finds herself working at San Diego's newest cupcake bakery, Sugar Blitz, alongside the uptight owner and professional football player Donovan Dell.

When a reporter mistakenly believes Jada and Donovan are an item, they realize they can use the misunderstanding to their advantage to help the struggling bakery and rehabilitate Jada's image. Faking a relationship should be simple, but sometimes love is the most unexpected ingredient.

Fake it Till You Bake It is a sweet confection of a novel, the perfect story to curl up with and enjoy with a cupcake on the side.

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Note: Thank you to Netgalley & the publishers for allowing me access to this arc! Please note that all opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Instagram: KaysSecretLibrary

My Review

I'm trying to read as many romance novels as possible in February, and after being given access to this arc, I added it to my romance month list!

I am beyond pleased to say that for the most part, I enjoyed myself and recommend this book to anyone who loves a good rom-com, especially ones that follow male and female characters.

The Good Things

1. The cover and title are both adorable and a perfect fit for the book. I always like to point out the books that nail these two things.

2. Enemies to lovers and fake dating seem to be two tropes I really like lately. This book fit both boxes and did it pretty well!

3. I loved the characters, and I LOVE the addition of Tyler's best friends. Most rom-coms focus on the female character's friends, so it was a nice change of pace and was expected really well.

4. A lot of people prefer romances and rom-coms to be written in the first person, but I enjoy both the third person and the first-person points of view. This book is third person, and I think it was fitting.

The Bad Things

1. Jada's character was really hard to relate to, and I had a hard time empathizing with her in certain situations.

2. I really enjoyed this book. However, there is an event that happens toward the end of the book that really didn’t fit in with the rest of the book. It came out of nowhere, and it irritated me to no end. However, it may not irritate everyone (maybe you like this type of cliche), given that a majority of the book was good.

My Final Rating: ☆☆☆☆/5

Release Date: June 21, 2022. Pre-order this from the author by clicking here!

If you have access to this ARC, please feel free to leave comments concerning how you liked -or didn't like, no judgment here- it! If you don't have access, let me know if this is on your tbr! I would love to hear your thoughts!

Book Review: The Soulmate Equation

The Soulmate Equation (2021) by Christina Lauren

Fiction | Romance | Contemporary

Disclaimer: In every review that I complete, I try my best to avoid spoilers of any kind and include spoiler warnings when necessary.

About the book (from Goodreads)

Single mom Jess Davis is a data and statistics wizard, but no amount of number crunching can convince her to step back into the dating world. After all, her father was never around, her hard-partying mother disappeared when she was six, and her ex decided he wasn’t “father material” before her daughter was even born. Jess holds her loved ones close but working constantly to stay afloat is hard...and lonely.

But then Jess hears about GeneticAlly, a buzzy new DNA-based matchmaking company that’s predicted to change dating forever. Finding a soulmate through DNA? The reliability of numbers: This Jess understands.

At least she thought she did until her test shows an unheard-of 98 percent compatibility with another subject in the database: GeneticAlly’s founder, Dr. River Peña. This is one number she can’t wrap her head around because she already knows Dr. Peña. The stuck-up, stubborn man is without a doubt, not her soulmate.

But GeneticAlly has a proposition: Get ‘to know him and we’ll pay you. Jess—who is barely making ends meet—is in no position to turn it down, despite her skepticism about the project and her dislike for River. As the pair are dragged from one event to the next as the “Diamond” pairing that could launch GeneticAlly’s valuation sky-high, Jess begins to realize that there might be more to the scientist—and the science behind a soulmate—than she thought.

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Note: I read Christina Lauren's (the pen-name for the best friend duo) In a Holidaze last month and I LOVED it as well. I'm offcially putting all of their books on my tbr.

Instagram: KaysSecretLibrary

My Review

This book hooked me from the beginning. I am absolutely thrilled with it! It was quite possibly the best rom-com I've read in a very long time. It wasn't overly spicy, it wasn't too cheesy, and I had no problem reading it in only a few hours.

“Statistics can't tell us what will happen, they can only tell us what might happen.”

The Good Things

1. The story was rendered flawlessly, and the title fits it perfectly.

2. The main characters are all fantastic. Jess is a headstrong single mom who puts her kid first and is afraid of making any romantic commitment because of it (and her ex). River is a dreamboat smart-pants who is all but deserving of love. I found myself cheering for them

3. Fizzy is the best sort of best friend, and I would love to read a story just about her.

4. The "fake" dating "we will pay you" aspect didn't FEEL fake, which is why I loved it so much. The enemies-to-lovers aspect isn't over the top, and I enjoyed it!

5. I love that the book was in the third person.

The Bad Things

1. There are a few minor aspects of the ending (character's actions) that didn't sit well for me, but this IS a rom-com, so I supposed I'll let them slide.

2. I have a very serious question that I can't ask without spoiling things and it is KILLING ME! It's not a bad thing, it's just something I desperately want to know, but likely never will.

My Final Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆/5

Order this from the author by clicking here!

Feel free to leave comments concerning how you liked -or didn't like, this book, no judgment here! I would love to hear your thoughts!

Book Review: Things We Never Got Over

Things We Never Got Over (2022) by Lucy Score

Fiction | Romance | Contemporary

Disclaimer: In every review that I complete, I try my best to avoid spoilers of any kind and include spoiler warnings when necessary.

About the book (from Goodreads)

Bearded, bad-boy barber Knox prefers to live his life the way he takes his coffee: Alone. Unless you count his basset hound, Waylon. Knox doesn’t tolerate drama, even when it comes in the form of a stranded runaway bride.

Naomi wasn’t just running away from her wedding. She was riding to the rescue of her estranged twin to Knockemout, Virginia, a rough-around-the-edges town where disputes are settled the old-fashioned way…with fists and beer. Usually in that order.

Too bad for Naomi her evil twin hasn’t changed at all. After helping herself to Naomi’s car and cash, Tina leaves her with something unexpected. The niece Naomi didn’t know she had. Now she’s stuck in town with no car, no job, no plan, and no home with an 11-year-old going on thirty to take care of.

There’s a reason Knox doesn’t do complications or high-maintenance women, especially not the romantic ones. But since Naomi’s life imploded right in front of him, the least he can do is help her out of her jam. And just as soon as she stops getting into new trouble he can leave her alone and get back to his peaceful, solitary life.

At least, that’s the plan until the trouble turns to real danger.

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On top of trying to read as many romance novels as possibly in February, this book was also the February choice for my bookstagram book club -Kays Secret Bookclub.

My Review

Bookstagram: KaysSecretLibrary

Things We Never Got Over appealed to me immediately because of the cover and the synopsis. I added it to my book club's poll, and I was thrilled when we chose it (it was my vote) because I wanted an excuse to move it to the top of my tbr. In some ways, the book was a good read, but in others, it fell flat.

The Good Things

1. The first 60% of the book is a four-star read. It is entertaining and keeps you interested.

2. The evil twin aspect is a fantastic touch, and I find myself wanting to read more books with twinemies (we are making that a word).

3. Naomi stepping up to the plate when it came to being a temporary guardian of Waylay is interesting and fitting of Naomi's type-A character. I realized I would very likely do the same thing as her if I were in that situation and take over the parental duties of my sister.

The Bad Things

1. The last 40% of the book seemed like it was stretched. I honestly feel that a shorter book (500+ pages) would have been more fitting, and some of that filler could have been removed.

2. I'm starting to realize that I'm not a fan of books with multiple sex scenes (or even one, if it isn't done well). If that's your cup of tea, read on!

3. Waylay, in my opinion, acted a lot younger than her age (mostly in terms of dialogue).

4. Knox is one of the most irritating characters on planet earth. There were parts where EVERYONE had an opinion to share on his action too, which was even more irritating.

5. The ending was super "happily ever after" and Hallmark. Not everyone will see this as a bad thing, but the author has suggested a second book is in words. I have difficulty imagining where it might be headed unless it's a book about different characters, perhaps Lucian's and Sloan's story? I'd read that.

My Final Rating: ☆☆☆/5

This book is currently available for purchase and is on Kindle Unlimited.

Feel free to leave comments concerning how you liked -or didn't like, no judgment here- it! If you don't have access, let me know if this is on your tbr! I would love to hear your thoughts!