Fake It Till You Bake It
September 2, 2023
The descriptions of all the cupcakes made me hungry while I was reading it. Jada Townsend-Matthews finds herself working a cupcake store owned by football player Donovan Dell after fleeing home to San Diego after finding herself reviled for turning down a proposal on a reality dating show.
I really enjoyed how the book followed the fake dating trope in way that felt like a comedy of errors but was still super fun. I do like that there wasn't as much drama in between the couple once they got together, and I really love the subversion of "fixing your partner" in the book. Their relationship together felt very steady in their support of each other, even when it was largely still for the cameras. And the way that they worked together on problems as a couple? Amazing.
I do like that our characters grew separately from the relationship from their own pasts, and I love Mrs. T and Mrs. Dell as parental figures that are both firm and supportive. I loved the supporting cast as well - Mrs. T, Olivia, Nick and August, Ella, all the regulars at Sugar Blitz were so great in their interactions with our main characters.
Something that was small but really shined for me was Jada's dyslexia and how it was treated in the book - how she viewed it versus how Donovan viewed it versus how her parents viewed it, the way she brought it up in a large public setting that had positive results.
Thank you to St. Martin's Press, St. Martin's Griffin, and NetGalley for the ARC.
More about Fake It Till You Bake It here:
Title: Fake It Till You Bake It
Author: Jamie Wesley
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.