FAKE IT TILL YOU BAKE IT by Jamie Wesley

Ho boy no one's faking anything about the hype for this

AHHHHHHH ATHLETES ~AND~ CUPCAKES 🥵🥵🥵🥵 FAKE RELATIONSHIP ~AND~ ENEMIES-TO-LOVERS 🤩🤩🤩🤩 COMMUNICATION ~AND~ HOT SEX 😫😫😫 you literally could not ask for a better recipe for a book than Fake It Till You Bake It, and Jamie Wesley does not fail to deliver.

"Anyway, he then said he thought I was beautiful and I was more beautiful on the inside than I was on the outside." "And you haven't declared your undying love yet? Girl. Girl. I admire your fortitude and resiliency. Couldn't be me."*

How is this literally me though? I would definitely be a melting puddle on the floor 😫😫😫

When Jada Townsend-Matthew rejects a proposal on national TV, she can’t confess that something was missing from her relationship— so she makes up the idea that there’s ‘someone at home’. The last thing Donovan Dell needs is a beautiful, snarky woman demeaning his cupcakes when his dream bakery begins struggling. Imagine his surprise when the granddaughter his football boss asks him to hire is none other than Jada, the very woman who scorned his cupcakes *gasp. Through a series of events, they end up engaging in a fake relationship to save Jada’s reputation as well as drum up business at Sugar Blitz. However as time goes on, the two realize they might not be faking things anymore—can they overcome the challenges and get what they really want?

Being a romance, we obviously know the answer to that hehe 😃. But the journey Jamie Wesley brings us through is just SO beautiful 😫😫.

Starting off as slightly enemies-to-lovers, before going into forced proximity (via our fav idgaf Grams), Jada and Donovan are constantly thrown together, creating so many sparks. The chemistry is off-the-charts, and the banter is absolutely panty-melting. When the fake relationship starts, I got a little wary because I really dislike miscommunication as a trope and I was worried that their story would just be built on snowballing lies, but the way that Wesley addressed it really alleviated a lot of my fears. Even though, yes Jada did tell a massive lie and Donovan and her decide to continue the ruse, how they treat each other and what they tell their close friends is completely genuine. Perhaps because the fake relationship was placed outside the wall of nameless fans/media, it made the story feel a lot less sus.

She felt light-headed. He felt it, too. His eyes had darkened, his breathing coming shallower. He remembered. She remembered. What would it be like to have more? For real this time? Spectacular, his eyes answered.*

Both characters are so well-developed and you can't help but fall in love with them and root for them. Jada starts off as a very arrogant and slightly flighty rich girl, but through her work at Sugar Blitz and her interactions with the down-to-earth footballers, she's able to ground herself without losing her forthrightness and bougie-ness (that Donovan comes to love hehe). On the other hand, when we first meet Donovan he comes off as a stern control freak, but we get really drawn in to the reason he is why he is, and along with Jada, begin to appreciate his honesty and bluntness. Just as Donovan brings out the best in Jada, Jada helps Donovan find his fun side, letting him loosen the reigns and enjoy himself. Besides the two MCs, the side characters are also a m a z i n g, and I definitely see the set ups for their new relationships! I'm definitely looking forward to see how their stories will develop further hehe.

He wanted the lightness she brought to his life. He hadn't had so much fun in a long time. He liked who she was. She brough chaos and he wanted more of it. The chaos came from Jada being unabashedly Jada. She wasn't trying to be somebody she wasn't. And he loved that.*

And the sex between the two. MY GOD. The heat just really gets you. Sometimes, a smut scene is written where you're just skimming or you're like let me skip to the end. But every second of these scenes are 🔥🔥🔥. The hungering Jada and Donovan feel for each other and the passion of their encounters 🥵🥵

In terms of writing style, I really love Jamie Wesley's voice. The thoughts of each character are articulated so clearly without sounding rote. There's no info-dumping or emotion-dumping to be seen and everything is shown and not told. The way you can hear the character's inner-monologues and how it sounds EXACTLY what someone in denial of blooming feelings would sound (MWAHAHAHA) is just so 👌👌.

A guy who knew what he was doing in the kitchen was hot as hell. But that was just a general observation. Nothing to do with Donovan specifically.*

Jamie Wesley also does a great job of weaving in motifs for the story. Something that normal humans would never really care about become a special symbol of affection and love, really showcasing how much they care for each other. I've never found crocs sooooo romantic before and my god if someone gifted me them like Donovan does for Jada 😫😫😫.

I was really pleasantly surprised by the final resolution. For a rom-com like this, you expect it to follow the typical structure of characters (typically the female) sacrificing parts of themselves to reach the HEA. And I was fully prepared to accept it, especially considering how in this book it wouldn't necessarily entail the giving up of independence or a lifelong dream, considering Donovan helped Jada discover her passions. Without trying to give too much away, the actual way the book ended really surprised me, allowing both Jada and Donovan to really live their best lives and work for their life goals while still being able to love each other. It was the absolute perfect ending for such a brilliant Girlboss finally getting her HEA.

With some really well-written and beautifully-developed moments, Fake It Till You Bake It is definitely one of my favorite swoon-worthy romances this year, not to mention the copious mentions of cupcakes!! 😍😍😍

--

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the free eARC in exchange for the honest review!

*These quotes are from the advanced reader copy and, as such, there may be slight differences in the published version.

Ratings:

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ overall

🔥🔥🔥🔥 (all the lip bites 😫😫)