*I was given a copy of Fake It ‘til You Make It in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to Boldwood Books and Laura Carter for my copy of the book*
Synopsis:
Can a fake date fix everything? On a day Abbey thought would be the best of her life – her boyfriend is surely going to propose tonight, right? – it all falls he tells her he’s met someone else. And then to make things worse, she loses her job.
In an act of reimagination, she splurges her wedding savings on renting an apartment in a building she’s always dreamed of living in and kits out her wardrobe to match.
But when her family invites her ex – a close family friend – plus a date(!!) to her parents’ vow renewal, Abbey realises her façade won’t be enough. There’s nothing for it but to fake one more thing – a romance. And she knows exactly who to ask… her hot new neighbour…
Review:
It’s no secret by now that I love a fake dating book, so imagine my excitement when this popped up. I knew instantly that I had to read it and I’m very glad I did. I devoured this book. I’m talking reading 75% of it in one day and only putting it down on the night because I had work the next day.
Fake It ‘til You Make It was the book in sunshine form that I absolutely needed. I wouldn’t call this a five-star read, as it definitely wasn’t, but it was so entertaining. I especially loved the twist on the fake dating trope. Not only were they faking their relationship, but they were faking who they were. This was such an interesting take on the trope and it was funny to read the little moments where they’d slip up and accidentally reveal something about the real them.
There were definitely plot holes with this though. Ted, who was pretending to be his brother, agrees to go on a trip to Canada, but as Mike. Abbey tells her mom she will forward his passport information, but how does that work if he isn’t actually Mike? Surely Mike has his passport as he didn’t even know about the ruse. If Ted did use Mike’s passport, well I think that’s illegal. How far was he willing to go? Anyway, that doesn’t really matter as it’s such a small part of the story.
One part of Fake It ‘til You Make It that I really didn’t like was the stereotyping done by both characters. They’re both pretty shallow people who base their judgements on each other on what’s on the surface. This does become a slight life lesson throughout the book as they both realise the other person isn’t quite what they seem, but god is it frustrating that Ted thinks Abbey is a rich airhead because he saw her buying designer clothes once.
Thankfully, they both overcome these thoughts, but as they are both faking who they are for the majority of the book, this doesn’t happen quickly. The constant shift of their personalities was pretty funny though.
The development of their relationship felt pretty natural and it was obvious they have chemistry. They like all of the same things, almost like they were written for each other or something.
Jokes aside, I really enjoyed Fake It ‘til You Make It, I did hope there would be an epilogue though. I’m such a sucker for a ‘one year later’ scene even if it is just showing them as a loved up couple that have now moved in together. I like a happy ending, what can I say?
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