Synopsis:
Is it ever too late to leave the friend-zone?
Hi, my name is Bree Camden, and I’m hopelessly in love with my best friend and star quarterback Nathan Donelson (so is half of America, judging by the tabloids and how much the guy dates). The first step is admitting, right? Except, I can never admit it to him because he clearly doesn’t see me that way, and the last thing I want is for things to get weird between us.
Nothing but good old-fashioned, no-touching-the-sexiest-man-alive, platonic friendship for us! Everything is exactly how I like it! Yes. Good. (I’m not crying, I’m just peeling an onion.)
Our friendship is going swimmingly until I accidentally spill my beans to a reporter over too much tequila, and now the world seems to think me and Nathan belong together. Oh, and did I mention we have to date publicly for three weeks until after the Super Bowl because we signed a contract with…oops, forgot I can’t tell anyone about that!
Bottom line is, now my best friend is smudging all the lines and acting very un-platonic, and I’m just trying to keep my body from bursting into flames every time he touches me.
How am I going to make it through three weeks of fake dating Nathan without anything changing between us? Especially when it almost-sort-a-kinda seems like he’s fighting for a completely different outcome?
Send help.
XO Bree
Review:
Well I had a great time reading The Cheat Sheet–I’m very glad I didn’t read any reviews before checking out it, opinions are heavily divided. I thought it was great, but I’m a big softie when it comes long-time friends to lovers.
I actually liked how slight unhinged both Bree and Nathan were. Yes, they were a little immature for their age, but I liked their quirkiness. Maybe it’s because I’m also very weird, so their humour resonated with me.
The fake dating aspect of The Cheat Sheet didn’t last too long, but this is a fairly short book and I’m glad you get to spend a decent amount of time with them actually together. I love the idea to fake date didn’t come from Bree or Nathan, but from his publicist. I don’t think I’ve ever read a fake dating book where the idea comes from a third party. This added to the whole ‘I want to tell them how I feel but I’m scared they don’t feel the same’. Which I thought would get annoying after a while, but it didn’t.
The fact that The Cheat Sheet had no drama, other than scenes with panic attacks, made it even better, in my opinion. I hate unnecessary drama in romance books and this had none of that.
Speaking of panic attacks. Nathan’s struggle with his mental health was so refreshing to read. The usual stereotype of football players is that they’re manly men who don’t have feelings, so seeing him open up to Bree about how he’s been feeling broke that stereotype and the whole scene was beautiful. To be fair Nathan in general was nothing like your ‘typical’ football player.
I have such a soft spot for friends to lovers romances, especially when they’ve been friends for a really long time. Both Nathan and Bree have loved each other since high school and that makes me want to bawl my eyes out. I’ve seen some people claim them not telling each other is the miscommunication trope, but it really isn’t. Not telling someone you’re in love with them because you don’t want to lose them as a friend is not miscommunication.
I really had a great time reading The Cheat Sheet and I would recommend it to anyone who wants a low stakes, cheesy romance to read. If you don’t take it too seriously, it’s a really fun book.
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