Book Review: The Fiction Between Us by Julie Olivia

Synopsis:

The Fiction Between Us is book two in the Honeywood series of standalone romances by Julie Olivia.

Some fairytales may be real, but ours is strictly fiction.

Iโ€™ve been Queen Bee at our theme park for ten glorious, uncomplicated years. Iโ€™m far better at creating fictional magic than real life miracles. So when Landon Arden, my best friendโ€™s twin brother and my old high school bully, starts to work at Honeywood, Iโ€™m wishing for some gift from above to fix this mess.

Cue a worse situation.

After Landon falls on stage during one of our shows, the guests mistake him for a character in the park: Ranger Randy.

The problem isnโ€™t when our manager asks him to perform as the bearded, tight tush, short shorts-wearing hero. No, my fairytale comes crashing down when weโ€™re told that Queen Bee and Ranger Randy must appear as a couple.

Fine. Whatever. Ten years ago, my teenage crush for Landon may have been real, but I can fake a happy ending with Ranger Randy. I can sign autographs with him, have his arm around my waist, hold his hand, andโ€ฆ kiss him on stage?

I tell myself itโ€™s all for show. Weโ€™re just characters in a theme park. And I wonโ€™t fall for true loveโ€™s kiss, even if I do want to try it one more timeโ€ฆ

Review:

The Fiction Between Us was the first book I came across by Julie Olivia and the title definitely caught my attention. Sadly it was the second book in the โ€˜seriesโ€™ so I had to read a different one first, but this one was so much better. I really enjoyed The Fiction Between Us, which was to be expected based on the fake dating and how I already knew who the characters were.

Iโ€™m such a huge fan of โ€˜grumpy x sunshineโ€™ when itโ€™s the female character thatโ€™s grumpy. Broody males are so overdone, thereโ€™s nothing better than a golden retriever man, if you ask me. Landon was a great โ€˜sunshineโ€™/โ€™golden retrieverโ€™ male love interest. I really wasnโ€™t a fan of the whole โ€˜he bullied me when I was youngerโ€™ bit to begin with but it turns out to be a misunderstanding so thatโ€™s fine. Nothing worse than someone falling in love with their abuser.

The Fiction Between Us promised fake dating with a twist and it definitely delivered on that. Instead of having Quinn and Landon fake date in real life (there is a little of this), itโ€™s their theme park characters that are pretending to date. What makes this even better is that Quinn canโ€™t stand Landon to begin with. Well, thatโ€™s not entirely true as she has had a crush on him since they were teenagers, but itโ€™s a love hate situation. 

This love hate situation made for some really great interactions. Iโ€™m talking, smiling like an idiot and kicking your feet. I think the fact that you got to know both Quinn and Landon in book one made this one so much better. The foundation for their relationship was already being built, so being aware of that and the world this is set in made The Fiction Between Us a more enjoyable read.

Iโ€™m not sure how likely I am to continue this series any time soon as there are other books available through Kindle Unlimited I want to read while I still have it. But itโ€™s definitely a possibility. So far, both books have been very good reads and Iโ€™d recommend you check them out.

Rating: 4 out of 5.


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