Title: Fake It Till You Bake It by Jamie Wesley
Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin
Genre: Contemporary, Romance
Length: 328 pages
Book Rating: B
Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through NetGalley
Summary:
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.
Review:
Fake It Till You Bake It by Jamie Wesley is a delightfully cute romance.
Football player Donovan Dell co-owns a cupcake shop with his two teammates, Nicholas Connors and August Hodges. After a great opening, business has dropped off and with football training season approaching, they are trying to figure out how to regain their momentum. When Donovan hears a customer’s uncomplimentary remarks about Sugar Blitz, he cannot resist trying to change her mind. They definitely start off on the wrong foot which makes it extremely uncomfortable when that customer turns out to be Jada Townsend-Matthews and she is his newest employee.
Jada has not quite figured out what she wants to do with her life. When things do not turn out as planned with the reality show, she heads home to San Diego to lie low and decide what to do next. Jada is a bit of a disappointment to her über successful parents and she struggles with her self-esteem. She is not certain how working with Donovan will help her (or him) but she turns out to be an asset to Sugar Blitz.
Donovan is not just playing at being a business owner. He knows his football career has an end date and he is planning for his future. Donovan is not exactly thrilled that Jada is working at Sugar Blitz but he also cannot stay away from her. While she has surprisingly good ideas for bringing customers to the bakery, Donovan is also drawn to the vivacious beauty.
Fake It Till You Bake It is a heartwarming romance with a great cast of characters. Donovan and Jada are wonderfully drawn with realistic flaws. The storyline is engaging but it is slow for the first half of the story. While they both undergo personal growth, it is Jada who grows and matures as she finds her career niche. Jada and Donovan’s fake relationship has plenty of sparks which makes it pretty inevitable that they try to turn their romance into a real one. Less certain is if their relationship has staying power but never fear, Jamie Wesley brings this charming romance to a very happy conclusion.
