Fake it Till You Bake it
By: Jamie Wesley
Published Year: 2022
Publisher: St. Martins Griffin
Pages: 336
I received a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review. This in no way shape or form influenced my opinion of this book.
Summary (Provided by Goodreads): 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.
First Impressions
The cover is cute though nothing really special and I found the title to be a little cheesy. I probably would’ve passed this one over in the library or bookstore. However, when I read the summary I was immediately into it. Fake dating? Football player who owns a cupcake shop? Love it.
What I thought
This novel wasn’t great, nor was it bad.
Jada was on a season of (essentially) The Bachelor, where she turned down the Bachelor’s proposal in the last episode. As a result, the whole world hates her. Donovan is a football player for the LA Knights, a team owned by Jada’s grandma, who opened a cupcake shop with two of his teammates. Jada’s life is a bit lost so her grandma asks Donovan to hire her. They immediately don’t get along but get stuck in a situation in which Jada claims Donovan is the guy she met before going on the show and was the reason she turned down the proposal in hopes that America will like her again.
I liked this story but didn’t love it. I enjoyed the banter between Donovan and Jada but I felt like the chemistry was more being told to me than I was really feeling it. I liked Jada. I felt like she was strong, a little immature, but not obnoxious. Donovan fell a little flat to me at times. I liked when he was bickering with Jada but I never felt the passion from him. He claimed to be passionate about the cupcake shop but all he cared about were the numbers.
I do wish that Donovan had had a little more pushback about the fake dating too. He just immediately gave in. I will say that I liked how a lot of their problems were resolved realistically. They talked to each other and asked questions about miscommunications rather than just assuming things. However, that meant that the conflict (because as we know, all romance novels need a conflict), didn’t occur until the 90% mark and was so dumb. I would’ve much rather they left that entire part out because I think it ended up leaving a bad taste in my mouth for this book and coloring the rest of my opinion.
Honestly, I was leaning more towards giving this book 4 stars until the end which dropped it to a 3. Jada is a strong female character and I enjoyed reading her journey about finding herself. I didn’t dislike Donovan but their chemistry didn’t pop for me. I do look forward to reading stories about his other two teammate (because you know they’re coming) and I hope they end up being a little more exciting.