Fake It Till You Bake It was a sweetly satisfying treat. Probably as good as the cupcakes from Sugar Blitz. I enjoyed all the characters and the relationships between Donavan and his partners at the shop. It was just a low angst love story with all the ingredients to leave you smiling and happily satisfied at the end. Now I need to know how August ended up going viral!!

I thoroughly enjoyed Fake It Till You Bake It! There is an incredible lack of POC centered romance novels and it's criminal. I immediately pick Black and Brown romance books and they always end up being placed among my favorites. This sweet story will have you smiling, laughing, and kicking your feet from start to finish. I feel so lucky to have gotten this ARC and would recommend to anyone.

Donovan is a pro-football player turned baker in the off-season. Donovan and 2 of his teammates own a cupcake shop/bakery. Jada is a "spoiled" rich-girl whose grandmother owns the football team that Donovan plays form. In an attempt to teach Jada responsibility and get her to "grow-up" her grandmother asks Donovan to give Jada a job a the shop. What ensues is a enemies to lovers romance with a side of fake dating and laughs.

I enjoyed the dynamic of the characters and the back-and-forth between Jada and Donovan. It was a quick read and I found myself laughing quite a bit. The characters were relatable and the relationships between Donovan and his teammates/business partners as well as the premise of the story was relatable.

This was such a cute read! Fake dating is one of my favorite tropes. I'm pretty sure they would be considered grumpy/ sunshine pairing as well! Plus add in good chemistry AND baking?! Yes. Highly recommend, this was such an enjoyable read! Donovan and Jada were wonderful characters. I liked their banter and teasing, and also how their relationship developed. This one was cute.

3.5 rounded up.

This was super cute!! From the cover to the romance, everything about this book was a treat. Thank you for the copy! I would definitely recommend it to my friends.

When an influencer and a football palyer get caught up in life. THey never realize their lives are interconnected. THis was a great book. I enjoyed this book it had humor, angst and romance.

This was definitely a quick fun read! Jada and Donovan definitely had a lot of chemistry in their interactions, but I also appreciated how much they supported each another. It was refreshing for Jada to have an already established best friend, and I wish we were able to see more of Olivia. You can tell she’s going to bat for Jada no matter what. I totally expected her to also join the book club? But she also never really showed back up at the cupcake shop either. She usually just ended up back at Jada’s place, which is fine. I just expected her to be constantly in the bake shop since she is the one who dragged Jada there in the first place. Speaking of friends, I adore Kendra, the book club host. She’s pushy and bossy but in a fun, charismatic way, and I hope we see more of her. I think this is supposed to be a series. The epilogue makes it seem like it’s going to be.
Donovan’s besties Nicholas and August are also a lot of fun in their own ways. They all balance each other out: Donovan is the micromanager, type-A, driven and focused friend; Nicholas is the Devil may care, charismatic, fun loving, player friend; and August is quiet, stoic, loyal, and wise friend. To me, August is the stabilizer.
The plot was an interesting one to me. I did guess where it was going quite a few times, but the journey to the plot points was fun. I enjoyed the antics, but I also enjoyed the more serious discussions around dyslexia and gambling addictions and difficult family relationships.
Where the book lost me a bit was very near the end when something happens that just didn’t need to happen? The story could have ended up in the same place without it, and it was just kind of irritating. I am being intentionally vague here.
However, I am interested to see what comes next in this (possible) series!

While this book was very much up my alley- being a black girl and a baker myself- I quickly realized this one wasn’t for me.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the copy of this book.

The concept was really cute and I love a good fake dating story, but it was really quite sloooooow burn and the fact they didn’t actually get together basically until the end just didn’t do it for me.
I also found it really wordy and just missing a little something extra.

I liked the leads separately, Jada is nice and sassy, and it felt realistic and modern to me, but overall I felt it’s just an ok read. 3 stars for me.

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC.

This was such a good read! FAKE DATING TROPE?! The best. I loved Jada and Donovan so much and I always enjoy the banter and tension that comes with fake dating along with the cuteness of it all. Overall very glad I read this! I wonder if they’ll be a 2nd book?

This book follows a reality star and a cupcake baking football player wrapped up in a fake dating scheme. This was definitely a cute, lighthearted and easy read. I really loved Jada and Donovan as characters and they were really fun to read about. Unfortunately, this isn’t a romcom that I see really standing out to me in the long run. I found it a bit predictable at times and a bit too cheesy for me. This is not the day I didn’t enjoy my time though and I can see how this would totally work for someone else. I’m interested to check out more from this author however and I think if you’re interested in this book, you should for sure give it a try!

I have some mixed feelings about this book. I liked the premise of seeing the other side of the story of a reality TV villain. I liked that it was the man who had the stereotypical romance novel job at the cupcake shop.

But the conversations between Jada and Donovan felt stiff and stilted like they were play acting banter without it feeling real. I also found it hard to feel bad for the "sad little rich girl" who doesn't have access to her trust fund and needs to *gasp* get a job to pay her bills.

I wanted to love this book but it didn't do it for me. 2.5 stars. I didn't hate it but I also didn't particularly care for it.

I loved the idea of this and the synopsis. The whole story fell a bit short for me. I think I am just over baking romance books. There are too many centered around food competitions and baking shops.

Cute ROM Com! Quick easy read. Great for a rainy day or poolside. Predictable, as are most books in this classification. A little racy a couple of times, (most of us don't need instructions) and some potty mouth, but I've seen worse. The characters were colorful with some good dialogue and situations. A fun book to read. I was provided an advanced copy of the book at my request and was under no obligation to provide a review. The opinions expressed are my own. Thanks to the author, St. Martin's press, and NetGalley for allowing me to read this book.

This novel is about Jada Townsend-Matthews, reality show villain and not sure what she wants to do with her life and Donovan Dell, football player and owner of Sugar Blitz, a cupcake bakery. Jada is all over the place while Donovan prefers a controlled and well-planned life. What will happen when these two clash?!

What happens is that I have a blast reading this book! It had so many elements that I love, fake dating, reality TV, football, cupcakes! This was a perfect end of summer romance book to read! It was such a breeze to read and get sucked into this world. The supporting characters really shined as well. My only complaint is that now I want cupcakes. Badly.

It was a very light, a little cheesy (in a very good way), and lovely book to read. I hope there is a sequel!

I feel bad but could not get into this book. I love the premise but something was off for me. It was a slow build that did not give me the angst I look for.

Easy, fun read but a bit predictable. Glad I read it! It was a good vacation book for poolside reading

It was very cute. Jada Donovan are the perfect match on paper. Donovan is super sexy (I mean…hello…football playing baker?) and Jada is a reality TV star. I didn’t find myself rooting for them as a couple, but it was a lovely, quick-read story for those who want a cookie cutter, perfect ending. 3.5 stars.

This was a cute, somewhat predictable story. I liked the characters, though I didn’t feel the chemistry between them. I don’t think I’m interested enough in the other characters to read future books in this series.

I’m really enjoying the fake dating trope. I also enjoy steam and angst which this book delivered. I loved how the main characters bounced off each other in this book. It was predictable and fun in an entertaining way.