Such a delicious, sweet treat! Fake dating while baking by gorgeous footballers – how fun is that??

Jada Townsend-Matthews is a social influencer currently being ravaged by on-line trolls for refusing a marriage proposal from the “bachelor” on a wildly popular reality show. She’s in hiding and trying to blend in some place where nobody knows her. Jada and her bestie walk into a cupcake shop and the owner challenges her to deny the yumminess of his pastries.

Donovan is a pro footballer and cupcake entrepreneur as a side gig. He co-owns Sugar Blitz with his baller buddies and is thrown off by the beauty currently side-eyeing his cupcakes. At a meeting with his team owner, Mrs. T (AKA Jada’s Grandma), Jada coincidentally walks in looking for employment advice from “Grams” (AKA Donovan’s Mrs. T). Grams offers Jada as an option to help Donavan’s bakery up its game in the cupcake playing arena.

Jada’s sucky meddling parents are cutting her off and she has several months before she can gain access to the trust fund her Grams has set up for her. So, she NEEDS the job – being an impulsive and insecure trust fund socialite isn’t going to pay the bills her lifestyle requires. Donovan has based his life on setting goals and sticking to obtaining those goals in an orderly fashion. In other words, no time for any drama queens.

A pesky on-line entertainment blogger/journalist recognizes Jada at the register. Suddenly there is a real kiss (for show) and the couple is thrust into a fake dating relationship and another social media blast. Lots of back and forth – are they fake dating or should they really take the chance on a real relationship hilariousness. Once the jilted “bachelor” shows up begging for Jada to reconsider her marriage refusal, Donovan knows Jada is it for him. Sorry, too late -- now she decides she needs to find out if she can make it on her own. Don’t worry they get their HEA in a grand finale, and it is swoon-worthy for sure.

Fake It Till You Bake It is a funny, charming and sexy read. Jamie Wesley does a superb job of mixing the humor (come on, a cupcake baking football player) and the craziness of the social media bullying obstacles. She also weaves some fun side characters who will be making MVP appearances of their own in future installments. Overall, an enjoyable, Instagram worthy rom-com for the summer beach reading season.

I was provided an ARC from St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for an honest review.

This book was okay. It was very predictable with an "enemies to fake lovers to actual lovers" trope. I didn't feel a connection with the characters so that's one of the reasons for only rating this book 3 stars. This book should be able to stand out because of the diversity and POC representation, but I just really didn't like the main character Jada combined with that I feel like I've read a bunch of different cupcake/dessert/bakery romances in the past and I'm just kind of over them. I had higher hopes for this book, but it just felt like it fell flat.

Sadly I didn't enjoy this. I made it to half way and I was just bored. There was only one kissing scene and it lacked consent. Nothing else was really happening. She was going back and forth to work at the cupcake shop and people were rude because of who she was.. It just kept going on and on that way.
There was never any real world building. It was just like telling us the setting but not telling us anything about it. If you're going to say something is sterile, tell us why. I know Donovan said he thought the steel was great, but I would have liked it more had they been talking about the way the place smelled, and what drew people to it. I guess I just wanted more.
Maybe this is because I built this up too much in my head. I was thinking of that bakery by football players in Austin, Tx (since I'm in Texas) and maybe I was too eager for it to be like that? I don't know, but I just couldn't get into it. This review is a bit after pub date because I had planned to listen to the audio so I could at least finish it, but there wasn't one.
This was one of my most anticipated books of the year. And unfortunately, it didn't deliver for me. I was bored and I wanted more. Just more everything. (Well everything besides the repetition lol)

We all know how much I love romances set around food, and Fake It Till You Bake It is no exception. It is a quick and easy read that had me smiling throughout the book.

I loved the progression of Jada and Donovon’s relationship. Of course, it was obvious that they would end up in a real relationship, but I truly enjoyed going on the journey with them. Donovon clearly respects and cares for Jada and is willing to stand up for her when she is belittled by her parents. Jada not only comes into her own professionally while working for Sugar Blitz, but she also helps the business develp and grow. It is clear as you read that they make each other better as romantic partners should.

I appreciated that Fake It Till You Bake It turned gender norms on their head. It is a group of professional football players who own and run the cupcake bakery, and the young woman who comes to work for them almost burns down the shop. Similarly, many owners of NFL teams are men, but the San Diego Knights is owned by a powerful woman of color.

I’ve been reading a lot of books recently with different takes on Bachelor-style dating shows, and it was interesting to get the perspective of someone who had been on the show and experienced negative reprecussions from turning down a proposal on the show. It sets Jada up as someone with integrity as she was unwilling to get engaged just for the sake of television. The book also sets up Dr. John, her potential fiancé as someon akin to a comic book villain.

I do enjoy when a romance novel highlights the main characters’ relationships with their families. I love that Jada is close to her grandmother and wants to prove herself to her. The book also begins with a conversation Donovon has with his sister. Of course, Fake It Till You Bake It also addresses Donovon’s strained relationship with gambling addict father and the ways Jada’s parents make her feel inadequate. These familial relationships shine a light on the way Jada and Donovon behave in romantic relationships.

I was expecting Jada and Donovon to break up at some point towards the end of the book, but the way it happens felt abrupt and forced. It made the ending feel a little rushed and like Wesley was just trying to hit certain expected points in the story.

Of course, I immediately had to get a cupcake upon finishing Fake It Till You Bake It. Grab a cupcake and dig into this delightful romance.

“Fake it Till You Bake It” was a cute book, but the development of the main couple’s romance just felt so rushed to me. I didn’t really get to root for them because it was so sudden with little anticipation, which I found hard to become emotionally attached to. The bedroom scene was hot, but I believe there was only one and given he quick development of their attraction/relationship, I was a bit surprised by that. I appreciated the inclusion of showing why stereotypes can’t be trusted, Black medical statistics, and learning disabilities inclusion. It was a decent romance, but not one of my faves. 3 stars ⭐️. Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley.

Read/Listen If You Like:
❤️ Romances in the Spotlight
❤️ Fake Dating
❤️ Enemies to Lovers
❤️ Dual POV
❤️ Slow Burn

Book Review:
This was a cute slow burn Romcom with the premise of fake dating that was mutually beneficial as Donovan’s cupcake shop needed the business that their public fake dating was bringing to the shop and Jada needed her reputation to be rehabbed after dumping an eligible bachelor on national TV.

What I liked: the banter and build up of their relationship through the fake dating and the interconnection between them to help along the storyline of their fake dating scheme. I also liked the length and payoff of the slow burn as they didn’t jump right into bed and didn’t do so until they declared real feelings for each other.

What I didn’t like: the references to Donovan being a “principal” and Jada being a student that was in trouble when he would talk in stern ways as her boss. It just felt weird and creepy to describe it in that way when I think of principal and student being completely unacceptable dynamic and frankly gross to reference.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC of this book! I am so grateful to obtain a copy to read in advance of its release in exchange for my honest feedback!

4.5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

The title and the cover originally pulled me in and then I read the synopsis and I knew it was going to be a book I would enjoy.

I struggled to get into it at first because I wasn't really liking the characters. Jada comes off as a ditzy spoiled rich girl who doesn't care about anything but fashion and looking pretty and I wasn't getting on with Donovan's personality. That being said the further into the book I got the more and more I started liking the characters and the more you find out there is more to them then what meets the eye.

This is a fake dating, opposites attract romance. I would say there is a little bit of instalust happening as well, but I didn't mind that. With fake dating I always expect something to happen that will break the couple up in the end for them to inevitably get back together a few pages later. There was a lot of things happening that I was sure was going to break them up, but they always stuck together, and I loved that which is why when the breakup still happened it came out of the blue and really didn't make sense to me.

This book was funny with a little bit of steam thrown in as well as dealing with some hard topics. I hope the author plans to write more books because I would love to get a book for Donovan's other 2 friends as well as Jada's friend.

Super cute fake dating romance. Great character development, a meddling but adorable grandma, an NFL star who breaks with convention and bakes, a strong female protagonist, really there's nothing not to love. This is a fun romance that I'd quickly recommend to pretty much anyone.

I really liked this story. Jada and Donovan were amazing characters. I loved the way they met at his cupcake shop. Definitely not the best circumstances, but it was entertaining. They had great chemistry, and I loved the dynamic between these two. Jada was a sassy, fierce woman, who was just trying to figure out her life. I enjoyed her journey. Donovan was stuck in a safe life with no passion and adventure. They balanced each other out wonderfully. Definitely recommend this book.

Fake dating and cupcakes are definitely an easy way for a book to make it onto my TBR pile and this book definitely knocked those two out of the park. The initial meeting was fun because it wasn’t insta-love and all their banter in between made them a fun couple to read. I also love Nicholas and August, as well as Olivia and Grams. The side characters added to the story and I always love when they know the mains and don’t let them get away with ignoring their feelings. This book did start out slow for me but picked up and had me loving them after the first few chapters.

Fake It Till You Bake It is a sweet love story about a professional football player who loves to bake. Excuse me sir, get out of my dreams, get into my pants!

Donovan plays for the NFL and owns a struggling cupcake store with two other teammates. He meets Jada, a mouthy, internet-famous former contestant on a reality dating show. She’s also the granddaughter of Dominic’s team owner and somehow he’s never heard of her ever. Due to nepotism, Jada is hired to sell cupcakes.

Stern, football daddy immediately falls for the lighthearted Jada and goes along with it when she pretends to be his girlfriend when a nosy reporter shows up…And that’s about it. There was too much “ I have dyslexia and people don’t take me seriously” and “we’ve gotta make this cupcake store profitable” and not enough smearing frosting upon and then licking it off all the body parts. Less talk of the threat of the cupcake empire crumbling and more “Ya baby, you can lick the spoon”. I needed sex in the back office during work hours. Sex on the football field. Sex in a vat of cupcake batter.

So overall, this was ok. It’s a nice, fairly low steam romance. If you are looking for a cute romantic confection, this would fit the bill. If you are looking for people doing kinky things in a commercial bakery that the department of health would frown upon you may want to look elsewhere.

Smut- 2.1 stars
Romance- 3.9 stars
Story- 3.78 stars
When your kinks aren’t OSHA approved- 15 stars

I love reading and baking, so a book about baking is a win win situation for me. This book was very funny and I loved the banter between Donovan and Jada. This is a very cute story and a very enjoyable read.

Cute read! I wasn't sure what I was getting into, but I couldn't put down my Kindle.

When Jada Townsend-Matthews walks into Sugar Blitz, a new cupcake shop in San Diego, she gets herself into trouble with her big mouth as usual. Her best friend, Olivia, wanted a cupcake and she dragged Jada with her to make sure that she got out of her apartment where she's been hiding. Jada was on a dating reality TV show where she turned down a marriage proposal, because she went with her gut. It was screaming at her to run. Now people on social media are attacking her at every turn. So she's hiding in her condo and ignoring all media platforms because the haters in the world didn't agree with her decision not to marry a guy.

Jada had a very privileged childhood, she grew up with money. But her parents, both whom are doctors, were always disappointed with her. She wasn't a genius like her sister was, so she ruined their perfect family image. After college in NY, she traveled around Europe trying to find herself. But after agreeing to do a reality TV show, ignoring her parent's pleas, they have now given her 10 days until she's cut off. She can live in the condo that's owned by her family, but no more credit cards and allowance. Now she needs to convince her grandmother to release her trust fund before her 26th birthday, that's 4 months away.

Donovan Dell is the best running back in NFL history. After a rough childhood with his father gambling away their family's rent every month, he vowed to never struggle in life. With his 2 best friends/football brothers, August and Nicholas, they finally opened up their dream; a cupcake shop. All three men love to bake and opening the shop is also something they can do when they retire from football. When the shop first opened up six months ago, they did great. Now its slow due to other cupcake shops to go to. When Donovan needs sound business advice, he goes to Mrs. T, the owner of their team, for help.

But when Mrs. T. asks Donovan to give her granddaughter, Jada, a job he agrees. Then he realizes that he met her the day before when she criticized his cupcakes. Their attraction is immediate but they both know that it will be a disaster to act on it.

But when a reporter sees Jada working at the shop, Jada tells a little lie involving Donovan as her new boyfriend. He's not happy with her lie and when social media goes nuts about their fake relationship he's furious. That is until the next day the line of customers is around the block. Donovan and the guys are thrilled about the traffic and he sees the potential it will bring to the shop. So Jada and Donovan take a few pictures for the crowds and in the process sell a lot of cupcakes. But Jada has ideas on how to help increase business and they work.

Donovan realizes he likes being around Jada, more than he wants to admit. When real feelings get involved, they decide to test the dating waters with each other.

Even though they started out as a lie, they are both falling in love with each other. But when someone from Jada's past starts to blackmail her and Donovan, Jada will do anything to protect him; even end things and leave.

A must read!

Sometimes the first book in a series is fine, but you’re more excited about the secondary characters. This is that kind of book for me. This was perfectly ok but I can’t wait for future books with the more interesting (to me) heroes.

Pros:
I loved that the heroine was a dating reality star who was villainized for saying no to a proposal.

I liked that the icky power dynamic of a owner/employee relationship was limited by having the heroine’s family own the team the hero played for.

Cons:
Totally not the books fault, but enemies to lovers and football players are not my fave tropes. The hero’s personality seemed to be distilled to alpha + football.

As a baker, I was super distracted by how the recipes made no sense…like having the characters start a batter by mixing eggs and flour. And the cupcake flavors themselves actually sounded boring. This book did not make me want to eat cake. And I pretty much always want cake.

I sometimes enjoy poor little rich girl heroines, but I struggled to sympathize with this one. She was fragile with a mean streak, and at first glance, didn’t seem to have many interests outside of herself and fashion.

FAKE IT TILL YOU BAKE IT has three hunky professional football players who also own a cupcake bakery called Sugar Blitz. It also has a reality television star, Jada, who said no when the bachelor proposed to her on live tv. She's not well-liked by the public as a result and ends up working at Sugar Blitz even after insulting Donovan, one of the owners. You'll have to read the book to see how that happens.

Jada and Donovan have chemistry and seem to get each other. All their sniping at each other seems to be covering up other feelings especially after Jada says she turned down the proposal on reality tv in order to return to Donovan whom she had been dating. There are twists and turns to the story along with family issues, lots of drama, football, cupcakes galore along with baking, anger and angst, laughter, tears, romance, loving and love. There is closure and a happily ever after along with hints of what's to come in the next book in the series. I liked the playfulness of the cover.

Ms. Wesley is a new to me author. I've added several of her books to my always growing TBR pile.

"I should have told you that I love you, and I’ll go to the ends of the earth for you.”

#SWOON

Omg this book! A Cupcake Meet Cute sprinkled with fake dating, witty banter and a badass woman finding out her own strength. I'm all for strong women.

Donovan and Jada are a power couple and I just honestly adored them making digs at each other and rilling the other up. 😂

The side characters were the perfect blend of comic relief as well as support for growth for our MC's.

I am a #JaDon fan

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me an ARC! ❤️

I hate to say this, but everything about this book felt fake and it wasn't just the fake relationship from the title. Both leads are too perfect with obvious imperfections to make them feel less fake that didn't really count as imperfections to me. I mean, leading man Donovan is utterly perfect except that he's a logical perfectionist. I don't see how that's an issue. And leading lady Jada is gorgeous and smart and sociable but has dyslexia, so what? It all just read as a foregone conclusion that whatever obstacles they'd run into would be easily surpassed and the HEA didn't feel earned.
So overall, it wasn't a story that I enjoyed.
Then again, it might just be that this particular story was not my kind of cupcake and I missed the whole point of the story.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Griffin for the read!

A fake romance between a football player/cupcake shop owner and a woman at a crossroads in her life turns real in Fake It Till You Bake It. It’s a romance with a lot of potential, but I struggled with rating this book because I wanted to like it a lot more than I did.

Donovan likes order and Jada’s arrival upends his carefully structured life. She’s the most reviled woman on social media after turning down a marriage proposal on a reality dating show. When she comes into his shop and insults his cupcakes, Donovan is irritated – but also incredibly attracted. Then her grandmother – the owner of the football team Donovan plays for – asks Donovan to give Jada a job and things only get more confusing. Cue a mixture of kitchen mishaps, fake dating, image rehabilitation, and finding love where you least expect it and you have a recipe for a delightful book. Jada is prickly at first, but a lot of that is armor against the censure of the world and those who should love her but have beaten down her self-esteem. Jada intrigued me because her attitude masks vulnerability and a fear of messing up and being judged. She comes into her own over the course of the story and I liked seeing her find her way planning events and becoming a part of Sugar Blitz. Her personal journey was the strongest plotline of this book and I was cheering for her to believe in herself and her abilities, to carve her own path and be able to overcome the haters and the parents who criticize her for being dyslexic and not following in their prestigious footsteps.

Where I struggled with Fake It Till You Bake It was the writing. Jamie Wesley had all the elements of an engaging story but as much as I wanted to fall into it I never did. Jada and Donovan are characters ripe with potential and though there’s a lot I enjoyed about Jada’s personal journey, Donovan’s kind of fell flat (also, he and his partners are professional football players and none of the work or training that goes into that is ever shown). The romance was also flat, lacking any zip or zing that would have kept me from putting down the book as often as I did. That being said, I really liked that Donovan supported and believed in Jada. They fit well; I just wanted some more sparks. The book isn’t bad, but it's slow-paced and never came alive. Add in a last-minute series of obstacles that felt more manufactured than organic and I finished the story feeling just OK about the read overall.

Donovan has two jobs that might at first seem completely opposite: he’s a professional football player who has turned his baking hobby into a cupcake shop, and the shop is struggling to stay afloat. Jada is a reality TV star infamous for turning down a marriage proposal live on national television. The two of them get off on the wrong foot when Jada, never afraid to speak her mind, is critical of Donovan’s cupcake shop. But when his team’s owner – who happens to be Jada’s grandmother – asks Donovan to hire her granddaughter at the cupcake shop, they’re forced to learn how to get along. And when a reporter mistakenly believes that the two are an item, they realize that they can use the press coverage to promote the shop while also providing Jada with some positive press for a change.

It’s a fake dating book! This trope is hit-or-miss for me, and in general I prefer genre or historical romance over contemporary, but this book was very cute. I liked the characters and the way they complemented each other, with Jada getting dour Donovan to loosen up and Donovan keeping impulsive Jada a little more grounded. There were some bits that were cheesy or contrived, but in a romance novel that’s generally part of the territory, so I can get past it. The end seems to indicate that there is a series in the works – and I liked this book enough to pick up the next one if it crosses my path.

Representation: Black main and side characters, dyslexic character

Cute though somewhat quirky read.
The story moved along nicely and most of it was entertaining.
The characters were interesting in their own way.
The setting of the cupcake shop was nice.
Overall, a ok read that will keep you entertained.
Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and author for the opportunity to read this book for my honest review. All opinions and thoughts expressed are my own.