Sweet and savory is what you get when a reality star and football baker date.

Fake it Till You Bake It by Jamie Wesley was a sexy sweet fake dating love story and I loved it. This was a story about Jada, a former reality star that everyone loved to hate and Donovan, a footballer turned baker. Donovan had a limited amount of time left in his football career, so he decided to open a bakery with his friends to make sure he had something to fall back on. Unfortunately, it was hitting a slump and he didn’t know what to do about it. One day, Jada ended up working at the bakery and one thing led to another which ended with them in a fake relationship. But it became a win-win situation for both, as it helped with business and kept the negativity about her down. Can they keep it going for the long haul or will things begin to shift?

From the beginning, we were met with deception which ultimately set the tone for the rest of the story. With the mix of an analytical, “it has to be done this way'' type of person and a free spirit, things were bound to get a bit exciting. Both testing each other’s limits and opening each other up for growth was inevitable, much like mixing ingredients and baking them. The banter from day one, yes please! I loved that the characters were total opposites because it added to the humor that was all over this story.

The realism was insane, with pop culture references, real life situations with family and expectations, as well as the struggles people go through. It hit lots of great issues without being forced in your face. I also liked that there was the inclusion of neurodiversity and showing there is nothing to be ashamed of nor compensated for. Jada’s dyslexia was her strength and shall we say, superpower!

Oh my goddess, the sexual tension! Whew, can we get a fan? This is what it means to turn up the heat without going over the top with it. It was so beautifully executed and seamless.

Fake it Till You Bake It was such a fun story and hidden in there was kind of a coming of age situation happening. More like coming into maturity and finding that balance of who you are vs who people want you to be vs what you think people want you to be or need you to be. This is a common occurrence in adults in their 20s, so it was pretty relatable. Nice!

I love a good enemies to lovers and fake dating story. But with the added bonus of yummy baked goods, it was super enticing! If you are looking for these tropes with some Black leads and a bit of neurodiversity in the mix, this is for you!

I’d love to see more from Jamie Wesley!

FAKE IT TILL YOU BAKE IT – Jamie Wesley
St. Martin’s Griffin
ISBN: 978-1-250-80185-2
June 21, 2022
Romantic Comedy

San Diego, California – Present Day

Jada Townsend-Matthews became the most hated woman in America after she turned down the marriage proposal from the bachelor star on a reality show. She has been keeping a low profile—and trying to avoid social media—but with her twenty-sixth birthday almost here, she needs to find a job to appease her grandmother, who holds the purse strings on Jada’s trust fund. Her grandmother owns the San Diego NFL football team and the team’s star defensive end owns a cupcake bakery, so it is decreed that Jada work there. The problem is that Jada is all too familiar with the cupcake shop and its owner, Donovan Dell. She recently went into the bakery and insulted Donovan’s business. Now she has to spend the coming months working for him.

Donovan doesn’t really want Jada working for him, but since there are delicate contract negotiations going on to extend his football contract, he can’t tell the owner no. He figures he can put Jada out front at the counter and she will do little damage, but it doesn’t stop him from watching her. Jada has her ups and downs, yet also has some good ideas, even if they do clash occasionally. But one day, a customer recognizes Jada from the TV show and asks if Donovan is the man that she claimed on the show finale was the reason why she couldn’t accept the marriage proposal. Jada, in a panic, turns to Donovan and kisses him.

With the rumor going strong that Jada and Donovan are romantically involved, the bakery, called Sugar Blitz, takes off. People come in to gawk at both Jada and Donovan, as well as buy lots of cupcakes. Donovan decides he likes the idea of pretending to be Jada’s boyfriend. But soon, fake becomes reality. They’re attracted to each other. As soon as Jada gets her hands on her trust fund she will be gone. Can Donovan convince her to stick around? How will their relationship affect his future with the football team?

FAKE IT TILL YOU BAKE IT is a funny and romantic tale about a man and woman who are polar opposites, yet still manage to fall in love. Donovan grew up in a family struggling with poverty and he used his football skills to parlay it into a lucrative NFL career. He’s always enjoyed baking cupcakes, so with two fellow football teammates, they opened Sugar Blitz. However, the business is now struggling a little bit. Enter Jada, who is from a wealthy family. She has struggled to “find herself” and is willing to do what it takes to access her trust fund when she turns twenty-six. Even if it means working with the surly (and decidedly attractive) Donovan. Despite their battles with each other, their sexual chemistry soars off the charts. But can it lead to more than a fling? Things are not so easy for them on their road to a happily-ever-after. Will they succeed—or will their differences derail their romance?

An intriguing and fun premise makes FAKE IT TILL YOU BAKE IT a must read for lovers of romantic comedy. Don’t miss this enjoyable tale.

Patti Fischer

This was a quick and easy reading opposites attract, fake dating romance.

The “meet cute” kind of set me off on the wrong foot with this book. I didn’t think Jada’s behavior was very cute at all so it was kind of an uphill battle for me to like her. She did win me over by the end but it was slow going.

Donovan however I liked from the beginning, but I wish we could have gotten to know him better. He stayed pretty surface level and I never really understood why he was so drawn to Jada. Also we’re told he is a professional football player but that really wasn’t a part of this book at all. I never thought I’d say this but it needed more sports.

Overall it was cute, just not spectacular.

*I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. Thank you so much to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Griffin for this ARC!*

This was such a cute contemporary romance! It was a combination of the ‘enemies to lovers’ and ‘fake dating’ tropes, both of which I am a big fan of. Add to all of that that it is set in a cupcake shop run by three hunky professional football players and you have a really fun story!

I liked both of the main love interests. Donovan was so serious and so ambitious. He reminded me a little bit of myself, so I kept finding myself telling him to loosen up! Jada was spunky and feisty, which made her a brilliant foil to Donovan. It was a fun romance to watch play out.

The two other football players were fun to get to know. I really felt like Wesley was gearing us up to have this be a series. I would love to see a book about each of these men’s love stories. I hope that my assumption is correct 🙂

All in all, this was a cute and sweet (no pun intended 😉 ) romance! If you are a fan of the ‘fake dating’ trope, you will enjoy this book!

My Rating:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I gave Fake It Till You Bake It 4 Stars!

Fake It Till You Bake It is going to be one of the top vacation reads this summer. I can feel it.

The story introduces Donovan Dell, a pro football player trying to get a bakery business to flourish. He knows the game cant last forever but he’s at a bit of a loss on how to improve his fall backs standing. When the owner of his team asks him to hire her granddaughter he had no idea it would be the currently vilified reality star Jada Townsend.

Insert Jada. She feels lost and needs direction. Somehow she ends up working for Donovan. Te two do not get on at all but eventually come to an agreement that they need each other to help out their own situations. In order to advance their goals they agree to fake date, and it works. Somewhere along the lone those fake feelings start turning real.

These two don't have the typical dynamic you see in a lot of Rom-coms recently. Yes they bicker quite a bit. There’s definitely the enemies to lovers chemistry going on. Because of this some might find the first half of the book to drag in bits. Some of it to feel stilted or awkward but it plays into how the characters feed off each other.
Overall, fun quick summer read.

This was an enjoyable book and didn’t feel as long as it was. Donovan is an NFL football player and along with two of his team mates and friends have a cupcake shop which is on the verge of failing.
Jada, an opinionated disgraced reality tv star is bought along to said cupcake store by her friend and is less than impressed. Voicing her opinions on the stale store which is overheard by Donovan, the two then obviously grate on each other.
As it turns out, the two are thrown together when Jada’s grandma and owner of the NFL team Donovan plays for asks Donovan to hire her.
Not having the best start, the two do clash with each other. But the two have to start a fake relationship when Jada’s disgraced tv reality past comes to haunt her.
Donovan, the straight laced, does things by the book combined with Jada’s opinionated and impulsiveness, how will this fare!
A sweet book with a little heat! Enjoyable to read.

This story starts out with Jada & her friend going into a cupcake shop where she starts to bad mouth the shops ambience by calling it stale. Donovan, the shop owner, takes offense to what he hears and the two have some words together that are rude & snarky until she walks out of the shop.

Jada is a woman who comes from money who is between jobs at the moment. She was also just recently in a Bachelor style reality show & turned down the proposal in the end where she is now the villain all over social media right now. Her grams owns a football team and one of her players, Donovan, owns a cupcake shop. Grams gives Jada an ultimatum that she must work for 6 months with a steady job & great reviews from her supervisor in order to get her trust fund.

Donovan is a control freak who is a football player with a passion for cupcakes. He owns a shop that sells a variety of cupcakes but his business hasn’t been doing well. He wants to ask Mrs. T, Jada’s Grams & owner of his football team, advice for his business where he gets roped into having her granddaughter come work for him.

When Jada begins working with him she makes many mistakes which gets Donovan upset. But soon enough Jada’s denied proposal catches up with the two of them when a reporter finds her working there. Jada is so flustered by the questions that she tells her that Donovan is her man & kisses him. The two fake date until they finally realize they are actual perfect for each other.

The only parts of the story i don’t like is Jada is rude. She walks into a business & is badmouthing it while giving him terrible attitude. She isn’t super likable.. she does get a little better but then towards the end Jada all of the sudden flips a switch and doesn’t want to be with him & wants to go do her own thing.. like no please don’t do that. But I understand that this usually happens at the end of some novels that you have to have a hiccup before the HEA.

Giving this 4 stars because the plot was so fun and the characters were easy to love after they started to get along better & it was an enjoyable read. This comes out June 21 & it’s a cute one!

Thank you to the author & publisher for this arc!

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley and am voluntarily posting a review. All opinions are my own.
Jamie Wesley is a new-to-me author, and one I’m definitely excited to try more from. Fake It Till You Bake It is such a fun, sweet confection of a romance, the literary equivalent of the sweets in the book: sugary (with a dash of heat) and full of heart.
The opening chapters instantly hooked me on Jada and Donovan, and their dynamic. They don’t exactly have love at first sight, and while I did feel like Jada’s self-confessed brutal honesty in the moment was more brutal than anything else, Donovan gave back as good as he got. I enjoyed seeing things unfold, with them being thrown together due to her grandmother also being the owner of his football team, and good ol’ meddling (but loving) Grams gets Jada a job at Donovan’s bakery.
The premise for them beginning to fake date was interesting, as it was motivated by generating positive buzz for Jada in the aftermath of a disastrous stint on a reality dating show, not to mention providing good press for the bakery. I really liked how they moved pretty seamlessly from faking to making things real. There are some *small* issues I had with some aspects of the relationship, but generally I really liked them together.
Jada is the more complex of the two. She’s still finding her feet and she struggles with insecurities, thanks to her parents having such high standards. Both of them are doctors, but she has dyslexia, and she deals with ableism and rejection from them as a result. I feel like this did make her a bit *too* insecure, as even after proving she could handle something pretty major on her own, her insecurities still get the better of her, because of how she ended up in her current state of success. I could understand the rationale, but I also felt the leap in logic she takes in connecting professional and personal was a bit much, even considering how linked the two had been up to this point.
Donovan is super sweet when he unwinds a bit (his uptight nature is frequently remarked upon in the book!), and I liked how supportive he was of Jada, including in confrontations with her impossible-to-please parents and vengeful reality show producers and jilted co-stars. He isn’t perfect, as in one of Jada’s biggest crises, he panics and doesn’t adequately offer his support, even though he had been there for other, external battles. But he has a good heart, and that made me still believe in them despite how out-of-nowhere that moment was.
While this is a self-contained, stand-alone love romance, there’s plenty of teases for what’s to come with future installments following Donovan’s fellow football players/bakery co-owners. And the epilogue ends on a rather suspenseful note, hinting at what’s to come for the next book, so my hype is high.
In spite of some of my minor issues, I really liked this, and would recommend it to lovers of contemporary Black romance and/or romances about bakeries.

rating: 2.5

Well, I thought I'd really love this one, sadly that was not the case. Fake dating usually involves some type of insta love or falling in love very fast, and normally, I don't have a problem with that if the characters are well written and their love feels real, but here, it felt more like Jada and Donovan were in love because that's what they were supposed to do. I just didn't feel anything for them or the rest of the characters, which in turn, made me not care for the plot, and which is why I took a whole month to read the book.


Thank you to St. Martin's Press for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This is one of the cutest, must ridiculously enjoyable romance books I've ever read!
Donovan is a star football player who has opened a cupcake shop with his two best friends. Things are going okay, but not nearly as well as they had hoped.
Jada is a woman who has been all over, doing a little of everything, when she follows her bestie into a cupcake shop, and immediately starts insulting the building and the cupcakes, not realizing that Donovan is right behind her.
She ends up having to work there, and she and Donovan butt heads at every opportunity. Donovan quickly realizes that this women is hurting, and very talented at bringing people into the shop and also, really great at PR..
The heat between these two is off the charts, and the love permanent.
Do Not Miss This Book!

Super sweet romance that will have you craving cupcakes! I love the hate-to-love vibe, the witty back-and-forth banter, the sexy glances at each other, and those hot moments between Jada and Donovan (wow is it hot in here?) . It's so fun that this romance is centered around a cupcake shop needing a second chance, a woman who also needs a second chance due to a reality tv series, and a man willing to take a chance on love.

Although I love the sassy banter between the two of them, sometimes it felt a little cheesy and things were overexplained, but I still really enjoyed this book regardless. I loved Mrs. T and how she doesn't hesitate to meddle in her granddaughter's affairs in order to help her, even if Jada doesn't see it like that at the time.

A fun romp for sure!

A fake boyfriend troupe turned real boyfriend between a reality TV "villain" and an NFL player who moonlights as a cupcake aficionado? Yeah, that will do. Donovan is a straight laced footballer who is trying to make his cupcake shop a success, and Jada came fresh of the set of a reality show where she turned down the marriage proposal that was supposed to launch her influencer career. They both have more in common than they realize, and end up in a fake relationship turned real relationship before you know it.

The characterization of both Jada and Donovan was fantastic. We learned more about the leads than I anticipated, like how Donovan likes control related to his upbringing with a father who has a gambling problem, and how Jada folds when thinking about how her scientific and perfect parents would think about her job in the cupcakery.

The story itself was farfetched at times, but was still enjoyable. It read kind of like a Hallmark movie, where everything just kind of falls in place. I did enjoy it, wished that maybe it was a little steamier but what we did get was fantastic. I also loved the representation of dyslexic people and how Jada addressed it several times in the book. The story felt fresh and kept me coming back for more.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

Jada Townsend-Matthews could be the most hated woman in America. She is a freshly minted former reality TV star, who in a decision that shocked America, turned down the proposal at the end of "My One and Only". Now, back home, and still lost as to what her purpose in life is - she's been staying in her condo to avoid the hate that has literally been following her everywhere. (As well as flooding her social media pages). Hoping for access to her trust fund, she agrees to work at a cupcake shop on her grand mother's wishes, to prove she can hold a job. The only problem? She's met the owner, at said cupcake shop before (it did not go that well). Enter professional football player and cupcake store owner, Donovan Dell. Will she be able to get over her initial dislike of this man and hold the job? Or will her normal instincts kick in and cause everything to fall apart around her, yet again?

This was such an enjoyable story! I really enjoyed the humor sprinkled throughout the story, as well as the sense that the author really understood who these two were, especially Jada. I found myself rooting for Jada right away - and understanding where she was coming from. It really checked all the boxes for me. It was fun and funny, it had great chemistry between the leads, funny side-kicks, the conflict, what it was and how it was handled was surprising. And it was an extra bonus that the main setting happened to be a cupcake shop. I will say there was a couple of little hiccups that I wasn't fond of but they didn't detract from the story/journey for me. It's also definitely left open for a part two that I hope comes around soon! I would absolutely recommend this to anyone that likes a sweet love story that doesn't get as steamy as some I've seen as of late.

Jamie absolutely killed it! I loved this book so much. It was wholesome and funny. Y’all will love this

Fake It Til You Bake It hooked me right from the beginning. I loved how sassy and strong our main character, Jada is. Donovan was truly a romance novel's dream man. Mrs T made me laugh and simultaneously want a Grams hug. The characters were top notch likeable.

One thing that bugged me throughout was the fact that Donovan is a current NFL player but he doesn't practice or condition. I would have loved to see more football story line and less reality TV story line. I'm looking forward to reading August story next!

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC!

This was a sweet romance (pun intended) and I loved the setting of a cupcake shop and seeing Jada work hard at event planning. The main characters felt a little flat to me personally although I did love their banter and flirting. I think the supporting stars such as Jada's grandma, Nick, and August really shown in this book! I felt like the third act breakup was a little unnecessary and would've preferred to see the drama with Lila more fleshed out and prolonged to see how they handled it together as a couple in order to grow from it.

his is perfect for fans of Jasmine Guillory and Lyssa Kay Adams.

Infamous reality TV star and an athlete who owns a cupcake shop? Fake dating? Yes and yes!

Jada and Donovan could not be more opposite but when circumstances come together and fake dating seems to benefit them both, what could go wrong?

Between the banter, friends (and customers!) who are like family (I hope we see more of August and Nicholas 🙏🏼😍), and all the cupcake talk I really enjoyed this book!!

Thank you NetGalley and St Martin’s press for the opportunity to read and review this book!

I love this very amusing romantic comedy. Former reality star Jada gets off on the wrong foot with Donovan when she insults NFL star and bakery owner's cupcakes before she has even tried one. Though he thinks that she is beautiful, he finds her impulsive and bougie. Jada thinks he's overly serious but gorgeous. Jada ends up working with him in the bakery. To change her reviled image and to help his struggling business, they pretend to be dating. As they get to know each other, love can't be far behind. I received a free copy of this ebook from the publisher. This is my honest and voluntarily given review. The story, the characters, the dialogue, and the humor pulled me in right away. I love Jada and Donovan's honesty and candidness. I love how they saw below each other surfaces and protected each other. This is my first book by the author and I look forward to reading more of her books. I hope this is the start of a series and there will be books focusing on Donovan's business partners and fellow teammates.

Loved the fake dating and family drama. Great read that left me craving cupcakes!
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

Fake dating! Sizzle! Family drama! Fun read that I couldn't put down.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC. All opinions are my own.