I really loved this book and it was finally the rom-com I was waiting to read. The characterization of Jada and Donovan was fantastic and the cooking theme and how their fake relationship sparks real feelings. This kept my interest from start to finish and it was not predictable, which was also good. Fantastic cover and premise too.

Definitely recommended for readers looking to enjoy a good rom-com. I look forward to more from this author in the future.

Thanks to Netgalley, Jamie Wesley and St Martin's Press Griffin for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Available: 6/21/22

Summer seems like the right time for a cupcake twist on fake dating, sugary treats, and romance book clubs. Wesley introduces a gentle football star and a bubbly former reality TV star into a well frost-covered, multi-layered rom-com. When three football star friends come together, they spin a dream away from the football field and into a sweet cupcake bakery. Jada can't seem to figure out her life. After her disgraceful exit from a popular Bachelorette-esque reality show, the nation labeled her a villain. Against all odds, Jada starts working at Sugar Blitz for the curmudgeonly owner. One very unwelcome reporter later, Jada and Donovan end up fake dating to save his struggling bakery. Fake dating, burning tension, and repressed feelings made me obsessed with this cute rom-com. Through faking dating, Jada and Donovan's real anxieties about their lives reveal true depth underneath this rom-com. Jamie Wesley writes romantic tension like a sweet taste that uncovers an explosion of flavor.

I love reading books that a are set in bakeries. They’re always so much fun.

Fake It Till You Bake It was a cute, light hearted read. It was a fun romcom that I flew through. Not much substance to it. Just a good vibe :)

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for providing me a copy of the arc in exchange for an honest review.

I love an enemies to lovers trope so Fake It Till You Bake It was right up my alley. While it obvious from the first scene that Jada and Donovan were going to get together, I still loved the story. Plus, what’s not to love about two football players owning a cupcake shop. This book was a warm hug, and I recommend it to anyone to bring to the pool or the beach this summer.

Thank you to Jamie Wesley, St. Martin’s Press, St. Martin’s Press Griffin, and NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Fake It Till You Bake It is a cute, lighthearted read. Even though it is very predictable, Jada and Donovan are likable characters that you want to route for. You know how it’s going to end, but it’s fun getting there. Donovan has two close friends so I kept thinking that this may be a three book series. The ending solidified that feeling. It may be fun to read their stories too.

A cute, sexy, light hearted romance. I really enjoyed reading this. A fake dating, opposites attract story revolves around Donovan, a pro football player who also owns a cupcake business. Jada is a reality tv star who turned down a proposal and is now feeling the rath of that. The first time Jada and Donovan meet, it is not pretty. They don't expect to see eachother again, but the football teams owner asks Donovan to let her granddaughter work there, he is shocked when Jada comes for the job. Jada and Donovan decide to fake a relationship to help out his business, and her reputation. What they also do not expect to happen…. FEELINGS!

Took me a little bit to get into this one, but once I did, it was really refreshing and fun. I enjoyed the characters and the secondary characters were also fun. A few twists, some spice, and laughs make it entertaining.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the gifted copy. All opinions are my own.

Thank you NetGalley and Saint Martin’s Press for the ARC!

I have to admit, this one started slow for me, but as the story went on, the writing also got a lot better.

I loved both Jada and Donovan. It was refreshing to read a romance where each member of the couple actually days what’s on their mind and don’t hide behind big lies that ultimately pop up later.

The supporting characters were just as fun, if not even more entertaining at times. I look forward to August’s book, which I’m assuming is next.

Also, all of the descriptions of cupcakes REALLY made me want to eat some while I was reading.

All in all, I’d recommend this one!

FAKE IT TILL YOU BAKE IT was an entertaining "opposites attract" romance. Donovan Dell is a pro football player who always has a plan. Life with a father who is addicted to gambling and the resulting family financial insecurity, has made him the sort who watches spreadsheets and analyzes thoroughly before taking any financial risk.

Jada Townsend-Matthews is a poor little rich girl who has dyslexia and isn't appreciated by her parents and sister who are all research scientists. Jada doesn't have a plan for her future and most of her previous tries ended in failure. The final failure resulted in her turning down a proposal on a matchmaking reality show and becoming the most reviled woman in America.

They meet when she walks into his new cupcake shop, which started out hot but has cooled off making Donovan worry about his finances. He overhears her telling a friend that the decor is wrong. When he challenges her to try a cupcake, she is only mildly enthused but does recognize that this stick-in-the-mud guy is hot.

They meet again when her grandmother who happens to own the football team Donovan works for strongly encourages Jada to work for Donovan to prove that she can keep a job and thus have her trust fund released to her.

Jada and Donovan get to know each other and fall in love, but an encounter with the producer of the matchmaking program has Jada impulsively declaring that she and Donovan are dating and he's the reason she turned down the on-screen proposal.

As they fake date, the learn to appreciate each other's strengths. Jada's impulsiveness and concern for others leads her to a new career in event planning and improves Donovan's bottom line. Donovan's steadiness and support for Jada gives her confidence in herself that she never got from her overly critical parents.

This was a nice love story.

Fake It Till You Bake It is a fast-paced, light-hearted romance that centers around a fake dating couple with an undeniable chemistry that sometimes turns steamy. This is a well-written read with a great setting and intriguing characters. Overall, Fake It Till You Bake It was a lovely romance with some humor and laugh-out-loud moments.

Any book that's set in a bakery has my heart. This was a cute fake dating book filled with football players, reality stars and of course the shining stars, cupcakes. A summer read that you can fly through and a little steamy time as well!

thank you to netgalley (@netgalley) and the publisher (@stmartinpress) for providing me with an arc in exchange for an honest review

oh boy, where do i start? from the first page, i love how the book started with donovan dell's pov, instead of the jada's pov. in most books, it usually starts with the female pov, which i never saw before.

𝚏𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚒𝚝 𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚋𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚒𝚝 was a cute, fast, and light-hearted read. i loved how there is representation for dyslexia. jada had dyslexia, and liked how she had ways to deal with the struggles that comes with dyslexia. the characters in 𝚏𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚒𝚝 𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚋𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚒𝚝 was very diverse and funny to read. the chemistry between donovan and jada was cute to read. their little arguments were cute and amusing 🥰 the romance between the two was clean in the beginning/middle, the sexual scenes (😏) happened at 70% of the book. another reason i loved this book was that it includes three of my favorite tropes: forced proximity, enemies to lovers, and fake dating. me likey 🥰😁 i extremely loved the fake dating cause it's a really cute trope 🥰 the ending of the book had me on my sit, can't to read a spin off of the other characters 🥰 jamie wesley (@jamiewesleywrites) is a wonderful author. 4★stars

𝚏𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚒𝚝 𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚋𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚒𝚝 will be published on june 21st, so make sure you guys get your hands on this one 😉👩🏾‍🍳🧁

Black love, a football player and a cupcake baker! What a fun one! I enjoyed this light hearted read. It was a fun, contemporary romance novel.

I wanted to move this book, but I didn’t connect with the characters or story. I think it has potential to reach an audience who will love it.

This book was sweet and simple. I really fell in love with Donovan and Jada’s characters. They both have grumpy tendencies and it was refreshing instead of the grumpy/sunshine trope. I will say this book took me a little bit to get into but overall I really enjoyed my time with this one.

This was such a charming romantic comedy. It was humorous, light and entertaining in every way.

First of all, I absolutely love and always enjoy the ‘enemies to lovers’ trope so having this in the book was great! The characters were so likeable and fun to follow along throughout the book.

Overall a fun read that I would totally recommend to any rom-com lover!

Fake It Till You Bake It isn't my normal read. But honestly it made a delightful change as it's a cute and charming tale featuring Jada a reality star, who experiences the down side of social media when she turns down a marriage proposal on a TV dating show, and Donovan an NFL player who likes to bake and whose part owner of a cupcake store called Sugar Blitz, and whose first meeting with Jada isn't exactly a success when she claims the store bland and the cupcakes stale.

But circumstances soon force Jada and Donovan back together and the pair certainly have some chemistry as they end up faking a romance that soon develops into the real thing.

And with a well-written storyline, characters who grow as the story develops and some serious subjects addressed including the impact of social media and addiction. This was an enjoyable and at times fun read. That certainly offered much more than I was expecting.

Many thanks to St. Martin's Griffin and NetGalley for a gifted copy of the e-book. I was excited to see a baking romance because I've been on a food competition/restaurant/etc. book kick this year! This is an enemies to lovers (sort of), fake dating, workplace romance.

Jada is public enemy number 1 after turning down Dr. John on a dating show. Donovan Dell is a football player who happens to own a cupcake shop and enjoy baking. Their first meeting is a disaster but of course, circumstances bring the pair back together and chaos ensues.

What I liked:
Jada's grandmother was a wonderful character and I honestly wanted more of her story than the main paring.
Jada's BFF Olivia.
Donovan's friends
The cupcake shop!
The scene with Jada, Donovan and Jada's parents at dinner
Jada's character growth

What I didn't like
Jada and Donovan -- the main couple. I don't know what it is. I get that Jada was trying to protect herself from everything because the world hated her and her parents were rude to her but overall, I just didn't buy the two of them together and Donovan was too much of a cinnamon roll for me. I wanted some more fire I think and the two of them together just didn't work for me. It's really hard for me to rate the book anything higher than 3 stars because I didn't like the main characters.

Your mileage may vary though. Jada's character growth was wonderful and probably the best part of the book but I never quite got there with fully embracing her and especially Donovan.

Fake It Till You Bake It comes out on June 21 and is available for pre-order now

This fake dating romance follows reality star Jada and NFL/cupcake bakery owner Donovan. After turning down the final proposal on her dating reality show, Jada is doing her best to hide out and ride out the onslaught of negative opinions. She starts working at Donovan's bakery and when a nosy journalist starts pushing Jada for the reason she turned down the proposal, Jada says Donovan is the reason. The two agree to a mutually beneficial fake dating ploy to increase sales at the bakery and rehab Jada's public image. Only as the weeks progress, they find this fake dating is starting to feel all too real. I really enjoyed this read and loved Jada and Donovan together. I'm not a fan of reality dating shows so I was pleased that this story took place after Jada's show and we got to see some of the aftermath of reality TV from her perspective. We get a fantastic cast of side characters as well and I'm so glad the ending set up one of these side characters for their own book in the future. What didn't work for me was the 3rd act breakup. It happened around the 90% mark and really felt like it came completely out of left field. I generally like the reason for the break up when it has come up in other books, but in this case I didn't feel like those reasons were introduced previously very much. With this specific issue, I like there to be a gradual build up of tension or for there to be some recurring issue that keeps poking at the characters until they can't ignore it any longer. Then, because the breakup happened so late in the book, there wasn't much time on page to see the characters grow and develop. We're told they're apart for 3 months before getting back together and we're told they've grown as people, but we don't really see that growth on page like I personally prefer.

Thanks NetGalley and St Martin's Press for the ARC. Expected publication date is June 21, 2022

This was a cute contemporary romantic comedy. Nothing really stands out to make it amazing for me, but it's a nice palate cleanser or a book for when you don't want to do alot of thinking and good to pass the time. I did get a little bored because it started off too slow for me. But overall, I liked the characters and would probably continue on with the series. (The ending hinted we would have a book about one of the side characters, August.)

**Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me an advanced copy of this book and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion. I am posting this review to my Goodreads account immediately and will post it to my Amazon & Instagram accounts upon publication.

This book was such a sweet read that was well written with wonderfully created characters that had me hooked from the very beginning! I really enjoyed the interaction and chemistry between Jada and Donovan which kept me totally glued to my kindle until the turn of the very last page!