Don’t let this cute cover convince you this is a light rom-com. This thing was heavy. We had alcoholism, unwilling publication of private photos, a deep depression spiral, and just a whole bunch of pain.

Overall, I enjoyed it. Their chemistry was super hot especially since it started from an agreement in a PR office. I was proud of Grey the entire book for standing up for herself no matter who was dumping on her.

Her career was wildly important to her but she managed to find and maintain important female friendships that weren’t related to the main love storyline and I really liked that. I don’t feel like some books I’ve read recently would pass the Bechdel test. This did with flying colors.

Pub date: 6/14/2022

Thank you to Netgalley for a copy in exchange for an honest review. My opinions are my own.

How To Fake It In Hollywood
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: Romance
Format: Kindle eBook
Date Published: 6/14/22
Author: Ava Wilder
Publisher: Dell
Pages: 368
Goodreads Rating: 4.14

TW ⚠️: Child Star Molestation, Addiction/Alcoholism, Grief, Loss of a loved one, divorce, and references abuse as a child.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dell for providing a digital copy of the book for me to read in exchange for my honest opinion.

Synopsis: With Grey Brooks life-changing role on the line, she's finally desperate enough to agree to her publicist's scheme... faking a love affair with a disgraced Hollywood heartthrob who needs the publicity, but for very different reasons. Between Ethan Atkins high-profile divorce, his struggles with drinking, and his grief over the death of his longtime creative partner and best friend, he's slowly let himself fade into the background. Ethan needs to clean up his reputation and step back into the spotlight. A gossip-inducing affair with a gorgeous actress might be just the ticket, even if it's the last thing he wants to do.

My Thoughts: With the cover and synopsis, I was expecting a light rom-com, but this was more of Women’s Fiction, which I also like very much. The characters are well developed and have depth, tragic problems that they have to cope with, emotional, chemistry, and insecurities that are absolutely relatable. The author’s writing was complex, creative, and emotional. The author did a good job at describing the scenes, I felt I was there with Grey and Ethan. I tend to like fake dating trope, so this was right up my ally. Overall, this was a enjoyable read, even with the heavy trigger warnings. I enjoyed the book and would read more by the author.

4.5 stars

Do I dare make this hot take and say that this is my favorite debut romance since The Love Hypothesis?

I think I do.

My friends, I started this book at 10am while embarking on a road trip and finished it by the time I reached my destination at 4pm. I couldn't stop reading it! It was steamy, it was heartbreaking, and it gave me those Hollywood feels. I must say that it was definitely heavier than the cartoon cover led me to admit with alcoholism and the loss of a loved one playing a huge part in the narrative, but I think that it lent a wonderfully rendered emotional edge to the story. Honestly, the one thing that I think would have made this better for me was just one more chapter from the hero's perspective to round out the lead-up to the HEA.

All I have to say to Ava Wilder is...more, please!

Thank you to NetGalley and Dell for an ARC of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review!

In the wake of Elissa Sussman's Funny You Should Ask, HTFIIH will be perfect for fans dying for the next proto-Hollywood romance. This book lively, witty, and deeply concerned with addiction, grief, and family dynamics. It is not superficial as the name might suggest, but ellabortive, engaging, enjoyable, and generally gorgeous. Aside from the clean writing, stunning and revealing imagery, and perfect plot, this book houses a bright cast that could easily walk in the flesh on the red carpet. Timely, effective, and vulnerable—this book is headed straight for the big screen.

4 stars. How to Fake it in Hollywood is a fake relationship to lovers romance but it isn’t trite or routine. Ethan is a famous movie star whose career and drinking spirals after his best friend and co-star/collaborator dies in a car accident after a night of drinking. Grey has been working in the entertainment business since childhood but can’t seem to make it big. That’s when their publicist decides that a fake relationship might help both of their careers.
What I loved about this book: both characters were well rounded with strengths and flaws. Ethan self-medicates with alcohol to numb his guilt which causes more self-loathing. Grey has a hard time trusting people and finding her voice at times. However the book was funny and cute at times too.
I just reviewed How to Fake It in Hollywood by Ava Wilder. #HowtoFakeItinHollywood #NetGalley

How to Fake it in Hollywood is a terrific debut by Ava Wilder, and is much more than your typical romance book. What I thought was going to be just a fun story on fake dating between two celebrities trying to make their star status shine brighter, was much more. As a content warning, the book shows the downsides of putting your life on display for everyone to see, and how the characters struggled with grief, alcoholism, and harassment.

It was a great slow burn romance with great banter, between Grey and Ethan when they agreed to enter into a fake relationship and Ethan did everything in his power to keep Grey at arms length. The story alternates between both Grey and Ethan's perspective and I loved seeing it from both sides and knowing what the other was thinking.

Grey and Ethan are both characters who are struggling in their own ways and both learn throughout the book how to lean on others for support. Grey is used to shutting people out when things don't go her way and Ethan turns to alcohol to escape the trauma of his best friend's death years ago. As their relationship progresses, they both try to help the other as much as they can and I really enjoyed the growth journey that each character went on.

Fake dating and famous people, what more could I ask for!!! As someone who’s favorite pastimes include reading rom coms and listening to celebrity/pop culture podcasts, this book was made for me!

I loved how realistic the Hollywood elements of this book seemed. From Grey’s backstory as a mildly successful child star to a young woman trying to break out from her role in a teen drama to Ethan’s struggles with grief and alcohol, it felt very familiar and easy to understand. The character growth for both of them throughout the novel was strong and the chemistry between the two of them was palpable. The push and pull dynamic of their banter, especially at the beginning, is enticing and keeps you invested in their relationship.

The supporting characters are also fully developed and work well in the story. I enjoyed the friendship between Grey/Kamilah and the coparenting dynamic of Ethan/Nora. While the romance is allowed to flourish throughout the story, the author also tackles tough issues of grief/trauma, complexities of family relationships, career worries, and alcoholism.

All in all, I would thoroughly recommend this book. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for access to this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was such a great debut novel that I was so excited about as I’ve been hearing raving reviews.
I knew from the beginning that I was going to enjoy this book. First of all, it revolves around two celebrities which are always fun to read about. For the first half of the book it your typical fake dating rom com. I was able to quickly appreciate the characters and loved their banter back and forth. Then the book does dive deep into grief and alcoholism. While the mood of the book changes, it continued to keep me engaged and stay connected with the characters.
As someone who enjoys hearing about the lives of celebrities I really enjoyed this book. I am so excited to see what else this author comes out with.

I was expecting a pretty lighthearted book based on the cover and synopsis as well as the comp titles. What I got was something different than that. This book tackles issues (such as alcoholism, fatphobia, and death) in the overarching plot of the story. This book is a fake dating book – but they also do have an age gap, if that makes anyone uncomfortable.

I enjoyed the writing style of this book as well as the pace. To me it read easily and with interest. Sometimes you get books that are hard to get through because of the writing style, but I quite enjoyed it. The style did feel light and airy, despite the fact that it dealt with some darker topics.

There is quite a bit of will they won’t they in this book. At times I felt that there wasn’t chemistry between them, and at other times I did. I think that was partially because the characters themselves were trying to resist the romance between them. And then sometimes they just lacked chemistry together. I liked the banter Grey and Ethan had, I thought it was amusing at times. At others I felt it was a little forced.

This book has some lighthearted moments, but it is a very angsty book. This isn’t a light fluffy book – but it still works. I don’t want people to go into this book unprepared; this is not one of your beach reads or rom-coms or light hearted, it is a much more intense romance.

As far as being angsty goes; there are some scenes in this book that are just frustrating. I get that there are supposed to be obstacles, yet at times I felt like it was drawn out unnecessarily.

I did like some of the side characters though. I enjoyed Nora and her relationship with Ethan, as well as Renata’s relationship with Grey. I liked seeing the differences between Ethan’s relationships vs the relationships that Grey has.

The book is still good though. It flows well and tackles sensitive topics accordingly. I wasn’t as invested in this book as I wanted to be. At 56% I was wondering what else the author was going to throw at them – they’d hit obstacles, overcome them, and then???? More obstacles! I am not good with super angsty reads, and this one definitely was on the fence of being too angsty.

In the end, I think the resolution was good. Overall, I’m not quite sure how I feel about this book. I wasn’t expecting it to be as angsty as it was.

This book was 3.5 stars for me.

Y’all know I love a fake dating trope, so I was ready to jump headfirst into this one! But this was so much more than the cute love story I was expecting.

Grey Brooks has been a working actress since childhood, most notably starring in the long-running teen drama, Poison Paradise. As Grey tries to stay relevant and land new roles after the show ends, her publicist suggests a fake relationship with a reclusive former A-list actor. Ethan Atkins has taken time out of the spotlight after the death of his best friend Sam, and a corresponding public meltdown. Ethan and Grey are immediately attracted to one another and the chemistry is off the charts, but their romance runs wild with scandal. With Ethan on a downward spiral, it all explodes one disastrous night in New York. Can Ethan overcome his tumultuous past to build a future with Grey?

No, this is not just a cute love story. It is raw and real, and it includes a fair amount of heartbreak. Both characters have tons of personal growth, and the storyline seems much more realistic than your typical fuzzy fake dating romances. This book will tear you up and put you back together again in the most beautiful way. Five stars from me!

What an absolutely fantastic debut novel. You’ll go into this expecting something light and breezy, and it will deliver (the banter! the steam!) but it also packs so much more of a punch. There’s a lot of very dark topics touched on in this book, but they’re treated with respect and care through and through. This is an author who I will be anxiously waiting a sophomore novel from.

I have such mixed feelings about this book. At first I was loving it, had an upbeat pace and the plot was intriguing up until the couple got together. There was a push and pull between Grey and Ethan which drew me in. After they got together, it felt familial in a good way but I noticed the lack of his children's presence in many moments. While he did not have much custody of his children at the time, it felt like they were not really a big part of his life nor did he really accommodate them in his life in the beginning. Of course, the book was mostly entertaining.

However, I noticed so many toxic things throughout the story and had to put the book down at 80%. I ended up powering through to the end after leaving it alone for a month and it made the situation a little better. It did display the effects of alcohol and drug abuse intensely and while Ethan had poor issues with this, it made it much worse that nobody would really attempt to stop him or get him some help. This was my main issue with the topic being covered. Every character would recognize that Ethan would take it too far when indulging but every they'd make awkward eye contact and brush it off. They would excuse it as his way of grieving but Ethan struggled with this before Sam's accident. This is the point where I had to put the book down. He would ditch everyone for a drink and Grey would forgive him every time. Granted they found their way back to each other, but even in their break up scene in the cab, Ethan would give in to the temptation every time. I think the concept was great but the story was different than I expected. Needless to say, I feel like I learned a lot from the topics covered and I'm glad I read the book.

Thank you Netgalley and the Publisher for my ARC in exchange for my honest review. This was an enjoyable book.

Ok let's try this Hollywood Tabloid style.

𝗘𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗔𝘁𝗸𝗶𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗚𝗿𝗲𝘆 𝗕𝗿𝗼𝗼𝗸𝘀

Rumours of their relationship began when Brooks was spotted arriving at Atkins's residence. Soon, the couple made it red carpet official by attending one of Brooks's former 𝘗𝘰𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘦 co-star's movie premiere together. But despite withstanding the heat of the scandal of their leaked private life, the pair split after less than a year of dating.
       Now, months later, the pair seems to have rekindled their relationship since Atkins was caught slipping backstage after a performance of Brooks's latest Broadway show or were they just exchanging some good-natured apologies, especially after Atkins's inebriated stunt at the screening of his breakout film?

- ~ -

I can only say the book was imperfectly perfect.

The romance the characters shared had wisps of a first love, though it wasn't anyone's first rodeo. For some reason, their relationship, despite the circumstances, felt like home, like a summer evening, a stormy afternoon or a night out at the beach with waves clashing peacefully. It felt comfortable. Their chemistry, the tension, the angst and later the adoration came easily.

While the story centers on romance, it is decidedly not a rom-com. It explores other heavy topics such as grief, alcoholism, an undiagnosed anxiety disorder.
Ethan and Grey loved each other inspite of the struggles they navigated or maybe because of them, they were more than happy to support each other and be proud of each other's accomplishments.

- ~ -

Overall: A stunning debut, with a writing style I fancy, a skillfully crafted plot, impressive character growth and a diverse selection of secondary characters.
Mark your calendars, it'll be out June 14th.

4.47 / 5✩

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘙𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘮 𝘏𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘗𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 & 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘐 𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 & 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸𝘦𝘥. 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘸𝘯.

This book is not as sweet and fluffy as the cover might lead you to believe -- it deals with heavier subject matter like grief, addiction, dysfunctional families of origin, and the intense pressures of fame. But it deals with those subjects sensitively, and I could not put this book down until I had devoured every page. Dual POV was very well used to show the growing connection between Grey and Ethan as well as revealing the way their insecurities and emotional baggage contributed to how the relationship developed. I'm excited to read more from Ava Wilder in the future!

Thanks to Random House and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Oh I hope this book gets the attention it deserves this summer! Hollywood fake-romance, why do I always fall for you?

Grey Brooks is a year out of her seven season running tv series with few prospects in sight. Her fancy PR firm has the idea to bring her into the spotlight by featuring her on the arm of her teenage pin-up, Ethan Atkins. Ethan, a Hollywood A-lister, turned recluse after the tragic death of his best friend and working partner is now looking for a way to get their last screenplay produced agrees to the fake relationship with Grey. What's a few harmless photos and red-carpet appearances?

Don't let this cover fool you. It's not all sunshine and fluff in this summer read. Even celebrities have problems and vices they must overcome.

I really enjoyed this book, but there were a few things I took issue with. First, Grey's character felt a little flat. While she has past experiences to draw from, where she is in her life now just felt very blah. I didn't find her uninteresting, but after finishing the book and looking back, she's just kind of boring? Meanwhile, Ethan's character is much juicier. The second thing I took issue with was Ethan's recovery. Like he went to rehab and was magically healed? Anyone with experience with addiction knows theirs going to be some stumbles along the way. The ending where he's gone to rehab and just been sober ever since was unrealistic to me and I felt bad for Grey immediately jumping back into his arms. He hasn't proved anything to her!

Thanks to NetGalley, Random House, Ballentine, and Ava Wilder for an advanced copy!

An up and coming starlet and an A-list actor that needs a reputation boost enter into a fake relationship for the press, what could go wrong?
I grabbed this book because I love this premise but what I ended up getting was so much more than I bargained for. Grey is an up and coming actress that has been acting since she was 8, but is currently unemployed, waiting for her big break. Ethan is an actor that has fallen on hard times. After his divorce, he has basically fallen off the radar. He lost his best friend and he can't seem to shake the sadness and lonliness of not acting with his partner. He has been in a downward sprial ever since.
Grey is younger and had a crush on Ethan when she was first starting out. She remembers him the way he was and hopes he can get back to that place. They are attracted to one another, and when guards go down, they act on it, sending their lives into a bigger spiral. Ethan wants to be better for the girl that he has fallen for, Grey wants to help Ethan be the best he can be and get out of this depression that consumes him.
What I loved about this book was that "the love of a woman" doesn't just automatically fix the hero. It was real, it was raw and it was emotional. They both needed to work on themselves so that they could come back together and be stronger in the end.
Thank you to Random House, Ava Wilder and Netgalley for an early copy.

I think this was my last straw to just know reality tv/ Hollywood celebrity books are just not for me. I don’t know it was hard for me to get into and I just didn’t love most of this one. I think others will probably really enjoy this book but it was a miss for me.

Fake Dating. Celebrity Drama. Hollywood. Romance.
Lights, Camera, Action!

Ethan Atkins and Grey Brooks are two celebrities who agree to fake dating in an attempt to serve both of their careers.

From start to finish, I enjoyed EVERY second of this book. I think it’s a really phenomenal story. This is also the authors debut novel which makes it even more exciting! The plot of this story is extremely unique and creative. The writing is well thought out and so are the characters, each of them having a lot of depth to them.

Personally, I feel as though this story is already written in a way for television. While reading, I instantly began to cast various actors and actresses in their roles. From the pace and the idea that we are following along with people in Hollywood and the side effects of fame, it made me feel as though I could clearly visualize this story as a mini tv series.

I enjoyed the humor in the story and the romantic moments that made me giddy and blush. I think readers may appreciate that this isn’t a story that just simply “closes out” as regular romance novels do. There is drama and there is growth and healing that we get to also see and I really appreciated that!

This book explores really difficult topics like addiction, grief and alcoholism. I did not expect it to be as heavy as it was. I really felt like I was in those moments of anguish with the characters.

If these Hollywood characters were real, I would definitely be keeping up with them online.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

You may know that <i>Daisy Jones and The Six</i> is my favorite book of all time. Somehow <em>How to Fake It in Hollywood</i> gives me some sort of mixture of <i>Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo</i> and <i>Daisy Jones and The Six</i> by Taylor Jenkins Reid vibes. There are a couple of reasons for this. For one, How to Fake It in Hollywood doesn't really romanticize Hollywood. Ethan and Gray set up their fake dating arrangement in the office of their shared publisher and they hammer out the details of a contract with their attorneys at the same office. Paparazzi are called to let them know when good photo opportunities will exist. It feels grounded in reality in that sense. But it's also the fact that Ethan is dealing with alcoholism. He doesn't see it, really. He rationalizes it a lot to himself. But the facts are the facts. He's grieving, he doesn't know how to be a person without his best friend, and eventually there's a bit of a co-dependency situation. And Gray has her own issues. She seems to have this need to be liked, but also likes to keep her circle small, and has some unresolved issues with her mom.

I think, for me, it's the fact that this book gives me some similar feelings to TJR, but then ultimately doesn't quite manage to make everyone feel like totally real people (although I did love the cast of characters, I never forgot that this was a book and wasn't trying to google these characters or their movies). And then there's the fact that I think I needed a little more time to settle into the HEA before it hit. That said, the way this book actually ended? That epilogue? Brilliant. I wish more pieces like that had been woven throughout the story as I think that would have benefited it tremendously.

Overall, knowing that THIS book is Ava Wilder's debut has me so incredibly excited for whatever comes next from her because this is an amazing first book!