📖 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙑𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙀𝙙𝙞𝙩 𝙗𝙮 𝙎𝙖𝙧𝙖𝙝 𝘽𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙤𝙣

"𝘛𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘯: 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘨𝘶𝘺, 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘯𝘶𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦."
"𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰 𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘯," 𝘐 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘮𝘦. "𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥."

Ashley is THE villain. The world loves to hate her after she was on a reality show and did whatever it took to win. Now her career is in the gutter and she is struggling with her forever crush, Nic, marrying her cousin. She decides to seduce him at his wedding. Everything is going to plan until Hollywood’s golden boy, Gabriel, walks in instead of Nic. When the two are photographed together in a compromising position, their agents force them to fake a relationship to improve Ashley’s image, and roughen up Gabriel’s for his new dark acting role. The two go on cross country roadtrip and try not to kill each other.

The role reversal was insane in this book! You start out hating Ashley and then the tables turn and the impossible happens, you HATE Gabe! The title really is perfect for this story. Nothing is black and white, people are more than just one thing. The story evolved nicely and the romance between the two leads was believable.

This was a hella spicy book! I loved it! 🥵👏🏼
Spice level: 3/3.5🔥

Tropes:
🫶🏼 Contemporary Romance
💃🏻 Fake Dating
🩶 Enemies to Lovers
💞 Dual POV
🥵 Swim Lessons

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for my early copy of this story so that I could share this honest review! The Villain Edit will be available on January 16, 2024; you’re not going to want to miss it!

I was not prepared to enjoy this as much as I did. I laughed, I cried, I swooned, I devoured it in a single day.

We have a dual POV (Ashley: The “Villain” and Gabe: The “Golden Boy”) fake dating, forced proximity, celebrity, contemporary romance. Ashley starts out strong by trying to seduce her cousin’s fiance… on their wedding day. But instead, in walks Gabriel Sinclair. After getting photographed by the paps, Ashley and Gabriel’s agents and PR people decide to use the situation to everyone’s advantage and set up a fake dating scenario that is going to kick off with the two of them spending the next two weeks in Gabe’s muscle car, travelling the scenic route back to LA. And all that is within the first 5%. I was hooked immediately.

This book is SPICY. But it’s plot AND vibes. The characters grow and you are rooting for both of them by the end (there’s a minute there where you want to throttle Gabe, but it passes when he GETS DOWN ON HIS KNEES).

I highly recommend this good-time read!

⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

Gawd, what can I say? Sarah Brenton was one of my new found favourite authors ❤️ of 2023. The Villain Edit is Book 3 of a series and Im telling you now… GO BUY books 1&2 and pre order book 3 AND READ THEM! - available on amazon.

I literally couldn’t put the book down. My only regret was I started in the evening and had to sleep (I stayed up to 1am until I couldn’t) and finished it off in the morning. It was SOOO GOOODDD!!! It kept me on an emotional rollercoaster!

Ashley, FMC, is known as the villain on a reality tv show. I personally love watching reality tv, and who doesn’t love to hate the villain right? But as much as Ashley played the part, she’s human too and words do hurt, especially when it’s constant from trolls, paps and news outlets. You know the awful things she’s done, but the author did an amazing job of getting the reader to LOVE and empathize with her and route for her!

On the flip side, you have a golden boy movie star, Gabriel, who is an a-list do-gooder. Not an evil bone on his body and is the typical perfect male specimen… or so that’s what he wants the public to see….he has an image he has to live up to and Ashley just seems like bad news….or is she? 😉

Forced on a roadtrip, the author gives us one bed, fake dating, forced proximity, enemies to lovers and opposites attract troupes! Everything about this book was so delicious I gobbled it up quickly and it took me from laughing out loud to Tears! Yes seriously, I cried… there were MOMENTS ❤️.

Sigh…. I want to re-read the whole series again it was all soo good! Sarah, please keep writing more books! 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I just downloaded NetGalley and while I’m still figuring that out this was the first book that caught my eye (yes I judged a book by its cover 😱) and was readily available for me to read.

I enjoyed it, it made me laugh, made me cry and even though I’m not a celebrity in anyway it still felt relatable in the aspect of personal real life issues. I really liked how based off their reputation and the roles they play after opening up (their legs and souls) they find that they aren’t all that different. It comes full circle both become the villain and both get their redemption arc.

As for spice, its is definitely there starts off very detailed then I feel it trails off to be less explicit since the scene was painted very well for you. Some were more than others but no scenes were too much.

Definitely recommend and I have not read any others in the series (Over the Top Love) since this can be read as a standalone but I want to check the previous ones out for sure.

Such a fun read to start the year! I loved the plot and characters. The ending did drag on a little bit but overall it was a good read.

Thanks to NetGalley and Victory Editing for this eARC in exchange for my honest review!

Supposedly golden retriever boy Gabriel meets bad reputation girl Ashley.
This book had me by surprise. To be honest, I went into it assuming it will be a easy, mildly spicy romance but I was wrong. The characters had me by surprise and even if it's not the longest of reads, there was enough time for a appropriate amount of characters developed and a surprising amount of backstory.
I recommend this book as a fast romance read with a good amount of not to heavy described spice.

Look there sex positivity in a book and there that felt very mucth like almost a same sex scene over and over again what??
i Genuilly Loved Ashley character and she deserver better than incesure as of Gabriel.
only readeaming thing of was Ashley grow otherwise i was bored out of my mind...
Like the way he treated her and had zero for her was horible .

Another wild, wonderful ride from Sarah Brenton! I enjoyed every minute of it.
Ashley is a reality TV bombshell villain whose upbringing was far less than ideal.
Gabriel is a squeaky clean Hollywood actor on the verge of superstardom.
When Ashley’s bad girl tendencies land Gabe in hot water, they’re forced to pretend to be in a scorching affair during a cross country road trip. Things become further complicated and the stakes higher when life imitates fake art.
Outside influences force Gabe to choose between the Ashley the public has never seen or his career.
I loved these two so much! Ashley was a deliciously complex, difficult at first glance to like, chaotic woman who has always been used by others as a means to an end. Gabe’s traumatic childhood made him the perfect foil for her as they came to understand each other. There were moments I wanted to shake both of them, but I never disliked either of them.
I had the privilege of receiving an advance reader copy from the author and netgalley, and I’m pleased to share my honest review.

Book Stats:

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐(3.7/5)

Spice Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️(4/5)

Tropes: Opposites attract

Publisher: Victory Editing/Independently Published

Full Review:

*Thank you to NetGalley and Victory Editing Co-op for allowing me to read this book early in exchange for a honest review*

So what happens when Hollywood's least favorite villain has to Hollywood's favorite golden boy? well, let's just say, a whole lotta chaos. While trying to seduce her cousin's brand new husband, Ashley Foyer creates a bigger mess than she realized, when her assistant accidently sends Hollywood's golden boy to her room instead of Nic(her cousin's brand new husband who she has been in love with since childhood) and now due to some badly placed cameras, she now has to get cozy with Hollywood's favorite golden boy-Gabriel Sinclair.

It has been a very long minute since a romance book has surprised me, and this was a very good one. It honestly kept me guessing till the very end. (Like, I was up to 95% of the book and still was guessing "Will they, Won't they")

So let's start with the positives shall we? I liked the characters and their growth throughout the book. I think it was very realistic and it was nice to see a romance book where the main characters go thru DURING the romance and are afraid to take that last step. As i said before, this romance surprised me. Typically, they do the growth out side of the book and then are afraid to I think the conflict was very realistic too.

I also LOVED the feminist take on Hollywood in this book. It something that I don't think is talked about enough.

Now the negatives: My only tiny thing is that the pacing felt REALLY REALLY FAST. Like faster than Lighting McQueen. When the main climax of the book happened, I was struggling to keep track of all the of the characters that were mentioned for two seconds at the beginning.

I think you will enjoy this book if you like lots of banter, villains getting what they want, and third act break-up's.

I’m going to be brutally honest - I chose this book thinking I wouldn’t love it but needed a quick read.

I was SO wrong! I was hooked from the beginning to the end. I absolutely loved the character development, the writing style, the storyline… I did find Ashley a little unlikeable at times but she absolutely redeemed herself by the end. The writing is 100% what kept me hooked through the end.

The spice was spiiiiicy. Very well done!

I unfortunately was unable to finish this book. I was unable to really get into the book. I stopped around chapter 3. I will not be giving this a review anywhere else because I didn’t finish the book and don’t want to give a negative review for something that I didn’t finish, I feel as though it’s not fair to the author

Well I just had to add another author and series to my TBR Library……this might become a problem.
This is an easy and fun read. Ashley is the girl everyone loves to hate but the author does an amazing job with character development and we begin to see what is really under the surface. Gabe in the beginning is painted as America’s golden boy but through the story we see his character develop into more. Add in some serious spice and BOOM it’s a recipe for an awesome book.
This book has romance, spice, reality tv, fake dating and enemies (kind of) to lovers. You’ll have a blast reading this for the New Year.
I received an advance review copy for free from net galley , and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I'm not going to lie, I am so picky about reading new authors because their writing doesn't always click with me and I end up dnf'ing a book early on.

I was worried when I picked this book up. But I didn't need to be worried. The writing flowed for me. It was written in a way that was easy to read yet the characters had depth, the story flowed, and you were kept interested.

This story hit me in the feels. At the end I was in tears. Well worth the read and I'm so glad it was my first book of 2024.

~ The Villain Edit by Sarah Brenton ~

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

✨ “I’m the villain of several stories, but mostly my own” ✨

Ashley Foley is a TV bad girl, who everybody loves to hate and is struggling to get work. Gabriel Sinclair is Hollywoods Golden boy, who wants to be taken more seriously. Is fake dating the answer for them to both get what they want? But, this means bringing Ashley on his cross-country road trip. She's a temptation he can't afford, especially once he realizes she might not be that bad after all. Because Gabriel Sinclair isn't the good boy he's been pretending to be.

Sarah Brenton really had me flying through this book. Such a fun and easy read, the best way to start a new year! I loved the way she explored Ashley’s character. At the start, I was really skeptical about liking her but, once we explore her character deeper, you can’t help but feel nothing but love for her! It’s got everything you could want! Fake dating, enemies to lovers and the spice is off the scale 🌶️ the dual POV is so good at showing how both characters slowly fall for each-other. The only thing I would say is the fake relationship took a little longer to turn real than I would have liked but it was a swoon-worthy read nonetheless.

💭 if you’re looking for a read that you can’t put down, I definitely recommend this book 🫶🏻

Thank you to Sarah Brenton, NetGalley and Victory Editing NetGalley co-op for this ARC! 📖

THANK YOU SARAH BRENTON FOR SENDING ME AN ARC!! The power this book has on me right now is insane. Immediately, Sarah Brenton is now an auto-purchase author for me and I need this to be a movie.

TV Villain Ashley (FMC) has been fawning over her childhood crush Nic for as long as she can remember. In a desperate attempt to woo him, Ashley decides to dress up in lingerie and wait in the dressing room at Nic's wedding to her cousin Jessie. Little did she expect, that her assistant Lea would mix up Nic for Gabriel (MMC), another Hollywood A-lister attending the wedding. After being caught by the paparazzi in a very scandalous situation, Ashley and Gabriel's agencies decided to have them fake date each other. Using Gabe's golden image and Ashley's bad-girl reputation, each party would benefit by hopefully rubbing off on the other individual. This novel follows the ups and downs, secrets, and growth of Ash and Gabe as they navigate their hatred towards each other as it evolves to become love and greed.

Wow. Just wow. It's been so long since a novel has sent me into a full emotional rollercoaster frenzy. This novel just immediately throws you into the scene of Ashley in lingerie waiting for Nic. No time for any bs, just straight into the action which I love and hate. I think a few more flashbacks or context behind the love story of Ash and Nic could be adorable!! But the immediate infatuation and tension that Gabe and Ash share is also just so damn hot. The content in this book is fulfilling! You get so many cute lovey-dovey scenes, smut, and having the POV switch between Ash and Gabe shows their love story from both perspectives. Brenton's writing is very concise and clear, all the ideas flow into one another beautifully and you really experience the time as it progresses in this novel.

A HUGE thing I love: THE CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT!!
Ashley from the start is immediately depicted as a villain. She believes she is a villain with her past as a reality TV star, her upbringing, and her failed relationships with her family. Gabriel strives to lead the life his uncle wanted for him; he yearns to continue the legacy left behind for him. Throughout this novel and their journey, both characters change and grow with the help of each other.
Gabriel's constant reminders and words of encouragement break down the armor Ash puts up to become 'Ashley' and she finds her true colors, straying away from the title of being a 'villain'. With the help of Ashley, Gabe learns the importance of life and realizes that prioritizing his uncle's legacy (despite his uncle being unhappy when he was alive) is meaningless and not the future he wants.

Hands down. This is a MUST READ in 2024.

If you're into fake dating, reality TV, second chance romances, THIS IS THE BOOK FOR YOU!

VILLAIN/HERO SWITCH
Brenton boldly introduces us to FMC Ashley, a desperate, scheming and deeply unsympathetic reality star trying to ruin her cousin’s wedding. Ashley manages to implicate the MC, Gabriel, a movie star with a Boy Scout image, who nevertheless, struggles internally with impossible expectations and his sense of identity.

In order to improve their reputation the couple is forced into a fake relationship. Initially they seem to be complete opposites, but they soon find common ground bonding over major childhood trauma and high ambitions. - And exploring their explosive sexual chemistry.

As the title implies The Villain Edit portrays a darker side of the entertainment industry. The MC’s are commodities constantly scrutinised and judged by the press and public. Their professional personas and roles are intertwined with - and even embraced into - their personal life at great cost.

As the Foley family matriarch Celia points out: “I’m sorry the patriarchy punishes a woman for being, … well a bitch, sweetie, but until we manage to burn it down, if you want work, you’ll need to be less… unlikable.”

When Ashley and Gabriel’s relationship and personal development is challenged by conflicts, the roles of villain vs hero seems to switch.

As Ashley comments: “Welcome to the dark side, Gabe. You’ll do just fine here.”

And while Ashley makes deliberate decisions to change both personally and professionally, Gabriel resists and is inevitably forced to choose between ideal or happiness.

I loved the writing, and the author’s courage to portray two very flawed and messed up characters. It was fascinating to follow Ashley’s story and how she managed to redeem herself. I would however, have liked for Gabriel to dig deeper and felt his redemption came a little to too easy.

I highly recommend The Villain Edit and look forward to read more from Sarah Brenton.

Thanks to Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for granting me the ARC of The Villain Edit.

The Villain Edit is a book that I couldn’t put down. It was funny, steamy, and tugged at the heart in places. The whole way through I really felt for Ashley as she played her part as the villain sometimes unwillingly.

I really loved this book and would be happy to read another of Sarah Brenton’s works.

Thank you#Netgalley for the opportunity to review this book. I sort of picked it on a whim. The front cover looked interesting and I liked the blurb. I also loved this story. I may or may not have stayed up till 2am on the first night before forcing myself to go to sleep. I think the heroine was the main draw, so different from many female leads.
Definitely like the premise of the series and am
Now going in search of the other titles (I don’t feel like it mattered to much that I read this one first).

Solid 4 star read!!

Whew if there is one thing that is going to get me to pick up a romcom it is FAKE DATING and what are two things that make this trope even better? I'm glad you asked- Hollywood PR vibes and animosity to love vibes (not quite enemies, bc this isn't fantasy)!! This book hits all the high highs expected from the tropes, and takes some fun twists with the characters to make this a delightful lil read!

The Villain Edit follows reality star villain Ashley as she stumbles her way into a PR relationship with Hollywood golden boy and America's sweetheart Gabriel through a case of mistaken identities and some unexpected paparazzi shots. Ashley has to join Gabe's road trip across America back to LA in order to help save his perfect reputation, and what starts out as a bit of hate towards each other slowly escalates into a game of raising the stakes and tempting each other to see who will crack first! Seeing these two come together through carefully curated public stunts and sweetly curious private moments of asking the thirty-six questions to fall in love, we're able to see how this fake relationship turns real.

The twists and turns come earlier than expected, and I was not mad about it!! I think this was one of the best Hollywood fake dating scenarios I've seen played out because it felt wholly unique and spicy (not even just in the ways you're thinking of)!

Thank you to Sarah Brenton and NetGalley for a chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review. The Villain Edit comes out on January 16th!!

A fun concept and quick read. However, The Villain Edit lacked depth at points.

Is Ashley Foley truly a reality TV villain? Does actor Gabriel Sinclair really have a spotless reputation? Or is there more to these characters than meets the eye?

Read if you like:
🩵 Enemies to lovers
🩵 Only one bed
🩵 Celebrity romance

Thanks to NetGalley and Victory Editing for this eARC in exchange for my honest review. Check out The Villain Edit by Sarah Brenton when it’s released 1/16/24!