I thought this was such a cute book! It was definitely a different twist than I’ve read before. The parallels I feel like we all live around faking it until we make it ring so true!

The Villain Edit has a fantastic roadtrip setting and that perfect opposites attract chemistry. My favorite part was the way the female main character was the morally gray character or villain while the male main character was the Hollywood golden boy with a strait laced reputation. In the first opening chapters I was conflicted on how I viewed the FMC until I realized it was my own implicit bias as a woman to excessively judge women for going after their own desires. We often celebrate morally gray men and condemn villainous women! So if you’re searching for a book that explores those themes and want a FMC redemption arc with some great tension and sex positive/open door steam, this is the next romance read for you!

3.5⭐️

•• He’s the best. She’s the worst ••

I’ll be honest, at the beginning I didn’t like Ashley Foley. Famous for being a reality tv villain, and sometimes feels like one irl. Her character growth and redemption arc was great. Her family was interesting and explains some of her behavior.

Gabriel was definitely an uptight Hollywood nepo star at the beginning of the story. But after digging deeper into his past, he was a lot more complex of a character. He definitely made some questionable choices.

While the two had chemistry in spades, I ended the story not wanting them to be together. Gabriel did too little too late for me to think he deserved a second chance with Ashley after everything blew up. I’m not sure why it was easier for me to forgive Ashley’s bad decisions over Gabriel’s.

I still enjoyed this book. It was fun and well written. I would recommend it- some people forgive easier than I do.

Tropes: Bad girl/good guy, Hollywood and Hollywood adjacent, fake dating, road trip, spice

Thank you to the author and NetGalley for the book early read. All thought and opinions are my own.

So I went into this with zero expectations and was pleasantly surprised. It was a super fun a quirky premise with a likeable heroine and heroine. I really liked Ashley and while she could definately benefit from thereapy, not nearly as much as Gabriel, she is very likeable. I liked that she was more of a headstrong take no prisoners heroine and that while she had needed growth she still remained true to the biotchiness of her character that makes her fun. I also really liked Gabriel howevere he really needs to get over himself and his ideas of what he should be. His aunt Cora deserves her own book and new romance given that she is now a widower.I also really liked Wendy, david and all the other side characters. I would have like to see more of them and her realtionships with everyover. Overall however this was a fun quick rom-com and im currently debating going back and reading the first 2… i probably will lol.

After reading the blurb for this one, I thought this book had the power to leave my jaw on the floor. It had the good boy/ bad girl trope that is so underrated, with some spice of celebrity and fake dating. It had the ingredients. The recipe just got lost somewhere along the way.

The book starts off in an intriguing way. You rarely see a female main character so unapologetically herself (despite all the bad gossip) and set on her goals. I have to say that I disliked Ashley at the beginning, but she slowly grew on me. And Gabriel only slowly descended to my liking. Once the 3rd act started, I realized that Ash carried the whole book on her back. The spice was pretty good, too.

Overall, the fact that this book had so many tropes that I liked influenced my rating, but some of the tropes were executed well. It was a nice book, but it left me a bit disappointed in the end.

My favorite Sarah Brenton book changes on the reg, but this might be my ride or die.
Gabe is a Hollywood golden boy struggling to hold onto a grittier role in the face of a skeptical fandom. Ash is a reality TV show villain with nothing left to lose.

He needs his reputation tarnished and she needs a glow up. A cross country road trip with an enemy. What could go wrong?

The banter is so sharp, the steam is Georgia in August levels, the vulnerability and heartfelt moments are all the more sweet for the enemies-to-lovers arc.

My first book by this author but it won’t be my last (I immediately bought the other two!). It was impossible to put down and it was sexxxxyyyy.

ᴛʜᴇ ᴠɪʟʟᴀɪɴ ᴇᴅɪᴛ
ʀᴀᴛɪɴɢ: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
ꜱᴘɪᴄᴇ: 🌶️🌶️🌶️

🎬𝙴𝚗𝚎𝚖𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝙻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚜
🖤𝙵𝚘𝚛𝚌𝚎𝚍 𝙿𝚛𝚘𝚡𝚒𝚖𝚒𝚝𝚢
🎬𝚁𝚘𝚊𝚍 𝚃𝚛𝚒𝚙
🖤𝙵𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝙳𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐
🎬𝙱𝚒 𝚁𝚎𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 🌈

𝘈𝘴𝘩𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘍𝘰𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘛𝘝 𝘝𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘯, 𝘢 𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘶𝘱𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴 𝘎𝘢𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘭 𝘚𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘺𝘸𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘎𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘉𝘰𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘦’𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘵𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘱𝘴. 𝘚𝘰 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘢 𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘭 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘦? 𝘊𝘢𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘺 𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘱….

I freaking LOVE Ashley, she is the epitome of a “Bad Girl”, she’s confident, flirty, and seems to have no morals by trying to seduce her own cousin’s husband. Her character is really growing on me, but even when she did all those horrible things at the beginning, it didn’t make me hate her, just made her “real”. Not often do we get a heroine who is not a “damsel in distress” or “Mother Teresa”. She has many flaws and she owns it, and once we really get to know her, we know that her “Villain Edit” is not as it appears to be.

And Gabriel freaking Sinclair, he take me on a whole roller coaster ride, he made me swoon, he made me angry, he made me cry and he made me FORGIVE him! I love how he saw through the real Ashley, and he likes her for all of her flaws, his confession gives me the butterflies. And for a golden boy with a pristine image, he sure got wild for Ashley. What he did seemed unforgivable, I was contemplating whether I could forgive him or not until the 92% mark. Then he pulled out the UNO reverse card and served me with the EPIC groveling of the century that I had no choice but to forgive his stupid cute face.

I cried so much towards the end, poor Ashley finally got what she always deserves. This book is also very steamy, and those smut are so damn hawt and I enjoy them very much. I had never heard of this author, and I picked this up because the cover caught my attention, and boy do I thank everything that is holy that I did. This is what I loved about discovering a new indie author, it’s like finding a gem in this sea of millions of releases every single day. I highly recommend this book who love a good redemption arc, celebrity romance, and epic groveling from the MMC.

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 NetGalley 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘙𝘊 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸.

Ashley is the reality TV villain everyone loves to hate. Gabe is the movie star with a pristine reputation. When the paps catch the two in a compromising position at a wedding, their PR teams force them to fake date.

Gabe’s goody-two-shoes reputation has critics thinking he’s not the right fit for his next role as a bad boy superhero. He needs Ashley to give him a bad boy edge. On the other hand, Ashley’s reputation is so tarnished that no one wants to work with her. She needs Gabe’s good boy persona to soften her image. They hate each other but are willing to put feelings aside for their respective careers.

Ashley is the embodiment of a morally grey character—she tried to seduce her cousin’s fiancé AT THEIR WEDDING and arranged for paparazzi to catch it on camera. Ashley doesn’t care about what the public (or even her family) thinks of her. She is ambitious and tenacious and not afraid to be selfish or self-serving to get what she wants. Brenton makes it so easy to hate her that it’s a delight when we get a peek behind the curtain. When her motivations shine through, you can’t help but love Ashley.

Gabe is an idiot and I mean that lovingly. He prioritizes the expectations his late uncle placed on him above all and is constantly striving for perfection while stripping away the parts of him that make him him. Not to mention he made poor decisions and said things to Ashley I’m not sure I would forgive.

TLDR: I devoured it in a day. This was a fast-paced read with sassy characters who are huffy about having to spend time with one another. They loathe each other, but there’s a push and pull between them that cranks up the tension. There are also raw moments between the couple that is endearing. Read this book for a quick and spicy read!

4.5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
This was so so so so good, it had everything you’d ever want from a spicy romance where we have a so called “ the bad girl of reality tv” and the “good guy of acting “”
Besides the fact the it was hella spicy i loved how the characters progressed and were portrayed searching for what they truly are
I had an absolute blast reading this

Thank you netgaller for the arc🫶🏻

The Villain Edit-Book #3 Over the Top

By Sarah Brenton-I read book #2 Holiday Vibes and gave it 4 ⭐

Rating: 3.5/5 ⭐⭐⭐ ½

Publication 1/16/24, Read 1/15/24

Thanks to NetGalley and Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for this ARC💛 ! I voluntarily give my honest review and all opinions expressed are my own.

✔️Adult Fic/Romance
✔️ celebrity romance
✔️ road trip
✔️ fake dating
✔️ family drama

⚠️parental abandonment/emotional abuse

Summary- Made to be the villain on reality tv show Love on the Line, Ashley still lives up to the title. She has a plan to ruin her cousin Jessie's wedding because she's in love with the groom-Nic. Gabriel Sinclair-Hollywood Golden Boy- ruins her plans and unknowingly comes in his place to be setup by paparazzi. Both Ashley and Gabe agree to fake date to help their careers.

The characters:

♀️ FMC Ashley Foley(23)

♂️ MMC Gabriel Sinclair(24)

Jessie- Ashley's cousin

Dominic- A neighbor Ashley has been in love w/ him since childhood.

Celia Foley-Ashley's aunt/Jessie's mother

Rachel Foley-Ashley's mother.

David-Gabe's personal assistant

Wendy-on the show Love on the Line with Ashley.


Overall, there were way too many sex scenes for me. I skipped through much of the spice, but the betrayals and family drama kept me interested. Ashley's parents made her feel invisible and unwanted. They used her as a pawn when they had martial problems. Ashley used her obsession with Nic to justify the crazy things she did. Gabe, on the other hand, hero worshipped his uncle Michael. He was taken in by his aunt and uncle because his parents had problems. His uncle wanted him to live above reproach and Gabe could not live up to it. He and Ashley get to know each other and show that villains have good in them, and golden boys don't always have to shine.

REVIEW
cw: child neglect, near drowning, brief mentions of addiction, abortion, and foster care
When bad girl and reality TV villain Ashley Foley tries to entrap the man she loves at his wedding, it's Hollywood's golden boy, Gabriel Sinclair, who accidentally becomes ensnared. After Ashley and Gabe's clinch gets exposed, they both have reasons to pretend to date. Ashley desperately needs an image overhaul, while Gabe needs people to believe he's able to play grittier roles on screen.
I haven't read the previous stories in this series. Ashley occasionally alluded to things she'd done to her family, and these weren't always fully expanded on. Still, it didn't hinder my enjoyment. I loved the enemies-to-lovers aspect (and trust me, they REALLY hate lust after each other) even though it was very full-on early in the book. Ashley was difficult to like at the beginning and appeared to have very little self-respect. I could see that a lot of it was meant to show how 'bad' she was, but it was sometimes cringeworthy (especially the opening scene). That said, I'm so glad I continued reading, because it soon became apparent that a lot of her behaviour was a front to hide her deep emotional pain, and I really began to root for her. I went the other way with Gabe. In the beginning, I felt so sorry for him. But he messed Ashley around a lot, which broke my heart, and honestly? I genuinely thought she deserved better at times, even though I empathised with his misguided expectations for himself. This brings me to my favourite part of the story. I LOVED the commentary on fame, as well as the blatant misogyny and patriarchal double standards in the entertainment industry. Thankfully, Gabe redeemed himself towards the end, but he'd better be grovelling for the rest of his life (he was still doing a great job in the epilogue 😉).
An enemies-to-lovers rom-com that subverts the bad boy role.

Overall Rating: ❤️❤️❤️❤️
Heat Rating: 🔥🔥🔥.5


*Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to leave an honest review*

Favourite Quotes:

"...Yes, you hurt me. But that doesn’t make you special.”
He’s silent for a beat. “It makes me just like everyone else,” he says quietly.

“You’re more,” I tell Ash softly. “So much more than what they tried to make you into.”

“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.”

"...I know who I am and I’m happy with my life. And that’s what I want for you, my dear. I want you to be happy. You don’t need Michael’s brand of perfectionism to be a good person, and I want you to see that and trust in yourself.”

"You decide who you are. Only you. And you can change and grow, rise or fall. Every day you start again."

"Who is the real Gabriel Sinclair?”
“He’s complicated,” I admit. “But he’s trying.”

“... there will be something next for me because this industry doesn’t care what I’ve done or who I am inside. It will reward me with sympathy and second chances because that’s what it’s set up to do. Because I’m a white man who inherited wealth and a name that means something. Because society can find something redeemable in me but condemnable in Ashley. The double standards in this industry, in our society, are wrong.”

It took me a few days to rate this one because I had to sit on it but it's a 3.5 star for me. She's hollywoods bad girl that everyone loves to hate, and he's hollywoods straight edge rising star.

It's pretty straight forward so I won't ruin it but it definitely had me openly crying near the end. Watching her character development throughout the story was A1. Overall a good and quick read!

Overall, this was a 3.5/5 star read for me. I enjoyed it, but it wasn't impressive. The last half of the book was great. I enjoyed the spice and sweet romance scenes. However, there were lots of "problems" in their romance that could have been solved by just communicating. I feel as if that could have been written better. This was my first book by Sarah Brenton and I would read more of her books. I would probably recommend this book, but it wouldn't my first recommendation.

* I will including links to my Goodreads and Instagram reviews, live 1/15/24.

It was a different read than the usual reads I usually choose, but it did not disappoint. Very good story, I hope to read more from Sarah soon.

An unhinged, hot mess FMC is forced on road trip with Hollywood's Golden Boy to rehab both of their public images. Jealousy moments, a tiny white bikini, spicy car times, 'just one time', and strong female friendships are some of what you'll find inside this hilarious, heartfelt romance. This book was such a refreshing read. Instead of being saved by the MMC, the FMC learns from her own mistakes and inspires both of them to change and be better versions of themselves.

Dual POV, Spicy, Forced Proximity, Celebrity Romance

Loved the character development and the romance that they had.

Interested in reading the other books in the series now.

The Villain Edit- Sarah Brenton.

Over The Top Love book 3.

I’m going to be honest and say I haven’t read the first two books in the Over The Top Love series, but this does make me the ideal person to say that The Villain Edit can definitely be read as a stand-alone. But you won’t. Because if you’re anything like me you’ll immediately download books one and two to read as soon as you close this book!

I loved this book.
I’d seen people I follow on Instagram talk about it towards the end of the year so when I was able to get an ARC copy I jumped at the chance.

The world of “reality” tv and all the behind the scenes drama, combined with the state of dating when famous in such a social media heavy world are handled so well in this book.
Our FMC Ashley is unquestionably a villain at the start of the story, but social media and an equally as villainous press magnify this tenfold. Her journey, her growth, the relapses and her honesty make her a very engaging character from the start. She views herself as the world portrays her and that is what really made me feel for her, even when she was at her worst.

The MMC is our “Golden Boy” Gabriel. His journey is equally as engaging. Watching as he breaks out of his shell, learns to stand up for himself, makes some silly but very human decisions and discovers who he really is reads so well alongside Ashley’s story. They have strong chemistry and the spice *really* reflects that!!

With fun side characters (who maybe I’d recognise if I’d read books 1&2 but this doesn’t distract). This book was a 5⭐️ read for me, it hits the ground running from page one and I read it all in one afternoon.

Thank you to Sarah Brenton and NetGalley for gifting me this ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I wanted to enjoy The Villain Edit but sadly this book is not for me.

Ashley has a bad girl reputation that she isn't afraid to flaunt, especially if that means landing her childhood love Nic. What starts as a set up ends as a kiss with good guy Gabriel in front of loads of paparazzi. Gabriel needs to change and show society he can be a dangerous male and Ashley needs to start bringing in money again. What better way to make this happen then fake date, starting with a road trip back to LA. What's the worst that can happen....

This is my first by author Sarah Brenton and while it wasn't a hit for me, I may consider picking up another by her. The Villain Edit took off in the spice department at about 30% and then the book became more about them hooking up and less about the character growth journey (in my opinion).

3.5 stars

i think i'd be able to appreciate this more if i read the other books in the series (didn't realize this was part of a standalone series!) but i love having an understanding of all the characters that are included.

but nonetheless it was fun and i can't wait to read the rest of the series!