The Fine Art of Pretending by Rachel Harris is very cute, yet predictable. I love friends to lovers romances, though, so I didn't care a ton that I pretty much knew exactly how everything was going to play out. My only real complaint is that I wish the writing was more polished.

Honestly, I should have loved this book but it didn't really gel for me. I think I needed something that hit the emotional resonance gong a little harder and explored more meaningful conflict.

This was such a fun and cute read. I really enjoyed the premise of this book and think Rachel Harris did a great job! Friends to more is one of my favorite themes, so I was thrilled when I read this book. I enjoyed getting to know Aly and Brandon and thought their characters were well developed.

It's been a while since I've read a YA novel that was as sweet as The Fine Art of Pretending. As a 37 year old, I don't read a ton of YA but every now and then I like to give the sweet innocence of young love a whirl. I've been hearing the author's name for a while and I thought the cover for this was really cute so I grabbed it and couldn't be more happy. After I finished the ebook, I ordered the paperback so I could have Rachel sign it at an event.

There is nothing groundbreaking about the plot. Aly and Brandon are best friends and are clearly perfect for each other. Everyone sees this but them! In Aly's bid to get the most popular guy in school, Justin (who is Brandon's best friend), she and Brandon of course have some frustrating misunderstandings and a bunch of cute moments. The level of sweet here is truly off the charts. I actually felt bad for Justin in the book and I've got his story lined up to read soon.

Well that was adorable. I wanted to throw some slaps a few times but I can't really resist friends to lovers stories so I enjoyed it more than I thought I would.

While I enjoyed this book overall, parts of it were a little corny and cringy. It wasn't sexually inappropriate, but at times, the dialogue and descriptions felt more like a new adult romance than young adult. I did like how the author did the rotating point of view, but this friends-to-lovers cliche' is a tough one to get right.

I received a copy of THE FINE ART OF PRETENDING on Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to the publisher and author.

Five stars and here's why:

THE FINE ART OF PRETENDING has all the feels. No joke. I laughed. I cried. I wanted to throw my kindle app against the wall. And then, I laughed and cried some more. Rachel Harris gave her readers everything I want in a contemporary YA. I love a great "friends to lovers" romance and Ms. Harris delivers.

I love the premise. There are two types of girls in high school: those you hook up with and those that you’re friends with. When BFF’s Alyssa and Brandon devise a fake romance to snag the attention of Justin - her major crush and the school’s biggest player and hella-hottie - so he’ll ask her to the homecoming dance, they don’t expect all hell to break loose and their friendship to crumble. Throw in some great friends, Operation Sex Appeal, and a Karaoke contest, and you’ve got a recipe for a great YA novel. What’s left is me with a major book hangover. Simply devoured this story in one day. If you love sexy guys, savvy girls, and a sassy romance, then this book is for you! Highly recommend!

Somehow, the story had me gushing over Brandon and rooting for Gabi and Carlos. But I wasn't particularly happy with Aly, with all her Operation Makeover something. She's getting it all backwards, aiming for that Casual hookup instead of being considered the commitment type of girl. Granted that she'd been a goody-two-shoes her entire high school life, that didn't warrant her to go all out and do a makeover just to get noticed. Sorry, I wasn't tied up with her idea, and I thank Gabi for being her friend who at least had affront Aly about her plan.

I did enjoy reading this story though. It makes a good nighttime bedtime story for me when I can't catch sleep. Had me smiling while sniffing my pillows and cuddling with my stuffed bear. Rachel Harris's beautiful writing is magnetic!

A cute yet simple coming of age book. I don’t exactly like the message it sends but an enjoyable read all the same.

This is a very cute, short contemporary story. It's the typical girl falls in love with her best guy friend story. There's nothing wrong with that. The writing is fun, and the characters are adorable. I really loved Brandon! I was in the mood for a quick, fun story and The Fine Art Of Pretending was prefect!

To the boys at Fairfield Academy, there's two types of girls. The ones you hook up with and the ones you're friends with. Alyssa Reed is the second type, which she despises. She has one year to change her rank and devises a plan to become the first type by homecoming. She sets her sights on the biggest player at Fairfield, Justin Carter.

Alyssa sheds her tomboy image and goes on the quest to get Justin to notice her. Enter best friend Brandon turned pretend boyfriend. With his help she should teach first type status in no time.

But when everything goes as planned, their friendship is in shambles and confused feelings.

This book is honestly one of the least feminist and empowering romance books I've ever read. It's sad how the lead thinks she needs to dress provocatively to "hook up" with a guy. Which is honestly disgusting. Why not have a lead that values herself and doesn't feel she needs to "slut it up" to get boys attention. This book did not grip me, at all. The only redeeming quality to this book is the authors writing style.

I never had a chance to review this before it expired. I'm sorry!