Fake It Till You Bake It is a sweet treat for romance lovers

Some say if you can’t make it, just fake it but Fake It Till You Bake It by Jamie Wesley turns that idea on its head.

If you’re looking for a new romance book to read this summer, this one should be added to your TBR. Released on June 21st, 2022, it’s still a relatively new release so you should be able to find it at your local bookstore or the library.

However, if you know nothing about the book, no worries as I’ll give a short synopsis before getting into my full review. Simply put, Fake It Till You Bake It follows Jada who becomes hated after declining a public proposal, resulting in her working at a bakery owned by Donovan. Donovan is actually a professional football player and after the two are “assumed” to be dating, they begin a fake-dating arrangement.

As someone who is a huge lover of both the NFL and romance books, this book sounds like it was made for me. If you want to know more about my thoughts, read ahead.

Fake It Till You Bake It is a sweet treat for your summer TBR.

Before getting into the review, this is going to be spoiler-free. As with most reviews, I’ll be discussing the plot. If you don’t want to know anything, be sure to read it and come back to share your thoughts.

As mentioned above, Fake It Till You Bake It follows a fake-dating romance between Jada and Donovan who have their own reasons for deciding to fake-date. Since Donovan owns the cupcake shop, it’s great publicity for the shop while Jada uses it to help her after her disastrous TV appearance. With such a mutually beneficial agreement, what could go wrong?

There was a lot to enjoy about this story including the fact that it’s a traditionally published Black Love story. The major thing that really stood out to me was the relationship between Jada and Donovan. It seemed unlikely at the start, but the two eventually started to get to know each other and their relationship blossomed in so many ways. For romance readers, that’s the most rewarding part as adding real feelings into the mix makes it all worth it.

Additionally, the cupcake shop setting really makes you crave cupcakes. Those s’mores cupcakes just sounded divine. Then there is the sheer amount of forced proximity between the two where they’re forced together. Obviously, the two work together but multiple times especially during events at the shop, they’re forced into some unexpected situations.

Overall, Jamie Wesley does a great job of showcasing the growth of the two main characters while also featuring the growth of their relationship. By the end, there’s no way you’re not rooting for these two to be together. Plus it also feels like she sets up for future books with some of the other characters featured in the book.

As good as the book is though, I did have a few small gripes with it. While this is more of my issue than the book, the writing style did take some getting used to. Additionally, it felt like the “third-act breakup” was resolved a little too late into the book. Usually, it’s resolved fairly quickly but it felt like everything wrapped up at the very last minute. Either way, Fake It Till You Bake It is one of my new favorite romance books.

Do you plan on reading Fake It Till You Bake It? Be sure to let us know in the comments.