It took me a little bit to get into Fake It Till You Bake It but once I did I really did enjoy the ride. From the moment that Jada and Donovan meet, they bring out the fire in each other. Jada insults his cupcakes business and he thinks she is a pretentious bear. Their paths continue to cross as Jada is the grand daughter of the women who owns the football team which Donovan is quarterback of. As an attempt to prove himself to her family, Jada accepts a job to work at the bakery which Donovan is prompted to offer by hee grandmother. Neither one of them is exactly thrilled about this situation but, the more time they spend together the stronger the banter gets.
Donovan and Jada come from completely different backgrounds and have different personalities. Donovan is a sweetheart and always trying to help others. He runs the bakery with his two best friends and teammates and is always looking for a way to improve business. He really doesn’t think that hiring Jada is going to be a good idea but he is willing to give her a chance. Jada has a bit of a hard break recently after she appeared on a reality dating show and publicly turned the proposal down at the end. She told people that she had heart set on someone else and when she starts working at the cupcake shop people automatically start thinking it is Donovan.
Starting a pseudo-dating relationship is not anything that Jada and Donovan have planned but, they can’t ignore how it is helping business. Plus this scenario leads to several sweet moments; and some steamy ones too. And they banter when getting steamy too! Jamie Wesley does a great job of combining romance and humor is this story. The chemistry shines between Jada and Donovan and both characters experience growth the more time they spend together.
The secondary characters are also easy to root for. There are Donovan’s two teammates August and Nicholas. They also help him with Sugar Blitz (the cupcake shop). Each one has an important role in running and keeping the shop open. They tease Donovan and their dynamic really is just like brothers. I just loved their bonding moments especially over reality television. Then there is Mrs. T (Jada’s grandmother) who treats her football players like family. She also only wants what is best for Jada unlike her parents. Her parents were so judgmental and made her feel like she could never do anything right especially when it came to her learning disability. They were secondary characters that it was not hard to root against. I so wanted Jada to prove them wrong.
Fake It Till You Bake It is a fun romantic comedy. It takes classic tropes such as pseudo dating, grumpy/sunshine, and enemies/lovers. The main characters had chemistry and their bantering was just so good. Although it took a little while to get into but once I did, I had a hard time putting it down. I’m hoping there will be more from these characters. August and Nicholas need to find their loves too!
Rating: 4 Stars
**I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.**
welcome to the zoo! 