Book Review:
How to Fake It in Hollywood
How to Fake it
in hollywood
by ava wilder
Contemporary Romance | Women’s Fiction
Published by Dell
June 14, 2022
368 pages
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synopsis
A talented Hollywood starlet and a reclusive A-lister enter into a fake relationship . . . and discover that their feelings might be more than a PR stunt in this sexy debut for fans of Beach Read and The Unhoneymooners.
Grey Brooks is on a mission to keep her career afloat now that the end of her long-running teen soap has her (unsuccessfully) pounding the pavement again. With a life-changing role on the line, she’s finally desperate enough to agree to her publicist’s scheme… faking a love affair with a disgraced Hollywood heartthrob who needs the publicity, but for very different reasons.
Ethan Atkins just wants to be left alone. Between his high-profile divorce, his struggles with drinking, and his grief over the death of his longtime creative partner and best friend, he’s slowly let himself fade into the background. But if he ever wants to produce the last movie he and his partner wrote together, Ethan needs to clean up his reputation and step back into the spotlight. A gossip-inducing affair with a gorgeous actress might be just the ticket, even if it’s the last thing he wants to do.
Though their juicy public relationship is less than perfect behind the scenes, it doesn’t take long before Grey and Ethan’s sizzling chemistry starts to feel like more than just an act. But after decades in a ruthless industry that requires bulletproof emotional armor to survive, are they too used to faking it to open themselves up to the real thing?
It was either that, or allow the impossible standards of the industry to chip away at her self-esteem, one nitpick at a time, until she crumbled under the weight of her insecurities. But he said it so easily, without hesitation, as if he’d already told her a million times. As if tonight weren’t surreal enough already.
review
A quick read, How to Fake It in Hollywood brings humor and heart while packing an unexpectedly emotional punch.
Sometimes it feels crazy reading what you know to be an author’s debut book because the writing has such an ease to it that you think “this can’t possibly be their first publication!” That is absolutely how I felt reading How to Fake It in Hollywood. Ava Wilder’s writing style is effortless and evocative — I flew through this book!
In my opinion, the story starts off stronger than it ends. There’s lots of laughs and great banter in the first part of the book, and the second part of the book is far more serious and emotional than I was expecting. Grey and Ethan are very flawed characters, especially Ethan. While I enjoyed the emotional depth that came from their brokenness and the eventual individual character growth, I felt there isn’t enough of the relationship on-page and was left wanting more of the romance in the end.
Overall, I did like How to Fake It in Hollywood. Ava’s writing was, by far, the biggest highlight for me and will propel me to read more from her.
*Thanks to the publisher for providing me with a free copy of this book. This did not affect my opinion or the content of my review.
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