faking it

Jada Townsend-Matthews, fresh off a public heartbreak, has to find a job. Since the season finale of My One and Only aired, and it became public that she turned down the bachelor and his diamond ring in the end, she’s been universally hated. And since she turned down her parents’ offer of working for them, they’re going to cut her off financially. Jada has a trust fund that will come to her when she turns 26, but that’s still a year away. Her dyslexia had made college difficult, and while she graduated, it had made her miserable.

But her grandmother steps in to help give her some direction. And she gives Jada six months. If Jada can hold a job for six months, then she can get her trust fund early. She even has an opportunity in mind for Jada—a job at Sugar Blitz.

Donovan Dell plays football professionally for the San Diego Knights. But as he was getting closer to 30, he knew that his time on the field wouldn’t last forever. So he and two of his friends from the team—guys he’d played ball with since their freshman college days—decided to open a cupcake shop. They worked relentlessly on the recipes, and when they opened Sugar Blitz, they were ready to make the shop a success. But somehow, the store itself lacks warmth. Which is something that Jada had pointed out the day before, when her best friend had brought her there for her favorite cupcake.

So when Jada had found out that her grandmother’s job for her was at Sugar Blitz, Jade wanted to say no. She tried to say no. But as her grandmother pointed out, Jada had nothing else. And it was only for six months. And it was cupcakes. That should be fun, right?

But Jada isn’t a baker. And when Donovan tries to teach her how to make the cupcakes anyway, she almost burns down the kitchen. But slowly, she gets some confidence at the cash register and enjoys talking to the customers. Things start to look up for her. And she loosens up, even switching her designed shoes for a pair of Crocs. She finds that things start to loosen between her and Donovan also.

But the lie she told to get out marrying the doctor on the reality show comes back to bite her. She had said that there was someone at home that she couldn’t stop thinking about. And when reality show viewers figure out that she’s at Sugar Blitz and start taking photos and posting them, her chemistry with Donovan starts rumors that he was the guy from home she’d been pining for. But when the doctor shows up at the cupcake shop himself, trying for a second chance, Jada is worried that her lie will be exposed. Will she lose everything—her job, her growing feelings for Donovan, the trust she’d been working so hard to restore—just because of a stupid lie she’d told weeks ago? Or will she find a way to win the heart of the bachelor after all?

Romance writer Jamie Wesley brings cupcakes, a reality star, and a football player together in this romantic comedy filled with flavor and fun. Told from the perspectives of both Jada and Donovan in alternating chapters, Fake It Till You Bake It comes together like a well-crafted cupcake, the sweetness balanced with fresh fruit for tartness and some streusel for crunch.

I listened to the audio book of this book, read by Kassiopia DeVora, and I’m sorry to say that I thought the narration was not as good as I’d hoped. There were places in the writing that were a little bumpy, and the narration seemed to emphasize the awkwardness instead of smoothing it out. However, it’s hard to knock her for what is really a problem with the writing. I do wish the writing had been stronger, or the editing of the manuscript, had ben more deft because I love the concept for the book. I just felt a little let down by the execution of it.

Egalleys for Fake It Till You Bake It were provided by St. Martin’s Press through NetGalley, with many thanks, but I bought the audio myself through Chirpbooks.