My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
Genres:
Contemporary Romance, YA Romance,
YA Fiction, YA Contemporary
Blurb:
Fake dating her best friend’s boyfriend? What could possibly go wrong?
Madison Brown has had enough change this year to last a lifetime. All she wants is to fly under the radar and get through her last two years of high school. But her best friend Hannah has other plans. Hannah wants to be one of the popular girls. And that includes becoming a cheerleader and dating the star of Sweet Orchard High’s golf team. How does Madi fit into Hannah’s latest scheme? Madi has served as Hannah’s buffer since they were kids. If straight-A student, goody-two-shoes, Madi is around Hannah’s dad is more likely to allow her a little leeway from his super strict rules.
But it’s one thing to try out for cheerleading despite having absolutely no desire to execute a toe touch or a herkie. Pretending to date Hannah’s new boyfriend Levi Daniels so she can hide the relationship from her dad? Now that’s a whole other story. Especially when it feels like Levi understands Madi better than anyone ever has.
With everything else in Madi’s life spinning out of control, her friendship with Hannah is the one thing she’d like to keep together. But as Hannah gets closer to her goal of becoming popular, leaving Madi and Levi alone together, he starts to bring out parts of her she’s never let anyone see, not even Hannah.
The dating might be fake but the feelings are getting real and Madi will do anything to make herself believe that isn’t true.
See? Not complicated at all...
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"Madi, I can't stop thinking about you," Levi says, his voice dropping even lower now.
Ohhhhhhhh, Levi. 😍😭
He was literally just such a sweet and swoony guy, y'all.
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| accurate, lol. |
I've said it SO many times, but I just loveeeee fake relationship plots. I really do. And it was soooo hard to read about Madi and Levi "faking it" when they CLEARLY belonged together! I just wanted Levi and Hannah to break up so badly, lol!! Also, as others have pointed out, I loved how Levi played golf instead of the "usual sports," I thought that was so cuteeeee.
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| 👍👍👍 |
Time for highlightssss!!
I start to laugh. I can't help it. It's so complicated and twisted. Fake this and fake that. But it's not fake that he's dating Hannah and it's not fake that he makes my heart race every time he's anywhere near me and it's not fake that...SPOILERS
Sorry, peeps, noooo spoilers. 👀
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"This is a fake relationship, remember? And it's barely that."
"It doesn't have to be a fake friendship though," Levi says, as we reach the classroom door.
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"Vice Principal Anderson?" Levi asks, with his face screwed up. He even leans away from Hannah a little at the notion. Hannah's dad is the most avoided human in this school. He is the judge, jury, and executioner. And he's been effectively ruining Hannah's life since freshman year. "I think I will stick to being the unofficial water boy for every team in school."
I just thought this was funny lolll.
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"But tonight, is going to be a happy night, okay? We're going to have a good night."
Note: alllll the heart eyes
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Levi: Hey, I hope you're okay.
Note: this. boy.
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Levi leans away from his locker and scoops me up underneath his arm. I am enveloped by the warm, dizzying scent of his cologne. It’s comforting like it was that night in Hannah’s kitchen.
There areeeee other highlights, lol, but I can't share them because of SPOILERS!!! 🙈🙈
As far as content goes: So, there is language. Nothing really extreme, but definitely more than a few curse words. And obviously, it's a fake relationship romance, so lying IS part of the plot! I will add that just overall, there is definitely some dishonesty among different characters. Underage drinking does happen, and Madi's dad is an alcoholic...which plays a very big part in the story. A secondary gay character is essentially bullied. Teen pregnancy is mentioned. Foster care is mentioned. Grief, anxiety, and anger are some of the major feelings that are experienced and talked about. I personally wasn't triggered by any of this, but other readers might be...so please take that into consideration.
While the book definitely had its cute and swoony moments, this was honestly more of a heavier read for me. The romance between Madi and Levi was there, but I personally wouldn't consider this a light, fluffy book. That being said, if you enjoy YA romances with more serious tones...I think you should add the book to your TBR! 💕
~I received an e-copy of this story from the author, and am voluntarily leaving an honest review.~
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About the Author:
R.H. McMahan aka Mickie is a born and raised Chicago author. She first started making up stories on the playground in first grade, convincing all of her friends that she was Harry Potter's sister. It's a good thing she transferred schools before the kids were old enough to figure that one out! But that is where her love for creating fictional worlds began.
In her adult life Mickie has a BA in Creative Writing and is currently working on her MFA in the same field. She is the author of Almost Girl a Central Michigan University award winning short story and many, many works in progress. Mickie writes YA contemporary fiction drawing from her own life experiences dealing with mental health and complicated family dynamics.
Mickie spends the majority of her time writing but when she does find a moment to put the pen down, you can find her tending to her various pets, reading about witchy things, drawing, or teaching ballet.
