Fake It ‘Til You Break It

By Meagan Brandy

ISBN# 9798603539980

Author’s Website:  https://www.meaganbrandy.com/

Brought to you by OBS reviewer Heidi

It’s Demi Davenport’s senior year of high school.  She’s finally going to get up the nerve to ask out her crush, Alex Hammons.  However, he’s never shown much interest past friendship at school.  But it’s senior year and it’s time to go big or go home!

However, a huge wrench is thrown into her plans when her science teacher doesn’t pair her with Alex, who’s been her lab partner for the past two years.  Instead, he pairs her with Nico Sykes, a guy she knows hates her.  They haven’t even talked since eighth grade!  He also happens to be her neighbor.

When one of her best friends, has a weekend birthday party on the beach things change between Demi and Nico.  He informs her that Alex only likes girls that are taken.  Nico’s willing to play his part as her fake possessive boyfriend so she can finally get the guy of her dreams.  It’s amazing how quickly even her closest friends accept the relationship, some even feeling like it was bound to happen.  What she doesn’t know is that Nico has had a thing for her for years and he has no intention of letting her go!

“she’s not on the same page. Still… When I think of her, I want more. When I touch her, I hate to stop. When I look at her, I see mine.”

As I’ve mentioned before in reviews, I’m not a fan of high school romances.  However, this one really didn’t read like one.  And the cover model definitely didn’t look like a high schooler either!  The girls definitely acted like high schoolers at times, spoiled rich high schoolers actually.  However, things definitely got steamier than young adult books typically get.   Therefore, I would hesitate to label this as one.  It would fit firmly into the New Adult genre though, which I’m surprisingly starting to like.  I was glad this book didn’t have nearly the amount of angst most high school romances have.  There was definitely some, but not overwhelmingly so.

I really enjoyed both Nico and Demi.  I liked that Demi did her own thing.  She was the elusive mix of smart and popular.  She had a tight group of friends that could be quite entertaining at times.  And, they definitely got in the way of some of Nico and Demi’s alone time.

“What’d I miss?” he asks.

“Oh, you know, Macy being Macy, and advising I jump into the water before I … jump on you.”

His frown is instant. “That’s some shitty advice.”

Nico had a lot rougher go of things than Demi.  Alex always sets out to take the things that Nico wants and he had to turn his back on Demi when he was younger to keep Alex away from her.  He also has a rough home life taking care of his pill popping mom who can’t accept that her marriage is over.  And, his douche of a father, who is a user and manipulator.

Although Demi’s mom, is no prize.  I have a hard time believing how little parenting she actually does.  She leaves Demi to live on her own mostly, even taking money from her own daughter!

The romance between Demi and Nico had many ups and downs, and plenty of obstacles to overcome.  However, it was a scorching romance when they finally got on the right track and their chemistry was great!

I really enjoyed the interaction between all the friends.  The whole gang just seemed like a ton of fun.  They were all great characters.  I actually would love to see this become a series so we can get to know them all better. 

This was a fun read and I will definitely have to give more books from this author a try, as this was my first from her!