Title: Fake It Till You Break It
Author: Jenn P. Nguyen
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Swoon Reads
Publication Date: May 28, 2019
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Source: Received a copy in exchange for an honest review on this blog tour

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Rating: 4 stars

Mia and Jake have known each other their whole lives. They’ve endured summer vacations, Sunday brunches, even dentist visits together. Their mothers, who are best friends, are convinced that Mia and Jake would be the perfect couple, even though they can’t stand to be in the same room together.

After Mia’s mom turns away yet another cute boy, Mia and Jake decide they’ve have had enough. Together, they hatch a plan to get their moms off their backs. Permanently. All they have to do is pretend to date and then stage the worst breakup of all time—and then they’ll be free.

The only problem is, maybe Jake and Mia don’t hate each other as much as they once thought…

Review:

I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again: the fake dating trope is the best trope of all in young adult books. I don’t make the rules, that’s just how it is. And I am happy to say that this is another novel that does the trope so well.

Jake and Mia’s mothers are best friends and because of that they have grown up alongside each other. The older they get, the more their mothers think they would be the perfect couple and try to push them together at the smallest opportunity. Jake and Mia have had enough of being thrown into each other’s lives and decide to fake date in the hopes that if they have an ugly enough break up, their mom’s will get off their backs and leave them to live their lives as they please. There’s only one tiny problem: they didn’t actually count on liking each other.

I like how the fake dating trope was done a little differently this time. Their main goal was getting their moms to cool it, not to make some other crush jealous so that they could be with that person.

This was a very family-oriented novel and I enjoyed that. Families aren’t always very prevalent in YA novels. When they are it’s usually pretty great, and that was definitely the case in this one. Mrs. Adler and Mrs. Le were so funny. And clearly great mothers.

The best part was the romance between Jake and Mia. It was so wholesome and sweet and cute. They were like an old married couple, but mixed in was the innocence of falling in love for the first time.

This was such an adorable book. If you’re looking for the perfect YA contemporary that will make your heart full and happy, then pick up this one. It’s worth the read.

About Jenn P. Nguyen:

Jenn Nguyen fell in love with books in third grade and spent the rest of her school years reading through lunchtime and giving up recess to organize the school library. She has a degree in business administration from the University of New Orleans and still lives in the city with her husband. Jenn spends her days reading, dreaming up YA romances, and binge watching Korean dramas all in the name of ‘research’.

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