Title: The Fine Art of Pretending
Author: Rachel Harris
Publication Date: September 30, 2014
Pages: 256 pages
Format: eBook
Source: Purchased
Purchase: Amazon
Summary (Goodreads):
According to the guys at Fairfield Academy, there are two types of girls: the kind you hook up with, and the kind you’re friends with. Seventeen-year-old Alyssa Reed is the second type. And she hates it. With just one year left to change her rank, she devises a plan to become the first type by homecoming, and she sets her sights on the perfect date—Justin Carter, Fairfield Academy’s biggest hottie and most notorious player.
With 57 days until the dance, Aly launches Operation Sex Appeal and sheds her tomboy image. The only thing left is for Justin actually to notice her. Enter best friend Brandon Taylor, the school’s second biggest hottie, and now Aly’s pretend boyfriend. With his help, elevating from “funny friend” to “tempting vixen” is only a matter of time.
But when everything goes according to plan, the inevitable “break up” leaves their friendship in shambles, and Aly and Brandon with feelings they can’t explain. And the fake couple discovers pretending can sometimes cost you the one thing you never expected to want.
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AGES. That’s how long I’ve been wanting to read The Fine Art of Pretending because come on, look at its cover! Doesn’t it promise a cutesy contemporary romance story that will make you fall in love and have all the feels? And it certainly delivers that.
I’m super glad that this book did turn out to be to my liking and made me have such a great time while flipping its pages. The story is cute, the situation the main characters put themselves through is fun, flirty and impossible to NOT go wrong. Best friends pretending to date just to attract another person while friendship remaining intact? Yeah, I don’t think so! Especially when the boy is super hot and was your childhood crush. *wink*
One of the cool things about this book is that it is told in two POVs, Aly’s and Brandon’s. I liked having the full picture about their progressing feelings for each other instead of just guessing from one POV which usually is from the girl MC. Both of these two characters were great and pretty much likable. However, I did end up loving Brandon more since he seems to be the most mature of the two and tries to keep Aly from making mistakes. The whole pretend dating is Aly’s idea and while it was fun to read about, I still couldn’t stop myself from thinking how childish she acts about it.
But back to the feels! The whole situation is pretty silly, but I can’t deny the chemistry between Aly and Brandon. They make a greeeaat couple and I loved how they could be themselves whenever they were together. No secrets, no pretending (except that whole “I do like you” kind of thing). Not to mention that Brandon is so dreamy! *Sigh*
Overall, The Fine Art of Pretending is a cute story with a cute guy and lots of chemistry between characters. I read it in one sitting so it’s kind of addicting too!
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