I love a romance and this was perfection! This author has quickly become a favourite of mine! A great well written book with great chemistry

If you want a sickly sweet romance then this one isn't for you there are some trigger warning for grief and addiction too. Ethan our main character is so damaged and messed up and sometimes it was uncomfortable watching him self destruct but also important to see these things represented, I did like Grey but felt there were some plot holes in regards to her character that annoyed me a bit.

I love fake dating as a trope and I also love books about celebs and this book really looked at the bigger picture of fame and the highs and lows and how a stars private life can never really be private and the effects that can have.

Overall I did enjoy this but it was uncomfortable at times and I wish I'd known that going into it.

Absolutely loved this book!

The writing style was really good and I look forward to reading any other books from this author in the future :)

This was such an interesting and incredible read, there was such depth and intrigue. I found myself completely entranced by the story.

'How To Fake It In Hollywood' looks and sounds like a cute rom-com following two celebrities who decide to fake date to improve their careers, but this book tackles so many darker subject matters. I loved the two main characters, Grey and Ethan, and found myself really invested in their relationship and this story. It did take me a while to read this book. I read half of it and then put it down and didn't finish it until a month later.
This book was incredibly hard to read at times but it was so worth it for the ending and seeing how Grey and Ethan were together and the amount of tension between them.
I absolutely love the cover of this book, both the UK and the US version of the cover. It's one of the best covers I have seen and has made me love the book so much more.
Thank you to Headline for providing me with an advance copy of this book via Netgalley.

A brilliant story with a deeper theme than a lot of romance books. I thoroughly enjoyed this one and am already excited to see what Ava writes next.
I thought the setting was great and loved that the MMC was her childhood crush but it wasn’t over the top, there was a great connection between them.

I read this book along with a few others 'and I am honestly so glad that we got to experience it together.

I went into this thinking I was going to have an age-gap faking dating rom-com, was half right! I never thought I'd write this in a review however this book is like an onion, it's got so many layers to it! It is a age-gap faking dating, however it also surrounds stories of grief, addiction, anxitety amoust other touchy subjects and the Ava Wilder carries the story with such a raw handle on them.

This being Ava Wilder's debut novel has me so excited for her next projects, she'll definitely be an autobuy author for me.

This is one of the most fun books I’ve read this year, but with undertones of serious addiction and the need for rehabilitation.
I enjoy the fake dating trope, and I felt like the two characters here had great chemistry. I also felt like the story wrapped up and ended in a way that was believable and satisfying to me, which with romance is hard to do! I loved it, one of my top books this year and I will be buying a physical copy to moon over on my shelf.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I knew that I would love this book, as I love stories about celebrities (Evelyn Hugo and Daisy Jones are two of my favourite books of all time.) and I knew that this setting in a romance would be kryptonite to me, but I still did not expect to love it as much as I did. I thought I might have set my expectations way too high and that would ruin the experience for me, but it actually met every single one of them and more.

I fell in love with Ava Wilder’s writing. The chemistry that Grey and Ethan had from the first meeting was off of the scale brilliant and carries throughout the entire book. The couple was easy to root for even when they were apart.

There are also much darker topics throughout such as addiction and grief which give such a deeper meaning to the novel.

I could easily see this being adapted in the future.

(Thank you to Netgalley and Headline Eternal for the eARC!)

Sometimes a romance books follows the beats of well known tropes and it's done well that you are pleased about such a thing. Sometimes a book veers on a different course than you were expecting halfway through and manages to keep you interested with that change of speed. Sometimes, rarely, a book manages both and this was an emotional rollercoaster that tackled some difficult topics with tact and compassion whilst maintaining an entertaining and enjoyable pace

REVIEW: How To Fake It In Hollywood - Ava Wilder. ⭐⭐⭐


Okay, the premise: A talented Hollywood starlet and a reclusive A-lister enter into a fake relationship . . . and discover that their feelings might be more than a PR stunt in this chemistry-filled debut for fans of Beach Read and The Unhoneymooners.

Ethan is grumpy and anti-social, he's also dealing with loss and alcoholism (but won't admit to it).
Grey is (for want of a better word) a feisty and talented actress who isn't afraid to stand up and say no to the 'always gets his way' Ethan. They get put together by their agent and there begins the fun...

There were a lot of similarities between this and The Unhoneymoners, however, I wouldn't class this as a rom-com.
Overall, it's a good read, with nice writing and interesting characters.

How to Fake it In Hollywood is Ava Wilder’s debut novel. It’s a fake dating romance so if you, like us, love that trope then pick this one up.

The story follows Grey and Ethan. Ethan needs some help with his image recovery and Grey needs a boost to get some more of the parts that she’s going for so her agent sets them up with a fake relationship. With all fake dating tropes there’s plenty of chemistry between the two of them which eventually spills into more.

There was a bit of an A Star Is Born thing going on and it honestly made me hate Ethan for a little bit throughout the book. Eventually though he did win me over. The last part of the book seemed squished for me and I’d loved to have seen more of a build up between them.

If you like authors such as Paige Toon Sophie Sullivan then this might be for you!

Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced copy of How To Fake It In Hollywood by Ava Wilder.

I liked the idea of this. When I read the synopsis it reminded me of Hacks on Prime which I really enjoyed, i.e. two people who for different reasons are trying to keep their dwindling careers going, although Hacks has no love interest element.

This was a fun thrown together and just have to get on with it storyline and sort of follows the themes of enemies to lovers and sharing one bed tropes. It's a typical beautiful people in Hollywood romance which has expected less glamorous sides of Hollywood themes... failed relationships, alcoholism, depression, typecasting etc.

This was an enjoyable, solid, contemporary romance read overall and I liked both Grey and Ethan as protagonists. However, I was hoping for more female empowerment along the way with Grey standing up for herself more - which she did a bit but not as much as I would have liked!

Wilder has written an impressive debut that had me gripped from the start. Ethan and Grey are both famous actors who find themselves in the position of needed a career boost. Here starts their romantic journey with instant attraction but the journey isn’t smooth. How to Fake it in Hollywood manages to capture some deep emotions and deals with issues of drugs and alcoholism in a way that builds slowly to a key point in the story. Wilder also delivers a really steamy, passionate scene that packs a punch.

I really enjoyed this. I am a sucker for the fake dating storyline especially between two actors. I thought it will be a light fluffy read, but it was so much more than that and I think Ava Wilder handled the hard topics very well.

This was such a fun read!
I really loved the characters and while I wish the romance was a little more slow burn I still really loved it!
I also really enjoyed all the pop culture references.
I definitely highly recommend this book!
Thank you Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Netgalley and Headline Eternal for an advanced copy of this book.

I was not expecting to enjoy this book as much as I did. I really connected with the characters of Ethan and Grey. They were realistic and believable and I felt myself rooting for them throughout the book. I’m quickly realsising that fake dating is one of my favourite tropes and it was really well done and realistic in this book. It also covered carefully and accurately bigger issues such as grief, alcoholism and the impact of fame while keeping it an enjoyable and fun read.

Thanks to NetGalley UK and Headline Eternal for sending me this advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Wow, that is how I will start my review because this book was slightly mind-blowing. I already had high expectations because I got good recommendations, so I expected a light reading. However, this story has many layers beyond the romance. I don't think I would consider it a rom-com.
The book tells the story of Grey, a young actress who had been successful in a teen drama and since has not been very relevant in the industry, and Ethan, a mature actor who faced a tragedy in his life and became a recluse person. Reading the synopsis, I could imagine a fake-dating trope (which I like) with elements of Hollywood. During the book's first half, the story follows their fake dating; they get to know each other, with a glimpse here and there of both characters' baggage. From then on, Grey and Ethan's struggle becomes the book's main character. This book's story, the Hollywood context, and the topics developed were extraordinary. It is fantastic to break the stigma of Hollywood being associated with happiness, money, success, and fame. So many professionals struggle to pursue a dream sold to us as the epitome of perfection.
I want to give a special shout-out to Ethan's development as a character. The author created a fantastic male leading character. I could sympathize with his struggle even though I had never been in his shoes.
The romance was excellent; the secondary characters were well done (I will never stop loving books where the ex-wife and the girlfriend get along), and the narrative flows well. It isn't too fast or too slow.
It's a story about the backstage of Hollywood, the story behind the flashes and the fame. It's a story about addiction, grieving, mental health, and love. Not only love between Grey and Ethan but love for themselves and accepting to let it go when something that is supposed to be good hurts.

As a fan of romance, I enjoyed giving Ava Wilder's debut novel a read. There were a lot of pop culture references in this one which I was a fan of and I loved seeing the diversity of characters, such as Andromeda.
Grey and Ethan made for entertaining lead characters, the plot of this one was quite unique with the PR relationship, one I have no doubt goes on in the real world! The two definitely had a lot of chemistry in the story, however to make this a four or five star read, I would have loved to have seen their romance build up a bit more slowly. Their attraction to each other was evident from the start but I it would have hit harder for me if I could see why their emotional connection grew beyond the spicy scenes!
Overall, a fun lighthearted read, perfect for the beach as we move into holiday season.

Firstly I’d like to thank the publisher and Netgalley for the eARC 😍❤️

I LOVED this book!! I could not put it down, I read it in one go. I started it and within a few hours I was finished ❤️❤️

I loved the premise of the book which is why I jumped at the chance to read it, it was a lot of tropes that I’m really into and they were done really well by the author. It wasn’t really enemies to lovers but more like awkward I fancy you but don’t want to like you to lovers? I loved it!! 😍😍 The set up for a PR stunt is something else I love, the forced proximity is brilliant and was done really well ❤️❤️ Grey’s character was just so engaging I just instantly fell in love with her so I totally get why Ethan did the same. She’s strong, independent, intelligent and she really makes a brilliant lead for this book. Ethan is a great accompaniment to her, he’s amazing with her and we really see that throughout the book. I loved Nora, Ethan’s ex wife, her character was written so skilfully and with so much care. She was tender towards him but kept the boundaries of someone who almost wasn’t in his life 🥰🥰

Ethan was written with so much skill and respect, made me really and genuinely feel for him and his situation 🥺❤️ His demons and addiction is central to the story and was handled so well. He came across as a beautiful person with problems but who also has a super sense of humour and is very loving ❤️❤️

Overall the book is super fun, spicy and has a core of overwhelming love ❤️❤️ The banter is amazing, characters are brilliant and the ending is EVERYTHING!! (I cried) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ for sure!! ❤️❤️