How To Fake It In Hollywood by Ava Wilder Review

Title: How To Fake It In Hollywood

Author: Ava Wilder

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Publisher: Headline Eternal

Pages: 368

Release Date: 14 June 2022

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Hello Fellow booklovers, I hope you‘re having a wonderful weekend. Today I’m sharing my review of Ava Wilder’s incredibly addictive debut, How To Fake It In Hollywood.

It may sound like the fluffiest and lighthearted of rom-coms, but Ava Wilder’s exploration into the struggles of alcoholism and grief whilst trying to build healthy relationships—without losing any of the romance, humour or fairly upbeat tone— really made this a standout, five star read!

Also, I just quickly wanted to say huge thank you to Isabelle over at Headline Eternal for the amazing finished copy.

Synopsis

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 sexy debut for fans of Beach Read and The Unhoneymooners.

Grey Brooks is on a mission to keep her career afloat now that the end of her long-running teen soap has her (unsuccessfully) pounding the pavement again. With a life-changing role on the line, she’s finally desperate enough to agree to her publicist’s scheme . . . faking a love affair with a disgraced Hollywood heartthrob who needs the publicity, but for very different reasons.

Ethan Atkins just wants to be left alone. Between his high-profile divorce, his struggles with drinking, and his grief over the death of his longtime creative partner and best friend, he’s slowly let himself fade into the background. But if he ever wants to produce the last movie he and his partner wrote together, Ethan needs to clean up his reputation and step back into the spotlight. A gossip-inducing affair with a gorgeous actress might be just the ticket, even if it’s the last thing he wants to do.

Though their juicy public relationship is less than perfect behind the scenes, it doesn’t take long before Grey and Ethan’s sizzling chemistry starts to feel like more than just an act. But after decades in a ruthless industry that requires bulletproof emotional armor to survive, are they too used to faking it to open themselves up to the real thing?

Review

Though it does delve into deeper subject material than I initially had anticipated this was an absolutely addictive read and the angsty, drama laden romance was incredible! I loved very sizzlingly sexy second of it and I definitely be adding Wilder to my must read, auto buy authors because if her debut is this good then the next one is bound to be utterly fabulous!

The setting is unapologetically glamorous which, given it’s set in Hollywood should be no surprise. But despite the glitzy, Tinseltown location this feels like a fairly realistic portrayal of life navigating the fishbowl that is being a celebrity.

I loved the glimpse into Grey and Ethan’s life between the jet setting resort stays and movie premieres which really highlights the pressures of being in the public eye. This is especially true for Grey who really goes through the ringer when it comes to the media’s invasion of privacy and the industry’s well known double standards.

The character development was amazing, impressive really given this is a debut and loved how relatable so many of the characters were, particularly Grey, Ethan and Nora (Ethan’s ex). I loved Grey who I found a really capable, endearing and relatable character, her relationship with Ethan was amazing—angsty, sexy, intense and utterly addictive!

Ethan’s arc was an emotional rollercoaster, trying to hold his life together through unresolved grief, the breakdown of all of his personal relationships and his long time struggles with alcoholism—it’s a darker side of fame that we often don’t see portrayed but I really enjoyed it. I really felt for Ethan and wished that he’d tried to get help sooner or that someone would’ve attempted to help him.

Though is this a pretty swoon-worthy romance is does explore some deeper subject material such as: alcoholism, addiction, grief, death of a loved one, mental illness and childhood physical abuse) which may be upsetting or a trigger for some.

The ending was satisfying and incredibly uplifting though shorter than I would liked but overall an incredibly riveting book that I recommend to all contemporary romance lovers.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

About The Author

Ava Wilder is a contemporary romance writer and is represented by Jessica Mileo and Claire Friedman at InkWell Management. No one is more surprised than she is that her lifelong obsession with pop culture actually led to something useful.

She currently lives in Oklahoma City, with her fiancé and their toothless cat. HOW TO FAKE IT IN HOLLYWOOD is her debut novel.

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