Book Review: How to Fake It in Hollywood

This post contains affiliate links.

Thank you Netgalley and Dell for an advance copy of How to Fake It in Hollywood by Ana Wilder.

I love following celebrity romance and when I read the description, I decided I had to request How to Fake It in Hollywood.  Is the relationship a PR stunt move or is it the real thing?

Grey Brooks is on a mission to keep her career afloat now that the end of her long-running teen TV show 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: fake 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, struggles with drinking, and grief over the death of his longtime creative partner and best friend, Ethan has 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?

This book is told in both characters points of view which are my favorite types of romance novel.  I love reading the man’s view.  Grey Brooks is a strong, independent character, while she tries to push away the feelings that she has for Ethan she knows that it is a losing battle.  I liked Ethan in the beginning.  But (TW alcoholism) Ethan’s drinking and self-sabotage became too much for me in the middle of the book and at the end even. 

Grey and Ethan have wonderful chemistry and I could tell from their first meeting their romance was going to be steamy.  The book was steamy and funny at times.  But I like my romance novels to be a little lighter. 

The beginning of the book when both characters are getting to know each other was very enjoyable.  While Ethan’s drinking was an issue it was not out of control.  The middle of the book with the actual romance was quick.  The end of the book had me read quickly because I wanted to see how the characters came out in the end, but I was not loving the book at this point.  I found that Grey accepted things a little too quickly and it bothered me. It felt as though Ethan and Grey were never really partners and even though the end brought them closer together, I felt myself wondering if their relationship would really work. 

There were several supporting characters in the book.  I enjoyed Grey’s agent because she seemed like a woman who did not take no for an answer.

Overall, How to Fake It in Hollywood was a well written romance book.  I however enjoy my romance novels to be a little lighter.  While the author handled the topics well, I wanted to laugh more and not feel as though Grey and Ethan were not really meant to be together. 

Have you read How to Fake It in Hollywood?  If you like romance novels with celebrities and steamy scenes preorder this book for its June 14^th publication.