When Gia Montgomery's boyfriend, Bradley, dumps her in the parking lot of her high school prom, she has to think fast. After all, she'd been telling her friends about him for months now. This was supposed to be the night she proved he existed. So when she sees a cute guy waiting to pick up his sister, she enlists his help. The task is simple: be her fill-in boyfriend—two hours, zero commitment, a few white lies. After that, she can win back the real Bradley.

The problem is that days after prom, it's not the real Bradley she's thinking about, but the stand-in. The one whose name she doesn't even know. But tracking him down doesn't mean they're done faking a relationship. Gia owes him a favor and his sister intends to see that he collects: his ex-girlfriend's graduation party—three hours, zero commitment, a few white lies.

Just when Gia begins to wonder if she could turn her fake boyfriend into a real one, Bradley comes waltzing back into her life, exposing her lie, and threatening to destroy her friendships and her new-found relationship.


mild spoilers but it's not going to ruin the whole book for you



Guys, I did it. I read a book after a long-ass reading slump!


I know, not another bloody Kasie West contemporary book but hey - it works! I can always rely on a book by Ms West to get me out of that and it didn't fail. Although there were factors of this book that kind of bothered me, it still was a cute read and something that's so easily done in one sitting. Naturally.

First off, I want to get all the crappy stuff with the book out the way with so let's begin there. I don't like to be down on a book, it's my least favourite part of writing reviews (unless I hated the book with a passion, in that case, it's always fun). 
So I'll kick this off by saying that I got really irritated with all the lying. I'm well aware that this book is technically about lying, considering she is having someone pretend to be her boyfriend, but still. The people she's lying to, you'd think that she'd be able to sit down and tell them 'listen dude, my boyfriend dumped me so I'm here alone' or at least be like 'okay, so my boyfriend dumped me but this guy is here with me now' why lie and keep it going on for so long. It's only her best friends she's lying to and it gets to that point when it's hard to hide it all, so it was only going to end in shit. I guess it wouldn't be much of a story if she hadn't done it in the first place, just a story of a girl going to prom. That's not fun.

Basically, her boyfriend of about 2 months dumps her in the car park of her prom (why not do it before you got ready and went there is beyond me but okay) and she's like 'shit, I need a date. I can't go in there, my friends will think I made him up' because that's the first thing that comes to mind. Sadly she has some judgmental af friends who will assume she pretended to have one which makes me wonder if she is that kind of person. Anyway, she never took any pics with him or let him meet her friends until that night so she is alone at prom. She asks this guy in the car who is dropping off his sister to be Bradley, her now ex-boyfriend, but then I just think - why not explain to them? If they're really your friends, they will understand. It's mostly because she has this friend called Jules who is a total bitch nugget and is classed as a 'frenemy' which I think is ridiculous. I, personally, wouldn't have the time or patience for something as ridiculous as a frenemy but sure. So it's mostly for Jules' sake, but I sometimes forget that I'm reading a book about a 16 year old who doesn't know how to actually handle situations in life and thinks the world will end if her friends tease her for being single. (Even though they're single too..)

teenagers these days...
*is an old fart*

I also find that Gia, our lying protagonist, was also quite dramatic at times. She did have some things happen to her which were a little annoying and frustrating for anyone but still, she ended up sulking for days and ignoring her brother and judging her parents reaction to things. She also made a huge deal over this Jules thing when all she needed to do was to tell her "friend" to just fuck off.

Hey, Jules? Guess what.


Fuck you is what.

That girl was literally trying anything she can to snoop into her life and catch out her lies, but honestly, after a while I was like 'yeah, get this girl caught'. Such teenage drama, my goodness.

Anyway, annoying things aside, there were some really nice touches to the book too. Mostly due to that she was very into family, and she would go so far as to do things for her brother (even if he didn't want her to) and also to actually give people chances and make friends with people you never thought you would. 
Gia asks Hayden to be her pretend Bradley, and she of course meets the sister he was dropping off that night. Becky is not the usual type of person she would hang out with but I did like her a lot more than the others. Let's just say, Gia and her bitch friends used to bully and ruin things for them (hmm..) but after hanging out with Becky and actually bonding with her, she goes to see that looks aren't always a good way to judge someone. They got along well and I think are better friends than the other crew and that says a lot.

The romance between Gia and Hayden in this was cute, if not slow paced. At first, I kind of struggled to see the actual chemistry and why they actually liked each other but as the book went on, it was more enjoyable and you can really see the spark. Hayden was a nice guy, a bit older and getting over some girl who cheated on him with his best mate, so he had some tough things to get. They were able to bond over things they've been through and the fact that they both used each other in different ways for other people, but they had some cute banter. I liked the ending, and I felt that it was also quite open-ended which was different. There is potential for an additional chapter or two, but it was fine because we still got the answers we wanted. I enjoyed where it ended and I was satisfied.

Overall, it's a nice read and, although it's not one of West's best books, it's still enjoyable. If you're thinking of getting into her books, start with this one then go through the others because then you won't read the better one's first. I love her way of writing and how easy to read it is, and the books are also good for people who aren't huge readers too.
It's full of laughs, unexpected romance and it's a story about friends, family and why it's always good to tell the truth. Even if the truth hurts.




Wow it's been too long since I've written a review. I'm so sorry for all the delays, book friends! I hope this one wasn't too shabby but still, getting back into the flow. Just need to find the perfect book to read next for an epic af review for next time.

So tell me friends - is this the kind of book you're looking for? I know it's autumn and it's more of a 'wrap up in a blanket with tea' type of weather but sometimes a contemporary can do that. If this isn't, what kind of stories are you wanting to dive into, are there any autumn read that you have on your TBR this year? Do tell us! We're all ears!

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