Book Review: How To Fake It In Hollywood
How to Fake It in Hollywood has the kind of title that made me side-eye it. I’ve read a lot of rom-coms. I like rom-coms just fine. I even (try to) write them. Yet once in a while, they’re just too much. Bright, bubbly girl meets hard, gruff guy. A series of unfortunate but comical events. A misunderstanding. A grand gesture. Happily ever after. The characters change, of course. The woman is jaded and the man is a hopeless romantic or someone is a single parent or left heartbroken by their previous relationship. There is often a small town/big city vibe, a business to save, or a job that is sucking someone’s soul. Naturally, I thought How to Fake It in Hollywood would be in that vein: fake dating turned love.
I was wrong.
There is fake dating. In an effort to save her floundering career and with a life-changing blockbuster role on the line, Grey Brooks allows her agent to talk her into a PR relationship with Hollywood superstar Ethan Atkins who has become a notorious recluse after the death of his creative partner. Ethan knows the only way he will ever get the final project they wrote together produced is if he cleans up his act and steps back into the spotlight and an up and coming starlet on his arm can only improve his image.
Grey captures his attention right away with her independence and stubborn nature, but he’s worked hard at keeping people at arm’s length and she can’t quite believe she’s agreed to a PR stunt, let alone with the guy she had a Hollywood crush on as a teenager. They iron out the details of their contract which includes staged sleepovers and red carpet appearances and the fake dating commences. As Grey gets to know Ethan, she learns his issues go much deeper than she originally thought. Ethan has a substance abuse problem.
How to Fake It in Hollywood is a beautiful story about the intricacies of grief and addiction with a love story layered in. It may have a rom-com troupe and a rom-com cover and even a few rom-com comical unfortunate events, but this is no rom-com. This is a contemporary romance that explores difficult subject matter with grace and realism.
It’s the realism that I appreciated the most about this book. As someone familiar with the highs and lows of loved ones who battle addiction, I know it’s not a linear journey. Someone doesn’t wake up one day and decide to get clean or sober and their loved ones don’t just smile and move on. A grand gesture (or two…) doesn’t fix things. Grey and Ethan’s story is complex and beautiful and their journey through addiction, together and separate, is raw and honest.
How to Fake It in Hollywood is a must-read.
I give it five out of five stars.
