What I expected on Saturday morning: Books.
What I got on Saturday morning: my ex-best friend and first crush in front of me.
Let it be known that I, Holley Stuart, do not give a single rat’s behind about pro baseball’s star pitcher Sebastian Stone.
I definitely don’t care that he’s standing in my bookstore.
Nor do I care that he seems to have forgotten about the last time we saw each other—senior prom, when he both humiliated me and broke my heart, albeit unknowingly.
Now, he needs a date to his sister’s wedding.
Don’t ask me how I ended up being it, because I have no idea. But that’s the least of my problems.
His grandfather is adamant we’re dating, and Seb isn’t in a hurry to convince him otherwise, so I have no choice but to go along with it.
The problem? The only thing I’ve ever faked is… well, you know.
I’ve definitely never faked my feelings for someone.
And judging by the way I feel whenever Seb looks at me, it doesn’t look like I’m starting now.
| Title: | The Bookworm’s Guide to Faking It |
| Author: | Emma Hart |
| Series: | The Bookworm’s Guide (Book 2) |
| Pages: | 209 |
| Genre(s): | Contemporary Romantic Comedy |
| Trope(s): | Bookshop Romance Enemies to Lovers Second Chance Romance |
| Point of View: | First Person, Present Tense, Dual Viewpoint (H & h) |
| Location: | US |
| HEA: | ✔️ |
| Release Date: | 1st December, 2020 |
 |  |  |  |
Books, love and laughter
This book is part of The Bookworm’s Guide series about three best friends (perhaps four, if Tori and Colton get their own story). Kinsley got her HEA in the first book in her series, The Bookworm’s Guide to Faking It, and Saylor will get her story in The Bookworm’s Guide to Flirting. There’s also a cute crossover from The Girl Next Door. Ivy, the heroine from that book, is Holley’s sister. I’ve not read any other book with these characters so I can safely attest that this book completely stands alone. You, like me, will want to go ahead and buy up the others once you’ve read this one, however.
This is the story of Holley and Sebastian – best friends from childhood who had a falling out on the night of prom which led to their estrangement. It’s 8 years later and Seb – now a world class baseball player – is back in his small home town to recuperate from an injury. He’s keen to reconnect with Holley – maybe this time as more than a friend.
I loved Seb as a character. He was determined to win back Holley’s trust but it was the way he rolled with the punches in the face of Holley’s anger towards him, that I liked the best. Holley was a tough nut to crack – but Seb knew he liked her, knew he wanted her and even Holley’s own personality wouldn’t persuade him otherwise.
“…everything I want in a story – sass, sarcasm, second-chance love, friendship and a bookshop that I want for myself.”
Which brings me to Holley herself. She is a classic Hart heroine – snarky, sarcastic, a little neurotic and a little hostile. I bloody loved her. She was an introvert bookworm who loved true crime and used her words to keep people at a distance. Plus she ran (literally ran away) at the first sign of confrontation. She was basically me, but with more confidence and a bookstore. Oh, and I normally wouldn’t only think all the things Holley tended to say out loud.
There is foul language, near constant threats of murder and a bunch of offbeat grandparents. What’s also there is a fairly slow burn. I mean, it takes almost to the end of our story before Seb and Holley finally get their act together and kiss. But as much as I wanted that to happen – and more – you still saw an obvious progression of the relationship which still made me warm and happy.
I love a lot of things about Emma Hart’s novels; They’re hilarious, feature a great bunch of ride-or-die friends and are set in the cutest small towns. But it’s our heroines that always give me ultimate feels. They are unashamedly themselves – quirky, odd, good and bad – and the men in their lives fall in love with them just the way they are. It gives fellow weirdos a little hope that the fairytale really does exist.
Love, love, loved this book. It has everything I want in a story – sass, sarcasm, second-chance love, friendship and a bookshop that I want for myself. 5 stars and very highly recommended.
Emma Hart is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of over thirty novels and has been translated into several different languages.
She is a mother, wife, lover of wine, Pink Goddess, and valiant rescuer of wild baby hedgehogs.
Emma prides herself on her realistic, snarky smut, with comebacks that would make a PMS-ing teenage girl proud.
Yes, really. She’s that sarcastic.
 |  |  |  |  |  |  |
The Bookworm’s Guide Series:
No Comments