Fake Out

Very funny, highly entertaining read

Fake boyfriend/fiancee stories are one of my favorite tropes, plus I’d never read an M/M version before, so this seemed like a great way to get an intro to a new-to-me author, and boy, I’m glad I went for it!

I was a little unsure at first about the (probably/mostly) straight guy falling for another guy, but I really liked the way the author handled it. I loved both Maddox and Damon; they really balanced each other out, and I loved loved the character growth they showed as they each worked through their different issues. Those issues added a nice depth to characters and a story that had me laugh-crying more than once. Damon’s sister/Maddox’s best friend Stacey plus other family and friends added a lot as well.

Great characters and a nicely layered story made for a funny, highly entertaining read, and I can’t wait for the next book in the series and Noah’s story! 5+ stars

Love, love, love this book and series! Absolutely in my all time top five books! These characters are amazing and the storylines are outstanding. Cannot recommend enough!

Maddox and Damon meet initially through Damon’s sister Stacy. Maddox finds himself, a straight man-whore, in need of a fake boyfriend to attend the wedding of his high school sweetheart ex-girlfriend in his hometown. Stacy convinces her big brother, a gay man, to play the role. Their story is written in first person from an alternating dual POV.

I loved the premise of the story. I love how bi-sexuality is approached and explained. I love how easy going Maddox is when he accepts that he has a serious attraction to Damon, yet I also understood Damon’s hesitation to getting involved with Maddox. Both of these guys have some baggage. There is a lot going on in their story, and some subplots that could had been eliminated. That said, I really enjoyed the way they learn to communicate with each other. I love the scenes of their physical initimacy which are tender, consensual, and smoking hot. I really appreciated the supportive way their families handle who they are and the couple they become. Overall, I really liked this book. I think the storyline has the ability to spark discussions and create better understanding in our world. This was my first book by this author, and I will be reading more.

#FakeRelationship #MMRomance

“I’m waiting for the memory of you kissing me to go away so I’m not tempted to do it again.”

Fake Out, is my first book by this new to me author. And let me tell you something, it won’t be my last!!

“Why explore the rest of the world when the person who makes it go ’round is the man standing in front of me?”

In the beginning of the book, I used some time to get used to the author’s writing style. Which I need on occasions with new to me authors. But then the story and the characters charmed me, and had me hooked without me noticing it.
I can’t wait to read more in this series and from the author!

“Maybe you taught me labels don’t matter. What does matter is you. And me. Nothing else.”

Loved this book, just re-read it recently and loved it just as much. I love fake boyfriends that fall in love and this one is one of the best. Hilarious and sexy with some angst and heart. Definitely recommend!

This entire series is a must.

SIMPLY DELIGHTFUL!!!

Awhhhh…. The sweetest story I’ve read in quite some time. Thank you for the toothache!
Loved the dynamic between Maddox & Damon.
Such a breath of fresh air.
And, OMG, Stacy is my favorite prankster ever!!!
Thank you Eden Finley, for another amazing story!!!

Overall 4 out of 5 stars
Performance 4 out of 5 stars
Story 4 out of 5 stars

Fun fake boyfriend story!
Fake Out was a fun and entertaining take on the fake boyfriend trope.
It was a cute read, light-hearted and entertaining, with minimal drama.
I found it amusing that Maddox had his family and hometown convinced he was gay, while he was away at college man-whoring it up with women. Who knew though, that his statement all those years ago would turn out to be more true than not- he didn’t, that’s for sure.
I enjoyed Maddox and Damon, and seeing how they figured out things between them. Damon was hesitant at first, but who could really blame him, given his history. I liked that Maddox, once he understood his feelings and realized he was in fact bi, was ready to go all-in with Damon.
There little drama there was came towards end. I kind of understood it, because for as much as Maddox was into Damon and wanted a relationship with him, it was still all pretty new. But on the other hand, it was kind of a typical misunderstanding that got blown out of proportion. But at least it wasn’t dragged out!

I really love Alexander Cendese and have always enjoyed Iggy Toma’s narrations. I thought they were each great as their own characters. Alexander really brought the carefree and cheery demeanor I felt from Maddox’s character.
The only issue I had at times was not really being able to distinguish which character they were speaking as- but luckily that didn’t detract from the book.

I’m looking forward to the next book in the series, and hoping we’ll get to see more of Maddox and Damon!

***Borrowed through AE.

New to me author. This is a mm contemporary story set in the USA. Main characters are Maddox and Damon. As the title suggests this book starts as fake boyfriends, there are many twists and turns, some great secondary characters that’s help the story. Love all tHe different sports included. The banter between some of the characters is amazing. I’ll read more from this author and more from this series.

First time I read this book, I gave it five stars. This time, I put it down to four because I simply don’t find it fair for the other books in the series to have the same as this one when Fake Out has some clear topics I didn’t enjoy as much as the other ones.

The plot
Maddox has to face something he didn’t expect: his ex-girlfriend is getting married and he has to attend the wedding with a boyfriend. Problem? Not only he doesn’t have one, but he is also not gay. He told that to his ex so he could have an excuse to break up with her when he was panicking about the future they had ahead. Now, Maddox has to find a boy to share that embarrassing moment with, and his best friend Stacy offers her brother, Damon, a gay guy who accepts just because Maddox can help him get a famous sportman to sign with his agency.

Of course, things won’t be that easy. Mostly, because Maddox will discover that maybe he wasn’t straight at all, but bi and, because of that, Damon will have to face his own nightmares and insecurities created by an homophobic old crush he wants to forget.

I think, as much as I love Eden’s stories, that the plot offers more than what we actually end up getting, mostly because the whole story seems too rushed for my taste. Maddox discovering and accepting his orientation (nothing bad against people that accepts it easily, I simply don’t see it on him. Doesn’t suit the character), the feelings growing between them, how they act towards them…

I feel like around the 2/4 of the story, everything goes perfectly. Makes sense, not really rushed (apart from maybe the beginning, but that’s my taste). But once the half of the book ends… it goes way too fast. I would have loved a bigger pace.

The characters
Something I like of Eden is that she can write characters that doesn’t have to be perfect at all. Not in the idealistic way, of course no one is perfect, but in the daily life way.

We have Damon, a character I could maddly love if it weren’t because of some things Eden decided to add on him that I didn’t like. Don’t take me wrong, I love him, but I simply don’t see him as a favorite in the series because of those things. For example, that part in which he says he only sees people being straight, homosexual, or bi. No more. I know by the context he doesn’t count asexuality, for example, because he is talking about attraction, not lack of it. But it kills me anyway because there way more orientations and he doesn’t see them. Eden makes sure that we understand is the character (Damon literally explains is his pov and that he accepts others having a different one) but it still made it hard for me to avoid the issue with Damon.

Apart from that, he is a kind guy with a deep confidence trauma. We will see how he works on it, how he tries to overcome it. From Eden’s characters, I think Damon is sadly the one we get to see the least, being his trauma the most important thing on him and taking over his whole appearance during the book.

On the other side, we have Maddox. Our dear Maddy is a jackass, mostly, sarcastic king and quite rude sometimes. He has also kind of strong thoughts on some topics that the reader may ignore or not at all (he doesn’t like veganism, he is quite a hater with some cities, and let’s not forget he was an actual asshole before the whole story starts). We meet a quite comformist guy, that even if he never felt like home anywhere he went, he doesn’t feel like finding his place. Funny, sincere, but also scared of compromise and making decisions.

We see a clear evolution on him, maybe too rushed and with no internal conflicts on the meantime, but still a clear one. From a manwhore and asshole that lied to his ex with a complicated topic, to one that the only thing that wants is to settle down and try to make it work with the guy that has opened his eyes.

He stops being that arrogant (at least in the annoying way), he also lets behind the rudeness or hate, and he becomes a kinder and nicer guy. He is always okay with his orientation (not with the label at first, but not because of its definition, but because of all the changes it supposes to him), that past of him in which he has to fake being gay doesn’t make him act like that anymore (he actually hates it from the beginning to the end how he acted). Let’s say you start not really liking him a lot but end up loving him.

As a relationship you can see their chemistry, you can see the attraction, and they are so damn cute and shippeable all the book so it’s so easy to enjoy the story. Sadly, as I said at the beggining, everything may go too fast for readers’s taste, like me, especially once the thing between them happens. If you don’t mind that kind of maybe instalove in romance literature, then ignore this. If you prefer to avoid it… this may not be your book, even if I would recomend you to give it a try, mostly so you can follow the other books!

Final thoughts
Going to comment in different points some stuff I liked or didn’t. Some may be kind of spoiler but I will warn right before.

– As much as I love Eden, and all of her books, I find it hard to accept those vocabulary issues I mentioned before. Not only making the gay man of the story quite restrictive with orientations, but also the use of expressions like “bi-curious” which I hate. Still, I know it’s on the characters, not on her. It’s not a narrator telling us those things, but it still hurts.

– Similar to the topic before (this may be a spoiler but is a minus one, doesn’t affect the plot): the open minded father of Maddox in that moment in which he tries too hard to show his kid he doesn’t mind who he feels attracted too, because we get to read the “maybe you will be with a woman, a man, a woman that was a man before” as if a trans woman would be different. I know is a father trying so hard to be supportive and he wants to show that support in a extreme way. He messes up with words, but I would have loved Maddox telling him. A “you know is still a woman, right dad?” or something. Still, is understandable. But ugggh.

– Eden writing style is always magical. She could write a grocery list and I would buy it. It’s catchy, is perfect for romance. It doesn’t matter if it’s rushed, if some things could have been deeper, if some character has that thing that doesn’t let you love him: is so damn easy to love the story and the book and everything. This review may look rude to the book, but I still give it four stars! Why? Simply because I freaking love everything Eden writes, and even if those things made me cringe, the rest is still perfection, and I can’t wait to reread the next ones. Is also so sweet to read this one after reading her last released book, just to see her own development as a writer. I love this woman, did I say it already?

– I love how all the main characters are related in this series. We get to meet a few of the next main ones in Fake Out and I literally moan every time I read their names when reading this book. She creates a whole family, in which everyone is different and all of them have their issues and backgrounds, and… I couldn’t ask for more.

So, yeah, it’s a four star rating, because I loved it as much as the first time but I simply can’t rate it as high as the next books, because Fake Out may be my least favorite of them all. But PLEASE READ THIS SERIES. READ EDEN FINLEY!!!