Pre-Squee: The Fine Art of Pretending by Rachel Harris

The Book Swarm and Bewitched Bookworms came up with this fabulous idea –> the Pre-Squee:

“Some books, though they might not be coming out for a few months, need an early squee — we just can’t hold in our excitement about them! Sure, we’ll do full reviews closer to the release date but this feature gives us a chance to share a little bit of our love, whether it be for the story, cover, characters, or whatever. We’re quite flexible in our book love.”

I loved the idea (& that adorable button) and asked if I could join in. They graciously said yes so here’s my first Pre-Squee!

The Fine Art of Pretending

by Rachel Harris

Release Date: September 30, 2014

Spencer Hill Contemporary

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Source: ARC provided by the publisher at BEA

According to the guys at Fairfield Academy, there are two types of girls: the kind you hook up with, and the kind you're friends with. Seventeen-year-old Alyssa Reed is the second type. And she hates it. With just one year left to change her rank, she devises a plan to become the first type by homecoming, and she sets her sights on the perfect date—Justin Carter, Fairfield Academy’s biggest hottie and most notorious player.

With 57 days until the dance, Aly launches Operation Sex Appeal and sheds her tomboy image. The only thing left is for Justin actually to notice her. Enter best friend Brandon Taylor, the school’s second biggest hottie, and now Aly’s pretend boyfriend. With his help, elevating from “funny friend” to “tempting vixen” is only a matter of time.

But when everything goes according to plan, the inevitable “break up” leaves their friendship in shambles, and Aly and Brandon with feelings they can’t explain. And the fake couple discovers pretending can sometimes cost you the one thing you never expected to want.

***

I just adore Rachel Harris’s writing. Her YA, adult, anything she writes, makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside and The Fine Art of Pretending is no exception.

We have the friends to more trope and the quiet “commitment” type girl trying to get the boys to see her as a “casual” girl trope & honestly you know exactly how it’s going to turn out by the end of the first chapter but I didn’t really care because I love Harris’s characters and relationships.

It’s nice to read about normal people, making normal mistakes and both Aly and Brandon make quite a few.

Aly’s motivations for her makeover in particular are all kinds of wrong but it was nice to see her struggle into that realization and to shape it into something more healthy. The side characters are full of clichéd types but then Harris gives them a bit more depth so they can’t be pigeon holed.

The Fine Art of Pretending was a fun, sweet book candy!