Summary
Gia is stunned. Who gets dumped in the parking lot before prom? But that’s what happens. Her college-aged boyfriend, Bradley, drives 3 hours to join her for prom, and then breaks up with her before they even get in the door. That’s pretty bad. Even worse, though, is going to be Jules’ reaction.
Gia’s been feeling like Jules is trying to undermine her with her friends. She’s been vocal about her suspicions that Bradley isn’t even real. Gia’s desperate to hang onto her friendships and put Jules in her place. When she sees a guy drop off another student for the dance, and sit in his car, she wonders if maybe he would agree to be fake Bradley.
“Fill-in-Bradley” does an amazing job. There’s a slight glitch when his very real sister approaches him and almost blows his cover, but they improvise. He provides Gia a fake break up and the ruse is over.
Except Gia can’t stop thinking about fill-in-Bradley. She doesn’t even know his real name! His real sister, though, feels like Gia owes him and talks her into posing as HIS fill-in girlfriend at a party for his ex.
What could possibly go wrong with all these secrets and lies?
Review
This was delightful! I enjoy the fake-relationship trope, and this is a great example of it. I loved Gia and Hayden (fake Bradley) together. He was really a good influence on her. I appreciated Gia’s growth over the course of the book. I empathized with her desperate need to hold onto her friends at the start of the book. Jules was awful and manipulative and catty. And then, as Gia starts to become more self-aware and wants to make some changes, she becomes even more like-able.
The contrast between Gia’s family and Hayden’s family was fascinating. Hayden’s home and family become a safe haven for Gia to explore some feelings and test her new insights.
Gia’s “friends” were the most uncomfortable part of the story for me. I knew we were headed toward a big confrontation where the full truth would come out. And I half dreaded it while also half welcoming it. I knew they would only see the betrayal but wouldn’t appreciate the personal growth Gia gains. I was more than ready for Gia to discover some new relationships with people she hadn’t noticed before when she was more shallow and driven to be perfect in the eyes of everyone around her.
On one level, this is a darling contemporary teen romance. And it’s lovely on that level. But this is SO much richer in emotional awareness and growth. Highly recommend!