“The Cheat Sheet” by Sarah Adams (4 stars)

I know, I know. Another romance. What can I say, I’m a sucker for multiple romantic tropes. It’s a problem that I’m working on…by reading more romances…

This time, we’ve got two best friends who are fake dating to help their careers (he’s a professional football player and she owns a dance studio). After a bit of bad publicity, clearly the best option is for the two to begin fake dating to help fix the public’s view. But alas, the allure of friends-to-lovers is too strong and we’ve got admitted feelings, long-simmering tension, and a happily ever after.

Romance: It’s relatively clean. They kiss, they dream about each other, and they fall in love. But it’s not graphic or overly steamy. It’s a good palate-cleanser romance. Simple and realistic in the best possible way. I will admit that I found the romance a little bit too forced at times because of this. It almost seemed like their fake dating made them forget that they were actually in love with each other.

Cons: As readers, we are immediately told through an inner monologue that the two main characters are secretly in love with each other (and have been for years). Personally, I would have rather been shown that through flashbacks or other actions. Show, don’t tell. It made the slow burn of their romance seem almost ridiculous because if I already know they have feelings for each other then so should they.

Also, I found Nathan (the main character) to be a bit condescending to Bree (his best friend/fake girlfriend). She was constantly concerned about him spending money on her and owing him too much, which is a completely valid concern. But he would just shut her down or go behind her back to do things for her. On one hand that’s sweet, but on the other it’s a bit rude and I can understand why Bree was so mad when she found out.There needs to be trust in a relationship (even just a fake one) and it didn’t seem like either of them trusted each other at various points.

Finally, I found some of Nathan’s ‘romantic’ moments to be a little icky. He mentions having seen Bree naked before and if you’re trying to get a girl to fall in love with you, that doesn’t seem like the smartest move. Then, her seeing Nathan naked to make it ‘even’ becomes a cheeky plotline that just missed in my opinion. There’s better ways to showcase that they’ve known and been comfortable with each other for years. I was a bit grossed out by the way this subplot played out. But that’s just my opinion because others might see it the way it was meant to be. Which was cheeky banter between the two main characters to showcase their comfort and relationship.

Review: As an easy read, it was a great romance. I read it as a break between two books with heavier topics, so I enjoyed the ease of shutting off my brain and just thinking of the romance between characters. Since it’s part of a series, I also knew some of the side characters already, so I knew their quirks and how the team interacted with each other. Overall, it was four stars worthy for the romantic tropes and storyline.

I’ve loved other books written by Sarah Adams, so I’m excited to see how her writing changes over her career and hopefully someday I’ll go back, reread, and fall in love with “The Cheat Sheet” again. Until then, it’s a good choice, but not necessarily going on my top reads.