Reviewed by Larissa

TITLE:  Fake It ‘Til You Make Out 

SERIES:  Love & Luck Book #1

AUTHOR:  Isla Olsen

NARRATOR:  Joel Leslie

PUBLISHER:  Self Published

LENGTH:  4 hrs and 12 mins

RELEASE DATE:  Oct 9, 2020

BLURB:

Heath:

It’s a classic story: Boy meets girl, girl breaks boy’s heart, boy pretends to be gay to get back at girl, girl outs boy to everyone on Facebook.

Okay, maybe it’s not that classic. But it’s what happened to me.

When I bump into my cheating ex and catch sight of the moon-sized rock on her finger, there’s only one option to save face: pretend to be dating my gay best friend, Declan.

And when she outs me on Facebook and everyone I know sees it, there’s still only one option: keep pretending to be dating Declan.

And when Declan and I have to kiss to keep up the ruse and it turns out there’s actually a spark between us (more like a blazing inferno, if truth be told) there’s once again only one option….

Warning: This book is not appropriate for anyone who doesn’t like laughing, anyone who doesn’t like dogs, or anyone who doesn’t like hot men having a lot of sex…with each other.

*Happily ever after included*

REVIEW:

Fake It ‘Til You Make Out is the first book in the terrific Love & Luck series, which introduces us to the crazy world of the eleven Kelly siblings, significant others and friends. This book is one of the best in the series. It’s a best friends to lovers, GFY, fake boyfriend romance between Declan Kelly and his best friend Heath.

Heath is probably my favorite character in the whole series. He is so adorably oblivious, blithely moving along without much forethought. He has no filter. At all. If he thinks it, he says it or does it … or both. And he often speaks or acts without thinking at all, hence the chain of events set in motion here. He’s so clueless at times, but he’s so sweet you can’t help but love him.

Declan is much more grounded. He’s laid back and easy going. So much so that Heath’s antics barely affect him. The whole fake relationship aspect of this story was engendered by Heath’s impetuous reaction to seeing his engaged ex-girlfriend. In Heath’s world, the natural reaction to that scenario is to unthinkingly volunteer that you are dating your gay best friend. Declan doesn’t even bat an eye at Heath’s lunacy, though; he just rolls with it.

Declan is the perfect foil for Heath. They are both sweet and sexy with off-the-charts chemistry. But even moreso, they have a deep, abiding love for each other which they demonstrate in mundane things they do for each other every day.

Isla Olsen’s writing is sharp, witty, and creates vivid, multi-layered characters. With the audiobook, you get the added bonus of a vocal performance akin to audio theater by the award winning narrator, Joel Leslie.

Joel Leslie’s exceptional skill enables him to distinctly characterize multiple people in a story. With a cast of characters like the Kelly crew and their partners and friends, that is a LOT of people to distinguish. Yet when I listen to his audio, I know who every character is based on his voicing of their narrative alone.

One of the hallmarks of the Love & Luck series is the inspired, hilarious Kelly clan group text chats. These consist of rapid dialogue, ping-ponging back and forth between eleven or more people, male and female, and some with accents, like Mrs. Kelly’s lovely Irish brogue. Listening to Joel Leslie narrate those group chats is like hearing a master class in narration. His vocal agility, deftly transitioning between characters, makes it seem easy, even though we all know it’s not.

Despite how taxing all of that character differentiation must be mentally and vocally, Joel Leslie is unfailingly accurate in delivering the emotions underlying the text. He knows how to interpret the words Ms. Olsen has written in the way she intended and delivers that to us in an impactful way.

Fake It ‘Til You Make Out is a book you don’t want to miss. It’s fun, flirty, sexy, sweet, heart-warming and, of course, has a HEA. This audiobook is a must-have, either as a companion to the book or all on its own.

RATING:

BUY LINKS: 

Audible

Amazon