Review: "The Trouble With Faking" by Rachel Morgan

After a stupid miscommunication, everyone in Andi’s new res thinks she’s secretly dating Damien, boyfriend of resident queen bee Charlotte. Since the rumour’s already out there and refuses to be squashed, Andi and Damien decide to keep up the facade in the hopes of snagging the attention of the people they really want to be with. Brilliant plan, right? Especially since Damien is the guy Andi’s always wanted. But now there’s Mike, the guy Andi’s pretending to be interested in for the sake of the fake relationship plan, and Noah, Damien’s annoying best friend—who is so not Andi’s type—and suddenly the plan isn’t looking so brilliant anymore.

I received this book for free from "Ebooks For Review" in exchange for my honest opinion.

Did I like this book?

A while back, I read "The Trouble With Flirting", my first book by Rachel Morgan, and I was thoroughly impressed, so when I saw the opportunity to read another book from this series, I was happy to jump at the chance.  While I did enjoy "The Trouble With Faking", I'd have to say I didn't love it as much as I did "The Trouble With Flirting".

Andi is a really cool character-she wears what she wants, and her outfits are always customized in some way, usually with handmade bookish jewelry she's made.  Occasionally other people make rude comments about her style, but she holds her head high and ignores it all as much as possible.  I really admired this aspect of her character.  And if that wasn't enough to make a reader love her, she's also started her own etsy shop to sell her crafty creations, she's a book vlogger, and she does coffee shop reviews on her YouTube channel.  A girl after my own heart!

I'm just going to tell you that there is a love triangle of sorts, and although sometimes these will make me shudder, in this case, at least for me, it worked.  It's pretty obvious which way Andi is heading, who she will choose, but the growth she goes through in order to arrive at a decision is what makes the story interesting.

There's also some conflict between Andi and her mother, as well as some problems with new friends.  While I thought the former was well written and realistic, I found the latter a little over dramatic.  One of Andi's new friends gets so upset with her for something I didn't think was a big deal, and instead of talking it out with Andi like a big girl should, this "friend" acts like a complete baby, ignoring Andi and slamming doors.  This conflict pulled me out of the story and annoyed me more than anything - thankfully this aspect of the plot didn't get much page time. 

As for the romance, I have to say it didn't make a huge impact on me, unfortunately.  I was satisfied with Andi's choice, and their connection was strong, but I think I needed a bit more background on him.  The other love interest, same thing - not enough background to really get a feel for why Andi was attracted to him.  However, I'm wondering if Morgan will write a book with him as the MC, because there were definite hints about a hidden story there.

Will you like this book?

Any fans of Rachel Morgan will enjoy this book.  Although this is a standalone, reading the other books in the series first wouldn't be a bad idea.  I especially loved the link at the end of the book to Andi's journal, which included photos (taken by the author) of some of the places mentioned in the novel - I think other readers will love this too!

Will I read more by this author?

Absolutely!  I enjoy Morgan's writing style and love how she brings beautiful places and diverse characters to life!

My rating: