BOOK REVIEW – The Fill-In Boyfriend by Kasie West

The Fill-In Boyfriend by Kasie West
Purchase on: Amazon, iBooks
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Synopsis:

When Gia Montgomery's boyfriend, Bradley, dumps her in the parking lot of her high school prom, she decides to do the unthinkable…convince the cute guy waiting to pick up his sister to pretend to be her boyfriend for the night. The task is simple: two hours, zero commitment, a few white lies.

The problem is that days after prom, she can't stop thinking about her fill-in boyfriend. But can Gia turn her fake boyfriend into a real one without exposing her lie and possibly destroying her friendships and her newfound relationship?

Smartly observed and wonderfully romantic, Kasie West's talent shines in this tale of one girl's unexpected quest to find love…and possibly herself.

Review:

The Fill-In Boyfriend was an absolutely adorable book!  I happily smiled through the majority of the story, while giggling like I was in High School all over again.  I became a huge fan of Gia as she grew up throughout the story.  And I fell head over heels in love with Fill-In Bradley.  But that ending left me wanting so much more.  It felt as though there was so still much up in the air, and I would have loved to have an epilogue.  And of course more time with Fill-in Bradley.

“I can pay you.”
He raised his eyebrows. “I’m sure there are services for that. Maybe you can try calling 1-800-HOOKERS or something?”
I rolled my eyes but couldn’t help the smile that came with it. “You know that number well?”
He let out a single laugh.

I started out the book easily feeling sorry for Gia.  She got dumped by her boyfriend, Bradley, in the parking lot, right before they were to walk into her school dance.  Ack, how awful!  But she was a little more devastated over the fact that now she was going to be labeled a liar.  By Jules, the newest addition to their clique, who didn’t believe Gia’s long distance boyfriend was real.  And Jules was slowly trying to turn Gia’s friends against her.  In her desperation, Gia luckily saw a boy who watched the whole tragedy unfold.  An older brother sitting in the car after dropping his sister and her date off for the dance.  Gia worked her magic and convinced him to take her to the dance.  And be her Fill-in Bradley.

I loved Fill-in Bradley.  Can I please steal him out of this book?!  Please? He was mesmerizing and quickly pulled me under his spell.  Not only did he step up to the plate and help out Gia, but he defended her, watched out for her, and treated her with love and respect. Well fake love and respect, since it’s all a charade….but still!!  He gave me chills with his actions and words, and I easily melted into a puddle of goo.  But alas, all good things must come to an end.  Or not.  Haha!

His amused look softened. “So you still don’t know my name?
“No. And I need it for tonight.”
He didn’t provide me the answer but instead asked, “What have you been calling me in your head, then?”
“What makes you think you’ve been in my head?”
He just smirked like he knew he had. And he was right. “Fill-in Bradley.”

You see, Fill-in Bradley’s younger sister, Bec, is making Gia return the favor.  Gia now gets to pretend to be Fill-in Bradley’s girlfriend at his ex’s bbq.  Shrieks of excitement escaped out of me when that was announced!  I had so much fun watching them play their little charade, and I had even more fun the second time around.  But like Gia, I too became confused at times.  Because sometimes their actions as a fake boyfriend and fake girlfriend felt real.  And what would happen if one of them wanted more?

He greeted several people then scooted his chair extra close to mine. While he ate with one hand, his other was always resting on the back of my chair, or on my shoulder, or playing with the ends of my hair. I knew it was for show and I had to keep telling myself that as chills radiated down my spine every time he touched me.

But you want to know what surprised me the most about The Fill-In Boyfriend?  How much I loved Fill-in Bradley’s sister, Bec.  She was hilarious, endearing and honest.  I loved how she meddled with Gia and Fill-in Bradley’s relationship.  How she helped remind them that they were just pretending, damn it.  But what I loved most about her SPOILER was how she taught Gia what being a true friend meant. Because let me tell you, Gia definitely didn’t have much experience in that department.

I let him take me to the makeshift dance floor across the sand. I let him wrap my arms up around his neck and then rest his hands on my hips. For one moment I forgot we had an audience and it was for them that we were performing this show. He made me forget I had come here to try to get him out of my head.

So, thank goodness for Fill-in Bradley and Bec stepping into Gia’s life, because her old friends desperately needed to grow up and disappear.  They were a group of catty bitches.  And her parents and brother weren’t much better than them unfortunately.  But lucky for us, Gia does learn and grow throughout the story.  I was more than pleasantly surprised!

Looking back, I still can’t believe I flew through this book in under a day!  It was that addicting!  And I was that obsessed wanting to know what was going to happen with fill-in Bradley.  What can I say?  I get obsessed with my fiction male characters haha!  I just wish there was an epilogue or another chapter or two explaining some loose ends, because this book could have easily been 5 Stars!

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