99% Faking It (Dating Dilemmas, #2)

by Chris Cannon

• ISBN10: 1798069792
• ISBN13: 9781798069790
• Publish Date: 26 February 2019
• Publish Status: Active
• Imprint: Independently Published
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 240
• Language: English

Reviews

[Molly J(Cover To Cover Cafe)]

Every now and then, I love to read a good young adult romance. A romance that is young, and innocent. So, I was browsing through Netgalley and saw this one, and fell in love with the synopsis and the cover (I mean, seriously. How adorable is that cover? I can just feel the hug he's giving her!). I grabbed it up. I'm super glad I did, too, because I have a new author to read more work by, and characters that have stolen my heart for the long haul.

I loved the way Chris Cannon chiseled these characters. They are true-to-life and came alive within the story. I felt more like I was watching a movie on the big screen than I was reading a book. Lisa and Matt reminded me a lot of some of the kids I used to know in high school. Lisa had a crush on a guy who just wanted to be friends.....or so she thought. Friend zone happened a lot back in my day at school!

Watching Lisa and Matt together in this read was super fun. They were witty and so cute. I loved watching them realize their feelings for each other, and their banter with each other was fun. The sparks flew but nothing was over the top, and Lisa and Matt would be great characters for any young adult (or adult!) to read.

Chris Cannon has a beautiful talent. The way she weaves the story together, even though it is the second in her Dating Dilemmas series, I wasn't overly confused by the happenings surrounding Lisa and Matt's story. I felt a part of these young people's lives and had so much fun reading it! I definitely recommend this book with 4 stars and am looking forward to reading book 1 and other books by this author.

*I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley, Entangled Publishing and was under no obligation to post a review, positive or negative.*

[Julie @ Struck by Stories]

This was a book where the concept turned out to be better than the execution.

When I went into this book, you've gotta understand that I had SUCH high hopes. And okay, maybe that part was on me. But isn't the point of wanting to read a book that it's a book that you're highly anticipating?

Anyways, I'm off-track. Back to the book!

First, we have Lisa, who in addition to being a total overachiever, is also a proud bookworm. Obviously, I found that I could relate to her to a certain extent (what with the whole book-lover thing and all). Personally speaking, I preferred her bookish friend, Nina, to her, but I think that was more of a me thing than anything against the author.

Also, I really liked the concept of a wedding ring phenomenon! For one, I fully agree that if you're already taken, you will easily gather more attention. Furthermore, the execution wasn't all that bad.

And, umm, I think I'm gonna end with the positives there, because there are a couple of other things I'd like to address:

1) I won't say who, but there were scenes in which a boy/man would threaten to harm another boy/man who is bothering another girl. Coming from the perspective of someone who has actually had this offer made to her by another guy, I was a little annoyed that this just got casually brushed off. This is TOXIC masculinity and is NOT! OKAY! Not only could the whole scenario be a misunderstanding, but it can also result in lasting damage that cannot be undone!

2) There were also numerous times when I found Lisa and Matt's to be highly irritating. Throughout the book, their relationship kept going back and forth from I Love You But Too Chicken To Admit It to I'm Dating Someone Else Even Though I'm In Love With You to I Am Madly in Love With You And Need to Prove It To You to I Can't Ever Be With You Because I Would Be Your Second Choiceto Fine, Let's Be Together and THIS ANNOYED ME SO VERY MUCH!

Also, MAJOR spoiler - I hated how it wrapped up. All Matt had to do to get her to date him was BRIBE HER with Harry Potter merch. Like seriously, I know Lisa is a book-lover, but you don't just date someone because they give you bookish merch!]

3) And finally, while I won't mention what the spoilers are, I will say that there are definitely, 100% spoilers in this book for book 1, The Dating Debate. Unfortunately, that one has been on my TBR for a while, and I should have seen that coming, but I feel like it would have been nice if the author included a note in the synopsis that if you don't want spoilers for

Overall, while I didn't enjoy this one as much as I thought I would, I guess I still would recommend it to certain fans of YA romance. Looking forward to going back and reading book 1!