When It's Real

by Erin Watt

[whisperingchapters]

This review was originally posted on Latte Nights Reviews.


Oakley Ford needs to get his writing mojo back. It's been two years since he released an album and he has yet to write anything he deems worthy for his fans. Because of his song-writing block, he's been drinking and getting into trouble, which the tabloids all crave for. What Oakley wants is to work with a music producer who's said to be the best, but this producer won't work with Oakley until he matures and gets his act together. Oakley's manager's plan is to find a fake girlfriend for Oakley, someone who's down-to-earth and not from the music industry. When he sees a picture of a girl on one of his employee's desk, he starts to to put this plan into action.

If pretending to date a girl I don’t know, who doesn’t like me, gets my mojo back, then I’ll be the best boyfriend this chick has ever had.

Vaughn Bennett's parents were killed in a car accident. From that moment, Vaughn had to grow up and help her sister take care of their twin brothers. She even graduated early from high school so she could work and help financially. When Paisley, Vaughn's sister, tells her that Oakley's manager approached her and said he wanted Vaughn to be Oakley's fake girlfriend, Vaughn is ready to say no to be Oak's GF. She's seen the way Oakley is: arrogant and a complete douche. What makes her hesitate is the fact that she will get paid $20,000 thousand a month. Vaughn knows the money is very needed to put her brothers through school and pay off debts so she agrees.

“Half the time when you open your mouth, you say something that makes me want to punch you.” Vaughn gives a rueful smile. “But when you sing…you make it really hard to hate you.”

Their first meeting was exactly how I thought it'd be. They were close to hating each other. At first, Vaughn was slightly excited to meet Oakley, seeing as she used to be a fan of his. But once he opened his mouth, Vaughn could have cared less she was in the presence of the Oakley Ford. Oak can't really stand Vaughn because she says exactly what she thinks, but he's also intrigued because she's the first person to not fall all over him. Something that almost had me questioning the story was the fact that Vaughn had a boyfriend when she started "dating" Oak. But once the story went on, I realized he was there to play a part in the story for Vaughn's sake (it is explained very well). It's not a love-triangle at all, which I was beyond thankful for because the guy is a conceited jerk who doesn't even care for Vaughn.

"When you were at the club singing, every person in there thought you sang to them. It doesn’t matter what your sound is. People are always going to want to hear you."

This story gave me all the major feels! It's so freaking cute and adorable and exactly the type of light read I needed. I'm usually iffy about rock star novels but Erin Watt delivered this story perfectly. My heart was bursting with love for all of the characters and their story. I wanted more out of the story because it was so good! I'll definitely be re-reading this book. I'm telling you, it put me in such a good mood! Vaughn is probably my fave character. She was sarcastic, a spitfire, always honest, and didn't have problems sharing what she thought. She was always real with those around her, especially with Oakley. In a way, she kept him so grounded and would knock his ego down quite a few times. Go, Vaughn! Despite Oak being a rock star, he actually had standards in the sense that he wasn't a man-whore at all.You'd think he would take advantage of the opportunity of being with all the girls that throw themselves at him. But he knew better than that. He was in the music industry because he loved music, not because of the fame.

“There aren’t any cameras here. This isn’t for show. This is as real and as awful and as wonderful as it gets. I’d hold her forever if she’d let me.”

Everything about this story was fun, heart-warming, swoon-worthy, and the romance was the sweetest and cutest thing ever, yet full of all the witty banter! When It's Real is the perfect summer read! 

“You said that everything in your life was fake, but we’re not fake, Oak. We’re real. We’re so real.”
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I received an eARC from the publisher via Netgalley and a finished copy from the author for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.This review was originally posted on Latte Nights Reviews.