Lillie Vale

Delightfully fun and fresh!

The Decoy Girlfriend by Lillie Vale is a delightful romantic comedy featuring celebrity impersonation and a fake-dating scenario. This story had me smiling so much of the time. The premise got me from the start, and the author delivered just like she said she would.

Freya Lal’s follow-up novel to her successful debut book is due imminently, but with her inspiration level at zero, she’s nearing despair over honoring her commitment. Agonizing over her dilemma and show more staring at a blank laptop screen while watching her aunt’s bookstore, she’s even more distracted by the movie being shot on the street outside their doors that features a famous actress for whom Freya is frequently mistaken. While Freya has taken advantage of her physical similarity to Mandi Roy for small perks in the past, the idea of impersonating the hottest actress in town had never crossed her mind until Mandi’s co-star and Freya’s number one crush, Taft Bamber, walks through the bookstore doors.

I’m a sucker for the fake relationship story, true, but this one had a cool twist: one of the main characters is impersonating a celebrity. I also really enjoyed having the story told from the dual points of view of the two main characters and watching everything unfold from both angles.

Freya Lal was a delightful character. I liked her and felt bad about her agonizing problems trying to follow up on her early, early success with a new book – deadlines looming. Losing your mother is such a blow anyway, but when she is your main cheerleader, it would be particularly devastating.

Taft Bamber was hands-down charming and adorable. It was awful how he was treated by his “people.” It made me want to do some damage on his behalf. There are also several notable supporting characters.

I want to say that this is not a book for younger readers. There are very intimate scenes that are well done but not suitable for children.

I recommend THE DECOY GIRLFRIEND to romance readers who enjoy the fake dating/fake relationship plot, especially those featuring famous characters constantly in the spotlight, adding pressure to the situation.

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advance Review Copy from the author or publisher through TBR and Beyond Book Tours. show less

Secret crushes. Secret wishing wells. Inexplicable magic. Prior’s End is full of all these things.

Seven years ago Nova’s dad went out into the forest looking for his best friend. Neither he nor his best friend ever returned. Nova still ventures into the forest to look for her dad but never gets very far.

To get even with a psychic that has befriended her mother, Nova goes to her tent to confront her. Only Nova gets caught in the tent when her classmate Kiara comes in to ask a question. show more Nova thinks she’s being funny when she pretends to be Aurora and gives her a phony reading. The next day terrible things start to happen to Kiara.

One of Kiara’s best friends asks for Nova’s help in finding the secret wishing well to try to turn around Kiara’s luck. Nova agrees, thinking it will be just the two of them. Nova and her very secret crush. When she shows up to the forest, not only is she going hiking with Kiara, but also Kiara’s posse of exes.

Nova knows her only way out of this is to help Kiara turn around the hex, and maybe in the process she can find what happened to her father. But this won’t be some simple hike and camp in the forest. These six are going to encounter things they never imagined. Hopefully they will all make it out.

Incredible story about trusting your gut and your family. Loved this story with all its weirdness and mythology. The group of friends is very diverse, both racially and sexually. There is some violence and gore, but mostly superficial. It is definitely a tad scary. But all in a really good way.

Lillie Vale has done an amazing job of bringing together the typical ghost story but added a dimension of humanity to it. Nova is just a teenager who still struggles with having lost her dad. Kiara has always been the one who had it all. It makes for a wonderful thread running through the darkness and mirth. show less

3.5 stars

It’s going to be a bit difficult for me to write this review because I have so many conflicting feelings about this novel. Let’s start off by talking about the premise.

The premise of this book caught my attention immediately. We have a story with fake-dating inception along with a switched identities, celebrity romance story. Sign me the heck up! The book follows a woman named Freya (she’s a bookseller!!!) who looks exactly like a famous actress named Mandi. Freya decides to show more exploit their similarities and begins dressing up as Mandi to gain access to exclusive clubs and free merch. Unfortunately for Freya, Mandi’s co-star and (fake) boyfriend, Taft, discovers her ruse. Instead of outing Freya’s deception to the general public, Mandi decides that she wants Freya to take her place for a month, allowing her to take a much-needed break from the spotlight. Cue the fake-dating within fake-dating romance.

I’m a huge fan of bookish themes in novels like this, so I absolutely loved the fact that Freya was an author and bookseller. My main gripe with Freya’s backstory was the whole “I’m pretending to be a celebrity in order to get free things” aspect. It made me dislike Freya from the very beginning of the novel and she never seemed to feel any actual remorse for her actions. In fact, the whole thing is kind of glossed over. Mandi doesn’t even seem to care, despite the fact that she is the one who kept getting angry calls from companies about how she hadn’t promoted the free things they gave Freya.

Aside from that, the book’s premise and execution was pretty cute and I can definitely see how this could serve as a comfort read to many readers. The conflict that occurs in the book is very mild and the main relationship remains pretty solid throughout the entire book. Aside from that one gripe I had with Freya’s backstory, the characters in this book were extremely likable when they were supposed to be and all of the villain-like characters were written in ways that make sure you detest them. I’m actually still going back and forth between whether the likability of these characters was a bit too contrived for my tastes.

The main couple, Taft and Freya clearly had chemistry together and it really comes through during their scenes. Though I felt like the pacing of their romance happened too quickly with sexual attraction almost completely taking over romantic attraction initially, I can’t deny the fact that they eventually seemed like the perfect couple (sans outside drama). Even though Mandi wasn’t the main female protagonist, I found her character extremely endearing anytime she was on-page. She was an incredibly decent person throughout the entire book with her only flaw being the fact that she somehow hasn’t fired her abusive and toxic agent. It would be interesting for me to see whether or not Lillie Vale will do a spin-off sequel featuring Mandi as the main character.

Lastly, I want to try and unpack my feelings about the ending of the novel. Because the pacing of the romance was kind of fast-forwarded at certain parts of the book, the final conflict occurs like right before the book ends, leaving the last chapter scrambling to wrap everything up into a neat bow. What this resulted in, in my opinion, was a hasty ending where I felt nothing was adequately solved. The last page left me with so many questions about how anything was going to work out between Freya, Taft, Mandi, and the press. I don’t think readers are supposed to end these types of romance novels not understanding if the main couple will even last another week. I will say that the copy I read was an unedited advanced copy, so there are many things that could change between the version I read and the final product.

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Crossposted on my blog.

For a list of warnings, tropes, and representation for this book, check out its page on BookTriggerWarnings.com.

Thank you TBR Beyond Tours and NetGalley for providing me with a complimentary book in exchange for an honest review. show less

Great romance with some unexpected steam! Freya is a one time hit writer who is struggling to write her next novel. To let off stress, she indulges in her secret past time: Pretending she is Mandi Roy, her famous actress doppelganger, for free perks. One incident between Freya and Mandi's boyfriend, Taft Bamber, leads Mandi to discovering Freya's shenanigans. Except Mandi wants in on the secret. Mandi proposes Freya take her spot for the next month so Mandi can have a break; if Freya show more refuses, Mandi will expose her. Given no other choice, Freya agrees to give Mandi her time off and move in with Taft, who she discovers isn't really Mandi's boyfriend. The sparks fly as Taft and Freya fake their way through the relationship. Is there something real under all the fake staged appearances? What happens when the fake relationship comes to an end?

I put this one down for a bit and I regret that I did! Once I picked it back up, I couldn't put it down. Taft is an absolute sweetheart and the "perfect guy." The characters are pretty likeable, even Mandi. You will find yourself rooting for Freya and Taft to work out. Highly recommend this wonderful read by Lillie Vale! It's funny, sweet, steamy, and heartfelt! show less