*ARC* When It's Real - Review

When It's Real

By: Erin Watt

Published: May 30, 2017

416 pages

Source: ebook, Netgalley ARC from publisher 

(Goodreads / Amazon)

Summary:

Wealth, fame and a real-life romance she never expected—seventeen-year-old Vaughn Bennett lands it all when she agrees to become a pop star's fake girlfriend in this smart, utterly addictive novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author duo Erin Watt  

Under ordinary circumstances, Oakley Ford and Vaughn Bennett would never even cross paths. 

There's nothing ordinary about Oakley. This bad-boy pop star's got Grammy Awards, millions of fangirls and a reputation as a restless, too-charming troublemaker. But with his home life disintegrating, his music well suddenly running dry and the tabloids having a field day over his outrageous exploits, Oakley needs to show the world he's settling down—and who better to help him than Vaughn, a part-time waitress trying to help her family get by? The very definition of ordinary. 

Posing as his girlfriend, Vaughn will overhaul Oakley's image from troublemaker to serious artist. In return for enough money to put her brothers through college, she can endure outlandish Hollywood parties and carefully orchestrated Twitter exchanges. She'll fool the paparazzi and the groupies. She might even start fooling herself a little. 

Because when ordinary rules no longer apply, there's no telling what your heart will do…

MY REVIEW:
After loving their debut series The Royals, I knew I had to be on any other ARC lists that came out by them. I was stoked to be approved to receive an ARC and it did not disappoint! Fun, charming, sexy and not overkill in the graphic scene department.

What you need to know....this is a story of a 19 year old pop star whose image is trashed due to partying too much, too many women and not producing any new music in two years. Oakley Ford. His publicist and manager cook up this idea to clean up his image by hiring a "normal" girl to pretend to be in a relationship with him for a year. $20,000 a month for 12 months.Vaughn Bennett is that girl. After her parents died two years ago, she and her older sister have been working to support themselves and their 12 year old twin brothers. Vaughn has put off college for a year so she can work full time to help pay bills. She's not following her dreams or her passions....if she even knew what those were. She's barely getting by. Her one anchor is her boyfriend who stood by her and helped her grieve the loss of her parents. So when her sister, who works for the agency that Ford is signed to, tells her they saw a picture of her and want to meet her and everything this "job" entails, she agrees to go. She wants more for her brothers than they can currently give them. This world of his though, is made up of money, too many people, no privacy, and lots of media publisicing every single detail of what he does and who he does it with. What Vaughn didn't expect along the way is that maybe the image Oakley shows everyone else really isn't who he is at all. One can be rich and famous but also be completely loney and gaurded. Getting past his arrogant and conceited exterior proves to be a challenge.

It was a fast enjoyable story! My only complaint, if you want to call it that, is that it seemed to end too soon. I would've enjoyed more for the ending. But then again, maybe it's just that 416 pages flew by.

Favorite Quotes:
"You'd be good doing anything." As he ambles down the hall, he says over his shoulder, "But you should do something you love."

Every day I'm with you is brighter and more exciting than the last.

"And no matter how broken your heart is, you got something valuable out of it." ... "You got to see what it looks like when someone's pursuing something they love."

But isn't anything worth having worth an effort? Oakley is worth the effort. He's worth everything and he doesn't always know it.

Language Rating: 2 (medium)
Mature Content Rating: 2 (medium)
Final Rating: 4 stars