Ended up staying up until 2 am reading it in a weeknight :)

Bad Boy meets Good Girl.
Bad Boy pays Good Girl to be Girlfriend.
Girlfriend already has Boyfriend.
Drama Ensues.

When It's Real is a wonderful book about how not everything is as it seems.

Vaughn can't stand Oakley from the very beginning. Which, who can blame her when he's kind of self centered.

But as the story moves along you not only see him changing, but you see her change as well.

They both become more true to themselves. More, Real. This book is about not letting anyone stand in the way of who you are, or what you want.

I love everything Erin Watt writes, and this book was no different. It had me hooked from the very beginning.

I love seeing characters develop and evolve as the story progresses. This story really hit the nail on the head. It's not just about romance and being together. It's also about family and life in general.



Can't wait to read the next book written by Erin Watt.

This was a cute, fluffy summer read and sometimes that is exactly what you need. I tend to enjoy books with a bit more depth in plot and character development, but I do admit this book was fun. The premise and the way things fall into place are a bit unbelievable, but I did appreciate the glimpse into celebrity life. I think the authors did an admirable job showing readers how isolating and miserable it can be to be in the spotlight all of the time with no real friends or privacy. I did appreciate the message this book sends about mutual sexual consent and respecting your partner's wishes. Overall, a decent teen romance with plenty of swoon-worthy scenes from the book's leading man, Oakley Ford.

***This book review may contain spoilers.***

It was a cliche book. Was it fun to read? Yes. Guilty pleasure? Sure. It had me giggling at some parts. If you don't like cliches, then this isn't the book for you, I'll tell you that.

It's about this girl named Vaughan who is hired to be Oakley Ford's girlfriend. He's a Justin Bieber type of celebrity. Reminded me of the tv show, "The Arrangement." Again, I just want to point out that I don't rate on repetitiveness, originality/clicheness etc. I rate on my actual enjoyment of the book and what I liked and disliked about it. And what I disliked about this book was Oakley Ford.

Don't get me wrong. Vaughan's "real" boyfriend was a tool, but I thought that Oakley was just as well. He was never redeemed in my eyes. I don't understand why. The author definitely wrote the story to make it that way. I just did not like him. And because I did not like such a main and pivotal character of the story, it really brought my rating down from a 4 to a 3. I've disliked many characters and still given a book a 5, but shooooooot...Oakley annoyed me to no end.

Vaughan was an alright main character. She was Oakley's moral compass if you will. But do I think she was anything special? Do I think if they chose some rando that wasn't Vaughan, the story line could have still been the same? Why is it that every time the person who gets chosen could care less about the celebrity? I'm just saying.

Overall, the story was heart-warming and gushy and giddy and don't mind my ramblings. I'm still annoyed about Oakley. That's how bad he's stuck with me.

My Star Rating:3 out of 5 Stars

2.5

Shivers

Ah romance. If only life were as exciting and lusty as books. This one would be one of my favorites.
It reads like a Hallmark movie. Which to me was epic. The growth of love from mutual dislike makes it all the more believable.
My only problem was the random tweets from who knows who? The same names but that never really progresses into anything. Kind of weird. Otherwise a swoon worthy novel fit for any lover of teen romance.

**Book provided for an honest review.

Well to be honest with you with just having the name Erin Watt I knew I wanted to read it, but after that description I wanted to read it even more.

I was not disappointed of how amazing I thought it was going to be!!

From the moment I first opened the file, I was very impressed by just the way it started, so When It’s Real got 4.5 stars out of 5 in my rating book.

You might be wondering, why 4.5 instead of 5 if I loved it so much?

Well I’ll explain in a bit, but first, why I loved it so much.

Everything about the story was good, from the way the situation was created to how it all fell into place. Okay I’ll explain a little better, from the moment you read why Oakley needed a fake girlfriend you knew what was going to happen, the fake, would become real, and it had to be proven that it was real, you know what I mean?

I don’t want to give too much away because I don’t want to spoil it for you. Like I said, even though I already had a good idea of how this story was going to end, there was no chapter or paragraph that I found boring, which has happened a lot lately for me. I have found myself skipping through chapters, and just kind of reading, but When It’s Real brought real reading back for me.

I can’t say I hated anything about this story, but I did give it a 4.5 just because it was something that I already knew the ending to. I didn’t know exactly with which words it was going to end or anything like that, but I knew the general direction of where the story was heading. Still that didn’t stop me from enjoying the road to getting there.

Oakley was a funny character that I wish could be real and Vaughn kept him grounded and showed that not because he was a big time star it meant that he could have whatever he wanted whenever he wanted it.

The interaction between both main characters was great and even though they are both teenagers, they have gone through some rough situations in very different ways, but that helped them be mature for their age and that is what I liked the most.

I have often read young adult books where the main couple are not even out of high school and they swear their love is forever and that they will forever be together. While in high school we might feel that way, but not very many people are lucky enough to end up with their high school sweetheart. That cliche has bother me for sometime lately because is very not realistic, still I have to remind myself that it’s just a fictional story and that it is not real.

But with When It’s Real I felt like it could really be real, you know? It can be real for the moment.

The way Oak and Vaughn feel for one another in the story can be long lasting, not forever, but for a short forever (you know what I mean?). The story felt real for the situation of the characters and that is all I’m asking for as a reader. Something that is relatable, something that doesn’t completely seem too out there that stops being contemporary and seems more like far away fantasy.

All in all this book was complete, it had funny moments, serious moments, moments that made me want to shed a tear and it was told in dual point of view which lately it’s kind of my favorite thing.

I would completely recommend When It’s Real because it was a real pleasure to read it.

When It's Real was a quick fun read that was a nice change of pace between so many mystery books I've been reading.

It did read a lot like fanfiction at times, but I think that's why I was able to read it so quickly. I loved both characters in this story and the slowness of their friendship. I especially loved Vaughn's family and how she didn't put up with any of Oakley's crap. She did what she had to, to make it through the days with him until finally he stops being such a jerk all the time. This is when I really started liking the book. We see Oakley drop the angry at the world exterior and really get down to why he acted that way and what he really wants out of life.

Overall I'm glad I gave Erin Watt another chance with this book and I'm now interested to see what her princess series is like.

Could have been better, not many surprises. Its exactly the story you expect it to be.