Kasie West

When Gia Montgomery's boyfriend, Bradley, dumps her in the parking lot of her high school prom, she decides to do the unthinkable…convince the cute guy waiting to pick up his sister to pretend to be her boyfriend for the night. The task is simple: two hours, zero commitment, a few white lies. The problem is that days after prom, she can't stop thinking about her fill-in boyfriend. But can Gia turn her fake boyfriend into a real one without exposing her lie and possibly destroying her friendships and her newfound relationship? Smartly observed and wonderfully romantic, Kasie West's talent shines in this tale of one girl's unexpected quest to find love…and possibly herself.

The Fill-In Boyfriend

Someone

We rarely find a depth by looking inside of ourselves for it. Depth is found in what we can learn from the people and things around us. Everyone, everything, has a story, Gia. When you learn those stories, you learn experiences that fill you up, that expand your understanding. You add layers to your soul.

Mocking someone else to make us seem deep or intelligent only proves the exact opposite.

He raised his eyebrows. "I'm sure there are services for that.Maybe you can try calling 1-800-HOOKERS or something?"

Convincing a stranger to stand in as her boyfriend for the prom after enduring a humiliating breakup, Gia discovers that she has feelings for the young man and is very much interested in transforming their budding friendship into something more.

The fill-in boyfriend

Really cute, and inspiring. It made me want to talk to my family about our problems. Probably won't. (lol) but still. It induced a lot, and I mean A LOT of smiles! I loved Gia and how she was able to recognize that, her friends sucked. Also Bec was the BEST character there. This is a 10, but they don't have that rating so... A five!

Ari 😚

maryam

3.5. Cute read, I enjoyed the characters a lot, but I think there wasn't a lot resolved at the end. Still enjoyed it!

Zahra

My least favorite book of Kasie West yet. It lacks the depth of the other West books and I can't say I like how the chemistry between Gia and Hayden was built. I got really bored at a point because the story fell flat though it picked up after that.

Despite all the things above, it was still a cute and light contemporary. I loved the unlikely friendship between Gia and Bec and how things worked out between Gia and her brother, Drew, in the end.

It's perfect for if you are looking for a fast read with cute romance!

Lol. I finished this book December 2015 and I forgot to write a review.

This is a cute-sy book. Lots of funny and cute moments and I really like the main guy here because he's in the nerd side. I like the main girl also. 

A cute book you can read on one sitting.

alexandra

I LOVE THIS BOOK SO SO MUCH! i started it last night, thinking i'd only read a chapter or two but ended up FINISHING THE ENTIRE BOOK AND SAYING GOODBYE TO MY SLEEP. i loved the characters, the relationships, the themes, the plot, the everything. it was like the world melted away for a few hours and i was following gia on her journey. SO CUTE. i can't wait to read more of kasie west's books.

// FULL REVIEW TO COME! //

Colleen

3 Stars

I should have quite while I was ahead when I read Wanderlost and known better than to push my luck reading multiple YA Chick Lits in a row. Not that there was anything bad about The Fill-In Boyfriend. It was just... average. It was cute, but the heroine was annoying. In the beginning of the story she is completely shallow and vapid. She gets a little better as the story went on, but her character never endeared her to me. I was not wild about her romantic interest either. The author portrays him as a nerd in the beginning, but other than being a theater major that falls by the wayside. (I also have an inherent distrust of actors, so that did not curry favor with me either.

The plot is very simple: she tells a bunch of lies and of course they tangle her up. There was a small amount of coming of age/finding yourself in the plot but it was weakly done. And it would have been a lot more satisfying if the resident Mean Girl had gotten some sort of comeuppance. Taking the high road might be the more noble path, but it makes for a lackluster finale. 

RATING FACTORS:
Ease of Reading: 4 Stars
Writing Style: 3 Stars
Characters: 2 Stars
Plot Structure and Development: 2 Stars
Level of Captivation: 3 Stars
Originality: 3 Stars

Victoria

Well I actually quite liked this one. It was pretty realistic, considering some factors. Overall, it was good.

Megan O’Connod

Isadora Cal

Cute book. It started kinda of ok, and I thought it wouldn’t dive into anything more deep, but it does bring some questions about the pains of growing up. I read it in like 3 hours because it is fun, and cute, and you want to know more, but then it ends and you feel like something is missing. I mean, you have the answers and the happy ending, but I needed more development. That’s it.

dija

The only thing that i remember about this book is that : 
The MC is SO. FREAKING. ANNOYING and i hate her

Fátima

ME ENCANTÓ ESTE LIBRO <3
Está lleno de críticas negativas por todo Goodreads y realmente no entiendo por qué, al menos a mí me hizo muy feliz y lo acabé el mismo día porque no podía soltarlo.

Vale que algunas cosas son demasiados surrealistas —todo el asunto de contratar al tipo justo afuera para que sea tu pareja en el baile y no quedar mal, por ejemplo—, pero es adorable y tenemos que admitir que las páginas se pasan volando. Y... que HAYDEN REYNOLDS ES UN AMOOOOR.

Tengo marcado este libro como uno donde se encuentran mis amistades favoritas, y no lo digo por las amigas de Gia al principio —a las cuales no soporto en lo absoluto porque es como si fueran ciegas ante sus sentimientos, y que muy a mi pesar me recuerdan a ciertas personas de mi alrededor—, sino por los amigos que hace durante el pasar de las páginas y que demuestran que los verdaderos amigos están donde no te lo esperas y que juzgar a otros sin conocerlos está totalmente mal. Be kind always. Además ver cómo pasan del odio a la amistad me gustó mucho, porque durante la historia vemos el desarrollo del personaje de Gia y cómo eso mejora las relaciones a su alrededor.

Una cosa que no termina de cuadrarme a mí es la actitud de su familia, tanto sus padres como su hermano son horribles, y sumamente insensibles e indiferentes y es algo triste. Y sus "amigas" son lo peor. Está esta chica que quiere "robar" su puesto de abeja reina y por eso la sabotea y la trata mal y sus amigas pueden percibirlo pero lo ignoran. Es cierto, la otra chica no lo tenía fácil tampoco, pero no excusa su comportamiento con ella y tampoco excusa a sus amigas dejándola de lado y desconfiando de ella cuando llevan años de amistad. 

Además, personalmente me he sentido identificada con Gia muchas veces, aquí algunas:

«But the other answer, the one I admitted only on my darkest nights, was that I was worried if I made everyone pick, they’d choose her. I was worried that no matter how much confidence I’d shown on the outside, deep down people didn’t like me. And that maybe they were right not to.»

***

«I didn’t like fighting. I disagreed with people in my head a lot but rarely out loud.»

***

«"Why didn’t you trust in our friendship?”

 “I don’t know. Maybe because my relationships have always been so surface. I haven’t really been myself. Ever. I never let anyone in.”»

***

«I don’t know. I love my friends, but yes, I’m discovering that they don’t know me very well. It’s not their fault, though. I’ve never let them. I’ve never really known myself.»

***

«"But I’m flawed. I’m flawed because I haven’t experienced anything to teach me any valuable life lessons that make me a better person.”»

***

Y bueno, Hayden is the sweetest boy i have ever read —y sí, digo eso de todos, don't judge me—. Me hacía sonreír todo el tiempo y... simplemente me encanta. Es atento, considerado y adorable. Y su actitud con Gia siempre me gustó mucho, se preocupaba por ella y fue una gran ayuda en el crecimiento personal de ella porque realmente actuó como su amigo. Al igual que su hermana Bec que es lo mejor de este mundo.


 “I don’t like the words ‘I’m fine.’ My mom tells me those two words are the most-frequently-told lie in the English language. And I don’t need her to tell me that. There is no way you are fine after what happened tonight.” 

***

 “Hayden, I appreciate what you did for me today. So much. But I really can’t talk about this right now.”

 The look he gave me then made my heart ache. He felt sorry for me . . . again. “I’m worried about you. And I can’t send you home like this because you’ve told me how little you talk to your parents and I know the kind of people your friends are. And now I’ve seen your stellar brother. This is going to eat you alive. I just want you to talk it out. Let it out.”

***

LO AMO. *-*

Una frase de la mamá de Hayden y Bec para terminar: 

  “We rarely find depth by looking inside of ourselves for it. Depth is found in what we can learn from the people and things around us. Everyone, everything, has a story, Gia. When you learn those stories, you learn experiences that fill you up, that expand your understanding. You add layers to your soul.”





   “Don’t do it unless you mean it"

Ashley Wendt

Not my favorite Kasie West book. It was a bit cringe and I found myself annoyed by a lot of the plot points.

Menna Khaled

I liked this book just like i have loved every book kasie west wrote so far
However this is my least favorite unfortunately 
I felt like gia didn't reallocate unfold infront of us like it was meant to be
Drew was kind of a wise jerk but still I didn't feel that sorry for him
Hayden is a really nice guy and trust worthy that has been through lots of betrayal 
Bec is an amazing sister and friend
Clair was indecisive 
Laney was not revealed probably in the story 
All in all I think the main problem is that we didn't feel the characters 
They were relatable or they were meant to be 
However the lack of depth and description about the characters relations with each other didn't involve the reader with the story as it was hoped for
I think another reason is that kasie tried to show different types of relationship with too many characters that our interactions with each character was reduced to minimum 
It is truly a shame 
Especially that kasie's style is addicting

mahi

Lauren Tabor

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. The last half of it I zipped through. There was characters I wasn’t too keen on, but then some that I loved. All the lying and secrets were a bit much, but I still really enjoyed this one.

Bea R.

“You make him more confident and he makes you more relaxed. When you find someone like that, you don’t let them go so easily.”

Kate B-L

Cheesy? Absolutely. Did I read the entire thing in one afternoon? Absolutely.

** spoiler alert **
           I really needed some rom com after all the angsty shit I had been reading and this book was perfect. I really liked how this book conveniently showed the way how it’s not the end of the world if things don’t work out like you wanted them to and how YOU DONT NEED FRIENDS WHO ARE ASSHOLES. Like I just hated Gia’s friends from the start and I’m glad she’s okay with them totally shunning her at the end because Gia finally found Bec and Hayden who knew the real her and genuinely liked her. And she literally started to voice out her feelings and be a better person after meeting Hayden. And I loved Hayden so much. He’s a goofball and I absolutely shipped them. The writing was very well done and the storyline was interesting till the end.

chloe mcpherson

Gia is your typical popular guy, she had the group of friends that listen to her. She is never without a boyfriend. 
After being dumped right before prom by her boyfriend (who is in college) Gia walks up to the first guy she sees and asks him to pretend to be her boyfriend for the night just so she could prove to her friends that she had a boyfriend. 

The main problem I had with this book is that the characters seemed to be really immature. The way Gia went about things I was constantly rolling my eyes. Jules was really annoying. If I could I would have rated this a 2.5. Gia and Hayden did seem cute together, I just didn’t really like how they met, no one in real life would ever do that 😂

Kathryn 

*4.5*

Classic Kasie West: Cute fun and quick! I'm in love with fill in Bradley !

The Fill-In Boyfriend

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