When Gia Montgomery's boyfriend, Bradley, dumps her in the parking lot of her high school prom, she has to think fast. After all, she'd been telling her friends about him for months now. This was supposed to be the night she proved he existed. So when she sees a cute guy waiting to pick up his sister, she enlists his help. The task is simple: be her fill-in boyfriend— two hours, zero commitment, a few white lies. After that, she can win back the real Bradley.The problem is that days after prom, it's not the real Bradley she's thinking about, but the stand-in. The one whose name she doesn't even know. But tracking him down doesn't mean they're done faking a relationship. Gia owes him a favor and his sister intends to see that he collects: his ex-girlfriend's graduation party — three hours, zero commitment, a few white lies.
Just when Gia begins to wonder if she could turn her fake boyfriend into a real one, Bradley comes waltzing back into her life, exposing her lie, and threatening to destroy her friendships and her new-found relationship.
Kasie West is an auto-buy author for me. I always end up loving her books, and they never fail to be the perfect pick-me-up! The Fill-In Boyfriend was an adorable read with great themes and a storyline that went deeper than I initially thought it would.
Gia, one of the most popular girls at school, puts on a face for everyone else around her, being the person she thinks others want her to be. Although that caused her to seem a bit emotionally detached and oblivious at times, I thought the idea of adapting, even inadvertently changing to be the person others want you to be, was definitely relatable. I really loved the message that Kasie West developed with that, especially since I feel like it’s a struggle a lot of people go through growing up.
Throughout the novel, Gia tries to figure out who she really is with some help from "Bradley" and Bec along the way. I loved seeing her come to several realizations about who she was throughout the novel, one of which was realizing that there was more around her than her immediate bubble of friends. I wasn't too much of a fan of her friend group in general, as I thought they weren't very reliable or supportive of Gia. It didn't help that Jules was a part of that friend group. She made for the ultimate frenemy and I couldn’t understand why none of Gia's other friends saw how toxic she really was. However, there were some awesome side characters introduced, especially Bec, Bradley's sister. She was snarky and her friendship with Gia was awesome to read about. Although they were so different from one another, their friendship still worked.
“Bradley” was adorable, although he had admittedly questionable judgement- especially regarding his ex.The romance was cute, but both that and the storyline felt a bit geared towards a younger audience. However, I thought the themes of finding yourself and not pretending to be something you aren't were great for anyone.
The Fill-In Boyfriend was another adorable read from Kasie West! Although the storyline and romance felt a bit young to me, it’s still a novel that has a great message and is perfect for when you’re in the mood for a light read. I’d give The Fill-In Boyfriend 4 out of 5 flowers.
