Not Fooling Anyone by Allie Winters

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Title: Not Fooling Anyone
Author: Allie Winters
Series: Lessons Learned #2
Published by: Smartypants Romance
Release Date: April 12, 2022
Format: eARC
Pages: 395
Genres: Contemporary, Romance
Potential Triggers: View Spoiler »sexual assault flashbacks, parental substance abuse « Hide Spoiler
Source: Smartypants Romance
Reading Challenges: Lenoreo's 2022 COYER Spring, Lenoreo's 2022 Diversity Reading Challenge
Find it: Goodreads ✩ Amazon
My rating:

Blurb:

The deal is simple—pretend to be Ethan’s girlfriend for a psych study and we each get a nice payday. Despite him being a dumb jock who willingly gets punched for fun at my dad’s boxing gym, I can handle it. I’ve mastered the art of keeping others at a distance. Especially after… Well, never mind that.

Except, I didn’t count on him not understanding the definition of boundaries. Suddenly, we’re having to fake being in love all over campus to keep up the ruse. And when he tries to slip under the barriers I’ve worked so hard to create? Yeah, that’s not happening. Even if it turns out he’s surprisingly understanding… and funny… and charming… and smarter than I ever would have given him credit for. Not to mention that muscled body from all that boxing…

No, that’s irrelevant. I may have misjudged him, but that doesn’t mean I’m interested. He has no idea what kind of baggage I’m carrying. A relationship is the last thing on my mind.

Even if I’m not fooling anyone.

'Not Fooling Anyone' is a full-length contemporary romance and can be read as a standalone. Book #2 in the Lessons Learned series, Educated Romance World, Penny Reid Book Universe.

My Review:

I received a free copy through Smartypants Romance in exchange for an honest and unbiased review/opinion.

3.5 stars — I will admit, I’m a little bummed that I didn’t enjoy this one more…or at least as much as the first book in this series.  The problem is that I found it pretty predictable, which is a shame.  I totally saw how things would play out with the conflict and was just waiting for it to happen.

Ethan was pretty adorable.  Not perfect, but I loved the way he tried to respect Lexie’s boundaries, while also trying to figure out how to push her out of her comfort zone.  He played the balance pretty well actually, believably with a few fumbles here and there.  I also appreciated how patient he was, how persistent.  But my god, I do not understand the ‘keeping his diagnosis a secret from everyone’ thing.  Like, legitimately, I couldn’t understand it.  I’m not saying someone might not feel this way, but I just could not connect with it, and I couldn’t help feeling like it was a way for the author to force the situation she wanted.

Lexie could be frustrating, because she’s that closed up heroine that I sometimes enjoy, and sometimes is too much.  She balanced on that edge, and I’m not sure how well she succeeded.  I loved it when Ethan was able to get through to her and get over her walls, and how she actually wasn’t as reluctant to follow through.  You could definitely feel her genuine fear of trusting, but she also frustrated me with her inability to open up to anyone.  And, as with Ethan, I couldn’t help but feel like that was mostly to set up the misunderstanding and conflict.  Hers was a bit more believable though, just because of her childhood trauma.

So how did I still end up rounding up with these frustrations?  Especially given I’m really tired of miscommunication tropes?  The two of them together were actually super cute.  Ethan was goofy and hilarious, and I loved seeing him bring out Lexie’s true personality.  I loved seeing them tease, I loved seeing them crush, I loved seeing them navigate fake to real.

It really all just boiled down to me feeling like the author needed a better balance of laying down the foundation for the conflict without completely giving it away.  So I still recommend it, especially if you’re less picky about that stuff.