i was kind of conflicted whether to give this 3 or 4 stars (in my head it's 3.5 but goodreads unfortunately doesn't have that feature.. someone update this app i'm begging), but eventually went with 3 stars. 

here's what i liked: i think the build-up of nathan and bree's relationship was super good, there was so much tension and there were multiple times where i was literally giggling and kicking my feet and/or had to snap the book shut from shock. nathan was a really good book boyfriend, always being so in tune with bree and caring about her so deeply, being so romantic all the time, flirting adorably, etc. i also really liked the premise of the book, specifically the reason why they had to fake date for a publicity stunt. it actually made sense why they would do it, compared to some other extremely outlandish reasons i've read in other fake dating books. additionally, nathan's group of guy friends were really funny and one of the highlights of the book for me-i even wish they had more scenes! usually in sports romance books, "the team" is usually a bunch of toxic jerks who sleep with any woman they can get their hands on, and brag about it too. but nathan's friends weren't like that, they were actually really nice and supportive, like when they helped come up with a plan for nathan to tell bree he loves her. overall just very wholesome and refreshing, i wish all guys were like that!!

here's what i didn't like: bree was kind of stupidly oblivious to everything, and not in a cute way, just an annoying way. she acted too pick-me sometimes. i also didn't enjoy how childish the writing style was at times in her inner monologue, there are so many exaggerated lines and sentences in all-caps that it's just kind of jarring to read, and i think the book could have done without them. towards the end i was kind of disappointed with the book because it just could have been soooo much better. the ending was so rushed, and it was so unnecessary to me that they had to randomly elope in vegas when they were only officially dating for a few weeks. even though they were basically together for six years playing it off as "friends" and secretly pining for each other all that time, but still. why the rush? chill?? idk i'm just not a fan and it didn't add anything to the book, it just felt like the author didn't know how to end the story so she just went with marriage because that felt like the most natural step, except it didn't feel natural for the progression of the story lol. 

overall a cute book but nothing special. it was really short though, which is good, because i need to catch up with my reading goal lmao