Sophie Reads YA: March 2026

March Summary

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ARC Review: Icing The Fake (Evergreen Cove #3) by Brooklyn Hart

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Icing The Fake
Series: Evergreen Cove #3
Author: Brooklyn Hart
Published Published March 21st 2026

Goodreads Synopsis
She needs a fake boyfriend. He's been waiting years for her to notice him. Three days in paradise might change everything.

Sophie Parker has her life perfectly running Evergreen Cove's busiest café, managing the local hockey team's schedules, and keeping her feelings for Jamie Lawson firmly in the friend zone where they belong.

Jamie's the Eagles' star forward with an unhealthy obsession with spreadsheets, a caffeine addiction only Sophie can satisfy, and zero plans to ever confess he's been in love with his best friend since forever.

Then Sophie's cousin announces a destination wedding in the Bahamas. With her entire family attending—including her recently engaged ex—Sophie needs a buffer. Someone safe. Someone who won't make things complicated.

Asking Jamie is the logical choice. They're friends. It won't be weird.

Except Jamie's yes comes a little too quickly. And the way he holds her hand on the beach feels a little too real. And when he kisses her under the stars to sell their story, Sophie realizes three things:

First, Jamie is dangerously good at playing her boyfriend.

Second, she doesn't want him to stop.

Third, going back to "just friends" might be impossible.
Goodreads

Review
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher, via BookSirens. This in no way impacted on my view.

Seeing that her ex will also be at the destination wedding she's been invited to, bakery owner Sophie needs a plan on how to avoid him. Enter Jamie, her best friend, and star hockey player. They've been friends for years, so it'll be easy to pretend to be in a relationship, right? Well, the fact that they are both head over heels for each other may just throw a spanner in the works.

I absolutely adore a fake dating romance, especially between friends who have only hidden their feelings for each other from themselves and their love interest. Everyone around Sophie and Jamie could see they were in love and made for each other, but they themselves could never believe it. I was so happy to get a copy of Icing the Fake because it met all my expectations and then some. I love the world building, and the way each book's pairing keep appearing with more snippets of their own stories, while supporting Jamie and Sophie.

Dates Read:
March 27, 2026

Rating
3 Stars

March

Stacking the Shelves: March 28th 2026

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March

Stacking the Shelves: March 21st 2026

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March

Stacking the Shelves: March 14th 2026

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3 Stars

ARC Review: Faking Forever With A Cowboy by Sienna Adams

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Faking Forever With A Cowboy
Series: None
Author: Sienna Adams
Published Published February 18th 2026

Goodreads Synopsis
I threw a pecan pie at Wyatt Rivers, my ex’s brother, and now we’re fake-engaged on a reality show.

#PieGate went viral. A producer cast us in Homegrown Hearts. I need the prize to save my diner. He needs it for his cousin’s rehab. Deal: fake it, win it, walk away.

Except Wyatt doesn’t play fair.

He fixes things I don’t ask for. Stands too close when cameras are off. Kisses me for “practice,” and his hands forget where to stop.

Wyatt liked me first. I picked Aaron. And we’ve hated each other ever since.

A storm traps us with only one bed. I end up in his arms like I’ve been fighting gravity for fifteen years. For one reckless night, I believe he’s different.

Then my ex, Aaron, leaks Wyatt’s secret bull-riding contract on live TV—a contract that forces him to leave Sagebrush Ridge.

If I can’t tell the cowboy who stays from the one who leaves… I’ll lose more than the contest.

I’ll lose the one thing I’ve wanted since I was eleven—to be chosen.
Goodreads

Review
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher, via Booksprout. This in no way impacted on my view.

When Abby throws a pie at Wyatt Rivers, neither of them could expect it to have such a profound impact on their lives. Once friends, they have avoided each other for the last few years, and there's something about Wyatt's happy go lucky smile that riles Abby up to no end. But now they've gone viral, and the only way to save her family's diner is for Abby and Wyatt to pretend to be in love, and even get engaged, all for a reality tv show. It may have started out as a story, but they soon rediscover what made them so close in the past, and the line between love and hate gets ever smaller.

This was a slower read than I was expecting, though part of that could have been because I was away while reading this book too. I liked the idea of Abby and Wyatt being former best friends, who had always had feelings for each other, but one thing or another kept them apart. For Abby, she dated Wyatt's brother, Aaron, and the rest of the town think Wyatt is just a a playboy cowboy, who will never really achieve anything. He's been in love with Abby since he was 11, but seeing her pick his brother changed something in him, and made him more reckless and flighty. There was definitely a redemption arc for Wyatt in this story, especially with Abby's family. I do feel that some of the drama in the book could've been fixed much quicker if they had just spoken to each other as adults, rather than hiding everything. Even so, it was an enjoyable contemporary read.

Dates Read:
February 22-26, 2026

Rating
3 Stars