Goodreads Summary
In a small town like Culler, South Carolina, you guard your secrets like you guard your cobbler recipe: with your life. Georgia Ann Monroe knows a thing or two about secrets: she’s been guarding the truth that her best friend Will is gay for years now. But what happens when a little white lie to protect him gets her into a fake relationship…and then the boy of her dreams shows up?

Enter Beau Montgomery: Georgie’s first love, hotter than ever, and much too much of a southern gentleman to ever pursue someone else’s girl. There’s no way to come clean to Beau while still protecting Will. But bless their hearts, they live in Culler—where secrets always have a way of revealing themselves.

Disclaimer: This Entangled Teen Crush book contains a hilarious “fakeship,” a scorching-hot impossible relationship, and a heartwarming best-friendship that will make you want to call your best friend right here, right now.

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

If you’ve read any of my reviews before, you’ll know that contemporary YA fiction is one of my favourite genres to read - I simply adore them. When this one became available to request on NetGalley, I knew it would be one for me. 

In The Sweetheart Sham, Georgia knows her best friend Will is keeping a massive secret from the rest of the town - the fact that he’s gay. As his best friend, she wants to help him in any way she can, even if it means masquerading as his girlfriends so he has a valid reason to spend time out, with his actual boyfriend. That was more than fine, until her old friend, and crush, Beau Montgomery arrives home. He’s Will’s cousin, and they were the three musketeers, until he upped and left, without a word. Though she wants nothing more than to see if they can rekindle their blossoming romance, she wouldn’t jeopardise Will’s trust - for anything. 

Being English, reading about the south of America has always interested me. I’ve always loved seeing how the sense of community and ‘Southern Charm’ can manifest, and this book definitely fit the bill for me. Georgia and Will’s families were descended from the founding families of the town, and as such, there was a certain amount of wishing surrounding a member of each family marrying, and finally uniting the families. When they announced their ‘relationship’, all members of the family were notably excited and elated, except for Beau, whose old crush on Georgia had never abated, and he thought this might be the chance to apologise for leaving, and finally see if his feelings were reciprocated. 

The main characters of Georgia and Beau were wonderful to read. Told in dual POV, the emotions within the two, and their backstories came through in dribs and drabs, which allowed the reader to learn about them, the town, and everything in between, without it being an information overload. They really endeared themselves to the audience, and I was armoured with their romance, and couldn’t help myself from smiling whenever they were together on page. I’m hoping that in subsequent books in this series, we’ll see more of them, because I love them so much!

I haven’t read anything from this author before, but she’s definitely one I’ll read again. One for fans of cutesy YA contemporary fiction. 

November 22, 2017

Rating
4 Stars


ABOUT DANIELLE ELLISON:
Danielle Ellison is a nomad, always on the lookout for an adventure and the next story. In addition to writing, she’s the
founder and coordinator of the NoVa TEEN Book Festival. When she’s not busy with books, she’s probably watching her
favorite shows, drinking coffee, or fighting her nomadic urges. She is newly settled in Oklahoma (for now) with her cat, Simon, but you can always find her on twitter @DanielleEWrites.

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