Sweet and Romantic, but With Annoying Characters - Just Pretending Review

*Disclaimer: I received an Advance Reader's Copy from Netgalley for review consideration. This does in no way affect my opinion, and all thoughts expressed in this review are unbiased and my own.*

Title: Just Pretending

Series: The Chicago Falcons #3

Author: Leah Rooper, Kate Rooper

My rating: 4 hearts

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Pub. date: November 5, 2018

Publisher: Entangled Teen

Synopsis: It's not easy being royal. Sixteen-year-old Evangeline wears her crown proudly, but between her duties and her overprotective big brother, the idea of romance is just a dream. But a chance encounter in Chicago changes all that…. 

Sure, seventeen-year-old Tyler Evans loves playing hockey, but he's more concerned about providing for his dad and little sister. Then he meets Eva--and falls head-over-heels in love—and he has two more problems. One, she's his best friend's little sister. Two, she wears a crown.

But then Eva accidentally mistakes Tyler for a visiting prince, and for the first time, Tyler doesn't feel like a nobody. He knows he has to tell her the truth…but not yet. 

His plan? To keep up the royal charade as long as it takes to convince Eva he’s the guy for her. Even if he’s lying to everyone…including himself.

Disclaimer: May cause disillusionment. Those girls looking to find their Prince Charming might consider scouting out hockey rinks. (synopsis from Goodreads)

This was such a cute, fun read. I really enjoyed the previous books in this series, and was excited to read this one. Not only does it have hockey – which I love – but also a teenager queen – who is, by the way, awesome. Just Pretending was a great light, romantic read.

I really liked the characters, most of the time. There were times that I kind of wanted to shake them because their poor decision-making skills annoyed me, but then again, I’m always all for flawed characters, so I can’t complain about that too much. They were good enough characters, I just didn’t really get invested in them. I’m not sure why, they just weren’t all that relatable to me.

The plot was fun, though. I mean, a hockey player pretending to be a prince? That’s unique enough that you pretty much can’t go wrong. It was well-paced and kept me reading despite not being invested in the characters. The romance was cute, too. Even though there were secrets between them, you could tell that they really understood each other. It was a bit faster than I like, but it was sweet and I felt like Eva and Tyler really fit together.

Overall, it was a really sweet and romantic read, and while there were some issues, I still enjoyed it. It was light, which was exactly what I wanted at the time, and I had lots of fun with it. I’d definitely recommend this one if you’re looking for a quick, romantic read.