Is it ever too late to leave the friend zone?

Hi, my name is Bree Camden, and I’m hopelessly in love with my best friend and star quarterback Nathan Donelson (as is half of America, judging by the tabloids and how much the guy dates). The first step is admitting, right? Except I can never admit it to him because he clearly doesn’t see me that way, and the last thing I want is for things to get weird between us.

Nothing but good old-fashioned, no-touching-the-sexiest-man-alive, platonic friendship for us! Everything is exactly how I like it! Yes. Good. (I’m not crying, I’m just peeling an onion.)

Our friendship is going swimmingly until I accidentally spill my beans to a reporter after too much tequila, and now the world seems to think Nathan and I belong together. Oh, and did I mention we have to date publicly for three weeks until after the Super Bowl because we signed a contract with...oops, forgot I can’t tell anyone about that!

Bottom line is, now my best friend is smudging all the lines and acting very un-platonic, and I’m just trying to keep my body from bursting into flames every time he touches me. How am I going to make it through multiple weeks of fake dating Nathan without anything changing between us? Especially when it almost-sorta-kinda seems like he’s fighting for a completely different outcome?

Send help.
XO Bree

The Cheat Sheet is a closed-door, sizzling-with-chemistry, romantic comedy that will have you laughing and rooting for these lovable best friends from the first page!

Review

The Cheat Sheet had so much potential. The fake trope is top notch entertainment and can be such a good plot device. Unfortunately, The Cheat Sheet fails to deliver.

The biggest problem that I had was that it felt like a lot of word vomit. Within the first couple of pages, the entire backstory of both characters was revealed. It felt like too much information dumping.

The characters felt a little one dimensional. I like Nathan a little bit more than Bree. However, at times both of them were mature. Also, the miscommunication got a little frustrating. They have been the best of friends forever, and I would think that at some point they would be able to have a clear conversation with each other.

One thing that I will say is that I really liked the few scenes we got with Bree and her students. I wish there had been more because it really brought the entertainment aspect to the books.

As for their occupations- ballerina and football player? It is so deep in the background that these characters could be doing something else and it wouldn’t change the plot at all.

Final Thoughts

The Cheat Sheet fails to deliver on the sports romance mixed with fake dating tropes and feels very rushed at the end.