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Influenced Love
After a scandal threatens her reputation, popular beauty influencer, Alivia Fae, attempts to distract her followers by polling them to pick her date. When they pair her up with a fellow influencer, Moe Gava, he takes notice and asks her out. Unfortunately, she soon realizes he’s not as desirable as he seems online.
Despite her disinterest, when it’s suggested that she and Moe start a fake dating relationship, to keep up engagement with their fans, she begrudgingly agrees. As the plan unfolds, she begins to grow closer to his low-key assistant, Travis. Leading her to re-evaluate what she truly wants to influence her life—love.
Shellee Marie’s debut novel is the first book in her Black Beauty in Love series and is perfect for fans of Amy Lea and Alisha Rai.
Despite her disinterest, when it’s suggested that she and Moe start a fake dating relationship, to keep up engagement with their fans, she begrudgingly agrees. As the plan unfolds, she begins to grow closer to his low-key assistant, Travis. Leading her to re-evaluate what she truly wants to influence her life—love.
Shellee Marie’s debut novel is the first book in her Black Beauty in Love series and is perfect for fans of Amy Lea and Alisha Rai.
300 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 12, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 114 reviews
November 23, 2022
3.65⭐ rounded up
Featuring ~ single 1st person POV, fake relationship, slow burn, no steamage
Alivia is a social media beauty influencer who finds herself in the midst of an unwarranted scandal involving her BFF since childhood, pro baseball player, Dan. In hopes of getting herself out of the scandalous spotlight and into more of a beneficial one for her career, she agrees to fake date, Moe, a fitness guru influencer. Moe is a bit over the top with his workouts.
Usually, I am a fan of the fake relationship trope, but this one is not your typical one when the couple inevitability gets together for real. These two never seemed to click, which makes sense since she falls for his friend, Travis.
I liked the reasoning behind how Alivia got her career off the ground and her and Travis were super cute together. Some parts were funny. The man that owned the Emporium was good stuff.
I did not like Donna and how Dan handled the situation, and obviously, Melanie.
I don't know why I thought this was supposed to be geared toward YA, but it isn't. Maybe the cover looks YA-ish?
This was a slow burn, on the PG side, fun debut novel and I will probably read more in the series.
*Thank you BookSirens and Shellee Marie for the ARC. I am voluntarily leaving my honest review *
Follow me here ➡ Blog ~ Facebook
Featuring ~ single 1st person POV, fake relationship, slow burn, no steamage
Alivia is a social media beauty influencer who finds herself in the midst of an unwarranted scandal involving her BFF since childhood, pro baseball player, Dan. In hopes of getting herself out of the scandalous spotlight and into more of a beneficial one for her career, she agrees to fake date, Moe, a fitness guru influencer. Moe is a bit over the top with his workouts.
Usually, I am a fan of the fake relationship trope, but this one is not your typical one when the couple inevitability gets together for real. These two never seemed to click, which makes sense since she falls for his friend, Travis.
I liked the reasoning behind how Alivia got her career off the ground and her and Travis were super cute together. Some parts were funny. The man that owned the Emporium was good stuff.
I did not like Donna and how Dan handled the situation, and obviously, Melanie.
I don't know why I thought this was supposed to be geared toward YA, but it isn't. Maybe the cover looks YA-ish?
This was a slow burn, on the PG side, fun debut novel and I will probably read more in the series.
*Thank you BookSirens and Shellee Marie for the ARC. I am voluntarily leaving my honest review *
Follow me here ➡ Blog ~ Facebook
November 25, 2021
The frenzied life of social influencer. I admit, at first, I had very little understanding of the intricacies of this avocation. I’m old. My first computer took ten minutes to warm up and required the use of an actual “floppy” disk. My only computer game involved traversing the western United States and hopefully not dying of dysentery. Influenced Love introduced me to a new world—that of the professional blogger. Alivia Fae is the central focus of the novel—a social influencer whose opinions inform trends in the Beauty industry. Her followers hang on her every word. She loves her life in the spotlight, but it has not had the most positive impact on her dating life.
One awkward picture at a friend’s wedding snowballs into a full-blown scandal that could affect her credibility as well as her interpersonal relationships. Before she even has time to reflect on the situation, Alivia finds herself in the center of a media hurricane. In the span of a few days, she goes from Beauty Blogger to Homewrecker. With her public cache tainted and her career in jeopardy, Alivia creates an ingenious plan to divert attention away from the scandal. Rather than engage in a futile effort to unwind the increasingly complex tapestry of rumors and accusations, Alivia proposes that her fanbase select her next date. Dating by committee. Interesting concept. Putting ones’ romantic fate in the hands of the masses. What could go wrong? What indeed.
I enjoyed this story. Shellee Marie's inaugural novel is well constructed and fun the read. The author keeps it simple, avoiding over the top imagery and presents a straightforward tale with heart and humor. The main character has hutzpah and rolls with the punches. The author’s use of first-person narrative to reveal Alivia’s thoughts and actions is effective at introducing the reader to what she is feeling as the drama unfolds around her. I devoured this book and found myself wanting more. Influenced Love is a great book and a recommended read.
One awkward picture at a friend’s wedding snowballs into a full-blown scandal that could affect her credibility as well as her interpersonal relationships. Before she even has time to reflect on the situation, Alivia finds herself in the center of a media hurricane. In the span of a few days, she goes from Beauty Blogger to Homewrecker. With her public cache tainted and her career in jeopardy, Alivia creates an ingenious plan to divert attention away from the scandal. Rather than engage in a futile effort to unwind the increasingly complex tapestry of rumors and accusations, Alivia proposes that her fanbase select her next date. Dating by committee. Interesting concept. Putting ones’ romantic fate in the hands of the masses. What could go wrong? What indeed.
I enjoyed this story. Shellee Marie's inaugural novel is well constructed and fun the read. The author keeps it simple, avoiding over the top imagery and presents a straightforward tale with heart and humor. The main character has hutzpah and rolls with the punches. The author’s use of first-person narrative to reveal Alivia’s thoughts and actions is effective at introducing the reader to what she is feeling as the drama unfolds around her. I devoured this book and found myself wanting more. Influenced Love is a great book and a recommended read.
December 5, 2021
I picked this book up because I liked the synopsis and I enjoyed reading it, it had a lot of laugh out loud moments which we all know is one of the best things a book can offer. It also showed how toxic social media can be at times which I also liked, it wasn't really spicy but the romance was adorable.
This was my first book by the author and I'll be looking out for more of her books in the future.
I received an advance review copy from BookSirens for free, and I'm leaving this review voluntarily💕
This was my first book by the author and I'll be looking out for more of her books in the future.
I received an advance review copy from BookSirens for free, and I'm leaving this review voluntarily💕
December 3, 2021
This is an engaging and heart warming story for the modern day. Alivia, a beauty influencer and entrepreneur, is caught up in a fake news story after her best friend's wedding which quickly causes trouble in her personal and professional relationships.
Following Alivia as she tries to remedy things, albeit not in the wisest of ways initially. The tale serves as a reminder about the two way relationship of social media and celebrity gossip, while also ensuring that good defeats evil.
A great book filled with many touching and humorous moments, as well as good old romance, this is a great debut novel and I look forward to reading more.
Following Alivia as she tries to remedy things, albeit not in the wisest of ways initially. The tale serves as a reminder about the two way relationship of social media and celebrity gossip, while also ensuring that good defeats evil.
A great book filled with many touching and humorous moments, as well as good old romance, this is a great debut novel and I look forward to reading more.
March 4, 2022
I liked this book. It was a very fast-paced, quick, cute read. I do feel that the characters needed more development. The storyline was a bit all over and the flow wasn't great. I did feel the chemistry with Alivia and Travis though some scenes were a little too cheesy. A lot of the book just seemed rushed. There were short descriptions, short scenes, and everything wrapped up quickly. For a debut novel, this was pretty good. I did laugh a few times. I just wanted a bit more. I would read more from this author.
Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for the ARC!
Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for the ARC!
December 20, 2021
I believe this is Ms. Marie's debut novel and I very much enjoyed it. This was a feel-good, sweet story that had me smiling and, at times, laughing out loud. The storyline was fun and entertaining and caught my attention from the start and kept me engaged till the end. Alivia is a beauty influencer and because of a picture taken at her friend's wedding, she is involved in a scandal that causes her reputation to be at risk. In an effort to take attention away from the scandal, she enlists the help of her fanbase in choosing her next date. The story is charming, fun, and humorous and I had a great time reading it. The characters were also well-defined and relatable and you can't help but fall in love with them. A very entertaining story and I am happy to have had the chance to read!
I received a complimentary copy from Netgalley and am voluntarily leaving my review.
I received a complimentary copy from Netgalley and am voluntarily leaving my review.
December 9, 2021
Influenced Love was a great story. Alivia is a wonderful heroine. She is always her authentic self, which we don't always see in heroines. She looks for the best in people, so it is hard for her to reconcile when relationships, friendships, partnerships are harmful to her. It's hard for her to give up on people. But she is NOT a doormat. She is kind without being walked all over. I absolutely loved her! The vaseline scene had me giggling and rereading her thoughts! And Travis! Travis is her match in every way. What a spectacular love!
This is a fake dating trope with a twist. Let me tell you, it felt fresh! I thoroughly enjoyed Influenced Love.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
This is a fake dating trope with a twist. Let me tell you, it felt fresh! I thoroughly enjoyed Influenced Love.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
November 23, 2021
If you're a fan of feel-good romance, then you'll definitely want to add Influenced Love to your TBR. In this story, Alivia is a make-up influencer who finds herself in the middle of a social media nightmare, so she sets up a fake relationship with another influencer to help boost her ratings and image. Things don't exactly go as planned though, and while Alivia doesn't fall for her fake boyfriend Moe, she does start to develop a connection with this assistant, Travis.
This story is a slow burn and it's not very steamy, but it has some laugh out loud moments and just a touch of drama and angst. The storyline is well developed, and it caught my interest from the very beginning and kept me entertained throughout. I really enjoyed this story and found it to be a light, refreshing, romantic read.
This is a debut novel by author Shellee Marie, and I have to say that I'm impressed. I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for her future books.
This story is a slow burn and it's not very steamy, but it has some laugh out loud moments and just a touch of drama and angst. The storyline is well developed, and it caught my interest from the very beginning and kept me entertained throughout. I really enjoyed this story and found it to be a light, refreshing, romantic read.
This is a debut novel by author Shellee Marie, and I have to say that I'm impressed. I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for her future books.
March 1, 2022
2/5 stars
ARC kindly provided by the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review
The idea behind this book was so cool and original fake dating but with a twist, but sadly it was poorly executed.
The plot was a bit all over the place and not at all focused on the romance between Travis and Alivia.
I wouldn’t call this a romance because there’s not much of it or at least not enough for me.
Her friendship with Dan was such a mess, no boundaries at all the man was married and dealing with a fight with his wife that way I would have flipped and sent him straight home to deal with his marriage.
I did like the influencer aspect, Alivia making video and talk about make up, haircare routine and that video she made with Travis was so cute but sadly that was pretty much it.
ARC kindly provided by the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review
The idea behind this book was so cool and original fake dating but with a twist, but sadly it was poorly executed.
The plot was a bit all over the place and not at all focused on the romance between Travis and Alivia.
I wouldn’t call this a romance because there’s not much of it or at least not enough for me.
Her friendship with Dan was such a mess, no boundaries at all the man was married and dealing with a fight with his wife that way I would have flipped and sent him straight home to deal with his marriage.
I did like the influencer aspect, Alivia making video and talk about make up, haircare routine and that video she made with Travis was so cute but sadly that was pretty much it.
February 10, 2022
I love a fake dating romance with a touch of mistaken identities thrown in. I absolutely fell head over heels for Alivia, a Black woman who was tired of being misled by false claims for beauty products that claimed to be for Black women and failed so she started reviewing the products on social media and eventually started her own product line. There are some really beautiful interactions in this book between Alivia and her followers that I just adored. 5 stars for Alivia!
The plotline with Alivia/Moe/Travis was at times really great, and I love the chemistry between Alivia and Travis. Sometimes it was rather contrived, or some of the things Moe/Travis did were just... kinda of skeevy. I'd be drawn in by their chemistry and then put off by something that came off as just wrong. 3.5 stars for the fake dating goodness.
And then there's the weirdness with Alivia's male BFF Dan and his wife Donna. What the heck. It felt like it was going to go a certain way and then sort of bobbed and weaved all over the place. Their relationship was for sure toxic AF and they need couples counseling, stat. I see how it was supposed to contribute to the overall plot, but I feel like Shellee Marie just did Donna really dirty. I don't love when other women are just blatantly ill-used to make a main character look better. 2 stars for the whole Alivia/Dan/Donna storyline.
Finally, this reads as a bit more women's fic than romance, as Alivia is dealing with so many things outside of the central couple (and there's a bit of who is the male lead supposed to be? Moe? Travis? Dan? What's happening now?) I'd give this 4 stars as a women's fic novel, but it's a 3 (still a fun read!) as a romance novel.
A digital ARC of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley for review. All opinions are unbiased and my own.
Like this review?
Check out more of my reviews on my blog, Elley the Book Otter
The plotline with Alivia/Moe/Travis was at times really great, and I love the chemistry between Alivia and Travis. Sometimes it was rather contrived, or some of the things Moe/Travis did were just... kinda of skeevy. I'd be drawn in by their chemistry and then put off by something that came off as just wrong. 3.5 stars for the fake dating goodness.
And then there's the weirdness with Alivia's male BFF Dan and his wife Donna. What the heck. It felt like it was going to go a certain way and then sort of bobbed and weaved all over the place. Their relationship was for sure toxic AF and they need couples counseling, stat. I see how it was supposed to contribute to the overall plot, but I feel like Shellee Marie just did Donna really dirty. I don't love when other women are just blatantly ill-used to make a main character look better. 2 stars for the whole Alivia/Dan/Donna storyline.
Finally, this reads as a bit more women's fic than romance, as Alivia is dealing with so many things outside of the central couple (and there's a bit of who is the male lead supposed to be? Moe? Travis? Dan? What's happening now?) I'd give this 4 stars as a women's fic novel, but it's a 3 (still a fun read!) as a romance novel.
A digital ARC of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley for review. All opinions are unbiased and my own.
Like this review?
Check out more of my reviews on my blog, Elley the Book Otter
November 25, 2021
I received an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity. This book is to be published on 22nd of February, 2022.
Alivia is a social media influencer well-known for her beauty tips and dos. Caught in a “supposed affair” with her best friend on the day of his wedding, Alivia enters a “relationship” with fitness influencer, Moe. Also in the picture is his assistant/friend, Travis, whom she starts to grow closer than with her fake-boyfriend.
Initially, I thought this was a romance book. Turns out, it’s more of a women’s fiction novel. BUT that did not stop me from having a good time reading. I wasn’t a fan on how Alivia handled her issues with her best friend, but I can see her as an influencer I’d love to follow if she were real. She and her hero were definitely cute.
Overall, it’s a good book perfect when you’re in the mood of a casual and light read.
Final verdict: 3/5 stars (I liked it).
Alivia is a social media influencer well-known for her beauty tips and dos. Caught in a “supposed affair” with her best friend on the day of his wedding, Alivia enters a “relationship” with fitness influencer, Moe. Also in the picture is his assistant/friend, Travis, whom she starts to grow closer than with her fake-boyfriend.
Initially, I thought this was a romance book. Turns out, it’s more of a women’s fiction novel. BUT that did not stop me from having a good time reading. I wasn’t a fan on how Alivia handled her issues with her best friend, but I can see her as an influencer I’d love to follow if she were real. She and her hero were definitely cute.
Overall, it’s a good book perfect when you’re in the mood of a casual and light read.
Final verdict: 3/5 stars (I liked it).
February 25, 2022
Lately, I have been on a bit of a serial killer kick and felt like I needed something light to read in between. Influenced Love by Shellee Marie caught my eye as the cover was bright and colorful and looked like a fun light-read, something perky and romantic. Influenced Love by Shellee Marie is the perfect read for fans of Alexa Martin, Jasmine Guillory, and Alisha Rai as it was written in a style similar to those authors above. In Influenced Love, we are first welcomed to a wedding between Dan and Donna. Dan's best man is the best woman - it is his long-time childhood best friend Alivia Fae. Dan's new wife is intimidated by Alivia and starts to imagine things that aren't there. The thing though is it just isn't his new wife, but the whole world, and soon Alivia is painted as the "bad girl" and "homewrecker" by celebrity news as it turns out that both Dan and Alivia are famous in their ways. Dan is a popular athlete and Alivia is a popular beauty influencer and has her own Youtube series and Instagram called Liv Love Life for all her Fae's out there. As the characters are mainly African-American, we have a lot of focus on aspects of black beauty from their particular haircare which has always been talked about as you can't care for a black person's hair - the way you do for a white person. To take the spotlight from Dan's troubles, Alivia decides to start fake-dating another influencer, Moe. What happens though when Alivia starts to fall for Moe's manager Travis where there is definite chemistry and he is more Alivia's type of guy? Will Alivia break off the fake relationship and pursue a real one with Moe or has she made things more complicated when Dan ends up crashing on her couch as he has marriage issues too? Who will Alivia choose? Fake Dating - Moe, The One She Loves - Travis or Her Best Friend - Dan?
Find out in Influenced Love by Shellee Marie, an author to keep an eye out for as I love social media in novels and the book was written well and kept me entertained.
Find out in Influenced Love by Shellee Marie, an author to keep an eye out for as I love social media in novels and the book was written well and kept me entertained.
May 12, 2022
Influenced Love is a sweet and romantic story. I've been reading a lot of books lately where the main character is an influencer. It's very indicative of what era we are in now, where being an influencer is a career for some people. I found it interesting to see what goes into maintaining such a career and doing it so well.
I liked how Alivia was genuine overall, even though she was put in the position of faking a relationship. She tried to be as real as she could given the circumstances. There were some good laugh-out-loud moments throughout the story and I definitely enjoyed that. I also loved the chemistry between Alivia and Travis. There were some really sexy scenes too.
What didn't work so well was that I felt like the conflict was really small in the grand scheme of things and it was easily resolvable. It didn't overly stress me out, as I felt like Alivia had a handle on things. It mostly was a first world problem. There were two different issues going on but both felt minor and easy to deal with.
Overall, this was an enjoyable read that would be fun as a romcom movie.
Movie casting suggestions:
Thanks to Lola's Blog Tours for the book in exchange for an honest review.
I liked how Alivia was genuine overall, even though she was put in the position of faking a relationship. She tried to be as real as she could given the circumstances. There were some good laugh-out-loud moments throughout the story and I definitely enjoyed that. I also loved the chemistry between Alivia and Travis. There were some really sexy scenes too.
What didn't work so well was that I felt like the conflict was really small in the grand scheme of things and it was easily resolvable. It didn't overly stress me out, as I felt like Alivia had a handle on things. It mostly was a first world problem. There were two different issues going on but both felt minor and easy to deal with.
Overall, this was an enjoyable read that would be fun as a romcom movie.
Movie casting suggestions:
Alivia: Vanessa Morgan
Travis: Brandon P. Bell
Moe: John Boyega
Dan: Corbin Bleu
Victoria: Andy Allo
Donna: Shanica Knowles
Thanks to Lola's Blog Tours for the book in exchange for an honest review.
December 7, 2021
Rating: 2.5 rounded to 3
This book was hard to rate. I really enjoyed it up until the end, it had me laughing out loud multiple times. Basically the first 3/4 of the book was a 4 star read and the last 1/4 was a 2 star that pretty much ruined the rest of the book for me.
This book follows beauty influence Alivia Fae. She has a beauty blog and the story starts out with her serving as "best man" at her best friend, Dan's wedding. He is a professional baseball player, so there was some media attention given to the wedding, and a series of snafus lead to Alivia being romantically linked to the groom and the new bride absolutely hating her guts. In an attempt to move away from the negative media coverage she is receiving, Alivia creates a poll for her followers to weigh in on her next date. She ends up fake dating a fitness influencer named Moe but finds herself falling for Travis, his assistant.
Alivia is supremely awkward and says the strangest things just to fill a silence, which I can definitely relate to. I thought that it was fun getting to hear about her projects and content creation. I liked the love interest, and even the fake love interest. I could buy Travis and Alivia as a couple. One small complaint is that there is not much female friendship present, but I did like what we saw of her friendship with Victoria and her interaction with her fans.
Basically it was a fun setup and I had a good time with all the awkward situations and snafus.
Now onto my issues. My lesser complaint, and the reason that this book was only at 4 stars until the end, instead of 5 was the storyline with Dan and Alivia. Dan felt like a child, and he was making absolutely terrible mistakes. I didn't like the storyline between Alivia and his wife, Donna, and everything involving Dan just seemed terrible. I thought there were really stupid miscommunications here that were completely needless, and I don't like the end result of that storyline.
My biggest issue was the ending. We hit the big "issue" that cropped up, that I assumed was going to cause that romantic tension piece of things, but it didn't. At first I was really pleased thinking that there was just going to be an issue in Alivia's life that didn't affect the love life. But, alas, this was not the case. The issue that caused that moment of romantic strife was SO frustrating, especially because I was under the impression that they had already dealt with the "issue.' Alivia had seemingly resolved it in a conversation midway through the book. But apparently the words that I read meant something different to me than to the main character. So everything revolving around that issue for the last 1/4 of the book was supremely frustrating to read about. I thought that it was pretty cheesy. Then as all the issues were worked out and resolved, the dialogue and inner monologue around the resolutions felt very silly and cheesy.
So all in all I am not sure that I would recommend this book because the ending kind of ruined it for me. But there were a couple moments that I continue to think about because they made me laugh so hard.
Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review. Influenced Love releases on February 22, 2022.
This book was hard to rate. I really enjoyed it up until the end, it had me laughing out loud multiple times. Basically the first 3/4 of the book was a 4 star read and the last 1/4 was a 2 star that pretty much ruined the rest of the book for me.
This book follows beauty influence Alivia Fae. She has a beauty blog and the story starts out with her serving as "best man" at her best friend, Dan's wedding. He is a professional baseball player, so there was some media attention given to the wedding, and a series of snafus lead to Alivia being romantically linked to the groom and the new bride absolutely hating her guts. In an attempt to move away from the negative media coverage she is receiving, Alivia creates a poll for her followers to weigh in on her next date. She ends up fake dating a fitness influencer named Moe but finds herself falling for Travis, his assistant.
Alivia is supremely awkward and says the strangest things just to fill a silence, which I can definitely relate to. I thought that it was fun getting to hear about her projects and content creation. I liked the love interest, and even the fake love interest. I could buy Travis and Alivia as a couple. One small complaint is that there is not much female friendship present, but I did like what we saw of her friendship with Victoria and her interaction with her fans.
Basically it was a fun setup and I had a good time with all the awkward situations and snafus.
Now onto my issues. My lesser complaint, and the reason that this book was only at 4 stars until the end, instead of 5 was the storyline with Dan and Alivia. Dan felt like a child, and he was making absolutely terrible mistakes. I didn't like the storyline between Alivia and his wife, Donna, and everything involving Dan just seemed terrible. I thought there were really stupid miscommunications here that were completely needless, and I don't like the end result of that storyline.
My biggest issue was the ending. We hit the big "issue" that cropped up, that I assumed was going to cause that romantic tension piece of things, but it didn't. At first I was really pleased thinking that there was just going to be an issue in Alivia's life that didn't affect the love life. But, alas, this was not the case. The issue that caused that moment of romantic strife was SO frustrating, especially because I was under the impression that they had already dealt with the "issue.' Alivia had seemingly resolved it in a conversation midway through the book. But apparently the words that I read meant something different to me than to the main character. So everything revolving around that issue for the last 1/4 of the book was supremely frustrating to read about. I thought that it was pretty cheesy. Then as all the issues were worked out and resolved, the dialogue and inner monologue around the resolutions felt very silly and cheesy.
So all in all I am not sure that I would recommend this book because the ending kind of ruined it for me. But there were a couple moments that I continue to think about because they made me laugh so hard.
Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review. Influenced Love releases on February 22, 2022.
January 12, 2022
Social media can be a great tool for careers. It can also be someone’s worst enemy. Alivia agrees to a fake relationship in order to salvage her influencer career, but she learns more valuable lessons along the way. She learns to stand up,for herself, set boundaries with her brother and her best friend. I liked that she was constantly trying to stay ahead and not get too bogged down with life reversals. I thought her friendship with Dan was very one sided. My favorite character turned out to be Moe. I liked his energy.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the early read.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the early read.
November 23, 2021
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!
Influenced Love by Shellee Marie is an #ownvoices romance that will appeal to fans of Jasmine Guillory and Farrah Rochon. The story revolves around Alivia, a well-known beauty influencer. After her best friend's wedding, online trolls accuse her of trying to seduce the groom. Desperate to turn their attention somewhere else, Alivia agrees to do a "collab" with fellow influencer Moe Gava. Who is the real guy behind his image? And what about his assistant Travis?
Here is an excerpt from Chapter 1 during the wedding:
"As I continued to attempt to clear my vision, a flash from one of the photographer's cameras hit my eye, leaving me to feel an odd, painful third stage of burning. I moaned and covered it with my hand as a few people started to stare back at me.
...
When she handed me the mirror, I carefully moved my hand away from my eye. It looked even worse than it felt. It had swollen to the size of a baseball and was beginning to tear up. Panic ran through me like a chill on a cold day. I had a meet and greet the next day and videos to upload for makeup tutorials. There was no way I could do all of that with a swollen eye!"
Overall, Influenced Love is a lovely romance for the reality TV star / influencer generation. One highlight of this book is the innovative and new premise. I liked the idea of the protagonist being an online influencer who needs to protect her image. I'm sure a lot of people have dreamed about being influencers, so I thought that was an interesting angle. I did take off 1 star, because I thought that this was going to be a rom-com, but there weren't any humorous scenes. That's probably my fault for not realizing that this is a romance, not a rom-com. If you're intrigued by the excerpt above, or if you're a fan of romances, you can check out this book when it comes out in February!
Influenced Love by Shellee Marie is an #ownvoices romance that will appeal to fans of Jasmine Guillory and Farrah Rochon. The story revolves around Alivia, a well-known beauty influencer. After her best friend's wedding, online trolls accuse her of trying to seduce the groom. Desperate to turn their attention somewhere else, Alivia agrees to do a "collab" with fellow influencer Moe Gava. Who is the real guy behind his image? And what about his assistant Travis?
Here is an excerpt from Chapter 1 during the wedding:
"As I continued to attempt to clear my vision, a flash from one of the photographer's cameras hit my eye, leaving me to feel an odd, painful third stage of burning. I moaned and covered it with my hand as a few people started to stare back at me.
...
When she handed me the mirror, I carefully moved my hand away from my eye. It looked even worse than it felt. It had swollen to the size of a baseball and was beginning to tear up. Panic ran through me like a chill on a cold day. I had a meet and greet the next day and videos to upload for makeup tutorials. There was no way I could do all of that with a swollen eye!"
Overall, Influenced Love is a lovely romance for the reality TV star / influencer generation. One highlight of this book is the innovative and new premise. I liked the idea of the protagonist being an online influencer who needs to protect her image. I'm sure a lot of people have dreamed about being influencers, so I thought that was an interesting angle. I did take off 1 star, because I thought that this was going to be a rom-com, but there weren't any humorous scenes. That's probably my fault for not realizing that this is a romance, not a rom-com. If you're intrigued by the excerpt above, or if you're a fan of romances, you can check out this book when it comes out in February!
November 28, 2021
▪ "You deserve all the courage love can bear. At every moment it can fill it." ▪
Okay, so this book by Shellee Marie is a beautifull light romance read! It is her debut and I am fan! It just felt really written well and every loose end was tied up in the end. I had with 1 part that I was thinking, ooh is this it? Where is all the drama? It is so not satisfying and sort off resolved so quickly. But, she came back at it at the end of the book and I really liked how that turned out.
Influenced Love is about Alivia, a beauty influencer, and yes you can guess, social media. After the media accuses her of something what is being interpreted wrongly she decides to deflect the attention and asks her followers who she should date. Well, even then nothing is what it seems and unexpected friendships come to be.
The book also shows how hatefull social media can be and that definitely not everything of everyone is what they seem to be. That aside, it can also be an amazing way to interact with people, to find that one thing you desperately seek. The author betrayed that really well in this book!
Influenced Love is the first book in the Black Beauty in Love series and comes out in February 2022! Definitely put this on your wishlist as it was such a nice and quick romance to read!
Okay, so this book by Shellee Marie is a beautifull light romance read! It is her debut and I am fan! It just felt really written well and every loose end was tied up in the end. I had with 1 part that I was thinking, ooh is this it? Where is all the drama? It is so not satisfying and sort off resolved so quickly. But, she came back at it at the end of the book and I really liked how that turned out.
Influenced Love is about Alivia, a beauty influencer, and yes you can guess, social media. After the media accuses her of something what is being interpreted wrongly she decides to deflect the attention and asks her followers who she should date. Well, even then nothing is what it seems and unexpected friendships come to be.
The book also shows how hatefull social media can be and that definitely not everything of everyone is what they seem to be. That aside, it can also be an amazing way to interact with people, to find that one thing you desperately seek. The author betrayed that really well in this book!
Influenced Love is the first book in the Black Beauty in Love series and comes out in February 2022! Definitely put this on your wishlist as it was such a nice and quick romance to read!
November 21, 2021
Cute book and storyline. It was well done and easy to read. Definitely like a weekend book. You don’t need a diagram to follow the plot line. Just sit back and enjoy the book.
February 5, 2022
This is a cute rom-com ish book. Liv is trying to recover from online rumors that stemmed from attending her best friend's wedding. In order to get ahead of the oncoming disaster, Liv starts fake dating another influencer, Moe. But there's the little hiccup of Liv falling for Moe's assistant/friend Travis.
Honestly there were good parts like Victoria (great friend) and the tender moments with Travis. But 2 semi love triangles weighed down moving the plot. Dan and Donna's tension is another plot point that was important but I was more invested in what would happen between Liv and Travis. Also Donna's secret 😵💫 but the little plot twist with Melanie towards the end made up for it.
With that being said I think if this was 2 novellas this would have been great, but as a novel it's a solid book. I think the author captured the parasocial relationship between influencers really well.
CN: slut shaming, secrets, fake dating for social media, marriage in trouble, online harassment, influencer discrimination
I received an e-ARC from the author in exchange for an honest.
Honestly there were good parts like Victoria (great friend) and the tender moments with Travis. But 2 semi love triangles weighed down moving the plot. Dan and Donna's tension is another plot point that was important but I was more invested in what would happen between Liv and Travis. Also Donna's secret 😵💫 but the little plot twist with Melanie towards the end made up for it.
With that being said I think if this was 2 novellas this would have been great, but as a novel it's a solid book. I think the author captured the parasocial relationship between influencers really well.
CN: slut shaming, secrets, fake dating for social media, marriage in trouble, online harassment, influencer discrimination
I received an e-ARC from the author in exchange for an honest.
February 13, 2022
Fake dating is one of my favorite tropes so I was excited for that. I felt like the setup for the fake relationship here was not entirely convincing so I had to suspend disbelief to get started.
Even with suspending disbelief, I had a hard time truly loving any of the characters. Alivia, the main character, was so much of what I love in a person - confident in her own skin, wanting to help others, open to things - but I still did not love her.
I think a big reason for lost stars on this rating is that a lot of the conflict here seemed to be communication. This is my least favorite form of conflict. If any of the conversations had been resolved before the characters walked away from them, the story itself would have flowed differently.
A lot of the descriptions were repeated often (every character had an “intense gaze”). I had trouble engaging with the writing style. I forced myself to finish it but it was difficult to do so.
Even with suspending disbelief, I had a hard time truly loving any of the characters. Alivia, the main character, was so much of what I love in a person - confident in her own skin, wanting to help others, open to things - but I still did not love her.
I think a big reason for lost stars on this rating is that a lot of the conflict here seemed to be communication. This is my least favorite form of conflict. If any of the conversations had been resolved before the characters walked away from them, the story itself would have flowed differently.
A lot of the descriptions were repeated often (every character had an “intense gaze”). I had trouble engaging with the writing style. I forced myself to finish it but it was difficult to do so.
February 24, 2022
Alivia is an influencer who has been wrongly accused of getting in the middle of her best friend’s marriage, and need some good publicity and stat. Enter Moe Gava - a fitness influencer who is interested in collaborating and fake dating. While love is decidedly not on the table between the two of them, she ends up attracted to his best friend and assistant, Travis.
Alivia and Travis were cute together and had believable chemistry! It was a NA romance with a few short steamy scenes. Their conflict seemed like something that had been previously resolved, but it all worked out in the end. This is Shellee Marie’s debut novel and first in her Black Beauty in Love series. I will definitely be reading future books from her!
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Alivia and Travis were cute together and had believable chemistry! It was a NA romance with a few short steamy scenes. Their conflict seemed like something that had been previously resolved, but it all worked out in the end. This is Shellee Marie’s debut novel and first in her Black Beauty in Love series. I will definitely be reading future books from her!
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
December 17, 2021
Influenced Love by Shellee Marie resonates with the fascination, dependence and total saturation of social media into every fabric of modern society. Alivia Fae is a well-known beauty influencer. When she accidently takes the spotlight at her best friend’s wedding, the fall out is swift and vicious. To stave off the endless trolling and shaming, Alivia decides to ask her followers to help her select a date. She is paired up with fellow influencer, Moe Gava. Unfortunately, like many deals found online, it is a case of buyer beware and Moe is not nearly as interesting or desirable as he appears. Instead, his assistant, Travis, checks all the right boxes. How will Alivia handle in this media mess? Will she be able to form a real relationship in this sometimes-artificial world? In her debut novel, Shellee Marie has crafted a timely and topical story that certainly should give everyone a reason to pause before commenting on posts and situations and she slid a really cute love story in for our enjoyment!
December 6, 2021
“Influenced Love” is a debut novel, and the first book from the Black Beauty in Love series by Shellee Marie.
Alivia Fae is a beauty influencer who has a strong, devoted core of “Faes” who appreciate her honest product reviews and tips - especially because she is a person of color, and addresses concerns for the most underrepresented demographic in the beauty market. She is quite successful, and has turned her influencer passion into her full-time job. She’s even starting her own beauty product line to provide for others like her who have trouble finding quality, reasonable hair care and beauty products! #girlenterpreneur
We meet Alivia at her best friend’s wedding, as his “best woman” and pick up on some awkwardness right away. Dan looks uneasy, his bride looks livid, and Alivia seems to be harboring guilt/weirdness between she and Dan. As Dan happens to be a pro baseball player, naturally celebrity news starts reporting on Alivia as a speculated homewrecker, attempting to ruin her friend’s budding marriage.
Alivia decides to distract the media and haters by devising a scheme to fake-date fellow influencer, Moe Gava. Queue shenanigans: fake dates, staged photos on cute outings, and an expose interview on the celebrity network channel. To further complicate things, Alivia quickly falls for Moe’s assistant and friend, Travis!
Can she untangle this web before her followers find out? Is Moe really a datable guy? What more drama can she trip into with Dan? No spoilers, but it gets messy before it gets sorted!
What I enjoyed: LOVED representation for POC and a main love couple who are both POC! I found every Alivia/Travis interaction adorable and wanting more. Really clean lust/love balance between building chemistry while showing depth of emotion.
What I could do without: knit-picky, but, I’d cut Alivia’s brother- he calls/bothers her for money several times but otherwise doesn’t feature in the plot. More substantially, there is a lot going on in the pages - and it causes some of the plot to skim instead of dive deeper. Dan was a confusing additional love interest, and I think that’s why his character is forced into being so eye-rollingly immature - to force you not to cheer for him. This could have easily been a “friend-to-lover” story with his as a main interest.
Ultimately, it’s a cute romcom that I would absolutely watch if (and let’s hope it does) it becomes a Netflix movie!
Thank you to #netgalley for this eARC in exchange for an honest review!
January 2, 2022
Let's talk about this book. It's difficult to review this one because I didn't love it neither did I hate it with all my being.
It was a light breezy read, with our main protagonist navigating through her love life, her fake dates with another fitness influencer and balancing her relationship with her married best friend Dan.
The protagonist was a nice refreshing character, a perfect embodiment of today's woman. Strong, high value and considerate but I wish her character had developed more because she felt quite 2 dimensional. Some problems that she faced felt a bit too unrealistic and self created and her fake relationship with Moe Gava wasn't enjoyable.
The author crammed in alot of tropes in this book, from faking dating to best friends yearning for each other, which btw didn't serve any purpose because the author kept building it up with the best friend giving the protagonist bizarre thoughtful looks only to amount to nothing. Because never did he once explore those feelings or profess his love. So I honestly didnt know why this was mentioned and hinted at so many times.
Then there was the famous fake dating trope, I have read plenty of those but unfortunately this wasn't done well. The fitness influencer, Moe Gava's character never grew much, it was impressed on us that he did infact change with the passage of the novel but really I couldn't point out any difference in him except for the fact that he started reciting his poetry in public and somewhat being ready to settle down.
The best friend storyline was really boring because what in the world was that??? We kept getting hints that he was interested for him to never even divulge this secret, LIKE EVER.
This storyline was only used as an excuse to pave the path for the trope fake dating.
Then there was the perfect guy, Travis, sure he was nice but did I get obsessed with him? NOOO..
In short I couldn't connect with any character.
I do appreciate that the characters were very diverse and kind of enjoyed that it was true to our times, centering around influencers.
Oh and I almost forgot what the hell was the author's obsession with the phrases, tucking in her lips, scrunching her face. I mean it was used so many times like in every single line because apparently the characters were only capable of these two facial expressions.
I think initially I thought I kind of liked it but
while writing this review I realised that nope I definitely didn't like it and wouldn't recommend it one bit.
It was a light breezy read, with our main protagonist navigating through her love life, her fake dates with another fitness influencer and balancing her relationship with her married best friend Dan.
The protagonist was a nice refreshing character, a perfect embodiment of today's woman. Strong, high value and considerate but I wish her character had developed more because she felt quite 2 dimensional. Some problems that she faced felt a bit too unrealistic and self created and her fake relationship with Moe Gava wasn't enjoyable.
The author crammed in alot of tropes in this book, from faking dating to best friends yearning for each other, which btw didn't serve any purpose because the author kept building it up with the best friend giving the protagonist bizarre thoughtful looks only to amount to nothing. Because never did he once explore those feelings or profess his love. So I honestly didnt know why this was mentioned and hinted at so many times.
Then there was the famous fake dating trope, I have read plenty of those but unfortunately this wasn't done well. The fitness influencer, Moe Gava's character never grew much, it was impressed on us that he did infact change with the passage of the novel but really I couldn't point out any difference in him except for the fact that he started reciting his poetry in public and somewhat being ready to settle down.
The best friend storyline was really boring because what in the world was that??? We kept getting hints that he was interested for him to never even divulge this secret, LIKE EVER.
This storyline was only used as an excuse to pave the path for the trope fake dating.
Then there was the perfect guy, Travis, sure he was nice but did I get obsessed with him? NOOO..
In short I couldn't connect with any character.
I do appreciate that the characters were very diverse and kind of enjoyed that it was true to our times, centering around influencers.
Oh and I almost forgot what the hell was the author's obsession with the phrases, tucking in her lips, scrunching her face. I mean it was used so many times like in every single line because apparently the characters were only capable of these two facial expressions.
I think initially I thought I kind of liked it but
while writing this review I realised that nope I definitely didn't like it and wouldn't recommend it one bit.
January 17, 2022
Thank you to Book Sirens for this gifted ARC.
I really enjoy a fake dating trope and this story had such a good plot, rumours spread around about up and coming influencer involved in an affair with her newly married semi-famous best friend, so she decides to fake date another influencer so they both get followers and benefit from a collaboration and in turn the vultures back off. It had such great promise. But there's so much that goes on in this book. The entire story is all over the place and the plot is totally out of control, like it barely hangs on.
I didn't like the friend and his wife and how Alivia (MC) was treated. There was nothing going on but she and everyone else is convinced she's a homewrecker. The fact that she put no one in their place, especially her crappy friend who allows his equally crappy wife to drag her in the middle of their marital problems, just blew my mind. Like I needed someone to have their asses handed to them.
I didn't like the less than stellar commitment to their fake dating plan. She needed this fake relationship to prove that she wasn't sleeping with her best friend but then treated it so lacklustrely. There was no attempt to even showcase a kind of relationship between her and the other influencer, moreso, the fact that she went on public dates with the guy's assistant, it was just all so chaotic. And then when their lies are uncovered they're genuinely shocked, like people who didn't make out in public with other people and not their supposed boyfriend/girlfriend. It was all just so messy.
This was not a great story. It had the potential to be good but the execution was just all wrong. It's as if the writer started with an idea of what the book would be about but then changed their mind a couple of times during the book. I wanted to be invested in this story, but I just felt nothing for these characters. The whole experience of reading this book was below sub-par.
I really enjoy a fake dating trope and this story had such a good plot, rumours spread around about up and coming influencer involved in an affair with her newly married semi-famous best friend, so she decides to fake date another influencer so they both get followers and benefit from a collaboration and in turn the vultures back off. It had such great promise. But there's so much that goes on in this book. The entire story is all over the place and the plot is totally out of control, like it barely hangs on.
I didn't like the friend and his wife and how Alivia (MC) was treated. There was nothing going on but she and everyone else is convinced she's a homewrecker. The fact that she put no one in their place, especially her crappy friend who allows his equally crappy wife to drag her in the middle of their marital problems, just blew my mind. Like I needed someone to have their asses handed to them.
I didn't like the less than stellar commitment to their fake dating plan. She needed this fake relationship to prove that she wasn't sleeping with her best friend but then treated it so lacklustrely. There was no attempt to even showcase a kind of relationship between her and the other influencer, moreso, the fact that she went on public dates with the guy's assistant, it was just all so chaotic. And then when their lies are uncovered they're genuinely shocked, like people who didn't make out in public with other people and not their supposed boyfriend/girlfriend. It was all just so messy.
This was not a great story. It had the potential to be good but the execution was just all wrong. It's as if the writer started with an idea of what the book would be about but then changed their mind a couple of times during the book. I wanted to be invested in this story, but I just felt nothing for these characters. The whole experience of reading this book was below sub-par.
November 29, 2021
Being a beauty guru can be rough. Especially when the paparazzi get a story all wrong and suddenly you are accused of being madly in love with your best friend on his wedding day! Word spreads like wildfire and suddenly social media becomes a nightmare and Alivia has to come up with a plan to escape all the negativity. After a crafty poll she puts together, she soon finds herself in a fake relationship with a classic gym bro with low mannerisms who, of which, also has an adorable assistant that makes your heart warm.
Alivia has worked her way up in the beauty industry creating a fun and educational view on products for POC and shining some light on the lack of color representation in beauty products and the lack of attention that stores have in their hair care departments for ethnic hair. I am incredibly proud of Shellee Marie for giving light on this topic. As I feel it is not spoken or written about enough. I loved how funny and witty the characters are. I found myself giggling and clasping my hand over my mouth to hide my ever-growing smile.
“Influenced love” was very fast-paced. I do feel that the characters were a bit cut and dry. The storyline seemed to jump as though the writer was ignoring certain characters or the development of characters to get to the meaty bits of the love story or drama quicker. Many times in the book I found myself sighing at ultimately very cliche scenes. I felt the book was super predictable and didn’t seem to focus on any kind of depth. Ultimately, i felt the book was a bit dull.
For a debut novel, this was a decent story. Quick, fun, and humorous. I feel like maybe there could have been a bit more work to create some more depth for the characters and the world around them. I did like this book and enjoyed that it did make me audibly laugh. Collectively id give this book 2 stars.
Thank you NetGalley for the eARC.
Alivia has worked her way up in the beauty industry creating a fun and educational view on products for POC and shining some light on the lack of color representation in beauty products and the lack of attention that stores have in their hair care departments for ethnic hair. I am incredibly proud of Shellee Marie for giving light on this topic. As I feel it is not spoken or written about enough. I loved how funny and witty the characters are. I found myself giggling and clasping my hand over my mouth to hide my ever-growing smile.
“Influenced love” was very fast-paced. I do feel that the characters were a bit cut and dry. The storyline seemed to jump as though the writer was ignoring certain characters or the development of characters to get to the meaty bits of the love story or drama quicker. Many times in the book I found myself sighing at ultimately very cliche scenes. I felt the book was super predictable and didn’t seem to focus on any kind of depth. Ultimately, i felt the book was a bit dull.
For a debut novel, this was a decent story. Quick, fun, and humorous. I feel like maybe there could have been a bit more work to create some more depth for the characters and the world around them. I did like this book and enjoyed that it did make me audibly laugh. Collectively id give this book 2 stars.
Thank you NetGalley for the eARC.
January 18, 2022
“You’re stunning, you’re always stunning.” - Travis
★★★.5/5
🌶/5
Blurb In My Own Words:
Alivia Fae is a beauty influencer who has been best friends with Dan, a professional baseball player, since they were children. At Dan’s wedding send off, Alivia who is the best woman, accidently get bubble solution in her eye and the paparazzi has a field day. All over social media the next day, Alivia is being accused of being a homewrecker and that she was trying to steal Dan’s attention away from his wife on her big day. So, Alivia comes up with a great idea to create a distraction to offset the negative press: operation find Alivia a date!
Review:
I was really impressed with this story! I haven’t felt butterflies reading about a book boyfriend in a long time and I’m glad this debut novel was able to make me feel giddy again! And the fact that it written by a black woman and all the characters in the story are black as well, chefs kiss! This story is very fun and fast pace and will keep you laughing and entertained until the end. But can we talk about Travis!!! He made this story ten times better. He was attentive, caring, loving, and remembered everything about Alivia from the start. Travis always wanted what was best for Alivia and didn’t want her to do anything she wasn’t comfortable with. Travis is the perfect definition of book boyfriend.
My only issue with this book is that I felt like it over explained black issues all throughout the book. I didn’t understand why the author over explained issues, like the makeup industry not cratering to black people, during this book even though all the characters in the book are black. There weren’t any non-black characters in the story, and it felt odd that you would over explain these issues to a group of people that live it every day. I didn’t mind the social issue topics being in the book, but it just felt like over kill and it didn’t flow at times. Other than that, the story is a fun easy read!
Tropes:
- Fake - Fake Dating
- Slow Burn
***Received ARC for honest review***
★★★.5/5
🌶/5
Blurb In My Own Words:
Alivia Fae is a beauty influencer who has been best friends with Dan, a professional baseball player, since they were children. At Dan’s wedding send off, Alivia who is the best woman, accidently get bubble solution in her eye and the paparazzi has a field day. All over social media the next day, Alivia is being accused of being a homewrecker and that she was trying to steal Dan’s attention away from his wife on her big day. So, Alivia comes up with a great idea to create a distraction to offset the negative press: operation find Alivia a date!
Review:
I was really impressed with this story! I haven’t felt butterflies reading about a book boyfriend in a long time and I’m glad this debut novel was able to make me feel giddy again! And the fact that it written by a black woman and all the characters in the story are black as well, chefs kiss! This story is very fun and fast pace and will keep you laughing and entertained until the end. But can we talk about Travis!!! He made this story ten times better. He was attentive, caring, loving, and remembered everything about Alivia from the start. Travis always wanted what was best for Alivia and didn’t want her to do anything she wasn’t comfortable with. Travis is the perfect definition of book boyfriend.
My only issue with this book is that I felt like it over explained black issues all throughout the book. I didn’t understand why the author over explained issues, like the makeup industry not cratering to black people, during this book even though all the characters in the book are black. There weren’t any non-black characters in the story, and it felt odd that you would over explain these issues to a group of people that live it every day. I didn’t mind the social issue topics being in the book, but it just felt like over kill and it didn’t flow at times. Other than that, the story is a fun easy read!
Tropes:
- Fake - Fake Dating
- Slow Burn
***Received ARC for honest review***
Read
February 26, 2022Our main character is Alivia and she is a beauty influencer and entrepreneur who is making her own line of hair care products.
The book begins with Alivia being the best woman at her best friend Dan’s wedding. They have known each other since they were in school together. Now, this is not just any simple wedding with friends and family, no it also includes Dan’s teammates (he is a baseball player) and the media.
With any wedding day, you hope it goes off without a hitch right? Well for Alivia it all falls apart from the get-go. Then one thing leads to another and it’s reported that Dan and Alivia are romantically involved. I guess looking in from the outside you could see that. This doesn’t make Dan’s new wife, Donna very happy and she begins to think that something is going on between the two besties.
Alivia tries to do damage control amidst the negativity so she comes up with a plan. She polls her followers asking who her next date should be and it just happens to be Moe who is a fitness influencer. When the fake dating trope was announced I knew that this wouldn’t go well because what Alivia doesn’t know is Moe’s assistant Travis is helping him out and she can almost spot the difference between the two when it comes to messages. Can they pull this off or will it be another thing for the media to discuss?
Although behind the scenes Alivia and Travis are always together and I loved their interactions. As you read you can’t help but wonder if there is more to this “friendship” than meets the eye. I know as I was reading I was rooting for Alivia and Travis. The chemistry was there instantly. The whole time I was reading I was really surprised they weren’t exposed sooner for as much as they were out in public together.
Will Alivia admit her true feelings to her followers?
The book begins with Alivia being the best woman at her best friend Dan’s wedding. They have known each other since they were in school together. Now, this is not just any simple wedding with friends and family, no it also includes Dan’s teammates (he is a baseball player) and the media.
With any wedding day, you hope it goes off without a hitch right? Well for Alivia it all falls apart from the get-go. Then one thing leads to another and it’s reported that Dan and Alivia are romantically involved. I guess looking in from the outside you could see that. This doesn’t make Dan’s new wife, Donna very happy and she begins to think that something is going on between the two besties.
Alivia tries to do damage control amidst the negativity so she comes up with a plan. She polls her followers asking who her next date should be and it just happens to be Moe who is a fitness influencer. When the fake dating trope was announced I knew that this wouldn’t go well because what Alivia doesn’t know is Moe’s assistant Travis is helping him out and she can almost spot the difference between the two when it comes to messages. Can they pull this off or will it be another thing for the media to discuss?
Although behind the scenes Alivia and Travis are always together and I loved their interactions. As you read you can’t help but wonder if there is more to this “friendship” than meets the eye. I know as I was reading I was rooting for Alivia and Travis. The chemistry was there instantly. The whole time I was reading I was really surprised they weren’t exposed sooner for as much as they were out in public together.
Will Alivia admit her true feelings to her followers?
December 18, 2021
Alivia is a beauty influencer who decides to fake date a well-known fitness influencer named Moe to silence the rumors that she is in love with her best friend Dan, who recently got married. Things get even more complicated when she falls for Moe’s best friend and (manager, I think) Travis. She wants to pursue things with Travis, while also fake dating Moe to stop the rumors, while also, also trying to convince Dan’s new wife that there is nothing going on between Dan and herself. On top of that, there is much media attention due to her “fake” dating a fellow influencer, and Dan being a famous baseball player, everything gets harder to conceal and maintain under so much scrutiny. So yeah, messy, messy.
It is a very rom-comy premise, and although the main love birds are Black, the story itself is full of clichés and predictable outcomes. (Not saying that that’s bad, rom coms are all cliché, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t enjoyable).
But unfortunately, this book wasn’t for me. It fell flat. The story itself, and the characters lacked depth. Everything was very one-dimensional. I felt like I was reading the first draft of the novel, instead of the final complete manuscript. Which is to say, it has potential to be better, more engaging, interesting, and heartfelt. But as is, I just couldn’t get into it. The writing itself wasn’t bad, and there were some laughable moments, but I just wish there was more depth to the characters.
I recommend this novel to readers who enjoy easy, breezy, topical, predictable, rom-com drama.
Thank you to #netgalley for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.
It is a very rom-comy premise, and although the main love birds are Black, the story itself is full of clichés and predictable outcomes. (Not saying that that’s bad, rom coms are all cliché, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t enjoyable).
But unfortunately, this book wasn’t for me. It fell flat. The story itself, and the characters lacked depth. Everything was very one-dimensional. I felt like I was reading the first draft of the novel, instead of the final complete manuscript. Which is to say, it has potential to be better, more engaging, interesting, and heartfelt. But as is, I just couldn’t get into it. The writing itself wasn’t bad, and there were some laughable moments, but I just wish there was more depth to the characters.
I recommend this novel to readers who enjoy easy, breezy, topical, predictable, rom-com drama.
Thank you to #netgalley for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.
February 20, 2022
Influenced Love by @iamshellemarie is the first in the Black Beauty in Love Series.
Released February 12th.
This debut novel centres around Beauty Influencer Alivia Fae. When her Best Friend Dan, a Pro Base Ball Player, gets married, Alivia finds her innocent actions are twisted turning things into a PR nightmare.
To distract her followers from the “Dan disaster” she sets up a fake date with Moe Gava, a fitness influencer. Moe has no filter but is an incredibly likeable character with a “heart of gold”.
After one “fake date” with Moe, things get twisted by SM, and next thing they’re supposed to be in a relationship. Alivia is conflicted - numbers and feedback about the fake relationship are all positive. Can her conscience allow this sham to continue? The author conveys well how quickly and easily things can get out of hand - appearances are not reality, and truths can be blurred.
As the ruse continues, Alivia finds herself communicating more with Travis, Moe’s attractive assistant, who she can’t stop thinking about. Will Alivia complicate her life more, by allowing this attraction to Travis grow? What will happen to her career if her followers find out? The tensions are notched further when Dan appears at Alivia’s door, when he should be on his honeymoon. Oh what a tangled web is weaved!
This was a really interesting insight into the work involved in influencing - something I admit I know very little about.
A sweet romance that may appeal to those looking for POC H/h, faked relationship, slow burn friends to lover vibe, insight into the influencer world.
Story 4/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Smut level 🌶
Thank you to the Author for this ARC- thoughts and opinions are my own.
Released February 12th.
This debut novel centres around Beauty Influencer Alivia Fae. When her Best Friend Dan, a Pro Base Ball Player, gets married, Alivia finds her innocent actions are twisted turning things into a PR nightmare.
To distract her followers from the “Dan disaster” she sets up a fake date with Moe Gava, a fitness influencer. Moe has no filter but is an incredibly likeable character with a “heart of gold”.
After one “fake date” with Moe, things get twisted by SM, and next thing they’re supposed to be in a relationship. Alivia is conflicted - numbers and feedback about the fake relationship are all positive. Can her conscience allow this sham to continue? The author conveys well how quickly and easily things can get out of hand - appearances are not reality, and truths can be blurred.
As the ruse continues, Alivia finds herself communicating more with Travis, Moe’s attractive assistant, who she can’t stop thinking about. Will Alivia complicate her life more, by allowing this attraction to Travis grow? What will happen to her career if her followers find out? The tensions are notched further when Dan appears at Alivia’s door, when he should be on his honeymoon. Oh what a tangled web is weaved!
This was a really interesting insight into the work involved in influencing - something I admit I know very little about.
A sweet romance that may appeal to those looking for POC H/h, faked relationship, slow burn friends to lover vibe, insight into the influencer world.
Story 4/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Smut level 🌶
Thank you to the Author for this ARC- thoughts and opinions are my own.
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