“Always date a boy who loves animals.” – 4/5 stars!

Attention! This book contains: cute dogs, coffee shops, social media, viral videos, shelters, coworkers, secrets, catfishes, and a lactose intolerance.

When a girl overhears a guy getting verbally destroyed by his friends for being catfished, she jumps in to save the day—and pretends to be his online crush.

Wren is used to being called a control freak. She doesn’t care; sticking to the list of rules she created for herself helps her navigate life. But when a cute guy named Asher walks through the door of her neighborhood coffee shop, the rulebook goes out the window.

Asher is cute, charming… and being catfished by his online crush. So Wren makes an uncharacteristically impulsive decision—she pretends to be the girl he’s waiting for to save him from embarrassment. Suddenly she’s fake-dating a boy she knows nothing about. And it’s… amazing.

It’s not long before Asher has her breaking even more of her own rules. But will he forgive her when he finds out she’s not who she says she is? Wren’s not so sure… After all, rules exist for a reason.

Does Kasie West ever miss? I don’t think so! This was such a cute book! I’m a huge fan of hers and have read almost all of her books, so I wasn’t surprised by how much I enjoyed this one.
What I loved most about this book was its theme—it’s perfect for animal lovers! It feels like the author wanted to create a story in honor of her late dog, which makes it even more special.
Our main character, Wren, is a volunteer at an animal shelter, and she has a favorite dog named Bean (seriously, the cutest name ever!). Bean has been in the shelter for nine months without being adopted, making him the longest resident there. I found this interesting because, in reality, many animals spend their entire lives in shelters without ever finding a home. I think the author made this choice to keep the story a bit lighter, which makes sense, but it still got me thinking!
Now, onto the romance! Wren meets the love interest in an interesting way—she overhears him and his friend talking about how he’s waiting for a date who never shows up. His friend teases him about being catfished, and Wren, feeling bad for him, decides to pretend she’s the girl he was supposed to meet. And I’ll leave it at that!
The only thing I didn’t love was the social media aspect of the story. It’s just a personal pet peeve—I’m not a fan of books that focus a lot on posts, likes, and going viral, so take my opinion with a grain of salt!
Overall, this book was super adorable. The romance was sweet, the plot was engaging, and I was rooting for Bean the entire time. Definitely recommend it!