Fake Boyfriend
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
He's absolutely perfect.
If only he were real.
Lane and Vivi have had it with Isabelle Hunter's boyfriend, Shawn Littig (a.k.a. Sluttig). He is the only person who can turn their smart, confident best friend into a complete mess. When Shawn Sluttig cheats on and dumps Izzy just months before the prom she's been planning since the ninth grade, Lane and Vivi decide to take action.
With a few quick keystrokes, they create a MySpace page for "Brandon," the perfect guy to get Izzy out of her revolving-door relationship with Shawn. Too bad he's totally fake. Vivi's younger brother, Marshall, who they hire to be the "man" behind the profile, is way too into being Izzy's fake boyfriend. So they turn to cute, prep-school Jonathan to be the face of Brandon. But when Vivi falls for Jonathan, and Sluttig tries to wedge his way back into Izzy's prom picture, the whole plan starts to go south faster than you can say "fake boyfriend."
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
After Isabelle gets dumped yet again by her sleazy boyfriend, her two well-meaning friends invent a dream guy for her, hoping to cheer her up (and keep her from taking him back). Domineering, sharp-tongued Vivi overrides meek Lane's objections and has Lane help create a MySpace page for "Brandon," then gets her younger brother to pretend to be him while IM'ing Izzy; later Vivi bribes Jonathan, a boy from a neighboring school, to pose as Brandon and ask Isabelle to the prom. Readers can guess that this scheme does not turn out to be as "harmless" as Vivi envisions, especially when she herself falls for Jonathan. In fact, except for a few small twists toward the end, the book follows a predictable course, right down to the girls' personal growth (Lane, for example, finally stands up to Vivi). This would be easier to swallow if Brian's (Megan Meade's Guide to the McGowan Boys) characterizations were more imaginative or her prose less standard-issue ("Her logic didn't make her heart hurt any less, and it didn't make the unshed tears recede from her eyes"). Ultimately, the inevitable chaos and happy ending may be all that keep readers turning pages. Ages 14-up.
