Faking It by Spanglemaker9

Faking It

by Spanglemaker9

Faking It

Spanglemaker9

32

158,610

3200

Half of Hollywood’s most famous couples are faking it. That’s how Bella Swan’s publicist convinces her to pretend to date troubled Hollywood bad boy Edward Cullen. And she'll do anything for her band and her music.

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profitina

The basic premise of the story is that Bella & Edward's publicists suggest
they fake that they're dating so that the media storm will give Bella's band, Eclipse, publicity and help clean up Edward's image. They go on several public dates and Edward is forced to give up his wilder ways to act like he's become a new man. My friend, Becca, kept telling me how awesome this story was and after seeing it continually recommended I finally gave in. Once I got into this story, I couldn't stop reading until I reached the end. Out of the hundred or so fics I've read up until this point, it may have happened a handful of other times- WA, EP, CWaIA, tRL and the Screamers coming to mind.

Compared to those, this story has a lot more fluff which generally makes my attention drift between chapters. However, the extreme unresolved sexual tension between Edward and Bella sucked me in early and kept me there until the end.

Bella's band, Eclipse, has just won on “America’s Next Great Band” and are dealing with their new found fame and life in LA. Her bandmates are life long friends from Forks- Emmett, Jasper, and Rosalie. As usual, Rosalie and Jasper are twins; however, in this story, Emmett is Bella's cousin. Soon after Jasper's introduced in the story, it hit me that “Holy crap! She's describing Jackson!”. I could clearly picture Jackson Rathbone fiddling with his guitar and talking in his light Texas accent as I read Jasper's parts of the story. Usually I only have an abstract idea of the characters so it was interesting to have that Aha! Moment. Instead of being a bitch, Rose is more of a big sister to Bella. She keeps her emotions hidden unless she wants you to see them and is wary of those outside her inner circle while being fiercely protective of her inner circle. This Emmett embodies most his typical stereotypes- he's easy going, loud, and an overgrown kid.

Bella is the lead singer of Eclipse and plays her 'accessible girl next door' role well. Bella is very confident in her element but has trouble standing on her own outside of it. Initially she has trouble doing things for herself without looking to someone in her group for guidance. She often looks to Rose to see her opinion on something instead of just going with her gut. Unlike the majority of other fics, Bella comes into the story with her own closely knit support group. Usually its the opposite, where Edward has lived in Forks for a while and thus already has friends.

Edward is a previously successful actor who is now unemployable due to his reckless partying. He was considered one of the most talented actors of his generation but now no one will take the risk of hiring him. Despite this, he is still considered to be an A-list actor and is invited to all the big events. The basic character traits of Edward being the asshole badboy who needs to be saved from himself is well used in the fanfic community but for good reason. Deep down, there's a part in many of us that have wanted to change the bad boy and are able to do so vicariously through Bella in these fics. His only close friend is his cousin, Alice. This Alice has more to her than the typical makeover happy fashionista. Alice is Edward's stylist and by extension becomes Bella's as well. The author describes the process of getting ready and attending premiers in such detail that its easy to picture them happening, even if I've never stepped close to a red carpet or had a real life Alice. Usually those types of scenes bore me because they're so out of my element but they kept me sucked in because of how vividly she describes them.

My largest complaint with this fic is the constant miscommunication between the characters. Yes, some conflict is needed to move the story along, but when a simple conversation could solve a huge problem I feel like screaming at the characters. Edward is convinced there's something going on with Bella and Jasper but never asks while Alice gives Edward no indication that shes even into Jasper. As is often the case, this leads to characters jumping to conclusions that could have easily been by passed by a few words. Overall, I like this fic because Edward slowly evolves into a better person and learns from his mistakes instead of having a sudden epiphany like in many other fics.

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I think Faking It had been on my rec'd list for a while, but I just never had the chance to read it. So I was happy when it came up on our rec list and I had an excuse to finally do so.

The premise is definitely something new and I loved how the author wove the details in regarding the Hollywood life - just enough to make it interesting and believable but not so much that made you lose interest.

I will admit that I actually really, really hated this Edward at first. It wasn't for several chapters that I actually took to him and was able to enjoy his character. Bella's, on the other hand, I liked right off the bat. Fierce, loyal, down-to-earth with a subtle sexiness.

The chemistry between the two of them is hot throughout the entire fic - before the sexytimes commence, we get loads of UST. But once the pants come off? Hello 36 hours of Edward's peen. The smut is wonderful, but not gratuitous. It's there when it's needed but not just because. I will say...the beej in the kitchen? ZOMG...I think that may have been one of the hottest BJ scenes I've read.

A couple things did snag me up in this fic...there is some heartfail, and it's the worst kind in my wussperv mind, so I found about 5 chapters pretty difficult to read. Fortunately it's a completed story, so you can just fast forward and go right to the HEA. The other thing that held me up was the lack of beta...this story would be pretty damn close to perfect if the errors throughout could get polished.

Other than that, we have a great story with a believable arc and progression. It's refreshing to see a story utilize smut without gorging us on it and still keeping the sexual tension running throughout.

I give this 4 out of 5 fish tacos.


I stumbled upon this quite recently, it was one of those stories I went into with no expectations or awareness. I have to say I was hooked straight away. In these days of media and not knowing what is false and what is real - Faking It's premise is really engrossing...

Sweet, innocent, nation's sweetheart Bella going out with the bad boy of cinema. Or is she? What the public don't know is that it was all engineered by PR spin, or at least it was.....

For us the reader to believe in the AMAZINGLY powerful and all encompassing desire and chemistry between these two, we first have to believe in who they are before their relationship show begins...Thanks to tight & incredible characterisations we really do. We need this characterisation and story lines to stay tight to keep believing in them, when they move from staged to reality, and then when disaster strikes.. Because yes disaster does befall this pair. Again its completely believable, yet dramatic and heartbreaking. The careful character build up and epic sexing of the earlier chapters to a) keep me sane during the heartfail, & b)believe they will find their way out of the mess. The way they find their way out, is yet again true to their characters and the amazing characterisations spanglemaker has established.

I must say this is a very very sexy story. The pull between these 2 characters is immense and they spend so long misunderstanding the others feelings and intentions they do themselves out of a lot of hot sexing. . . .This does mean they basically have weeks of foreplay and teasing, driving each other insane as they convince themselves their feelings are one-sided. But when they are together? Wow. Hot & intense. But as it can so often do, the lust also clouds their brain to the other aspects of relationships.. These 2 sex kittens would have been better sitting down & communicating their true feelings and the immense depth of their feelings, that way the their miscommunication would not have destroyed them so. The whole first 2/3 of the story is really one miscommunication and misunderstanding built upon another. These errors almost kill their relationship and each other.

A particularly clever misunderstanding is Edward's take on Jasper and his irrational hatred of him. If the others had been honest about what was happening, that misunderstanding would have been dissolved very quickly - instead it festers and takes on weight & makes things very bad. . . . Its very cleverly done.

But their road back together is also believable and works so damn well. I was one happy bunny at the end of this fic.As well as there being hot & intense times in this fic there are also beautiful loving and lovely scenes. Their surprise time in the studio singing together is a beautiful scene, as is their first real date at the sea with Taco's. Just gah lovely! I seriously cannot recc this fic enough. Hot sexing. Great characterisations - a fun, pacy story that you read so quickly as its a horny delight to read.

4.5 fish tacos from me out of 5.

Faking It is a story about Edward (the bad boy movie star with lots of potential) and Bella (the rock star musician who needs to stay in the spotlight). Their publicists cook up this scheme for them to date for the cameras, and things progress.

Their first date is half UST, half disaster. Chapter 11 has this build-up of tension and UST that is fantastic.

“His head was tilted slightly in my direction and he was looking at me. His eyes looked black in the darkness of the theater. I didn’t immediately look away. Whatever I was feeling before was amplified by a thousand now that we were locking eyes. He had to be feeling something, too. Slowly, I felt his thumb swipe across the back of my knuckles. My breathing hitched, my heart pounded and I prayed he didn’t hear it. I cut my eyes back to the front where the movie was starting. Out of the corner of my eye I could see he didn’t move, he was still watching me.

His thumb began to make lazy passes across the knuckles of my right hand. I thought I might go crazy from the slow repetitive sensation.”

There are sprinkles of a budding romance dropped in slowly, like:

“For at least tonight, we’d be together like real people.”

The lines begin to blur for them; what is required for publicity and what is time the spend together because they like it?

I love the relationship between Bella and Rose in this story, and also Bella's friendship with Alice.

I learned to love the word “later” in chapter 18. And chapter 19? I'm pretty sure there are no words for chapter 19. Maybe GUH. Or UNG. Yum. More? Yes, please. Thank you. Mmm.

Pretty sure I died ded in chapter 22 at:

“This one is all for you, Bella,” he murmured, pulling my face down to kiss him gently one more time. “All for you.”

*swoon*

The banter, joking, and playfulness between Bella and Edward is really lovely in the last third of this story.

Chapter 28 just about killed me. And made me cry. Then 31 did the same. This story ends on a high note, and I really loved it.

4.5 out of 5 fish tacos, because who knew they could be so romantic?


First of all, "Faking It" has a very cool storyline. The whole plot being based on the theory that a lot of Hollywood couples were conceived out of convenience make sense. I mean honestly? Nick and Jessica? Tom and Nicole? Donny and Marie? Oh wait, nevermind.

Edward isn't necessarily a dickhead in the beginning but he's not exactly a nice guy either. He's a celebrity that's lost his way. He bought into the life of a star, the money, the booze, the loose and flexible women, all of it consumed him and he pulled a LiLo and his career went toe up.

Enter, Aro and Laurent, two steely PR guys that concoct the perfect scheme to reinvent young Mr. Cullen's down trodden image by hooking him up with America's Sweetheart Bella Swan, lead singer of Eclipse.

The tension is insane between the protagonists. So much that I may have drooled slightly on my keyboard after the restaurant. JFC Spangle writes a scrumptious Edward. She also manages to write a Bella that I don't want to toss off of a cliff. All the characters, while not in the spotlight, are written very well for supporting parts.

The smut? Yes, the smut is perfect for them. Bella holds off for longer than I think anyone else would have. She was smart though. She kept him at arms length to protect herself from her burgeoning feelings for him. Once they finally did let go though, holy hell. The word 'later' was never so hot!

All in all, it's mostly wussperv safe, save for a few bumps in the road but it's a great read.

4.5/5 tasty fish tacos


I can't remember how I first stumbled on Faking It. I suspect I might have found it in someone's favorites, that's how I find a lot of stories to read. The summary intrigued me, both as a fic and also as wondering if something like that really goes on in Hollywood. Wouldn't surprise me at all.

I liked Bella right away, she's the sweetheart we all know, willing to do things she may not personally like for the sake of the people she loves, in this case, her band, Eclipse. A brief encounter with Edward at a club sparks the idea for the arrangement between the band's publicist and Edward's.

Edward is kind of an all-around jackass who needs to clean up his image, so enters sweet, girl-next-door Bella. They get off to a somewhat rocky start, but even through that the UST between them is through the roof.

Nearly the entire time, Edward is operating on a misconception which eventually leads to a lot of their issues together. Though as time passes, we see the nicer, softer side of Edward, the man who he could really be underneath his messed up exterior he shows to the world.

There was some angst and it was tough, but knowing that the story was complete made it easier to push through. Through it we see just how much Edward has changed, and how their relationship has grown from the arrangement it started as.

But yes, the part you all want to know, since this is the Perv Pack. The sex. It was hot. It was incredibly hot. After all the build-up, the UST, the near-misses, when it finally happens. Dear Lord, it's hot. And every other pertinent time it occurs, just as effing hot as the first time.

This gets 4.5 out of 5 fish tacos from me


I'll be honest and say, that in my slightly hermit-ish ways, I hadn't heard anything about Faking It. So when I started reading for the weekly rec, I had no preconceived notions. I was really excited to start something that was new and fresh.

Bella the rocker chick has been done before. But not quite like this. First, it's fabulous that her band, Eclipse, wins "America's Next Great Band." Probably because I have big love for American Idol and I can definitely picture Bella, Jasper, Emmett, and Rose up on stage with the likes of Simon, Paula, and Randy judging. Second, I love the image of Bella as America's sweetheart. Fits her so well. She's the girl next door, only so much cooler because she can rock out.

Edward is the extremely talented, yet impossibly destructive, actor. He's an ass and I wanted to smack him a few times there. But at the same time, I felt sorry for him; caught up in the hype of being famous. He needs someone to get him under control. And that someone is Bella. Only, she seems to make him lose control...in a very sexy way. Their first "date," the "nuzzling," oh my.

The UST is fabulous, the sexy times even better. It's not gratuitous but a way to enhance the story. 4/5 fish tacos.

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