A review by mkm_bookloverarchivistreader
Play Pretend by Claire Brooks

dark emotional funny lighthearted mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

The FMC Willow is a baker while the MMC Ronan her neighbor is a small town sheriff. To Willow the small Maine town feels like home. The development of the FMC and MMC drive this story. This is a character driven narrative with a strong plot which dives into the micro tropes. Willow and Ronan have separate reasons they single. The micro-tropes used to help develop the plot of this character driven narrative are faking dating, he falls first and harder, sheriff vs baker, mental health rep, small town romance, and more.  I highly recommend Claire Brooke’s Debut novel Playing pretend that releases March 14th. The writing of this authors excellent and made this a book I struggled to put down. (More review to come)