There is a good story here. Sadly it is buried under profoundly terrible writing. Frequently with independently published books I find that editing is terrible (sometimes nonexistent) and that was true here. I don't think there was a single page where there was not a syntax error, often there was more than one misused word, nonword ( for instance, "grinded" is not a word, the word is "ground"), or sentence fragment But while the editing is bad, the writing is even worse. There is not a line of dialogue that sounds like anything anyone has ever said, the observations on on-set life clearly come from watching movies about making movies and not from actually being on a set, and even the depiction of college life at a school like USC is way off base. The side characters particularly were bizarre and unlikable. The best friend, Lucy, was the creepiest. All she wanted to do was sleep on Olive's boob. This was in no way meant to telegraph any sexual desire, just a sleeping preference. The evil roommate was too underdeveloped to be hateworthy, she was just a stock maneater character who wanted to steal other girls' boyfriends. Jason also has a friend who only shows up for one scene, acts weird and dismissive of Olive but is still portrayed as a good guy for some reason. His presence could scarcely be less necessary. Olive's parents are saints, Jason's are their opposite. Another writing issue, the word "chuckle" (chuckled/chuckling) is used hundreds of times. No one laughs, giggles, or guffaws. All respect to the greatest generation, but who under the age of 80 uses that word? Why are these 20-somethings using it all the time?

Bottom line - skip this one. ( )

Wow! I was set to give this a 4 up until about halfway then It hit all my "love to read" buttons! E M writes some smoking hot erotic scenes! I really loved this book and her writing style. I plan to check out other books by this author. ( )

This was a cute, fun way to start my reading journey for 2022!

Olive has been in love with her brother’s best friend Jason since the moment she laid eyes on him at the age of seven. By the time she had turned 14, he had inadvertently broken her heart and then moved away. Eight years later, they meet again when she has written a book that gained massive popularity to the point that they wanted to make a movie of it. And imagine her surprise when the star of the movie turned out to be Jason. And imagine her further surprised when, due to his rampant man whore ways, Jason needed a fake wife to help clean up his image. Determined to make him love her, Olive agrees to be the wife. But little does she know that getting Jason to fall in love with her probably won’t be as difficult as she imagines.

This book was so super adorable. I will admit that it was a little strange to hear her at seven talk about how much in love she was with him. And overall, she was kind of a sap for him and I believe let him get away with more than she should have. But Jason was really good to her and he was good for her. And even though she believes she’s been in love with him her whole life, I think they fell in love with each other for real during the course of their fake marriage. She had to learn to love the man he had grown into and he had to learn to see her as an adult woman and realize that she wasn’t that little girl following him around anymore.

Most of the book is spent watching them fall for each other. But there is a tiny bit of drama at the end, but it’s not bad and it doesn’t last for a long time. It has a very satisfying resolution. Her friend Lucy was the best. And I can’t wait to read her book next. ( )

Olive had her heart broken by her childhood crush, who was her big brother's best friend, and although it was years ago and Jason moved away when they were still kids, she still carries a torch for him. So much so, in fact, that she wrote a romance novel with a main couple that's a barely-disguised version of her and Jason. Things take a turn for the crazy when her novel gets optioned and the studio gets Jason himself (now a huge movie star) to play the male lead, and then there's an even crazier turn when he asks Olive to marry him in a PR ploy to get his rep back on trap (he's a bit of a bad boy, dontcha know). Will he actually fall in love with her so she can make her live-long love dreams a reality? Of course he will.

A pretty standard contemporary romance, I think, by which I mean it's an enjoyable, non-taxing read with some fun sexy bits thrown in. ( )

Olive has loved Jason Thorn since she was a kid, so much so, that she wrote a book about her feelings for him. Nobody is more surprised than Olive when her book becomes a bestseller, but the kicker is that after it is optioned for a film adaptation, Jason is cast as the lead. Jason is living with his own challenges as his behavior with women is not only becoming legendary, but it is also sabotaging his own career. Seeing Olive again is like a breath of fresh air and spending time with her, makes him realize how much he has always cared for her, but when the tabloids get wind of their friendship, Jason's publicity team comes up with an interesting idea.

To Love Jason Thorn is a good romance with several well executed tropes but unfortunately is extremely predictable. The two main characters are likable in this dual POV story, but the formulaic nature of the book makes it difficult to become fully invested in the development of their arcs. There are a couple of twists near the end of the book that add interest to the story, but overall, To Love Jason Thorn doesn't add anything new to the genre. ( )