Title: Jenna and Jonah’s Fauxmance
Author: Emily Frankin [website] and Brendan Halpin [website] [twitter]
Genre: Contemporary, Romance
Publisher: Walker and Company
Format: Paperback
Source: Publisher
Parental Advisory: language, references to sex, drugs, same sex relationships
Teachable Moments: GLBTQ relationships, honesty, humility, work ethic, privacy, being oneself, freedom of choice

“I emerge from the bathroom — hair long and wavy, my eyes free from their brown murk, my skin glowing — to find Aaron asleep on the bed.  He must’ve been waiting for me out here.  It’s the only bed, I kick myself for realizing now.  I sit next to him and watch him for a minute, wondering what he’s dreaming about.  Lame groupies who send him their thongs in the mail?  College girls who follow his Tweets as though they actually think they know the real him?  Then I pinch myself.  I sound like the jealous girlfriend.  But that’s an act I don’t have to keep up.”

Summary:
Charlie Tracker and Fielding Withers have two jobs.  One is to star in their hit show, Jenna & Jonah’s How to Be a Rock Star, and the other is to start in their own lives.  Pretending to be a real-life couple just like their on-screen alter egos, Charlie and Fielding pose for the cameras and cuddle on cue to maintain their fauxmance, all for the sake of the show’s ratings.  The only problem?  They can barely stand each other.  When a pesky member of the paparazzi starts an explosive rumor about Fielding that could destroy not only their fauxmance but both of their careers, they drop off the grid until the headlines calm down.  Far from the glitz and glamor of Hollywood, Charlie and Fielding finally get to know each other as something more than cogs in the wheel of the Jenna & Jonah enterprise.  Will they like what they see?  Or has this fauxmance-gone-wrong ruined their chance for real love?

Opinion:
Fun and light-hearted Jenna and Jonah’s Fauxmance hit the spot after I’d been through several darker more intense reads prior.  Sure, it too had a spots of angst but I wouldn’t characterize any of the trouble and turmoil as heavy-lifting.  Perhaps that comes from my age and experience more than anything but I wasn’t surprised by the progression of the story or it’s outcome.  Now, I’m not saying that is a bad thing because really it wasn’t.  This is the type of book that you hop right into and enjoy going along for the ride.

I can’t say that either character was spectacularly charismatic but I was glad to see that neither was abundantly cliched. Thankfully, there weren’t any Mileys, Brittanys or Situations here.  Both Charlie and Fielding were famous without question but their lives were relatively tame by today’s standards.  In fact, I greatly appreciated that Franklin and Halpin went that route with the couple.   Jenna was the one who leaned most in that direction, given how she grew up in the business and all, but the authors peppered her with enough recognition and humility that it made her more endearing.  Believe me given the plot she could have been a shrew in two point five seconds but thankfully the authors did well to avoid that temptation.

I have to say if there was one place that could have used a little help in the character development department it would have been in making Fielding a bit more swoon-worthy.  He was nice enough, had good values and goals, but I just didn’t see how teen girls would pine away for him.  He was kind of flat.  The only exception to that was when he was caring towards Jenna, when he showed his feelings and was sharing with her he was his most appealing.

Plot wise, the message of the story, to value people for who they are deep down, was peppered throughout the entire book but wasn’t remotely  preachy.  Seen through Jenna and Jonah’s interactions and discussions I was able to bridge the gap from the public image being portrayed to their true selves then finally through the changes towards who they became.  Both valued family and some of the simpler things in life but each was equally tied to the trappings of fame.  Jenna more so than Jonah — hers was a life built on fame and work while his involvement in both was a means to an end.  Seeing them both approach their circumstances from different angles while realizing their attraction for each other was the best part of the story.

Though it likely sounds like I didn’t like this story that couldn’t be further from the truth.  I did enjoy it a great deal.  An excellent for pre-teens and teens interested in pop-culture who may tend toward the celebrity obsessed Jenna and Jonah’s Fauxmance will satisfy the urge to peek into the lives of the rich and famous. Oh, and it will show them fame isn’t all it’s cracked up to be to boot.