Official Description: 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.
Word Count: 152,804
Don’t miss the Outtakes!
–
In a fandom where we’re constantly asking ‘are they or aren’t they?’ and ‘PR relationship or true love?’, I can’t think of a more relevant storyline than one about two famous people being brought together by their publicists. No, this story isn’t about Ashley Greene and Joe Jonas and their epic romance. It’s also not about the very obvious PR relationship poor Robert and Kristen have been forced to fake over many, many months and several continents. I’m talking about Bella Swan, whose band, Eclipse, has just won “America’s Next Great Band” and Edward Cullen, the bad boy movie star who is now unemployable due to some reckless behavior.
I hate revealing storylines and plots in reviews, so I’ll just talk about how much fun this story is. I read it a long, long time ago, and remember anxiously waiting between updates and pestering people about how angsty they thought it was going to get, what they thought about Edward, how pretty Bella’s dress was, and of course, how insanely hot the sex was. Because the sex here is really, really hot. I mean, there’s arm-chewing in limos and Edward is delicious.
(Although his arm isn’t the one that’s getting chewed)
When Kassiah told me that “Faking It” hasn’t been reviewed on The Fictionators, I was shocked, because this story is a Twific classic. I’m not even sure why I’m writing this right now, because everyone has read it, right? If you haven’t, you really should. The plot is interesting and fun. Spanglemaker9 has developed characters who you’ll root for, and when she describes pretty things, it’s the best! You will absolutely love reading about Bella getting ready for events. No one writes pretty dresses, complex characters, and UST quite like Spanglemaker9. I have no doubt that anyone who reads this story will end up falling in love with her words, and one of the hottest Edwards in Twific.
I was one of those people that littlesecret mentioned that hadn’t read this story until this week. And I fell in love (thanks to cosmogirl7481 and marvar29 for pimping it to me).
spanglemaker9 managed to create two great characters who find themselves stuck in an impossible position. And then they both find the one thing neither of them expected… each other.
While we’ve seen our Edward as an actor a few times in fic, it’s not common that we see Bella as a famous person too. In this case, she’s the face of her band Eclipse, and she’s the good girl to our bad boy… Edward. Edward is in need of a reputation makeover, while miss Bella is trying to get her band in the spotlight.
These two start off their shaky ‘fake’ relationship with a very public date, that turns into something neither expected:
“Hey, Bella,” I murmured, scooting closer to her with a smile, “See that guy at that table over there? Don’t look!” I motioned nearly imperceptibly with my chin. She nodded. “He’s media. Spying on us. I think we should give him a little something to report, don’t you?”
Her eyes widened in alarm. Christ, was being touched by me really such an unpleasant prospect to her? “Relax, it’s just for show. You’re safe.”And before she could flip out or protest, I angled my body across hers and buried my face in the crook of her neck.
“See? No big deal,” I whispered into her neck. She just about leapt out of her skin.
“You’re tickling me!” she hissed.
“Hold still!”
“But it tickles when you talk!” she was squirming underneath me and trying to stifle a giggle.
“Quit wiggling! Okay, I won’t talk. I’ll just nuzzle.”
She started to squeal, but I slid my right hand up to the base of her neck and angled her head to the side, giving me better access to her neck. I trailed my lips along the length of her neck, just barely touching her. I meant to just goof around, give the guy a show and maybe get a rise out of Bella at the same time. But now that I was here, with my nose buried in her hair, her floral, slightly spicy scent was making me lightheaded. And her hair, what was that scent?
Strawberries. It was such a simple girlish smell. I was used to women smelling like a complex mix of very expensive grooming products. Her silly strawberry shampoo was killing me. And there was this feeling when I touched her like this, like electricity, I could feel it sing along my fingers and down my spine. It was crazy, and intoxicating, and I didn’t want to stop.
That made me a bit flaily… as did several other parts of this story. What follows their arrangement is sweet and adorable and just what I look for when I’m trying to find a good story. I highly recommend checking it out, and it’s complete so you can dig in and consume it all at once!
You’re missing out if you haven’t already read this story!
Oh, Faking It… this is a fic I really miss; it’s an oldie, but a goody. It’s been almost a year now since it ended, but it’s still my favorite Edward as a famous actor fic. In fact, it’s pretty much the only one, as far as I’m concerned because all others pale by comparison. It does switch POVs a little more than I’d normally enjoy, but it doesn’t necessarily detract from the fic.
Why do I like it? Well, for starters, it’s well-written and unique in that Bella is an adult in a famous band. The whole premise is that Edward is kind of a douche who needs an image makeover, and Bella’s a good girl with a good reputation – her agent talks her into fake dating Edward as a way to a] make him seem less of a jackass and b] get more publicity for the band.
“My law school friend, Laurent, happens to be publicist to Edward Cullen. And yesterday, after this tidbit hit the internet, I received a phone call from him. We had lunch, and he has made us a very intriguing proposition.” Aro stopped and leaned back in his chair, flexing his fingertips together, fixing me with his steady, steel blue gaze. “You and Edward Cullen. An arrangement.”
“WHAT?” I shot out of my seat.
Aro quickly held up a hand to calm me. “Please, Bella, let’s just discuss the whole thing in detail before you dismiss it out of hand.”
“You want her to whore herself out to Edward Cullen?” Emmett roared behind me, “I don’t think there’s anything to discuss!”
“No, no, no,” Aro’s patient demeanor never faltered. “There would be no actual intimacy between them. He would never lay a finger on her, if she so chose. Will you at least listen to the situation before you refuse?”
I looked back at the others. Emmett and Jasper looked tense, but controlled. Rose looked calm, willing to listen. I trusted Rose and her instincts above anything else. If Rose wanted to listen, then I would listen.
I took a deep steadying breath and raked my hands through my hair to push it off my face. I slowly lowered myself back into my chair.
“Explain it to me. All of it.”
And so it begins.
If you’re one of the few people in the fandom who hasn’t read this fic, I recommend giving it a try. It’s an interesting look at celebrity and definitely makes you consider what’s real and what’s not in Hollywood.
I don’t know what I can add besides I love this story, and I know you will, too. It’s classic and Spanglemaker is one of the most talented writers out there. It’s one of my favorites, and I hope you’ll read it 
Recent Comments