The Fill-In Boyfriend by Kasie West

I added The Fill-In Boyfriend to my library queue cause it sounded cute and easy. It was cute but it had some unexpected depth that I really enjoyed.

Gia is dumped by her boyfriend, Bradley, just before prom. Since it was a long distance relationship, none of Gia's friends met Bradley. Gia sees a guy in the parking lot she doesn't know so she begs him to come in and fill in for Bradley. He agrees and Gia and fill-in Bradley have a good time at prom. In the days following prom, Gia thinks about fill-in Bradley more than the real Bradley so she does some investigating and finds fill-in Bradley.

The beginning of The Fill-In Boyfriend is cute and light. Gia's perfect. She's the student body president. She's going to UCLA in the fall. She also popular and pretty. She seems to have it all. Except that no one really knows her. She keeps everyone at arms length and she bottles up all her feelings. But when she meets someone that sees past all that, she's thrown for a loop. The Fill-in Boyfriend reminded me of My Life Next Door. Starts of light and moves in some more seriousness but not in an overly preachy way. Gia doesn't have to be perfect and slowly she learns to be herself.

I really liked The Fill-In Boyfriend and would recommend it to fans of contemporary YA. I'll be looking for West's other books. Others who shared their thoughts on The Fill-In Boyfriend: Midnight Book Girl, Good Books Good Wine, Dark Faerie Tales, and The Hopeless Reader.