☆ (Star rating and rating badge to be added by editor)
| Overall | [9.4] | Romance | [9] |
| Characters | [7.2] | Writing | [8.4] |
| Emotion | [7.1] | Heat | [6.8] |
| Ending | [9] | Re-read value | [4.5] |
A washed-up-adjacent pop star and a girl-next-door actress agree to fake a relationship for the cameras, with one rule: none of it is supposed to be real. Naturally, neither of them reads the fine print on her own feelings.
If you gravitate toward fauxmance plots, Hollywood-adjacent fame, and two strong-willed women who spar before they soften, In Development by Rachel Spangler is worth a look. It leans into the celebrity-romance trope more directly than most sapphic romance on this list, and it commits to that premise all the way through.
Our take: this is a fast, funny fauxmance built on genuinely sharp dialogue and a strong sense of two very different kinds of famous women colliding. The trade-off is a supporting lead whose motivations do not always hold together as cleanly as the central romance, which occasionally undercuts the back half. Still worth reading for anyone who enjoys this trope done with real chemistry.
Quick Facts
| Author | Rachel Spangler |
| Publisher | Brisk Press |
| Publication date | May 19, 2018 |
| Pages | 303 |
| Language | English |
| Series | Standalone |
| Series order | N/A |
| Genres | Contemporary Lesbian Romance, Hollywood Romance |
| Format | Kindle, Paperback, Audiobook |
| ASIN | B07D6FV5BZ (Kindle) |
Reader Match
Perfect for readers who…
- ✓ Love a headline-grabbing fake dating setup between two famous women
- ✓ Enjoy a Hollywood/celebrity romance with dueling public personas
- ✓ Like dual POV that lets you sit inside both women’s heads during their disagreements
- ✓ Want banter-forward leads who needle each other before they open up
- ✓ Do not mind one lead being harder to warm up to than the other
Avoid If
Skip this if you want…
- A romantic lead who is easy to like from page one (Lila divides readers)
- Airtight internal logic behind every character’s backstory and motivation
- Minimal use of the “retroactive declaration” trope during the reconciliation
- A story that treats music-industry detail with documentary-level accuracy
Book Synopsis
Cobie Galloway built an entire career on being Hollywood’s reliable girl-next-door, and that reliability is exactly what is holding her back from the kind of role she actually wants. Studios see her as too safe for the edgier parts she is chasing, and her team floats an unusual fix: pair her, publicly, with someone whose reputation can toughen up her image by association.
Enter Lila Wilder, a pop star whose talent for staying culturally relevant is starting to slip, and whose parade of throwaway celebrity boyfriends has stopped generating headlines. A tightly managed, camera-ready fauxmance solves a problem for both of their careers at once, provided they can stick to the plan: play the part in public, keep it strictly professional in private, and never mistake the performance for anything real.
That plan holds for about as long as these plans ever do. Working in close quarters and trading barbs that start to feel more like flirtation, Cobie and Lila find the arrangement harder to keep purely transactional than either expected. As old insecurities, family pressure, and the demands of their separate careers push back against whatever is growing between them, both women have to decide whether they are willing to let something real survive inside a relationship that was only ever supposed to be for show.
My Review
The strongest thing In Development has going for it is voice. Spangler writes two very different registers for Cobie and Lila, and their scenes together crackle because the friction feels specific rather than generic opposites-bicker energy. Cobie’s earnestness and Lila’s guarded, deal-making mindset make a believable odd match, and their scenes are frequently funny before they turn tender.
The Hollywood/celebrity backdrop is used well throughout, with managers, publicists, and a small ensemble of friends (Cobie’s sister and best friend, Lila’s business partner and his boyfriend) giving both women’s worlds enough texture that the fame angle never feels like set dressing. The dual POV structure works in the book’s favor here, letting readers see both women’s private read on the same public moments.
Where the book is more divisive is Lila herself. Several readers have pointed out that her stated need for control and self-reliance sits awkwardly next to how much risk she has clearly taken to get where she is, and that tension between her backstory and her career choices can pull focus away from the romance in the back half. A late conflict, followed by a who-cared-first style reconciliation, is a trope some readers enjoy and others find frustrating, and it is worth knowing that going in.
On heat, the book takes an interesting approach: the first time Cobie and Lila sleep together happens off-page, filtered through their reactions afterward rather than shown directly, before the story shifts into a smaller number of more explicit scenes later on. That places it at a moderate heat level overall rather than a consistently high one.
Taken as a whole, this is a fauxmance that earns its charm through dialogue and chemistry first, with plot mechanics a clear second, which is a trade plenty of readers of this trope will happily make.
Romance Profile
| Relationship | FF |
| Trope | Fake Dating / Fauxmance, Hollywood Romance, Rivals-to-Lovers |
| Age Gap | Not a factor |
| Slow Burn | Yes |
| Forced Proximity | Some (joint publicity appearances and shared management) |
| Heat | Medium (first encounter off-page, several explicit scenes later) |
| Ending | HEA |
| Representation | Lesbian |
| Dual POV | Yes |
Emotional Profile
- Funny
- Swoony
- Angsty (moderate)
- Hopeful
Content Warnings
- Public scrutiny, paparazzi intrusion, and fame-related privacy loss
- Past betrayal and trust issues affecting a main character’s ability to open up
- On-page explicit sexual content in later chapters
Book DNA
| Main Tropes | Fake Dating/Fauxmance, Hollywood Romance, Rivals-to-Lovers, Slow Burn |
| Relationship Dynamics | Guarded rival to genuine partner, public “showmance” vs. private feelings, banter that gives way to vulnerability |
| Emotional Journey | Self-protective distance to earned trust; learning to separate real intimacy from performance |
| Reader Moods | Amused, Swoony, Frustrated (at times), Hopeful |
| Themes | Image vs. authenticity, the cost of fame, learning to trust after being let down before |
| Tone | Witty and banter-driven, with real stakes underneath the humor |
| Heat | Medium |
| Ending | HEA |
| Representation | Lesbian |
Similar Books
- Casting Lacey by Elle Spencer
- Just for Show by Jae
- And Playing the Role of Herself by K.E. Lane
- Breaking Character by Lee Winter
- Thrust by Rachel Spangler
Read abot similar books at Sapphic fake dating romance
About the Author
Rachel Spangler is a prolific American author of sapphic romance whose debut novel, Learning Curve, kicked off a long backlist. In Development was her twelfth novel and reflects the same strengths readers return to her for: fast, funny dialogue and slow-burn pacing between women who are easy to root for even when they are difficult to like. She has since published many more titles, including Perfect Pairing, Modern English, Thrust, and Edge of Glory, and has been recognized as a multiple-time Lambda Literary Award finalist and Golden Crown Literary Award winner. Spangler lives in western New York with her family.
Read more Rachel Spangler reviews →
FAQ
Is In Development spicy?
It sits at a medium heat level. The first intimate scene happens off-page, and a handful of more explicit scenes follow later in the story.
Does In Development have a happy ending?
Yes, the book ends with a clear HEA for Cobie and Lila.
Can In Development be read as a standalone?
Yes. It is a standalone novel, not part of a series.
Is In Development slow burn?
Yes, the romance builds gradually as the fake relationship becomes harder for both leads to keep purely professional.
Is there an age gap in In Development?
No, age gap is not a significant element of this story.
Who narrates the audiobook?
The audiobook is narrated by Ann Etter.
Is In Development a fake dating romance?
Yes. A manager-arranged fauxmance between two famous women is the entire premise.
Does In Development use dual POV?
Yes, chapters alternate between Cobie’s and Lila’s perspectives.
Final Verdict
Who should read it: fans of celebrity/Hollywood romance, fake dating plots, and dual-POV banter with real chemistry.
Who shouldn’t: readers who need every character’s motivation to be airtight, or who dislike the “who loved who first” reconciliation trope.
Final score: 7.7 / 10 (3.8 / 5 stars)
Affiliate Disclosure
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Casting Lacey’s biggest strength is its dialogue. Spencer writes banter that actually sounds like two quick, defensive people sparring rather than the more common romance-novel version of “witty” back-and-forth, and that voice carries the first half of the book almost entirely on its own. Quinn and Lacey are drawn with real specificity, an ice-queen control freak and a mouthy, self-protective sarcasm machine, and watching those particular defenses fail against each other is more satisfying than a lot of enemies-to-lovers setups manage, even though this is closer to rivals-to-reluctant-allies than true enemies.