REVIEW: Acting Brave (Fenbrook Academy #3) By, Helena Newbury

She's spent her whole life acting. But can she make him believe she doesn't love him?
Three years ago, a terrified girl named Emma fled a world of crime and abuse in Chicago and bought a one-way ticket to New York. She reinvented herself as an actress, enrolled at the prestigious Fenbrook Academy and buried her pain beneath a vivacious new persona. Her new name was Jasmine.


Now she has to pull off the performance of her career.
Landing her dream part in a police show, she finds herself falling for her co-star, Ryan, a real-life cop. If she lets him get too close, he'll awaken memories she doesn't want to face and uncover secrets that could endanger them both. But how can she keep a guy at arm's length when she has to kiss him on camera?

The last place Ryan imagined himself was on a TV show.
Blaming himself for the death of his partner, he's on a downward spiral of rage and guilt. The show is his last chance...but how can he keep it professional when his co-star is a woman he's crazy about?

As their on-screen and off-screen relationships merge, things go from hot to blistering. But when Jasmine's old life catches up with her, will a cop be the one person she can't be around...or the only person who can save her?

Recommended for 17+ due to mature scenes.

Review

If you have read the previous Fenbrook Academy books then you Jasmine as the fun, flirty, and slightly slutty friend of Nat, Karen, and Clarissa. Now we get the full heartbreaking story. She comes off as a free spirit that doesn’t mind doling out advice to her friends. She’s an actress and no one knows how good of one she is. We get to follow her acting career and see her fall in love. There is so much more to this story. We have Jasmine, Emma, Hux, and of course Ryan. We get some appearances from the other couples as well.

Jasmine doesn’t exists. Three years ago Emma ran from her horrible and terrifying life in Chicago. She got a one way ticket to New York and hasn’t looked back. She created Jasmine so that she can hide Emma and all of the hurt she went through. Now three years later she has made friends but she doesn’t really have anyone to lean on. She keeps to herself and that’s how she likes it. Now she has an acting job on a cop drama. While this is her dream she can’t and doesn’t trust cops. They have never helped her before. Except this one bright spot that is Ryan.

Ryan is a beat cop in New York. He fell in love with Jasmine from afar. Never letting himself get closer than seeing her on her way to lunch from the academy. He made an assumption about Jasmine the first time they met a year before and hasn’t been able to talk to her since. He is a wall of muscle that underneath it all is so sweet and soft. Ryan has a few demons of his own that he needs to overcome which is why he is the leading man on a cop drama instead of the beat cop he really is.

Now Ryan and Jasmine are on screen lovers, growing closer every day. Jasmine finally realizes that she needs Ryan. Whether she can trust the cop in him is something she fights with. Jasmine knows she can’t survive as Jasmine much longer so she needs to deside if Ryan is worth showing Emma to. The girl she is underneath and all of the baggage and damage she carries.

While this story was a little heavier than the others I really liked this one. Helena Newbury takes her time building up these characters which works because they both have heavy demons that the reader needs to feel. The author builds up the tension and works every angle into her writing flawlessly. We have the slow building trust and romance, Jasmine’s past vying for attention and the tv show. There is a lot going on in this story. I think Jasmine’s story might have been the best one yet. This is a standalone but I would recommended reading them in order so you know all of the characters and their personalities.

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