Brand new author for me. This be was a sweet story, kind of fauxmance, with nice characters, and unfortunately with unresolved issues between one of the main characters and her family (a theme in a lot of lesbian fiction). There was very little angst also, which was strange.. This angst moment was a rather strangely placed break-up that happens very, very late in the story. All in all not a terrible story, but it could have been a lot better

I really enjoy reading books that have the fake relationship that turn into a real relationship theme. This book is exactly that.
Victoria grandmother's birthday gala is coming up and she has no one to accompany her. Her mother is hell bent on fixing her up with potential bachelors even though Victoria has told her that she is a lesbian. She knows that she needs to bring a woman to this gala to stop her mother from meddling further in her love life.
Victoria is taking over her sister's responsibilities for a planning committee for the casino they both work at. Mara is also on the committee. As the two spend more time with the planning, Victoria convinces Mara to accompany her to the gala, and trying to get everyone to believe they are an actual couple. Of course, with the acting like a couple, they realize they are very compatible.
If you enjoy books that have this theme, this is for you.
I would recommend.
I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I would like to extend my gratitude to the author #CheriRitz, publisher #BellaBooks and NetGalley for sending me this advanced reader’s copy in return for a fair, frank, and honest review.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I loved the characters and how they were developed through the story. When the girls were in the Café meeting for lunch it took me back to the days of The L Word. The story was predictable, but I loved it. Many lesbian storylines are predominantly about sex, and graphic sex at that but this one was not which was refreshing. There was more to each character than just that.

The story begins with Mara and Victoria meeting whilst Mara is in the hospital with her friend. Mara and Victoria both were attracted to each other straight away but there were still many things thrown at them. Victoria had heard that Mara had a sketchy past sleeping with loads of women so despite wanting her initially she keeps her cards close to her chest a little. Conversely, Mara is captivated by Victoria as soon as she meets her and tries herself to change from the person she used to be. I am not going to say anything else about the storyline as I do not want it to ruin anyone else’s experience of reading this book.

Safe to say I will definitely be reading more of this author’s books and hopefully be approved to read more of their lesbian fiction. As a lesbian myself it was great to read about normal everyday women and there be an actual genuine storyline.

This story has been a bit complicated, really, meaningless at times. The characters and the story itself have not been engaging enough to hold my interest for long, so I have read it in fits and starts. It has not been a memorable one for me

On the one hand, it stars Mara, a comedian who performs in a casino in Las Vegas, without being the main star much to her regret, since she has been waiting for so long to be valued at least the same as with her male companions, but the world is still like that. But the story is not about this.

On the other hand is Victoria, a nurse who belongs to a family that owns another casino in Las Vegas, different from the one Mara works, but somehow connected by the rivalry between its owners. Nor is this rivalry the basis of the story.

So what is this all about? It is about Victoria and Mara coinciding by chance at a fundraiser for an animal rescue shelter, feeling a more or less immediate and more or less mutual attraction, Mara is a bit of a player in love relationships, Victoria is more cautious and avoid the glittering world she was born into, but she still has family conscience and remains somehow connected. And coinciding with the meeting with Mara and Victoria's need to bring a couple to a family event, the two agree on a kind of false relationship that does not convince Mara's friends, perhaps not Victoria's family.

All in all, an average story without much to highlight about it.

𝗔 𝗳𝗮𝘂𝘅𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜 𝘄𝗮𝘀𝗻'𝘁 𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵.

I felt like I was playing catch up because every time I get the hang of the characters’ train of thought, the story changes course. Mara is a stand up comedian at a casino and has a player reputation, although she never quite acknowledged her inability to hold on to a relationship. Victoria is a nurse and the daughter of the owner of a rival casino. And while both women were aware of their interest in each other very early on, they decided to fake date instead of dating for real. And the reasons for not dating, frankly speaking, didn’t hold much water. But the fake date turned into a real date fairly quickly even though they never really addressed their “issues" with each other. And then, this kind of comes back to bite them afterwards in a dramatic fallout.

Victoria’s family is a complication to the story, which I guess was necessary because they were the driving force behind the whole fauxmance in the first place. But the issues with the family members were left unresolved so that was a bit of a bummer.

This one isn’t for me but I’ve seen other good reviews, so it could just be me not connecting with this book, I don’t know. By the way, I found out that Mara's best friend, Penny appeared in Vacation People only after I finished this book. But I didn't feel like I missed out on much so there isn't a real need to read the other book first.

Victoria McHenry works as a nurse, a job she loves. She comes from a family of wealth in the casino business but that was never the path Victoria wanted. Now she’s tired and the last thing she wants is her younger sister, Maddie asking for her help setting up a charity event at the Rothmoor Casino. Maddie was off skiing and partying and she wants Victoria to ‘just’ meet with the other planners and take notes for her. But as Victoria knows it's never that easy working with Maddie. Soon she finds herself not only taking notes but getting overly involved with the project. The only fun thing to come of it is her chance to meet Mara Antonini, a comedian working the afternoon shift at the comedy club, Laffmoor.
Mara Antonini is working hard to change from being the afternoon comic to the star of the night time show. But getting the manager to take a chance on her falls on deaf ears. He believes a man has to be the lead star when it comes to comedy. She has a family she'd be close to even though they don’t live as close as she’d like. Now she’s approached by one of her best friends to help her with a charity project as the evening host. This is another way to get her name recognized as a star comedian in her own right.
Mara likes women but has no desire to have a relationship. But then again neither does Victoria but when the two meet all bets are off. Ms Ritz takes us on a journey following the MC’s in their quest to not fall in love but thankfully this story has a happy ending.
The ending leaves me to believe there has to be another book or two because while the MC’s story comes to an end, Mara’s two best friends Frankie and Penny have stories to be told. Just thinking. Excellent read. Very Enjoyable.
ARC via NetGalley/ Bella Books
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Victoria needs a date for here grandmother's gala and finds Mara a Las Vegas comedian. A false date is arranged but it doers not go as planned. The book has great characters in Victoria and Mara plus the people around them. There are good emotions and bad emotions displayed and it makes for an interesting read. Mara and Victoria could not be more different which makes the plot work. I found this book entertaining and a great read. I would recommend this book for romance lovers. I received this book as an ARC from Netgalley but the thoughts and opinions are my own.

Love’s No Joke is a book about two ladies who faked a relationship in order to achieve their respective goals but ended up falling in love.

Mara Antonini is a career driven comedian who does not think twice about bedding ladies. When she tried to turn her charms on Victoria McHenry, her attempts at flirtation were rebuffed until they met again at a fundraising meeting. Victoria is low key even with her status as one of the daughters of a family owned casino. She needed a date to her grandmother’s birthday gala and decided to turn Mara’s advancements to her favour.

4 stars. Fake dating trope is one of my favourites as it’s satisfying to see characters who are unlikely to commit fall in love. Mara was deemed a player by her group of friends but when she started to “date” Victoria, she couldn’t help but want something more with her rather then prove her friends wrong. There is a little angst in the story where insecurities and doubts rear their ugly heads but it was bound to happen where perceptions and judgements are involved. I think the book would be more solid if more background on Victoria was shared with readers and an epilogue thrown in - at a later stage of the couple’s lives together so readers can enjoy more of the romancing.

I just reviewed Love’s No Joke by Cheri Ritz. Thank you NetGalley and Bella Books for the ARC.

Love's No Joke, so much is true, but I missed the jokes in this book. Sure I laughed a couple of times, but when one of your main characters is a comedian I expect a bit more.

The main characters of our fauxmance meet at the hospital. Mara is taking her best friend in and Victoria is the nurse. Mara tries to flirt with Victoria, but she just shuts her down. Vic doesn't go out much, she is instead focused on her career and making a life for herself away from her casino owning and annoying family. When her annoying little sister convinces her to sub for her at a work meeting for the casino Mara and Vic meet again and there is no denying their chemistry. Slotted together to work on the fundraised they meet up and of course, one thing leads to another, but not as one might suspect. Vic doesn't want to be one of Mara's conquests, but she does need a date for her grandmother's birthday in a couple of weeks. Mara wants to show her friends she can have a steady girlfriend and settle down, so decide to do the fake dating thing. They become friends, when an emotional interaction leads them to something other than they planned sparks fly and the fauxmance turns into romance.

You see the big drama coming at just under the 90% mark. Although the drama didn't play out the way I expected (which is a plus), I do think it comes in too late. The characters seem to communicate rather ok throughout the book, but some of the insecurities never get discussed and of course, they blow up in time for the big drama. I like how the author took the drama and gave it a fun spin for the resolution, but still, it should have come earlier, or maybe you know, not at all. There was enough family drama to not have to break the leading ladies up, but still have drama.

And something else; 3 weeks to a month is a sufficient amount of time to decide which new appliances you will be buying, not giving a key to your bungalow to your girlfriend of a couple of days and basically U-haul..... To each their own I guess. I like them together but they just move too fast. Mara goes from playgirl to a perfect domesticated girlfriend in the blink of an eye. Her mother says something along the line when you know you know and you will settle down, she took those words and settled right down. This book doesn't feel like inst-love, it takes place over a couple of weeks. But it still moves way too quickly and I would say this fauxmance is a slow insta-love, which sounds contradictory but once you read it you will understand. This is not to say the book wasn't enjoyable, it really is actually. But I can't help but wonder how much more it could be. As I mentioned I missed a bit of humour in it, but also a bit of emotional character development. I feel like a lot of it happens off-page and important characters changes only get a mention in one line. Especially with some changes Vic goes through, I would have liked to see more of it happen on page.
I enjoyed it, but I was just hoping for that little bit more, that thing you can't really describe but makes it really click for you.
3.25 stars for this one

Love's No Joke is a well written, quick, enjoyable contemporary romance set in Las Vegas.
I mean who doesn't enjoyed a story that begins with faking a relationship to prove to your friends that you're a player who can date. Not to mention, parading a date around your family to avoid being set up with every available guy because your mom refuses to admit that you're a lesbian.
Great main and secondary characters with amazing chemistry. I enjoyed the story and appreciated the bond and support the circle of friends had. Overall a great read I recommend 4 stars.


Thank you NetGalley and Bella Books for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I received an ARC copy of this book from the Publisher via Netgalley and voluntarily leaving my review.

Mara is comedian in Las Vegas while waiting to start in her own lead show surprising it’s the only thing she committed of doing her love life is a different story. Victoria is a nurse but her family own casinos although she left the business behind well most of the time she always gets pull in.

Mara and Victoria meets when the both windup working together for charity. As they get to know each other they decides to fake date each other because Victoria needs a date to her grandmother party and Mara wants to prove to her friends she not this player they make her out to be.

I like fake dating trope because I hope pretending you don’t even realize it’s starts to become real and take you by surprise. The MCs have great chemistry . I like the side characters of Mara friends. I was a bit annoyed that Victoria didn’t stand up more for herself but I did like that she people in her corner.

Mara is a comedian at hotel in Las Vegas waiting for her chance to headline the evening show. Victoria is a nurse, her family owns another casino. The two end of working together while planning a charity event for the local animal shelter. Victoria is covering for her sister who usually handles such things for the family business. The two decide to try a fake dating trope. Victoria needs a date for her grandmothers upcoming birthday. And Mara wants to show her friends she isn't a player and can date one person.

This is very by the book for a contemporary romance. The characters are good and they enjoy each others company. Mara's friends help fill out the book. The whole book felt rushed to me. It was as if it could use another 50 pages so there could be more flirting, dateing, connecting etc. The crisis moment seems weak as well. And I was very disappointed that Victoria never stood up to her family for her self. Others stood up for her at different times.

A quick, enjoyable read, with no surprises. Thank you NetGalley and Bella Books for an ARC ebook in exchange for an honest review.

I don't think I've ever been the very first to rate and review a book. I think I even beat Charles here. And I enjoyed this little fake dating story by Cheri Ritz. It was very cute, and did subvert my expectations in the order of how things took place in the book.

This book is the story of Mara Antonini and Victoria McHenry. Mara is a comedian trying to get her break in the Las Vegas stand up game, and Victoria is a nurse after leaving her family business of running casinos (mostly) behind. After they end up volunteered together at a fundraiser for an animal shelter they are drawn together and additionally see benefits of pretending to date, with Mara shredding her player reputation, and Victoria having someone to bring to fancy family events.

This was a really cute book. I like fake dating stories, and even though this is technically a fake dating story, it didn't feel like on, and I mean that in a nice way. It was interesting to see them both acknowledge feelings for each other right away, and not be annoyed or dislike each other at the beginning of their fake courtship. It was a nice little inversion of the trope and I enjoyed it.

I also really liked the side characters and found family of Mara's friends and inviting Victoria into their fold. I would say I want more details into the backstories of these characters, but looking at Ritz's other books it looks like their stories are told there, so I'll have to look into those.

The only major criticism about this book is, I mean, it is very by the numbers for a contemporary romance. Not ever book has to reinvent the wheel, so it's hard to give a detailed criticism here. But you can guess most things that are going to happen if you read lesbian romance regularly.

I did enjoy this book. It isn't groundbreaking persay, but it is cute and I had a good time reading it. 3.75/5