The synopsis of this book sounded completely up my street. Fake dating, friendship and weddings ! Overall it was an okay read but not one of my favourite faking dating troupe novels.

The things I feel that I didn’t enjoy was that I didn’t enjoy the friendship dynamic Sophie had with her friends which led her to fake dating in the first place. I also feel that the ending was a massive let down after all the build up that has happened but I may be the only one disappointed with it.

What a gem of a read, I loved it. After feeling under so much pressure to be in a relationship and settle down, Sophie decides on a fake boyfriend to take to all the events where a ‘plus one’ is required- and he actually turns out to be quite a good choice.
Thanks NetGalley for the advance copy

Wasn't my favourite read, it was okay and it made for a simple read. Maybe I wasn't in the correct headspace for this

Faking It by Beth Reekles

Sophie is having a bit of crisis in her life as the only one in her circle of friends who isn’t engaged/married or has a significant other and her body clock is ticking and her friends are bringing pressure to bear at the fact she doesn’t have a ‘plus one’. In a rush to get a plus one for her sisters wedding she finds Harry her very acceptable fake plus one - good looking , polite , intelligent, well mannered and very well dressed and all round gorgeous fake boyfriend.! Follow the trials and tribulations of both Sophie and Harry who is currently divorcing . Humorous, interesting characters.

A reasonably well written book although in parts it slow with too many loose ends unfinished .3.5/5

This is a terrific read, as always the author manages comedy and emotional writing all within the one book and none of it is out of place. We are introduced to Sophie, our single leading lady who is finding the single life challenging. She has to find a date to her sister's wedding so she looks for someone on a dating app - this is where we meet Harry and the book is mainly about their relationship. It's an entertaining read with heartfelt moments too - an enjoyable escapist book.

Faking It was the first book I've read by Beth and it didn't disappoint.

Sophie is feeling the pressure of life and meeting goals that all her family and friends are reaching, marriage, babies, work, buying a house. To help her get through a family wedding with no questions and pressure she amends her dating profile asking for a fake boyfriend to be her plus one.

Enter Harry, who I loved. The chemistry between the two was great lots of laugh out loud moments but I felt the lows Sophie felt during this read and at times really related to her.

I was initially gutted with the ending but then actually it made sense, it was meant to be that way and gave being single an uplifting take and being happy with yourself and decisions.

Thanks to NetGalley for th download

This was another strong Reekles read. Her MCs are always quirky and fun.

Love Reekles and will try more of her books.

✨️✨️✨️

A tricky old one to review. It's a romantic comedy for about 80%, 20% is profound self-reflection - but not in the way you expect. These parts aren't blended, instead they're separate and undermine each other. By being neither one or the other, nor a blending of the two, it's almost whiplash inducing at the tonal shift when Sophie makes some profound thoughts. That's not to say what happens to Sophie isn't incredibly important, and Reekles outlining how pants society can make things for single people, it just feels like two different books.

Contemporary romance from the author of The Kissing Booth.

Not, on the whole, a bad read - a good sunbed book. The story is about a mid twenties woman searching for love through dating apps. There's a whole fake dating scheme central to the plot when she enlists a stranger to be her date to a family wedding in order to quell the comments from her family about her single status.
The book focusses strongly on the pressure on young women with regards to finding a husband and having a baby.
However, the main character is really unlikeable. She constantly complains about her life and feels sorry for herself, while at the same time regularly acknowledging that she isn't sure she even WANTS a partner. I'm sure it's supposed to be a journey of self discovery for her, but it reads as her constantly flip-flopping on her dreams and makes her really irritating.
I wanted to love it, but in reality I'm marking it as distinctly average.

Thanks to NetGalley, Beth Reekles and the publisher for allowing me the chance to read an e-arc of Faking It ahead of its June release in return for an independent review.

I really enjoyed this book. I'm admittedly a sucker for fluffy romances, but this pleasantly surprised me with its kick ass message that you don't need a partner to be happy! Would definitely recommend!

Cute quirky book with a specific message - Sophie does not need a relationship to be happy. If you are going in thinking this will be like the Kissing Booth then you are wrong. I found this book and easy fun read and enjoyed it. Would recommend.

I haven’t read any books by Beth Reekles before and was expecting this one to be a fairly conventional romance. It isn’t, and there’s a part of me that really respects her for upturning the conventional romance tropes by having the heroine realise she doesn’t actually need to be in a relationship to have self-worth.
It didn’t entirely work for me, though. I enjoyed the Bridget Jones-esque chapters early in the story which seemed to set up a lovely happy ending for Sophie and Harry. Unfortunately, whilst Sophie did gain more self-awareness as the story progressed, she didn’t seem to gain much empathy for others and I found her quite hard to like, especially when she rejected Harry. I’d found him a rather adorable character and I wanted a more satisfying conclusion to his story as I’d become quite emotionally invested in him. I’n almost embarrassed to admit I would probably have enjoyed the book more if the plot had gone down the more predictable route and Sophie had realised she was crazy about him.
For me, Sophie seemed in the end to be a bit self-absorbed and wanted everything to be about her. Whilst I applaud her for wanting to be happier in her own life before committing to a relationship, I couldn’t help feeling she didn’t really care enough who she hurt along the way. If the author had made me like Harry less and like her more, I could have found a lot more satisfaction in the ending and rejoiced with her for the final outcome.
I received a free copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Knowing this was by the same author as The Kissing Booth, which I absolutely loved both the films and books, I expected this to be a hit for me too but sadly it wasn't. I thought this was slightly misleading in its not really (or at least mainly) a romance and its more of a women's fiction and how Sophie navigates life as an adult and the expectations that come with this. However I do think a lot of people will love this especially if you love slow burners and I also thought the twist at the end was really great and added a layer to this book that makes it unique.

This is the first book by Beth Reeklss I've read so I had no expect going in aside from the book description...which in my opinion was kind of misleading comparing it to other romance books. This was more about growth and self discovery than romance, and while I really appreciated the honesty of the nature of Sophoe's charactrer, it's not something I enjoyed.

Getting into the details (spoilers below)... The contradictions in Sophie's character was so blatant and the almost purposeful misdirection of making us believe the MMC would be her happy ever after was a bit hard to swallow. Sophie spent all her time complaining and would judge her friends harshly for doing the same? And immediately try to make such thoughts acceptable by reminding herself how much she loved them. Not that every story has to end in a marriage or committed relationship, but it just felt like the book could have been edited down better to be more concise. All I came out with at the ends is wishing her friend had given her a mirror at the beginning and a hearty dislike of weddings.

Beth Reekles 'the kissing booth' was a hit for me, the book and the film were cute and funny with a little bit of drama. In this new book 'faking it' we go on a whole different adventure with our heroine Sophie. This adult novel focuses on her struggling to find a long term partner and finding someone to be her plus one to a wedding. I unfortunately dnf'd this at 34%, I disliked a few aspects of this book. The self loathing for being single, the shaming of others towards Sophie for being single, the random encounter at a previous event where someone propositions her for bathroom sex (I have idea what this was meant to add to the story other than being gross), the way the fake dating was introduced via a dating app with a random stranger. What happened to stranger danger? I was annoyed, bored and found myself not wanting to continue reading so although I thank you for the arc I feel like wasn't for me.

I'm really sad, but I had to DNf this book at 10%. The MC just seemed like one of those people who blames everybody else for their lot in life, constantly making fun of her friends because she was jealous that they had the lives she wanted instead of supporting them. The story itself was also incredibly slow and didn't really read like a romance with us not meeting the love interest, instead just wallowing in our MC's self pity.

I haven't read Beth Reekles work before but enjoyed The Kissing Booth films so was excited to read this. It was an enjoyable, feel-good book. I honestly wasn't a fan of the ending so have knocked off a star for that. It took the wind out of my sails a bit and soured my impression of the book.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is the first adult book I’ve read by Beth Reekles and I can safely say it didn’t disappoint. Sophie, a young woman in her twenties who is tired of single life while trying to navigate the complications of being new to the adult world. Deciding to finally stop the comments about her single life, she decides to ask a stranger on a dating app to become her fake boyfriend. Reekles introduced me to my very first fake dating book and I can say I am loving the trope. The jokes, romance, and realistic scenarios were everything I needed in this adult rom-com.

However, one part I didn’t like was the ending despite knowing how realistic and relatable it is. It wasn’t the ending I thought it was going to be and I found myself disappointed by it. While I did appreciate the direction Reekles took, I just saw things working differently.

Overall I loved this book and I’ll definitely get a copy of this on paperback to add to my bookshelves.

I had to read this book as I’m a fan of the Kissing Booth series. Firstly I admire how this story exposes the truth of online dating, and how difficult it is to meet a genuine person. Furthermore it highlights the reality of people struggling with money as Sophie (main character) joked about spending her rent on a weekend hen do. It made me giggle when Sophie arrived 3 hours late to the hen do as she ended up sleeping with this guy called Jaxon on a first date. In addition, I appreciated the 13 Going on 30 reference as it is one of my favourite movies. I like how Reekles made a reference to Bridgerton when she mentioned courting, and how ghosting was mentioned as it showed how men only appear in your life when it’s convenient to them. Also I just found it hilarious how Sophie found a fake boyfriend (Harry) just so she had a plus one to her sisters wedding. And they end up just having a ‘fake relationship’ where they go to functions together. I particularly loved the part where they both ate dog biscuits and think they’re at a kids party. I like how Sophie becomes more independent and starts taking herself out on dates. I could relate to her when she took herself to the cinema as this is something that I myself struggled with at first, but once you do it, it’s great! I didn’t give it 5 stars as I’m a hopeless romantic and thought she’d end up with Harry. However Sophie‘s character arc was really empowering and inspirational.

Well... I I think this book ma be about me 😂 I'm one of the only singletons left in my friend group.
I really identified with this book, it's frightening.

I loved Sophie even though I found her constant need for a relationship and self loathing because she's single annoying. (may have hit to close to home)
Harry was super cute, I may need him to be my fake date to a wedding soon.

I can't believe I didn't realise this was by the author of the kissing booth (it even says it on the cover 🙈) which I really liked.
And I've just found out I live in the same city as Beth Reekles... I may have to become a stalker 🤔 lucky for Beth, I don't have the time for that 😂

I enjoyed reading about Sophie and Harry's relationship, the ending was surprising - not at all what I was expecting