I thought this would be a romance, but boy was I wrong!

Without giving away too much, this book is about coming to terms with your independence, caring less about what others think about you, and NEVER eating the cupcakes at a dog’s birthday party.

Reekles made the mc a little too relatable, but I was entertained by every single moment! The characters are all so beautifully raw and lovable. Reekles is such an underrated author, she’s a really good writer and she just understands people

I think this being described as a fake dating romance book, is not an accurate reflection of the story it follows. Yes, the fake dating trope is used but this is much more a book about societal expectations and learning to not feel the pressure to settle down, because the grass isn’t always greener on the other side.

I found the book quite slow to start with because it takes a long time until we are introduced to Harry, the male main character and get into the main fake dating plot. On reflection, I understand why but whilst reading the book it meant I struggled to get hooked. Once we got into the story however, I really enjoyed watching the development of the natural and easygoing relationship between Sophie and Harry and I also loved to watch Sophie’s character arc as she began to learn who she was and what she valued.

The ending initially left me slightly puzzled but it tied up Sophie’s character arc perfectly and pulled the narrative of the book together. Altogether, I ended up enjoying this book and I’d especially recommend it if you’re currently single!

Thank you to Netgalley and Little, Brown book group UK for the ARC in exchange for an honest review

Firstly, a big thank you to Little, Brown Book Group and Net Galley for the ARC and the opportunity to read this wonderful book.

I love a good rom-com and this one definitely did not disappoint. Sophie is such a relatable main character – I think a lot of people can relate to her ‘being single’ struggles – maybe not the fake boyfriend part though.

Harry and Sophie have great chemistry - I love how well they get on almost immediately. Harry brought out a great side to Sophie which made me love her even more. They had some really funny moments together – when they went to Harry’s friends birthday party for their dog, I couldn’t stop laughing for the majority of the scene. They are a great pairing and they are both great characters individually.

This book doesn’t have the typical ‘romance book’ happy ending, but it did have a good ending for Sophie that I loved – her new outlook on life is inspirational. She’s such a fun, honest, and kind-hearted character so I’m glad that her life got itself onto a positive path.

This was a 4 ⭐️ read for me. This was a really good rom com with a relatable main character. I look forward to reading more books from Beth Reekles in the future.

I have previously read Reekles' YA titles and have enjoyed all of them - so knew that this book would be right up my street as I am familiar with her writing style .. and I was right.

A fun summer read about fake dating someone to stay under the radar with family and friends, but obviously things become blurred and confusion occurs! It's a straight forward, easy and fun read.

I really enjoyed this book! Rom-coms can often be quite predictable however this book kept me guessing as I felt like I was figuring it out along with the main character. I really liked Sophie’s new outlook at the end of the book. It’s a welcome change to the “typical” happily ever after that come with these books.

I feel hard giving a review as there was nothing wrong with this book, however it was simply not for me sadly.

Certain things I'm sure some would love I simply found irritating, fundamentally the FMC.

Faking It is the latest book by Beth Reekles and this time it features Sophie who is perpetually single and her dating disasters.
I really enjoyed the premise of this book. Sophie feels tonnes of pressure by her family and friends to be successful in her love life. She deems herself a failure if she isn't in a committed romantic relationship, but is feeling the exhaustion from constantly swiping right on dating apps and suffering through lacklustre dates with men who she doesn't have sparks with.
Sophie, who's 26, is going through a phase in her life where all her friends are either getting engaged, married or having babies and have less time for her. When she suddenly can't get a plus one for her sister's wedding her last resort is finding a fake boyfriend and this is where we meet Harry.
I loved their instant chemistry and how comfortable they were with each other. Harry brought out a great side in Sophie, even though he was going through a pretty nasty breakup from his ex wife himself.
There were some truly laugh out loud moments in this book. The chapter where they go to Harry's friends birthday party actually made me cry with laughter and was the highlight for me.
As well as humour there was also a lot of moments where I felt the lows of how Sophie is feeling.
The ending of this book was different to what I was expecting, but it was overall a great book for empowerment and that for any person it is best to love yourself before you can love someone else.

This book was an easy and fun read, massive thank you to Netgalley and Little, Brown Book Group for the ARC. I will break my review down below:

Firstly, I loved how this book deals with being in your twenties and trying to figure out what you want in life. The FMC was a bit unlikeable in the beginning but I did start to like her a bit more as I read on.

I didn’t like how the FMC’s friends and family were so harsh and judgemental at times, likewise, I feel the FMC wasn’t the best friend either. I would’ve liked the friendships in the book to be stronger as I think it would’ve contributed to the story more.

I am surprised with the ending. Initially I wasn’t sure about the direction that it went in but after some thought, I do think it was a really important message.

It was easy to read, had some really funny parts in, and I love the fake dating trope! However, the writing style wasn’t my favourite, and I wished the friendships/relationships in this book were stronger. Overall, I would give it 3.5 stars.

A really fun story of friendship and why no matter what happens, they're always there.

I really enjoyed the story and following the characters life. The book made me laugh and smile and feel all warm and happy.

Would 100% recommend

This book was simply a plain joy to read. It was really cute, fun and highly entertaining with super relatable main characters and addictively gripping sweet and amazing plot!

Thankyou to netgalley and the publisher for allowing me an advanced copy of this book. I thought it was okay, i enjoyed the first half but then got bored so i kinda skim read the second half. it did not end like i expected it too but i liked the way it concluded. I was not really a fan of Sophie as a character but i did like Harry.

This is not romance this is chick lit and now that you know that you may go into this book a little differently to me and so ultimately enjoy more as you would have a different expectation.
This is about a woman finding herself and coming to understand that she is enough without the HEA with a man.
It has some laughs and romance along the way and the characters are cute together

I was provided an ARC of this book by NetGalley for an honest review

This book is on many levels interesting. At first you have a feeling that it’s going to be next love-hate rom com, but when you get further into the plot it drastically changes into self love type of novel. I didn’t like how Sophie has to deal with all this hate coming from her family and friends. I think it was a bit too much and there were moments when I was asking myself why is she coping with them?? Harry on the other hand seemed funny and charming guy with lots of bad relationship experience. However he’s portrayed almost agh the end of the book as someone who constantly needs company and is desperate enough to be friends with Soph (again she’s treated as consolation prize). I think it’s good that they were supporting each other on different events, but I was hoping for some beneficial change in both of them. That they worked on themselves through the book and at the end become a couple or friends. Unfortunately I got a feeling that they were too toxic to even talk to each other too often and moved on to whatever would be their future. I think there were too many ideas for the book put in one novel. If it comes to writing I think it was good but in moments there were too many descriptions of people or places that really weren’t important to the plot. I think I will read another book from Beth Reekles just to see how she improved.

This book made me laugh, cringe, cheer, and at one point want to vom… it was extremely relatable and incredibly unputdownable.

Overall this book tells the story of Sophie, a single woman in a sea of friends getting married, buying houses and having babies. We follow her many attempts at dating whilst she navigates being the ‘single friend’ at all her other friends big occasions.

I think a lot of people will relate to and find themselves in Sophie’s story, especially if they’ve ever experience singledom in their mid-late twenties.

This book is proof that your happily ever after is what you make it, and the love you think you need is closer than you think.

Thanks NetGalley and Little Brown Book for the ARC.

A good read, some funny moments and such a good fast paced to it. Between the invites, the online profile and Sophie’s point of view the book just flew past. A few surprises- not least the ending - made this such a good escapist read.

An absolute joy to read. I loved every second and did not want it to end. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for a review.

I enjoyed this book, it was a really lovely easy read. Beth writes in a brilliant way that allows the reader to be sucked into that world, her books are always great! I loved the angle this book was taken from, not something you see from all romance novels!

I don’t know how many times I can say this but I do love a good romance book! I read this in one sitting! And I loved it. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Another brilliant book by Beth Reekles. As always she bring her fun style of writing with a warming story that will make your jaws ache from laughter

3/5 stars! I haven't read the author's "Kissing Booth" book, but I did watch the Netflix movie. So when I saw that she had written another book, I was interested in reading it. Unfortunately, I didn't really enjoy the writing style or plot of this book. Sophie was pretty unlikeable and this doesn't really fit the contemporary romance genre. It just felt really flat and slow-paced. Not a good fit for me.

I received an advance review copy for free through NetGalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily