I follow this author on Twitter (X) and love reading her quests to weed out all the online romance scammers. The book begins with transcripts of some of her chats with these scammers and they are hilariously funny! I have laughed my way through her replies to them, but as the book moves on the author takes it into the more serious realms when she meets and interviews some of the women who have sadly lost money to the scammers. It's all very easy to say you'd never fall for anything like that, but it's apparent that these scammers are clever and know how to feed on your emotions.

The author gives good examples of different types of scams, what you should be looking out for and advice on how to not be taken in by them. It's so sad that the majority of these women have already gone through the stresses of break-ups and bereavements, and then find themselves having to go through the emotional and financial trauma, upset and shame of these scams as well. The author has done her research well and, as well as being funny, the book is full of detail, facts and figures.

It does make you so much more aware of, not just, online romance fraud, but all the other types of fraud and scam there are around, and let's remember it's not just women who are being caught by these scammers. The author has used her own personal experiences, added in a big dose of humour to tackle what is a really serious topic. This was a great read which I'd definitely recommend.

Take a dive into the world of online romance fraud and hear the stories of people who have gone through it.
Featuring scripts used by scammers and first hand accounts of people who have been a victim.
Beckys own experiences with scammers were a particular highlight, especially the screenshot messages. From Prince Harry to Liam Neeson to (obviously) Keanu Reeves, it seems every celeb has slid in her DM's. Except Greg Davies.
I had tears on several occasions throughout this books, some which were tears of laughter and others pure sadness for the people who have lost so much through these scams.
This was a really interesting read that kept me engaged throughout.

"Keanu Reeves Is Not in Love with You" by Becky Holmes offers an intriguing examination of celebrity culture and the allure of parasocial relationships, but it falls short of leaving a lasting impact. Holmes presents a mix of personal anecdotes and cultural analysis with wit and humor, yet some sections may feel repetitive or lacking in depth. While the book raises thought-provoking questions about our fascination with celebrities, it ultimately doesn't fully deliver on its potential. Readers may find moments of insight, but "Keanu Reeves Is Not in Love with You" may not resonate as deeply as hoped, earning it a moderate rating.

Ok , so, if you follow my reviews you know I’m an audiobook reader, and I don’t do text. I follow Becky on Twitter and find her posts hilarious. So it’d make sense for me to request an arc of her book. But this was a bit of an accident because it’s clearly not audio.

So, I’m just going to be straight and tell you that I’ve not actually read or finished it. As I say. I’m an audio person, but it felt unfair to disregard the arc. I know how much Becky has put into this.
Good luck for publication.

Thank you to NetGalley and unbound for the arc.

I just had to request this ARC, not only for the title, but for the synopsis and author, who I used to follow on her @deathtospinach Twitter account. (She refuses to call it X and I do too, I left that site when the ownership changed but that’s a whole other story…) Anyway, I knew of her catfishy content and knew that she is hilarious, so I knew this would be great. And it was!

Apparently actor Keanu Reeves is the celebrity most used to try to defraud people online. He doesn’t have social media, he’s handsome and by all accounts a really nice guy, so a lot of scammers use him as a way to get money. After getting so many Keanu Reeves sliding into her DMs with broken English about needing gift cards, she started posting them on her Twitter account, and many went viral.

The DMs are all hilarious, but there are serious issues that the author is bringing to light: romance fraud, celebrity fraud and sextortion. The book contains hilarious takes on the issues, mingled with heartbreaking stories from people who have been victims of this kind of fraud. The book also tells you how to spot scammers, how to recognize deep fake videos, how to report fraud and then what you do when your report goes nowhere because the police don’t have the time or resources to get back the money you sent to someone in Nigeria.

This is a must read book for all women (and men are not immune to this either!). We’ve all received the “hello beautiful how is your day” DMs from the guy who has a picture of a soldier or man working on an oil rig. Apparently those occupations are the ones scammers the most use because psychologically, a lot of women like those things. Unfortunately for them, I’m a pacifist who’d have nothing to do with someone who worked for big oil, so my block button gets a lot of action…

Funny, informative, filled with media and interviews, I can’t think of anything I’d change about this book. It’s a topic that needs more awareness, and this should definitely help with that. 4.5 stars, rounded up.

(Thank you to Unbound, Becky Holmes and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my review. This book is slated to be published April 2, 2024.)

What a fantastic, funny, educational and thought provoking book! I am not usually a non-fiction reader, but had had this recommended to me and gave it a try. I am so glad I did! Becky Holmes perfectly blends facts about romance fraud, hilarious examples of her interactions with scammers and really sad stories from people who have been lured in by these scammers. It’s rare to read something like this and laugh out loud, then feel like you want to cry. I have recommended this to all of my friends, it has definitely made me more aware of the issues and feel able to talk to friends if I think this is happening to them. Thank you so much for this arc.

Every day I get creepy messages from strangers and "celebrities" on Instagram and friend requests on Facebook and I automatically delete them because I know they are from scammers. And that's what lead this author down the path to write this book ... she was bored and started responding to messages on Twitter and reposting them.

This book is about online romance fraud and covers various topics such as what it is, how to know if you are being scammed, who is doing it, how friends and family may look upon you if have been scammed, what to do about it and more. The author includes stories of women who have been taken in and the strategies of the scammers are very similar (for example, the scammer "works" someplace where they are hard to reach like on an oil rig, they are taking care of family members, they are widowers, etc.). I know I'll never fall for one of these scams and send lots of money but scammers are smart and trained and usually the people who fall for it are in a bad place emotionally and are ripe for the picking.

I found this book interesting and I liked the writing style. Yes, it's a serious topic but the author uses humour and honesty. It's obvious she has done a lot of research and she includes screenshots of conversations she's had where she is leading the scammers on and they usually don't even realize she is writing gibberish to them. As a head's up, there is swearing.

This was a entertaining and educational book on online scammers. Not just your typical Catfish /Manti Teo scammers, but the kind of scammers who ask for money. As someone who has never encountered something like this, other than your occasional random email from a traveling relative who is stuck in a foreign country with no money, it is hard to understand how it can happen. This book details it all. Stories from both sides. Scammer and victim. It is hard to read about people taking advantage of other peoples niceness in order to make money. What is this world coming to. I guess we just cant be nice anymore.

My favorite part of the book was the snippets of conversation between the author and "Keanu Reeves" and other celebrities. Her responses are so crazy! And her pictures! Ha!

This book was easy to read and interesting and informative.

Thank you to Net Galley and Unbound for an advance copy of this book.

This was a really good read. The sections on Becky's interactions with "celebrities" were hilarious. On the other hand the real life stories of romance scam victims were really sad. It's shocking how much some people are put through and how little support there is. I hope we see this change.

3.5 stars rounded up.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy.

I ended up finishing this right as John Oliver did a piece on this for his show, so the timing was ulitmately a bit on the nose. This is a combination of a guide on a crime that the authorities are just kind of broadly choosing to shrug their shoulders at, which is more than a little frustrating, and the sheer humor of going into some real unhinged tangents with potential scammers. Definitely worth your time as a read.

Not for me, this one. I just could not get on with it, I’m sorry to say. The subject matter is portrayed in a humorous tone, but as it deals with vulnerable people being scammed, it made me uncomfortable. I also had an issue with the writing tone, regarding some particular nationalities.
Not a good choice for me, I made a mistake in requesting it. A DNF.
My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for my advance copy of this book.

This book follows a woman on Twitter who is popular for calling out scammers. She goes through different aspects of romance scams and what to watch for. She also talks about examples she’s seen and been a part of.

This book was humorous and interesting! The topic of romance scams is interesting and important since so many people fall for the scams. The way these scammers take advantage of people, especially the elderly, is so gross and bad to me. I like how this book is calling out these scammers.

I do feel the book was a bit repetitive at times. The humor was a bit much at times too. However, I would still recommend!

Thanks so much to netgalley and Unbound for the arc of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Every single person should read this book, it balances the comedy with the serious topic of romance scams. The title certainly catches the eye and a tone and pace keeps the reader engaged, Holmes delivers a book that blends humour with vital information about a serious issue.

Holmes sets the stage by sharing her own experiences with online scammers, accompanied by witty Twitter message screenshots that had me chuckling throughout. Beyond the laughs, the stories from interviews are both heartbreaking and harrowing, exploring the devastating impact of romance fraud on its victims. The book switches between the real-life stories and insightful analysis, she sheds light on the tactics used by scammers and offers practical advice on how to recognise and avoid falling prey to these schemes. This book tackles a weighty topic with both humour and empathy.

Overall it’s a hilarious yet thought-provoking exploration of romance fraud that will leave readers both laughing and reflecting on the dangers lurking in the digital realm.

Oh my, what a book!

The first half deals with the author’s often hilarious responses to unsolicited online messages she had with various men during the Covid lockdown. As a way of coping with her loneliness during that awful time she opened a Twitter account, and this is what brought these men out of the woodwork.

The second part – because it does feel like a book of two parts – she makes contact with several women who have been victimised by online “romances”. Their stories are astonishing and heartbreaking. I’ve heard about these romances and the way women are duped into sending chunks of money, often thousands of pounds (!), and always wondered how they can fall for their stories. I’d like to think I’m smart enough not to fall for them. It’s a horrible, outrageous, seedy, murky world, and having read about these “boys”, I had a quick look on the internet, What I saw shocked me so much I couldn’t watch more than a couple of minutes.

Many of us had had these messages, and most of us dismiss them, delete, block and forget about them, but as one of these “gentlemen” said, if he just gets one out of a hundred and he can make a lot of money.

A book which is both entertaining and shocking.

[BOOK REVIEW] Becky Holmes - Keanu Reeves Is Not in Love With You

The review you have all been waiting for! ✨ Big thanks to @netgalley and @unbounders for a free e-copy!

If you're a woman on the Internet then you have guys sliding in your DMs on a regular basis. Sometimes they're handsome soldiers or pilots, sometimes they're Keanu Reeves (I unfortunately have never been contacted by a Keanu but I had an oil rig worker the other day named Andrew who looked suspiciously a lot like Paul Hollywood).

In reality, they're most likely African or Asian scammers, here to part you with your money one steam card at a time. But sometimes it turns out to be so much more than a steam card and we see a news story about a woman who gave her life savings to a soldier before she realized she was scammed.

Becky Holmes joined the world of social media during the p**demic and soon had celebrities and handsome soldiers sliding into their DMs. Her way of dealing with them was to troll them and post their convos on Twitter and her account got pretty popular. In the first part of the book we see some of these conversations and it's really funny 😄

But then, the author used the second half of the book to explain who these scammers are, their most common MOs and how to recognize if you're getting scammed. She included real life stories from women who were scammed and I found that part particularly interesting. It's really easy to laugh at them but I feel we need to offer understanding and also do the best we can do educate women (especially older women) how to avoid these scams. It's sad to see that victims of romance fraud are helpless as authorities know next to nothing about these kind of crimes.

I absolutely recommend this, it's a short book that offers facts in a humoristic way that ends up being quite eye opening.

I'm slightly obsessed with this book. I cannot wait until its published. I will be buying a copy for everyone I know. I work in a financial institution and feel like this should be mandatory reading for all of our employees. We see quite a bit of romance fraud, and see potential fraud and just don't always see the warning signs. I think the way Becky Holmes writes about this, makes it more tangible to read about and easier to relate to if you feel like you would never fall for one of these schemes.

I don't know the author so it was interesting to go into this blind, This was a funny, fabulous book about romance fraud, it made me laugh out loud quite a few times. Perceptive and informative and a sad indictment of the times we live in.

This book should be required reading for anyone who wants to jump into the world of online dating or is tempted to answer the direct message from a random stranger on social media.

This book is a goldmine or information about romance scams - how to spot them and how to respond when they happen to you....because if you are online they probably will. Becky Holmes is funny, witty and informative in this book, tying all the pieces of these complex scams together in a way that readers can understand. She details how tricky it is to get help from the police, banks or support groups as these are all drastically underfunded. She calls out the use of victim blaming as a deflection technique used to make the victim feels silly for succumbing to these cons. I particularly loved the section where she details the romance scammers handbook and shares excerpts of the scripts that they use to pull people into their webs.

Victims share their stories and these are treated sensitively and with care. The book is also peppered with anecdotes from Becky's social media account where she shares the messages that she has received from fraudsters and also how they don't seem to be taking any notice of her, increasingly hilarious, responses to their messages as they just follow their predefined script.

Charming, witty, informative and perfect.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Netgalley’s generosity knows no bounds: they let me grab a free e-copy of this very funny and informative book. Came for the hilarious examples of the author messing online fraudsters about (e.g. her informing one that she was squatting in the house of a murder victim only to then be asked what her favourite colour is and whether she was married - say what you want about scammers, but they aren’t judgemental!), stayed for the stories and boggling facts about online romance scams: something way more common and often more sophisticated than I thought.

I knew of Becky Holmes from her hilarious Twitter threads, sharing conversations she has with bots and scammers. When I saw she was writing a book, I knew I had to read it and it didn’t disappoint! She brings her humour and writing style to this book, but also a lot of research and interviews. She clearly put a lot of time and effort into this book and I think it pays off. There’s lots of advice on what to look out for with a potential scammer, and an important message throughout that it can happen to anyone.