“It feels like we’re caught in a moment. That moment in a cheesy romcom movie, when the characters fall for each other, but don’t know it”

Fake it ‘til You Make It follows Abbey & Ted who were both recently cheated on. Both find solace in the same apartment building. Ted who lives there courtesy of his brother who is an MLB player. Since Abbey was kicked out of her apartment that she shared with Andrew. She now lives in the apartment underneath Ted.
After an embarrassing encounter, the two begin an unusual friendship. They both lie about their careers & circumstances. In Ted’s case, he’s often mistaken for his brother, so he doesn’t correct Abbey.
Ted quickly comes to the aid of Abbey when she encounters Andrew, portraying her new boyfriend.

With Andrew being invited to Abbey’s parent's wedding vows renewal, Ted offers to be her fake date.
The two have to keep up with their own lies along with pretending to be in a relationship. I wish the two would’ve been honest from the beginning. Or at least halfway through the book, instead of dragging it out. Relationships aren’t meant to be built from lies, but it was pivotal to the plot.

Of course with fake dating comes banter, chemistry and the realization of feelings not being so fake anymore. The two have to navigate these growing feelings and admit the truth to one another.

Tropes:
-Dual POV
-Slow Burn
-Closed door romance


Thank You to NetGalley, Laura Carter, and Boldwood Books for an eARC. All opinions are my own.

sweet no-spice romcom with the fake dating trope 💞🌷

Ted / Mike is the nicest male MC of any romcom I've read, maybe too soft and too "written by a woman" to my taste. It definitely had some of the typical romcom quirckiness, especially with the cringy nicknames (Lady Big Panties? Miss Fluffy Boots?? ew) and I'm not a fan of the lying / stolen identity trope but they made it work ok.

I didn't have a lot of butterflies reading this, although Ted's body made up for it several times. The "out of the shower with only a towel" scene is a classic and never getting old 🙏

overall a cute and nice romcom, not a lot of drama or action but full of sweet moments 🫶

[review posted on goodreads]

Abbey’s checklist-perfect life falls apart when her boyfriend dumps her and she loses her job. Ted discovers his beautiful fiancé and best friend/business partner are having an affair. As they met at the lowest point of their life, Abbey and Ted do not have the best impressions of each other. However, they grow closer to each other in their joint misery of failed relationships. Certain circumstances lead them to start fake dating until nothing seems fake anymore.

The book was very entertaining with lots of sweet heartfelt moments. For a change, both the main characters had something to hide and hence the miscommunication was not one-sided. The back-and-forth banter between the main characters and their chemistry was cute.
Although I liked the book, I felt the ending was a bit rushed. There are a few things that are left unanswered. How did Ted’s confrontation with his business partner go? What did Abbey decide regarding her career? I wish I could know more about it.

The book is perfect for those who love a clean romance with a slow burn and for fans of The Spanish Love Deception.

Thank you Netgalley, Laura Carter and Boldwood Book for giving me a chance to read this ARC!

RATING: ★★★★

The cover had me hooked and the trope of this book was interesting the first chapter feels like romcoms from the 2000s you can kind of see where things will go and you just want to see where this is going to take the main character.
It was interesting having the trope of the main character not knowing who he is but because we have dual point of view I would think that having his pov would bring something to the table, but it didn't, it was kind of boring also because I would have preferred to have the audience not know really who he was and some things that had to do with him, like the main character thought something wrong about the love interest and in the next chapter we have him telling us the truth so we don't really have any suspense or doubts which was a little disappointing, and also the ending is just so abrupt and we don't even get an epilogue, the story was good in theory but needed a better execution.
I would give it a 2.5 stars rating, which isn't possible but, sadly, this didn't feel like a 3 star read
Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for this book 💕

Fake It ‘till You Make It Review

TLDR: I quite enjoyed this novel and I would strongly recommend it, especially to fans of Christina Lauren’s “The Unhoneymooners” and Elena Armas “The Spanish Love Deception” (in my opinion, this novel is far superior to either of these novels).

Abbey’s whole life is thrown upside down when she gets dumped and loses her job. At the encouragement of her slightly eccentric sister, Abbey decides to fake her life until she makes it. That involves a brand-new wardrobe, a swanky new apartment and a hot new boy who lives next door.

Ted’s life is thrown upside down when he finds his fiancé in bed with his business partner. Seeking an escape, he goes to stay with his brother in New York and finds himself involved in a case of mistaken identity with the girl next door.

What I Loved:
The message in this book was well done and empowering – I loved the whole self-love aspect and encouragement. It didn’t come off as sickly sweet or anything like that.

The slow reveal of the compatibility of Abbey and Ted. I really enjoyed how long they took to get to know each other and how the reader was given small insights into their compatibility even before they were.

What I Liked:
The chemistry between Abbey and Ted was quite well done, I loved how they didn’t just automatically fall into bed and love with one another. There was build up and intrigue and it definitely paid off.

While this book has a heavy use of tropes (fake dating, forced proximity, mistaken identities, self-love), it never felt like it relied on those tropes to carry the reader through. I was already engaged and intrigued even without the tropes.

What I Disliked:
Sometimes the mistaken identity trope went a little too far. Ted tells Abbey a lot of lies as he pretends to be his brother and there were times when it felt a little icky just because of how many lies there were. I will say that this was quite well resolved, and it felt like Ted did make appropriate amends with Abbey and her family.

Overall, I really enjoyed this novel and would definitely recommend it.

4/5 stars
2.5/5 Chiles

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

The chemistry and banter between Abbey and Ted (hot neighbour) was palpable and leapt off the pages. The plot was entertaining and kept me engaged from the first page.
Ilaughed often from Abbey's witty come backs, she was so sassy and gave Ted such a hard time. I only wish she could have been more like that with her ex.
For anyone who enjoys the fake dating trope this book is a must read.

This book was so good and the character development in the book was so good and kept me locked in the entire book!

I really enjoyed this which i thought i would since it is my favourite trope! I really enjoyed the characters and the chemistry they had together!

An utterly enchanting and emotional novel about love and romance.The author manages to infuse a thoroughly evocative atmosphere into a page-turner plot The overall feeling from reading this book is like being enveloped in a warm hug from that special someone in your life.

One of my favorite tropes is fake dating, so I was super excited when I was approved for this book! The storyline was cute, there was adorable moments in my opinion, and I found their chemistry believable.

However, the one thing I dislike about a book is slow pacing, and this definitely had it. I wasn't too into it at the beginning so it was a push to keep going. That being said, it's good for beginner romance readers, or ones who don't mind a slow paced novel. It's a light read! The other downside is there's a rushed ending, and some things feel off.

I want to personally thank NetGalley, as well as the author, publisher, and anyone else involved in providing copies, for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Reviews will also be submitted to Goodreads when possible.

I thought this was a well written book that kept me engaged throughout the entire story. Even though I knew how the story was going to end, I wanted to keep on reading to see how it would play out. The last third of the story was not what I imagined, but it was enjoyable. I like how this story wasn’t overly sexualized and I would feel comfortable sharing this with my older/mature middle and high schoolers.

A quick clean romance story.. Nice book to take on holiday. Both Ted and Abbey are pretending to be someone different as their recent breakups have soured their views on love. Nice to see their fake dating develop into a real relationship.

3.5 stars!

This was a solid romance book, which is enjoyable and a fast read! I did like the premise of the book - both Abbey and Ted have been recently been cheated on, and they have to figure out how to move forward. The romance part was very very cute, and it does feel like they were destined for one another.

However, I really struggled with the pacing of this novel. It felt so very slow at the beginning, and I was ready to DNF this book. I powered through the rest, and the ending was pretty much rushed.

I also really really disliked the trope. Not the Fake Dating aspect, because that is one of my favourite tropes, but the fact that they were lying to each other (Ted pretended to be his brother Mike and Abbey pretended to be an actress) really put me off.

All in all, it is a pretty solid book, for someone that does not mind lying/deception between the two MC's!

Thanks to NetGalley and to Boldwood Books for the ARC!

FAKE IT 'TIL YOU MAKE IT By Laura Carter

Can a fake date fix everything? On a day Abbey thought would be the best of her life – her boyfriend is surely going to propose tonight, right? – it all falls he tells her he’s met someone else. And then to make things worse, she loses her job.
In an act of reimagination, she splurges her wedding savings on renting an apartment in a building she’s always dreamed of living in and kits out her wardrobe to match.
But when her family invites her ex – a close family friend – plus a date(!!) to her parents’ vow renewal, Abbey realizes her façade won’t be enough. There’s nothing for it but to fake one more thing – a romance. And she knows exactly who to ask... her hot new neighbor...

😊What i liked -

✔ Fake Dating/Neighbours To Lovers/Mistaken Identity.
✔ Absolutely loved the chemistry between Ted and Abbey.
✔ I did find the storyline cute and funny. Few instances did make me laugh.
✔ Loved their equations with their siblings.
✔ I was hating on Abbey's mum but the end few pages made me change my opinion about her.

🤔What could have been better -

✔ Despite being a cute book, the pace of this book made me want to keep the book down many times.
✔ The mistaken identity for me went on for way too long.

📚Who Should read :

👶Beginners
💝Romance Lover
💕Fake Dating Romance
💞Neighbours To Lovers Romance

📈My Rating : 3/5


Thank you, Laura Carter and Boldwood Books, for a copy.

Overall this was a fun, light read. The characters were fun and I loved their chemistry, but I felt like the ending was way too rushed. Especially without an epilogue, the story definitely could use a bit more there.

I absolutely love this book. The buildup was so perfect. I enjoyed the switching POV‘s and definitely felt the chemistry between the two main characters. The FMC annoyed me a little at times, and the MMC letting her think he was his brother seemed a little unnecessarily complicating but overall, really great!

What an absolutely adorable romance book. Fluffy cosy romance with great characters and a great story. Sometimes I think YA romances are going to be corny and slightly cliche but I loved it. It was exciting and had a few curve balls thrown in.

⭐️⭐️⭐️.75 - it was so cute and I loved their development of a relationship and the dynamic but I needed more about them after they got together 🤍🤍

🌶️- cute romance with some good tension but clean.

Fake dating
Cheating Ex’s
Fluffy romance
Friends to lovers
Slow burn
YA romance
Miscommunication😬

Abbey and Ted have both been cheated on by their exs and are not looking for a relationship but when they meet a fake dating ruse forms meaning Ted is going to Abbeys parents anniversary. There is a plot twist… let’s just say they’re not who they say they are 🫣

Abbeys character is brilliant. She is funny and witty and a super fun character. Her development throughout the book and emotional rollercoaster made her a brilliant and relatable character throughout.

Ted was an absolute delight. Despite coming across as arrogant at times he is 100% pure of heart. I really loved his dorkiness and how shy he really was behind the tough bravado he was putting on. He played his role well despite being the complete opposite in reality.

The romance was cute… it was very clean and had a lot of heartfelt moments that were exciting and adorable 😍

I writing was easy to read and was very well done. At times I thought some of it was rushed and I wanted more explanation or more story but other than that I enjoyed this romance book.

Please give me more!! I was shocked when the book said THE END because what!!! I mean great that they got together but can we not have an epilogue of them after or even more to their story… I beg for more!!

Loved the quirky title of this one. Laura has penned an excellent, well planned book with lovely characters and an intriguing storyline.

I enjoyed this slow burn fake dating romance! It took me a while to warm up to the characters, but they do find their HEA and it's quite the journey!

OMG!! I really wanted to love this. It had all the right elements of fake dating, exes, upcoming weddings and shennanigans. However, the characters were extremely unlikeable and that matters a lot when a writers wants a reader to enjoy their book. I have no idea where this writer is from but the use of social media was also not plausible. No one in the United States uses Whatsapp on a regular basis unless on vacation in another country. This writer clearly does not know about Facebook, Instagram or Tiktok usuage in the US.

I was just irritated with this book and cannot recommend it. Disappointed.

THanks to Netgalley, Laura Carter and Boldwell Book for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Available: 4/8/2024