As much as I wanted to enjoy this book I just couldn’t get into it. I couldn’t connect with either main characters. The storyline sounded like a fun one and I’ve read other books in this genre that I’ve enjoyed so I had high hopes. It unfortunately didn’t work out this time.

Faker by Sarah Smith is a cute contemporary romance about a workplace, enemies to lovers story. Emmie works for a construction company and she is constantly surrounded by men. She must work closely with Tate who is in charge of the company's social media. At first, Tate is nothing but mean and gruff toward Emmie. Until she's forced to work with him and suffers an accident on this charity job they both must undertake.

Tate is a bit too cold and standoffish. I get what the author is trying to present - a person who can't allow himself to like Emmie, and thus is rude to her. But it goes overboard a bit. And while I love the fact that this heroine is not a white female like 95% of romance, she's not as likeable and developed as I would like.

When we finally start seeing Tate as human, it's a little fast, and the history of his treatment of her is almost non-existent. Which is difficult to believe. But he does have some redeeming qualities toward the middle and the end. There were points in the book that I truly enjoyed when they were connecting as a couple, and then there were areas over the top that felt too contrived, about how Tate does an immediate about face with his behavior toward Emmie and how she automatically forgives him.

There's room to grow.

I'm officially hailing 2019 as the year of the romantic comedy and Faker is the latest wonderful addition to the lineup.

Our main characters are a woman in a male dominated company trying to assert herself and gain respect for her work which has proven to be no easy task. Enter Tate, the male social media specialist that just makes everything harder for her at work - until one day he doesn't.

I loved the banter between Emmie and Tate and the enemies to lovers storyline as well as the representation of diverse characters and the importance their backgrounds held to their personalities.

This was a great debut from Sarah Smith and I'm eager for more of her work in the future!

This book was okay and I enjoyed it, but it didn’t blow me away with anything overly special. The best thing it had going for it was representation.

Main character Emmie is a biracial Filipino woman working for a construction company, but longing for the days of her childhood where she lived in Hawaii. When she’s at work, she’s a big faker. Completely projecting an appearance of toughness, trying to make it as one of very few females working at a male dominated company. But really when she’s home, she’s soft and introverted and more herself. One thing she doesn’t have to fake however, is her disdain for her too hot to handle coworker, Tate, who for some unknown reason has been a jerk to Emmie since her first day on the job. When the two are thrown together for a special project, sparks fly in a completely different manner, and they start to realize that maybe all the hate is just a cover for something else.

I liked Emmie and Tate alright, but I feel like aspects of their relationship seemed off. Tate withheld some info from Emmie that wasn’t really cool, and could have been perceived strangely, but for the most part they were okay.

It was a little off putting for me that Emmie had this need to continue to remind us, the reader, that she was so tough because of this and because of that, when she wasn’t really being true to herself. I guess the whole point of the book was for her to come across that way and then evolve, which I supposed she kind of did, once her relationship with Tate straightened out and things were revealed, but the repetitiveness got a little grating after a while.

I definitely still enjoyed the book, and this was likely just a me problem that won’t bother other people, so I’d still say pick this one up if you’re into an office romance with the hate-to-love trope!

*Thank you Berkley Publishing Group and Netgalley for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review. *

Cute story about finding love when you're weren't looking for it. I loved the dynamic between Emmie and Tate. I couldn't put the book down because I needed to know what will happen between them. I was very happy with the ending.

Women working in male dominated fields frequently have a tough time as they often get little or no respect. Emmie Echavarre knows that paradigm well so she puts on her tough gal armor everyday as one of the few women working at Nuts and Bolts. Emmie’s job as a copywriter puts her in the same work area as Tate Rasmussen who is in charge of the Social Media for the same company. From day one, Tate has been hostile and annoying to Emmie though she had no clue why. Faking a hard veneer is what Emmie does to keep from showing her hurt feelings and to be preyed upon by creepers or men who would like to see her cut down to size.
3.5 stars

Tate seems the opposite of Emmie in every way personality-wise even including ethnic background. His Nordic good looks and fit physique appeal to Emmie very much although as her sister says, Tate is a douche nozzle. When they are forced to work together for a charitable cause, things begin to gradually change between Emmie and Tate though there are still some missteps with Tate causing angry and frustrating moments for Emmie. Communication is not his strong suit.

Emmie sees herself has a faker in a lot of aspects of her life including in her previous romance relationships. Tate does something to her emotionally than no man ever has. He seems to feel the same way; however, Tate has some secrets that might just blow up in his face. This enemies to lovers story has some fun and yet frustrating moments. Both main characters seem to have trouble communicating their feelings, instead covering up with posturing or unexplained hostilities. Perhaps Emmie enjoys their verbal battles more than she admits; after all, it takes two to make an argument. The rocky road to their relationship including much delayed gratification adds a bit more angst to this rom-com trope. Ms. Smith is a promising new author so I look forward to seeing her next effort.

I have mixed feeling about Faker. An enemies to lovers office romance is one of my favorite things. But something about it just felt a little off. Emmie is completely focused on Tate from page one and I kept thinking that I wished she would interact with other characters more. She does actually talk to other people so I think maybe the POV threw me off. It's entirely in first person present tense and that sense of urgency wasn't really necessary here.



Still, there are things I enjoyed about the story. Emmie's background was interesting. She grew up in Hawaii but now lives in Nebraska. And I liked how she instinctively understood Tate's introverted ways once she realized what was happening. But it was obvious from the beginning that she was misinterpreting his attraction as antagonism, which was frustrating. And Tate's romantic gestures are so cute.

Love/hate relationships can be a good trope for a novel if executed properly. Faker unfortunately fell into the category where it felt abusive, Tate is a toxic character and these novels that emphasize jealous, moody and rude men who the main character falls in love with is getting quite tired for me. I'm totally over women in books falling for the guy who treats them like trash, but surprise- has liked them all along.

Emmie and Tate are coworkers with a hate at first sight relationship. As you would expect, they are thrown together and things change
I liked this book more than I expected. Reading the first half, I was concerned that the book was seeming to be a straight-up ripoff of the Hating Game. In the second half the story came into its own, and I ended up invested in the couple. They were individually likeable and cute together. I didn't find their obstacles to be contrived. I recommend it.

3.5 stars

This was a fun enemies to lovers office romance. I enjoyed the slow burn between Emmie and Tate and how their relationship evolved into more. Fans of these tropes are sure to enjoy this debut novel by Sarah Smith.

Faker dealt with some more serious issues like sexual harassment and prejudice, but it balanced it well with humor and more lighthearted moments. I appreciated that the author celebrated these characters for their culture and for who they were, but also was realistic with the obstacles they might encounter. The overall flow of the book was good, but it did take me a little bit to get invested and the ending felt a bit rushed.

I liked Emmie and Tate, but unfortunately I didn't love them. Emmie came across as too naive at times and her reaction to some of the events in the book felt extreme and irrational. I liked her overall character growth though and she really came into her own at the end. I enjoyed the hate/love vibe, but I was kind of confused why Emmie and Tate were so antagonistic to each other in the beginning. It's explained to a degree later in the book via some drama that had me cringing a bit, but it still felt a little too over the top. I also found the physical descriptions of Tate repetitive and I wasn't sure why it was so significant to point it out so many times. I'm actually torn between thinking Tate's actions were sweet and thoughtful and also that he was pretty stalkerish. I think I'm still more on the sweet side though, and him taking care of and helping Emmie was my favorite part of the book.

Overall, this was a great debut novel that left me with a smile on my face. I'm looking forward to reading more by Sarah Smith in the future.

*I voluntarily read an advance review copy of this book*

I couldn't get over Tate being a terrible person to Emmie for a year but secretly being in love with her.

I really really enjoyed the first half of this book and it gave me a lot of Hating Game vibes. However, the second half was not as enjoyable to me, and I am having a hard time figuring out why. Overall, it was a pretty enjoyable book, but I definitely enjoyed the first half of the book over the second half.

After trying to read this and cringing a LOT at the writing, plus seeing multiple own-voices reviewers point out how uncomfortably written the MC's hyper-fixation on the LI's whiteness is... I'm just going to DNF this and leave it alone.

Faker was low angst with oodles of tropes, and it just didn't work for me. I've seen a handful of comparisons of Faker to The Hating Game which may explain why this book didn't work for me either; however, if you're a fan of The Hating Game I say give this one a shot. My biggest hangup with Faker was Emmie's love interest, Tate. Emmie was a great character; she was complex and knew how to defend herself in a male-dominated field. Tate, on the other hand, was lukewarm. Tate's reactions was fairly juvenile and he didn't seem to have a good handle on his emotions. He and Emmie formed a relationship fairly early on in the book and I was hoping for a bit more angst and the opportunity to get to know the characters' values and vulnerabilities before they hopped in bed together. Faker had tons of sexy times, but I just couldn't believe Emmie and Tate as a couple.

Sarah Smith’s debut novel, Faker is a delightfully funny enemies-to-lovers story focusing on Emmie and Tate—two co-workers at a company called Nuts & Bolts. This novel is sweet, funny, steamy, and cute.

Emmaline Echavarre is a faker.
Fake smiles.
Fake enthusiasm (for her job).
Fake orgasms.

With all that faking, she doesn't seem like a very happy person. Things aren't made better by having to deal with her moody co-worker, Tate Rasumssen, at their company, Nuts & Bolts. And then Tate does something that shocks her, he suggests they work together on a special project.

Before getting into the relationship between these two characters, I loved that their company took on this venture to build a home for a family in need. I also loved how these two co-workers used the opportunity to build attention and goodwill about their company. Both of them stepped outside of the box and came up with some great ideas, despite their initial hostility towards one another.

Initially, I'd agree that Tate was a tough co-worker to be around. However, there were little actions he took that made it evident that there was more to this guy then first perceived. It takes some time for Emmie to discover this, but when she is injured, it becomes hard to ignore.

Tate is not an open book, but little by little, he opens up to Emmie and he was hard not to like. His actions were a step beyond what an average friend/co-worker would do. So when he reveals his true feelings, it wasn't a shock to me. There are some miss-steps along the way, but the couple who once couldn't stand to be in the same room as each other, make the time to communicate and prevent unnecessary drama. And it is along the way that Emmie learns she doesn't have to fake things anymore.

This is a sweet hate-to-love office romance and I thought it was an enjoyable one, especially given it is the author's debut release.

Working at Nuts & Bolts was not walk in the park for Emmie. As one of the few females, she constantly had to employ her "girl boss" persona in order to maintain her sanity. One co-worker she loved to hate, was Tate. He may have been in charge of social media, but he lacked social skills, if you asked Emmie. However, all her feelings about Tate changed, when he came to her aid following a medical emergency. Emmie starting looking at him with hearts in her eyes, but would these two introverts be able to find their HEA?

I was so scared to read this, because of other reviews I had seen. It seemed the conflict Smith put in the latter part of the book turned some readers off, but I was ok with it. That very small portion of the story, which was explained away, could not erase all the wonderful things that proceeded and followed it.

This book was a lot of fun to read. I have enjoyed many office hate-to-love romances, and I think I liked this one more than some of the others, because the hate phase was short. Look, I like romance, and though all that push-and-pull can be entertaining, I actually liked it when these two were mooning over each other even more.

I was a big fan of both the hero and the heroine. Emmie and Tate actually shared a lot of the same great qualities. They were sarcastic, amusing, loyal friends, family orientated, hard working, and big hearted. Because they were both so introverted, it was difficult for people to get to know them, but once I saw what was beneath the surface, I was all in.

I am a very ardent romance reader, therefore, I adored all the wonderful romantic gestures and lovely things these two did in the name of love. Tate was especially good at the romantic stuff, believe it or not. He would do all these little things, which just made my heart flutter, and I began to look forward to what he would do next.

And, wow! I was really impressed with how much heat Smith generated before these two ever, ahem, consummated their relationship. There were hot, passionate kisses, steamed up windows, just for her pleasure, and cuddling, lots of cuddling, which just made me love this couple even more.

The story was told exclusively from Emmie's point of view, and it was a lot of fun being in her head. I did often wonder what Tate was thinking, though, and thankfully we got a little peek via his text messages. I was really grateful Smith gave that to us, because it helped me understand him a bit more.

I devoured this book, and wore a stupid grin across my face just about the whole time. It was a sweet and gooey romance, which left me utterly elated, and I look forward to seeing what Smith does in the future.

Written by debut author, Sarah Smith! This is a charming romance that will definitely be right up the alley of the people re-discovering the rom-com genre. I really enjoyed it!

EEEEpppppp.
This one didn't work for me. I am just not invested in the characters at all.
I'm not sure there is one specific reason except...I just don't get their relationship. At all.
Sadly, I am putting this on my DNF shelf. Possibly will pick up later...if I do I will update this review at that time.

I was very excited for this book since it had an enemies to lover trope, which is my favourite but unfortunately this one didn’t work me. I couldn’t emotionally connect to either the hero or heroine and the hero was too much of an asshole for me to be happy about the couple finally ending up together. So I wouldn’t recommend this one.
Thank you Netgalley for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest opinion