this book was okay- not a favorite but pretty fun. I enjoyed the concept- a mom who writes erotic novels and is in a slump. I wasn't super in love but didn't hate it either

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an arc in exchange for an honest review!

Hannah Thompson is a wife, mother, teacher and secret erotica writer.
This synopsis initially made me so excited to read this book and about Hannah's life. Whilst reading, I was shocked that Hannah was a mother of 3, in her 40s. Perhaps it's because I have never read from a protagonist of this demographic and I don't tend to reach for books with them in, but I did not finish this book. I DNFED it around the 30% mark for several reasons. The biggest of which is that I just felt incredibly disconnected to the characters and Hannah's perspective. I didn't really enjoy reading about her interactions and this made it hard to get through.

However, I do like Rebecca Smith's writing style. It is fast paced and does have some good elements of humour. This book just wasn't for me.

I tried this as the plot made the book sound like the kind of light and fluffy read i wanted. However, I did not really enjoy this and found myself switching off soon into this. The characters were weak and i did not really care for Hannah and thought that the whole secret identity thing could have been done in a better way so the main character seemed less irritating whenever someone would mention a smutty book.

I couldn't make it to the end of this one. I know this wasn't the final edited version, but the lack of spaces between words that occurred more than occasionally and other editing oddities really pulled me out of the story. I might have stuck with it if it wasn't for my dislike of the story. The daughter was a real piece of work, he premise was unbelievable, and a spirit of meanness pervaded throughout. I will not be recommending this title.

Hannah is a forty-something mom and teacher who also moonlights as a sex goddess, aka an erotic author. Faking It is lighthearted, fun and gets real about sex and life.

This book was so funny! "Faking It" is about a woman who is married with three children and teaches high school English. She is on a mission to find herself so she writes an erotic fiction novel under a pseudonym because she wants to protect her children from the embarrassment of having a mom who essentially writes porn. The novel explores what it means to be a mom and a wife and how sexuality fits in that picture. There are many moments of honesty that make you feel like you aren't alone if you don't feel sexy, even with lingerie on!

“Faking It” celebrates a woman rediscovering herself, amid the pressures of working, being a spouse, and being a parent – all while secretly authoring an erotic novel. A little bit scandalous, funny at times, but mostly heartfelt, “Faking It” dives into motherhood, and life beyond the age of forty.

If I’m honest, I anticipated that this book would be a bit racier than it actually is; it’s pretty tame, but that absolutely opens it up to a broader readership. It will make you laugh, it will make you cringe, and you will find a way to empathize with the protagonist, even if you don’t necessarily share a great deal in common with her.

“Faking It” will be a great pick for book clubs, and a nice gift to fans of romance and light fiction.

I received an ARC of this from Netgalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Perfect lighthearted read (especially considering the times in which we currently live) about a devoted wife, teacher and mother who wants a bit more from her life.

Hannah Thompson, 44, is ecstatic when she's published an erotic novel under her alter ego, Twinky Malone. The only thing is - her publishers want a sequel, and has she got it in her? What ensues is a lot of cringe, laughter, experimentation and empowerment between Hannah and the other women in her life. The characters are funny and sweet and I particularly enjoyed the family dynamic portrayed in the Thompson interactions.

I think the overall message is positive and sweet and would appeal to anybody feeling in a bit of a rut.

This book focuses on Hannah Thompson, a mother, a teacher....and a writer of erotic fiction. This book starts with Hannah working on her second book. Throughout this book, we see her go through every writer's struggle - actually writing the book. There are also other struggles within that - her son going off to uni, her daughter acting like a typical teenager, money issues etc.

In trying to paint a realistic picture, some of these struggles, to me, felt unnecessary and the constant internal struggle with writing, while realistic, also got boring after a while. I got quite bored during the middle section of this book because of this. It started off strong, felt a bit lacklustre in the middle, but then got a second wind where things picked up again.

This story does have an important message, the idea that anyone should be able to feel sexy and talk about sex. That it's not necessarily dirty or wrong to think about it, let alone take pleasure from it. My favourite bit was the ending where these messages are most explicit.

Did I find Hannah a bit overbearing, bordering on unrealistic in times with her reactions? Yes, but that's most likely because I found her un-relatable in that respect. There probably people who do act and think like her out there. But sometimes it felt like she acted a certain way just for comedic value, rather than 'yes, someone would definitely respond like this'. But overall, I enjoyed her POV and the writing was good. A solid 4/5.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Hannah is a middle-aged wife, mother to three, and English teacher to yet more teens. Looking for an escape from her mundane day-to-day responsibilities, she authors an (unintentionally humorous) erotic novel, which gets published. We meet Hannah as she starts on the path of writing the “difficult second book” while balancing work, parenting, and a perceived need to transform herself into a “Sex Goddess” to give her ideas for her new novel.

If you pick up this book expecting erotica, you’ll be disappointed. Instead, this is a light-hearted bit of escapism with a fair few laughs. The book touches on a few important topics, but doesn’t explore them all to a great depth. While some messages are a little mixed, the general moral of the story is that meaningful sex is (and should be) real, which doesn’t mean perfect. Overall, the characters and their relationships are fun and, as long as you’re not looking for anything too philosophical, this book is a hoot!

My thanks to the author, NetGalley, and the publisher for the arc to review.

<i> I received an ARC of this book on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review </i>

I wasn't expecting this book to be about a married woman - perhaps the impression I got from the description was off. Nonetheless, it was a fun read! I enjoyed the slice of life story that made me a lot more appreciative of my own normal life. The hijinks are absolutely hilarious, and I definitely went through a whirlwind of emotions as I navigated the world Hannah Thompson had landed herself in.

The character is a 4o-something year old mother of three, English teacher and secret erotica writer who thinks her life has just gotten far too mundane to inspire another sexy romp between the pages. She takes things into her own hands *ahem* and oh boy does she get herself into a situation.

I loved how sex and body positive this book was, and Hannah's relationship with her daughter and her students really warmed my heart. It also oddly reminded me of my relationship with my own mom, and my struggle trying to push her out of her comfort zone into areas she might find shocking but appreciate once she realizes how happy it will make her. I struggle trying to tell her to own who she is, to make an effort, dress up and take risks. In this aspect, I respected Hannah, and I loved seeing her grow to become more confident and happy.

This book left me with a smile on my face, and even though I'm quite a ways off from relating to the struggles of a middle-aged mother, I loved following her on this journey!

I enjoyed the synopsis for this book and was excited to read it. Although It was a fun read and parts made me laugh out loud, I did struggle a bit to get through it. I enjoyed the intertwining of humor with the story. Personally, I couldn't identify much with the point in life the main character was at but I could definitely see how one could. I enjoyed all the humor that was intertwined throughout.

I decided to just use the summary that I first read about this book, because it was what made me desperate to read it. This sounded life it could be funny, charming, thought provoking…. and just a really, really good time. As I had been in an emotional funk for some time and hoped that a good laugh would pull me out.
This was not that book. While there were some pretty hilarious parts, I found the main character to be far too unlikable. It became the job of her family and friend to keep the book on a more interesting and funny keel. As I did receive an uncorrected proof we aren’t going to get into all the typos that jerked me out of the story line- those will no doubt be taken care of before the book goes on sale. One thing I will say, though, is that the author seemed to sometimes choose words that made her sound more intelligent…. and sometimes I felt like they were misused. For instance, she tried to say that Hannah feels like her book is ‘zeitgeist’…. really? Let me lay out the Merriam-Webster definition:
Definition of zeitgeist
: the general intellectual, moral, and cultural climate of an era.

Following this, Free love would be Zeitgeist of the 1960’s. Is she really trying to say that her first book is the embodiment of the current times? It seems overly egotistical even for this character. Honestly, the book was cliché and cringy with pockets of hilarity. Think Mean Girls meets How Stella Got Her Groove Back (only she didn’t). Also, I understand that her writing as Hannah- especially the more sexually explicit scenes-are supposed to be bad, but I am fairly certain my cat could write better sex scenes (Not Maude, but Boo- she’s definitely the sexy one). For me, this was a two star book. It wasn’t bad, per se… it just couldn’t keep my interest and didn’t live up to my expectations.

On the adult content scale, there was some coarse language and very mild sexual content. While it’s really very tame- even a bit boring- I would still say older teens and above. Let’s give it a four.
I was lucky enough to receive an eARC of this book from Netgalley and One More Chapter in exchange for an honest review. My thanks!

Really good read. Would recommend to friends and family. I could sympathise with characters (important for any fiction novel!) and looked forward to picking it up and reading the next few chapters! Interesting plot line and a good ending. Will look out for more novels by the author. Thank you.

I couldn’t really get into this story. I tried all day and my attention just wasn’t into it. I got about halfway through before I stopped reading.

There were a lot of parts of this book that I found very relatable. And I really liked the main character. But there were some places where the humor didn't quite work. Overall, I liked the book, but I didn't love it.

Thank you NetGalley, One More Chapter and Rebecca Smith for gifting me an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!
This book is a slow burn with the perfect sprinkle of humor and real life. I’m in my mid twenties and I think my age kept me from really connecting with Hannah. I can think of a few people who may enjoy this, but the sex shaming is a bit much here. We go from writing erotica and finding her sexy to shaming strippers and encouraging the erotica author stigma. I don’t know, just made it hard to truly like her.

Faking It by Rebecca Smith stars Hannah Thompson as a wife, mom, teacher and author. I loved seeing Hannah go after her writing career and go outside of her comfort zone. The book did leave me feeling a little stressed by her juggling everything and fell a bit flat in humor department.

I didn't realise this book was a follow on from More Than Just Mum which I haven't read. Perhaps if I had read that one first, it would have put things into perspective for me a bit more but regardless I was still able to pick up where the first book left off.

Hannah is a mother of 3, a part time teacher and a writer of a erotic fiction novel that unwittingly became more funny than risque.

Hannah now has the task of writing her second funny erotic fiction book which is a struggle for her as the first book was not meant to be funny, it was meant to be sexy.

This book explores the way Hannah tries to shake up her sex life with her husband Nick and get into the mindest of an erotic novel writer.......basically faking it until she can make it, all the while spinning the plates that are children, work and home life which most of us can relate to.....well maybe not the erotic author part!

This was an easy read and fairly enjoyable. I didn't have any laugh out loud moments but I did enjoy the end and Hannah's speech at the sex con which sums up how I feel about erotic fiction novels.

I loved this book, the writing was witty and made me laugh on multiple occasions. The beginning was a little slow for me but after I got over the hump (around page 25) I was glued to the pages.