I firmly believe that we should read books that are both mirrors and windows. Finding characters and stories that we relate to is SO important. But equally important is reading about characters who are nothing like us - especially if we don’t belong to a minority group and don’t have the firsthand experience of the discrimination others face.

Thanks to Alexandria Bellefleur, I get to read sexy, inclusive, queer, romance books with characters on every part of the gender and sexuality spectrum. Her books are “windows” for me, but they aren’t outside my comfort zone because love is love, and romance between any two humans will leave me swooning.

But for some romance readers, I can imagine her books might not be the ones you automatically reach for - but I assure you, you should! Her latest novel, The Fiancee Farce, is a sapphic romance that left me with big ol’ heart eyes. A quiet bookseller and a wealthy publishing heiress embark on a fake dating/upcoming-marriage-of-convenience, which results in all the angst and feelings.

I encourage you to seek out LGBTQIA+ stories, authors, narrators, and queer-owned bookstores all year long! It’s a small but mighty way to support a community that is still fighting daily for equal rights.

This contemporary romance takes the tropes of fake relationships and billionaires and adds LGBTQIA+ protagonists. The heroines have sizzling chemistry, and the tension is drawn out skillfully with deft writing and plotting. Highly recommend.

This book was absolutely everything I love in a romance novel—sweet, funny, steamy, and catering to people like me, who not only love books but love the book industry. What romance lover wouldn't want to read about a bookseller falling in love with a romance cover model?

The story follows Tansy, who seems to be in the middle of her own 2004 A Cinderella Story plotline. Her father died, leaving behind the family bookstore to his wife who spent their short time as a family turning a blind eye to the way her step-sister and step-cousin treated her. And it doesn't help that said step-cousin is marrying her ex and the man who thoroughly fucked with her head at age 16.

Enter Gemma, romance cover model and presumed heir to her family's publishing company—and cousin to Tansy's ex. Tansy doesn't know this, though, and certainly didn't know when she used impulsively chose Gemma's name to give to the fake girlfriend she's been lying to her family about for six months. When Gemma shows up at the wedding, Tansy's forced to face her lies when she comes face-to-face with Gemma—except instead of revealing her lies, Gemma plays into them.

This was a cute but surprisingly deep sapphic romance that I think everyone should read. Between the cute bonding scenes, relatable text exchanges, and spicy moment, the story also tackles topics such as toxic families, revenge porn, and grief. It's my second book by Bellefleur, and definitely favorite!

I was a bit skeptical to pick up a modern-day marriage of convenience book, but I am so glad I did. I absolutely are up every bit of The Fiancée Farce. From the first chapter I was on the edge of my seat. I adored the main characters and loved the side characters as well. The setting of socialite Seattle was a blast. I saw the big plot twist coming, so it wasn’t much of a surprise, but this was such a fun, great read. I would definitely recommend!

Alexandria Bellefleur charmingly brings to life a modern day marriage of convenience romance in her newest release-The Fiancee Farce. Bellefleur's writing and tone work wonderfully hand in hand to create this modern day romance, the ease and conversational quality give this novel a movie like feel which make it easily understandable and extremely accessible. While a marriage of convenience trope can be hard to pull off in a contemporary world, Bellefleur beautifully uses it to her advantage through charming and funny set up which give both our heroine's a grounding that feels relatable and believable. If you love a well pace, sweet and sensual sapphic romance, that this novel will not disappoint.

There is a really lovely gentle charm that is created in this novel. I adored that both our heroine's feel a bit like opposites to the other. I love that they both are extremely attracted to the other. I love that they both enter into this mutual arrangement to help the other and never do it out of manipulation. Watching these two navigate a fake relationship is fun, while they build a strong foundation of trust and understanding, as well as they learn to be open with each other and explore a physical side of their attraction. I was charmed that that their relationship builds out of a falsehood in other people's eyes, but really has a level of clarity when it comes to how they interact with each other.

I have highly enjoyed Bellefleur's novels and am continuously interested in seeing where her work will grow. If you love her work, you are sure to find this novel delightful and if you have never read from her before, this is a really lovely place to start! I would definitely recommend checking this book out, it is fun, charming and sweetly endearing!

This book was everything! Fake dating turned to real love always has me on a chokehold. This sapphic romance had me turning pages and on the edge of my seat cause I just knew that cousin of hers was going to pull something out of his butt. The steamy scenes were on point, the banter and plot were fantastic and you will just not want to put this down!

This book wasn't exciting but really cute and perfect for fans of fake dating and readers' who want to be swept off their feet with a romance book cover model. Bellefleur has some fun details for her characters that made this a step above your basic romance.

I received this book for free from netgalley for an honest review.

My girlfriend read this with me. It was so great so sweet! Perfect buddy read.

“If it had to be anyone, I’m so glad that it’s you.”

This was fun! THE FIANCÉE FARCE is a sapphic marriage-of-convenience romance between a reserved bookseller and a wealthy part-time romance cover model. The leads, Tansy and Gemma, had great chemistry and I enjoyed watching their relationship slowly build and solidify. This story didn’t woo me though. The set up was pretty outlandish and I struggled through the first section. I didn’t find their character arcs that compelling so it was hard to stay invested. Not to mention the cover failed me in multiple ways. Maybe I’m not the right person for Bellefleur’s novels; I’ve read them all and find them increasingly - normative, perhaps? Definitely cheesy. They kind of bore me! I think sometimes I want something more subversive, more revolutionary about my queer love stories than Bellefleur gives. But also, her world is free of homophobia, and her characters do get to be just hot queer people falling in love - which is the type of fantasy many of us are looking for. I know many will love the romcom tropes and Taylor Swift references Bellefleur packs in here alongside the difficult topics she tackles. Thanks to Avon Books for the review copy!

Content warnings: sexual harassment, loss of a parent, bullying, emotional abuse, toxic relationship

Alexandria Bellefleur writes the most amazing, whimsical love stories and The Fiancée Farce is no exception.

This was such a great sapphic romance especially if you love marriage of convenience/fake engagement, millionaire love interest, book store worker/owner and "let me spoil you" tropes.

To get her family off of her back, Tansy makes up a fake relationship. She uses the cover model of a book she has seen in the book store where she works as her pretend girlfriend. Much to her surprise, Gemma, that cover model shows up at a wedding she is attending. Thankfully Gemma plays along with Tansy's story and goes even further wanting Tansy to pretend to be her fiancé so she can receive an inheritance she is due. As with the best marriage of convenience/fake dating stories, what starts out as a ruse, soon becomes more real than they ever imagined.

This story is beautiful and whimsical and I could not put it down. I loved the tender moments between Tandy and Gemma and the way Gemma went out of her way to take care of Tansy. Bellefleur writing the most amazing characters and Tansy and Gemma are certainly up there as some of the best ones she has written.

I would highly recommend checking out this book.

Thank you to the publisher for an EARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

A charming contemporary romance with engaging main characters that I could root for. I could see them staying together forever, and the smarmy villain was just as terrible as he ought to be.

I loved this book! Gemma and Tansy were delightful, and I also appreciated the more serious topics it covered, including grief and toxic relationships.

I have a soft spot in my heart for Alexandria Bellefleur. If you enjoyed her other books, I think this is probably a suitable choice for you. Bi rep meets marriage of convenience? I was ecstatic to read this book! Unfortunately, it wasn't a homerun for me the way some of Bellefleur's other books have been. I found myself thinking a little too hard about the mechanics of the story, and about the timeline these two lovebirds were following. If I'm thinking about things like that, it's because something about the plot was clunky-- I am not an analytical reader by nature, it only happens when I am forced out of the story. Throw in some out-of-character actions in the final 10% of the book and I was over the ending. A good, not great, read. Trysts in the library will always earn a star though, so I'm comfortable with a 3.5, rounded down.

Tansy cannot win when it comes to love, so she invents a fake girlfriend, Gemma, inspired by a model on the cover of a romance book. But when she meets the real-life Gemma at her step-cousin’s wedding, she is forced to face that lie head on. Gemma is the black sheep of her family, and now the heir to the family business. With one condition: she must be married. When she meets Tansy it is the perfect opportunity to say they are actually engaged. The two form a marriage of convenience, but they can’t ignore the real chemistry between them.

Gemma and Tansy might be one of my new favorite fictional couples. I loved them together and how their personalities really complimented each other. The way this marriage of convenience played out was *chef’s kiss*. There was the perfect balance of sass, sweetness and steam. I would have liked it to be a bit less insta-love and there were a lot of side characters to keep track of, but otherwise I loved this book!

Thank you to Avon Books and NetGalley for the advance copy.

Thank you so much to Avon and Netgalley for providing an advanced copy of this! All thoughts and opinions are still my own.

Alexandria Bellefleur is quickly becoming a favorite trade author of mine for sapphic romances. Not only are books beautifully written, but the romances are both swoony AND steamy.

This is the start of new series (not tied to her Written in the Stars series) and I desperately want more books in this world.

This book, on top of being a romance, was a love letter to romance as a whole. Following a bookstore owner and romance cover model, there were so many little nods to romance readers and the genre. Which I LOVED.

This also had such a fantastic fake dating plot line. I loved how these characters got into their wild situation right away and just rolled with it. Both of them need a relationship for separate reasons, but their willingness to just go along and help out another stranger was so fun.

Plus their romance stole me heart. The way these two fall for each was fantastic. It never felt insta-lovely (despite moving fast) an they were both so self aware of their situation.

Also that grovel/grand gesture at the end. Be still my heart.

I absolutely adore Alexandria Bellefleur and can't wait for more romances from her!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy of this book. I really enjoyed it. I like marriage of convenience romances, and it was so fun and refreshing to read one with a queer couple, especially a female couple.

4/5 stars - Such a fun, romantic, drama-filled romp with loads of witty repartee and sarcasm. The cover is horrible, but the story more than makes up for it!

Love love love this one. Alexandria Bellefleur truly can do no wrong in my books. Gemma is h-o-t-t HOT. She is brash and funny and witty and I love her. Tansy is an extremely compelling character. I love how fiercely she defends those she loves even if she is a bit of a pushover when it comes to herself.

This is fake dating/engagement done superbly. The tension is amazing, the will they won't they is amazing. The dramatic gestures at the end were perfect -- like are they over the top? Absolutely. But it just works in this book.

This review is no substance just vibes but 10/10 read this book.

A sapphic marriage of convenience between a bookseller and romance cover novel?? Amazing premise! The way the characters met and fell into this relationship was an absolutely absurd set of circumstances and I honestly would not have it any other way! This book jumped right in from the get go and was super fast paced. The way the characters communicated and worked through their feelings was super refreshing! Overall, a fun wedding season read- Would definitely recommend!

This book was really cute. Both FMC are great, relatable and funny. They were really great together, amazing communication, talking like adults in a relationship and supporting each other. Those were wonderful parts to read. As always I really appreciated Bellefleur expanding on the conflicts and emotional ties. She is a master at wringing your heart and you never feel shortchanged on why something is happening. In this book it was also nice to see the months go by instead of wondering where we were in the time frame.

Also she made some really great Taylor Swift references including that Bittersweet Symphony was there walking down the aisle song. The end felt a tad rushed but I’m glad we had the other parts well expanded upon to make up for it.