2.5 stars. Overall decently cute but the romance felt overshadowed by the drag of corny interceptions of business interactions and insufferable characters. I wish the actual romance could have had a little more time in the spotlight!

However, I really enjoyed the narration and I'm glad that I listened to this as an audiobook.

This was one of only two books I managed to read on my vacation.

I almost DNF’ed this because I was having a hard time getting into it.

I’m really glad I kept reading it because I really enjoyed it.

Gemma and Tansy were so adorable together.

4.5/5

I ended up listening to just the audio and I really liked it!

The narrators were great and I love a good fake dating or in this case fake engagement story.

I loved how protective Gemma was of Tansy from the beginning of their relationship. I also got somewhat Cinderella retelling vibes from the story because of Tansy’s relationship with her stepfamily.

The fact that Tansy lives above the bookstore her family owns was also very idyllic being a bookworm myself.

I think this was a great romance and there was steam but nothing “crazy”if you don’t like that.

A spicy romance full of bookish charm, playful banter, and a steamy library scene!

This book is a sapphic bibliophile's dream! A romance between a shy bookstore worker and an outgoing former romance cover model? Yes please! Gemma and Tansy's relationship is so fun and playful, and I loved seeing their feelings grow through the story. I also really enjoyed the found-family aspect of this story.

What a fun, breezy book! It’s a great read to lose yourself in for a little bit. I particularly enjoyed Tansy, she was level-headed and approached her problems rationally and like an adult.

Gemma, on the other hand, was a bit of a mess. She flip flopped too much for me to trust her as a love interest and it felt like she was love bombing Tansy. Gemma just raised a lot of red flags and I wanted better for Tansy, honestly.

But perhaps my biggest issue with the book is how many side characters are crammed into these pages. None of them get developed into feeling like real people because there’s just way too many of them. A lot of them are involved in this incredibly long and juvenile prank scene that took me out of the story. I’m sure there are better ways to create bonding moments between characters besides resorting to childish escapades.

I’m very much a sucker for sapphic bookshop owner romances and I’m glad to read another one. I had a good time with this book and would gladly recommend it.

A delightful, steamy read for fans of the fake dating trope! The characters are engaging, well-drawn, and I adored their chemistry!

The Fiancee Farce was such a cute story! I really loved the originality of it. It was a quick read and I was so rooting for this couple! I will be purchasing this title for my library.

I really enjoyed this book! It got me out of a minor slump, and it was an easy breeze because of Bellefleur’s lighthearted writing style that had me smiling, laughing, and feeling for the characters in the story. It was easy to get invested in both women’s lives as they navigate a fake relationship and the emotions behind it.

Tansy’s Cinderella-esque relationship with her stepmother and stepfamily and its progression were a great center for character development, and the same can be said for Gemma’s place in an entitled, filthy-rich family that thinks they can get away with whatever they wish.

As for their relationship, the chemistry between the two was incredible from the start! Alexandria Bellefleur took an uncommon, and honestly embarrassing, situation and made it into something flirty and fun.

This is the first book of Alexandria’s that I have read, and it will certainly not be my last. Thank you to NetGalley, Avon Books, Harper Collins, and Alexandria Bellefleur for letting me read this before its publication date!! My rating is 4.75 ⭐️

Possibly Bellefleur's best novel yet, this one takes the marriage-of-convenience trope and attaches it to main characters whose chemistry sparks from their first meeting without ever feeling like instalove.

This book was cute but sadly I did not fall in love with it the way I have with the author's previous work.

While I loved the premise and the plot, the actual execution felt a little over the top and insta-lovey for me. While this book was definitely filled with fun, flirty, and adorable moments, overall it felt a bit fake and not genuine.

The abundance of pop culture references dated this book before it even came out and most of the side characters sucked, even the ones we were suppose to like.

*4.5 Stars*

Tansy has been lying about having a girlfriend so she could get out of family events with her ex-boyfriend aka dickhead in chief. Shit happens and she used cover model Gemma as a patsy. Except, when Tansy is at the wedding of dickhead in chief, Gemma shows up and is none other than Gemma van Dalen, the dickhead's cousin! But wait… why is she playing along??? Chaos and shenanigans ensues.

I had a lot of fun reading this. I laughed quite a lot and stressed a bit too. Oh and raged some too. I really fell for the characters quite fast but my only drawback is that I wasn't 200% invested like I was with Alexandria's previous books. i don't know I just disconnected a little bit. I still loved this though and definitely would recommend it. Hell, I'll probably read it again at some point! The plot really had me, I just think I was more involved in the side stories than the actual romance sometimes. Anyway, still a great book and I cannot wait for more from Alexandria.

Wow I wasn't expecting to get so emotional over this book but it really pulled at my heartstrings!

The Fiancee Farce is a lovely sapphic romcom about Tansy and Gemma and their fake engagement/marriage. Tansy is a bookseller who's store is under threat of sale by her stepmother and Gemma is the black sheep of her wealthy family who's grandfather has willed his newspaper company to, if she gets married by the time the shareholders meet.

These two had such a great chemistry from the start! I loved how aggressive Gemma was in the pursuit of Tansy and how she made Tansy come out of her shell a bit. Tansy was so protective of Gemma...defending her at every opportunity, it was so cute! Gemma's family was ridiculous and the toxicity was alarming, and Tansy's step family was not much better...at least her step mom came through in the end. I really enjoyed Brooks and Gemma's mom, Lina. They were hilarious, not seeing each other for 12 years and then BAM flirt mode engaged!

The pacing of this book was good and it was easy to read. I did listen to some of this and the narrator, Lauren Sweet, was excellent. I loved how she did all the accents of other characters and her male narration voice was believable too. She also put a lot of feeling into her narration when the scenes called for it and it made me feel more emotional than I would if just reading it. So good!

The emotions Alexandria Bellefleur is able to wring out of me especially in the last third of this book was fantastic. I laughed and definitely cried so be prepared to feel things! Alexandria was my first foray into sapphic and queer books (Written in the Stars series) and she continues to be a trustworthy author to do justice to the genres. I would highly recommend any of her books to any of my romcom readers!

Thank you so much to Avon and Harper Voyager for providing me with an eARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon for an egalley of The Fiancée Farce.

Such a cute take on the fake fiancée trope! And the fact Gemma is the cover model Tansy has been pining over for months is the icing on the cake.

Gemma needs to be married to take over her family's media business. Tansy needs money to purchase her parents' bookstore from her step-mother. As both can help the other out, a deal is struck. However, Gemma's family is determined to prove this is a fake relationship while Gemma and Tansy start to fall for each other.

From start to finish, this book was a delight. With relatable characters and humorous moments, I enjoyed reading The Fiancée Farce.

I loved Alexandria Bellefleur's previous series! This one didn't hit like her other books but it was still a good book! I think I just didn't care too much about the characters but the romance was still sweet. And overall the story was fun and steamy.

Thank you to Netgallery and HCC for a free ARC copy. All opinions are my own.

The second book I've read of hers and I just think this author isn't for me.

This was so unrealistic. I couldn't get behind any of the characters, and I went back and forth disliking Gemma and Tansy.

I also can't understand why this book is so long, and I *still* had 3ish hours to listen too, but I just couldn't do it.

I'll quit falling for the FOMO of this author, luckily this was an arc and I didn't spend any of my own cash.

It was so great meeting you at apollycon. Just loved this one! I adore a fake relationship where both are attracted to each other it just speeds up what would have happened slower. They both have skin in the game with needing to not blow a cover and needing a spouse for a will.
Absolutely hated Gemma's family they were so snotty and awful, except one. And Tansy was in a Cinderella type sitch with an awful step sister and mother. But her late father has a bookstore she's trying to get enough money to buy from her step mother.
A relationship that started as a convenience became more. Loved the board meeting at the end!

Thank you avonbooks

2.5 stars



Ugh, unfortunately I did NOT like this one. This author has been very hit-or-miss for me; I requested this one because it sounded fun & because the last book I read by this author actually did work for me. But alas, not true here.

Everything about this book felt deeply cartoonish. I think it would've made a fun movie, but as a book, it did not. The characters lacked any depth, & the conflict resolved so quickly that it felt like there were no real stakes in the story. The main characters also were pretty insta-lovey -- it's fine for there to be insta-attraction, but how am I supposed to believe they were in love that quickly??

I just really did not have a fun time with this one. Your mileage may vary.

This was one of my most anticipated releases for this year and I am so glad that it lived up to expectations! I shouldn't have expected anything less though, since I've loved every book I've read from this author. I can't wait to see what she releases next! I just know it's going to be amazing also.

Gemma and Tansy had one of the cutest (although slightly embarrassing) meetings ever. Their chemistry was evident from the start and just grew throughout the book. Gemma was so playful and flirty. It was amusing how flustered Tansy was by her.

When the conflict happened, I was just as angry as Gemma was. I'm glad she put her foot down and cut that person from her life for good. I'm also glad that Tucker got was coming to him as well. He was such an awful person, that was the very least he deserved.

This was just ok for me. I wasn’t really ever invested in this relationship so I found a lot of this story pretty boring. I would continue to read from this author though since I loved her first series.

I had such a fun time with this book! It gives very Cinderella meets Succession vibes. Some of the casual way money was talked about and thrown around in this book was a little off-putting to me, but other than that I really enjoyed it.