Andie J. Christopher is one of my go to authors for contemporary romance. Her books are funny and well-written with three-dimensional, very relatable characters. Unrealistic Expectations is the story of Jessica Gallagher and Galvin Baker, former college acquaintances who reconnect years later at a bar when they're both dealing with major romantic setbacks. Jessica, a relationship therapist, has just been left by her long-term, live-in partner with no warning and no explanation. Galvin, a long-time player, recently broke up with his influencer girlfriend, who retaliated by posting a viral video about how terrible he is in bed. To make things more complicated, Jessica has just released a dating advice book, and her publicist is concerned that it won't look great for her sales if it comes out that she was just dumped unceremoniously. After Jessica and Galvin run into each other at a bar and have a drunken makeout session, they end up agreeing to the publicist's idea to give Jessica's book some PR and Galvin's reputation a makeover by starting a fake relationship. As with Andie J. Christopher's other books, this balanced humor with depth, and both Jessica and Galvin have some childhood trauma to work through. I also loved the cameos from Thank You, Next - I just find it really satisfying when authors do that kind of thing.

This was a DNF for me... if you're expecting a rom-com (like I was!) then this is not the book for you. The characters were not relatable and the chemistry was lacking. The storylines were too far fetched and too "insta-love" for my taste. I stopped reading around 30%. Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group, Berkley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Excited about this release! I throughly enjoyed the read.

The split POV was great, and both characters were endearing. It was nice to see a fake dating trope where the couple understands and won't pretend to be faking it. I like how they are aware of their attraction.

4 stars!

There were a few things I liked about this book (like how the characters were already on their own journeys of self-improvement without each other), but so much of the action happened off-page that it made the narration really drag.

This book definitely hooks you from the start and immediately jumps in. I'm not sure if I liked such a fast-paced romance. I usually prefer something that gets a bit deeper into the characters. I could also tell right from the start that this was going to be a spicy book! If you're looking for something super fast paced with dual-POV, I'd check this one out!

Jessica’s long term boyfriend ends things just before her new book of relationship advice is published. Enter old acquaintance Galvin who is recently and very publicly outed as a bad boyfriend. But he’s willing to be her fake boyfriend to help her save face while she rehabilitates his sucky lover reputation. I love me some fake relationship tropes and this one doesn’t disappoint.

Jessica has some serious self esteem issues but she isn’t a weak pitiful creature. It is fun to see her work through that part of herself while falling in love. Galvin is a real player when the book begins but it is engaging to watch him come to terms with his own inadequacy and to the realization that he might be in love. Not sure how a book so steeped in redemption can at the same time be fluffy and charming. And hot, too. But it works.

Thanks to NetGalley and Berkley for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion

A therapist gets dumped?! Such a fun plot. And with fake dating?!!! OMG i ate this up. So funny and spicy! I read this pretty quickly and truly enjoyed reading about these characters and their love story so much!

I received a copy of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley.

This features Jessica, a therapist who never seemed to have any clients, but who was promoting a book she had written, and Galvin, an architect, who never seemed to do any work either, but did receive an award towards the end. They were supposed to be in their late 30s, but felt much less mature than that to me. I thought the writing was good, although the idea that Jessica would live with Luke for 15 years and then fall for Galvin and commit to him within six weeks was a bit worrying, especially as she has just worked out what a bad judge of character she was where Luke was concerned.

I was not the right reader for this book - it sounded as if it was going to be more of a comedy that it turned out to be.

It was cute. Compared to some of her other offerings, I was just mildly entertained. The sexy scenes were def comical and spicy (a Christopher trademark) and I appreciate it but the story itself left little to offer

I’m going to be one hundred percent honest… I honestly didn’t really care for this one. It was a fast read but it just lacked substance.

I liked the premise and it started off well. Then it quickly became an exposition dump and I was unfortunately bored reading. I stopped at 9%.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for the ARC.