This was such a fun read! I love a good warm hug type of book but this was fun because the characters weren't too terribly predictable. Harper was immediately someone I wanted to be friends with. I love how awkward she felt and everyone can relate to the terrible breakup experience.
I really liked that Christopher wasn't a typical cookie-cutter grumpy character. His qualities made him hilarious to read--their first conversation was so awkward. I loved it.
The characters felt deep enough to be able to connect with and the town was a place I wanted to visit and stay in forever.
I definitely recommend this one!


Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Fake dating-Sweet/small-town RomCom

After a very public breakup with her TV star boyfriend, Harper returns to her hometown and immediately starts fake(kissing) dating the new-to-town ambitious lawyer Christopher. The beginning was very engaging and I was invested in the story., but it felt flat, I did not feel their chemestry, has a lot of repetition, and had too many predictable moments.

I like Harper and Chris together, very likable characters, but the instant love was too much to handle, there were barely any fake dates and the grump factor wasn't there.

This was cute romcom. I enjoyed it. I love a grumpy romance book and this don’t disappoint. It was my first book by Katie O’Keeffe and will not be my last. Harper and Chris were sweet together their story was cute. Chris character development was lovely.

The premise of this book is cute, but the story fell flat for me. I couldn't connect with the characters and their arcs felt a bit underdeveloped. The chemistry wasn't there, which made it especially challenging to buy into how they'd fall in love so quickly.

While this book had so many elements that I enjoy - fake dating, grumpy/sunshine, instant attraction, it fell a little short for me. While Harper is walking sunshine, I think the grump factor I look for in a character like Christopher was missing. We see how much of a softy he is and how interested in Harper he is right away. His motives for being disconnected (to care for his sister) made him even more of a softy. I loved his internal dialogue and the path of growth he goes through, I think I just expected more grump from him, when in reality, he was just a little socially disconnected.

The initial chapters were very engaging and I was invested into the story. I liked Christopher & Harper together but I did not feel their chemistry. To be honest, everything except for the setting was so dull in this story. I did not feel connected with both the main characters and the insta-love was too much for me to handle. I mean they barely went on any fake dates and fell in love without knowing much about each others personalities. The only thing I knew about Harper was that she was a school teacher and had her heart broken by her ex and Christopher was an ambitious lawyer who was looking for a promotion and was sent to do a job to Harper's hometown. Both of their characters were weakly written and the thrid act breakup also failed to create much of angst. Despite all that's the story managed to keep my attention and I liked the small town setting and the people were like a little tight knight family. The overall vibe of the book was chill and lighthearted but sometimes Harpers actions (especially around the 78% mark) made me almost want to quit tbh.

I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange of an honest review

This charming book is set like the typical Hallmark movie troupe – big city guy comes to town to buy small town company and meets the local girl. This might have been totally cringy if not for the nod to Hallmark, MMC keeps mentioning how he feels like he is living one of his sister’s Hallmark movies. Add in fake dating and growing feelings on both sides and of course you have a HEA. I enjoyed both main characters but thought their development could be better. I like a book that makes me feel – laugh/cry/anger – whatever. When the MMC moved back to the big city it didn’t even feel like that big of a deal. While the author told us how the characters were feeling, to me it felt like we were being told but not being shown. With there was a little more spice, even if just alluded to, doesn’t have to be overly descriptive. Overall, I enjoyed the read and will look at other books by this author.

After a very public breakup from her TV star boyfriend Harper returns to her home town. Christoper is new to the area and is quickly recruited to fake date Harper. This was a cute rom com!

After getting dumped by her now famous, boyfriend, Harper moves back to the small town where she grew up to be a long term substitute at the same school she went to. On one of her first days back, she runs into Christoper, who she likes to call Topher, who is not used to the whole small town life. He is wearing a suit and tie and is only in Hunter's Creek for the duration of his project in which the company he works for will buy the Mill to basically everyone works at. He falls for Harper the second he sees her and they end up fake dating but somewhere along the way, the feelings become real.

I thought this was such a cute small town romance story like the Hallmark movies. I mean big shot lawyer comes to the small town and falls in love with a local...how much more Hallmark can ya get? I wish that we had gotten to see more of the relationship once they were actually together. I also think that he isn't really a grump, just awkward. Small towns are know for the rumor mills and gossip so I loved that aspect as well. I saw someone else say it gave them Virgin River and Gilmore Girl vibes and I definitely agree!!

A cute romance which has some lovely, sweet moments. It would have been great to see their relationship develop further but it certainly had charm and was an enjoyable read!

A cute story of a girl who got her heart broken by an unworthy boy only to have it mended back by the most unexpected of worthy men.
I loved all the Hallmark movie references that Christopher made when he first met and fell for Harper. It told me that this story wasn’t going to be an obvious love story and that there’d be obstacles along the way.
I kind of expected there to not be a happy ever after because neither would give up their dreams and I was okay with that because they both chose themselves first and foremost, but I was pleasantly surprised by how it ended.

Definitely a sweet rom-com that shows you to never give up on love. It was a very PG-13 love story, very wholesome with zero spice.

This book gives off Hallmark movie meets Gilmore Girls vibes. It was good, but it was also predictable.

I love a small town settings. I just wish we got more information about the townspeople and more personality for the main characters.

The boring, goal oriented, schedule following, achiever meets his carefree, vibrant match!

The Gist:
Harper & Christopher bump into each other in a small town coffee shop. To avoid being set up with every single man in town, Harper blurts out that’s she’s dating someone…

Things I loved:
Small town romance
Evolving characters
Local businesses

My Reflection:
Faking it with the Grump has the makings for a book I would absolutely love! I love small town romances, gruff male characters, and of course teachers! The Grump in Faking it with the grump really isn’t a grump at all. He’s just… a hard worker who kind of lacks social skills. 😂

I just wish there was more angst and action between the two characters. I found myself losing interest early on because there just wasn’t enough happening between them.

That said, I’m all for small town romances and saving local businesses!

Read if you like:
a Sloowwww burn
Fake dating
“Love” at first sight
Grumpy x sunshine


Thank you to Net Galley and Wild Lime books for the opportunity to review this book!

Faking it with the Grump gave me major Virgin River and Gilmore Girl small town rom com vibes. What a fun read!

A heartbroken small town school teacher, Harper Cole, returns home and immediately starts fake dating a new-to-town lawyer in an attempt to show everyone she’s over her high school sweetheart.

This book delivers a fun and light rom com. My only complaint is that the book rushes to get Harper and Christopher Young together so quickly you forget that Harper was in a long-term serious relationship! She skips over the heartbreak and there is not even a small tug at your heart when her “ex Dex” tries to get her back. I just wanted a little more drama and heat, but Harper and Topher have a great small town romance.


Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Faking it with the Grump coming 14 Mar 2023

Formulaic but sweet fake-dating romance

When Christopher Young shows up in a small mill town to organize the potential sale of its primary employer, he sees it as a stepping stone to a high-flying promotion in NYC. When Harper returns to that same small town (where she grew up), she is nursing a broken heart. When they decide to begin a fake relationship, they don’t anticipate the sparks that fly.

Pros: This book threw in some curveballs that propel the reader to continue. I was certainly rooting for Harper and Christopher.

Cons: There were many predictable elements, and the romantic leads at times seemed like caricatures or stock characters. The old writing advice “show don’t tell” comes to mind, because often characters said or thought bluntly descriptive elements that might have been finessed more carefully. Another (admittedly petty) thing that irked me is that Harper’s fashion sense seemed like it was straight out of a 2008 Teen Vogue.

Overall, I think that this novel would have been more effective with a single POV because if Harper had been telling the story it might have retained an air of mystery about Christopher’s purpose in town. As it was, we heard all of his thoughts and I was never under the impression that he was the “grump” and it was hard to imagine why Harper would initially think so.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this arc in return for my honest review.

This was a quick, cute read. If you are a grump/sunshine troupe fan, I think you’ll like this story. Harper is a small town teacher who’s getting over a heartbreak from a famous ex when she starts a fake relationship with a grumpy lawyer, for them to fall for each other.

I felt some of the ‘it’s a fake relationship, but I like him/her, but they couldn’t possibly feel the same’ dynamic was a bit repetitive over several chapters and ended up skipping over many parts.

This had a lot of potential! I feel like it was very rushed and you didn’t really see a relationship bloom. It be book had all my favourite tropes in yet it just was not written great. The fake dating part didn’t really seem expand and they just fell for each other instantly and made it known, the whole small town aspect just seemed cliche with really nkt in depth.

Despite this, it was really a cute easy read.

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for allowing me to read this arc in exchange for my honest review

As the characters said in the book, this was a Hallmark movie, and quite not in a nice way.
The idea had potential, small-town romance, grumpy x sunshine trope, and fake dating, but in the end, it was just not as catchy as it could be.
I found it really slow in too many parts, too superficial, as I said something I'm expecting from a Hallmark movie, but from a book, I expect and request more.
I liked Harper's storyline with the ex, and even there I had this feeling it could be used more for the story; I'm not a fan of big dramas, but here is everything too linear, too script; many good ideas, but not developed in the right way, not enough.
One thing I really liked is that for once in a romance it’s the guy who changes his life, his career, everything, for the girl, so that is a plus.
There are going to be other books in this series, and I don’t know, maybe I’ll give it one more try.

Faking it with the grump by kate o'keeffe is a book about harper cole who after a humiliating break up goes back to her small town in washington called hunter's creek to get away from everything but after the break up everybody tries to set her up with someone so she fake dates christopher young a new guy in town here for work who is only there for a short time. This book is really good! I just want to say that I loved the talk about enneagrams and them describing that they were because I am really into that sort of stuff. But I love me a small town and fake dating relationship. But here's the thing about this one, we only got to see 2 fake dates and I feel like they were kind of already in love with each other when they were fake dating. The reason why that is one of my favorite tropes is because I love when the lines blur between what's real and fake and they finally realize they're feelings for each other and I feel like there was none of that because it had already happened and it kinda felt insta lovey to me and I hate insta love. I feel like it was real the whole time and I know that they didn't admit their feelings for one another until like 60% through but like when you were in their individual pov's when they were fake dating you could already tell how much they liked each other and how attracted they were and I wanted them to realize that later and have a build up to it instead of it already happening which like kinda made the whole fake dating thing pointless if you ask me if they already have feeling for each other while they're "fake" dating. I also felt like the pacing was kinda weird like at the beginning it was fast but then after that it slowed down and it was just weird i feel like you should keep with the same pace in a book but that's just me or maybe I was reading it fast and slow then I don't know. But regardless I really enjoyed the book and the story and I love harper and topher so much. I give this book 4.5 stars but 4 for goodreads and other platforms who don't do quarter stars and I think that this book was really good and a good read in general and can I just say that I am so excited for Ryn and Gabe's book I shipped them and I can't wait to read about the especially Ryn because she seems like an interesting character and I feel like she's gonna be fun and i'm probably gonna like their book better because hello childhood friends to lovers? Also one of my favorite tropes and you honestly cannot do that trope wrong. Thanks so much for providing me the opportunity to read this book I really enjoyed reading it :)

"I can tell you categorically that being dumped by Hollywood's hottest new TV star is so not good for your sense of self-worth."

I really enjoyed Harper's wit and how she handled the situations life threw at her. She was both noble and relatable. I'm a big fan of the care free/grump trope, so this was right up my alley. Although the overall plot was predictable (I mean, it is a rom-com), I still enjoyed the dialogue, banter and relationships between the characters. Sibling relationships were represented accurately, and small town gossips were represented accurately. I think this could be a cute Hallmark movie like Christopher watches with his sister. I always pictured a young Ian Somerhalder as Dex - it's hard not to...

Thanks to Netgalley, the publishing company Wild Lime Books, and the author, Kate O'Keeffe, for providing me an electronic advanced review copy in exchange for an honest review.