Thank you NetGalley and Kate O'Keeffe with providing me with the e-arc of Faking It With the Grump! This felt like a Hallmark movie wrapped up in a book and was a cute and comforting rom-com read.

Faking It with the Grump switches POV between the MFC, Harper Cole, and the MMC, Christopher Young and primarily takes place in a small town in the PNW. Harper returns to her hometown, Hunter's Creek, after being dumped by her famous long-term boyfriend (who also happens to be from Hunter's Creek and is beloved by the town). In hopes that his performance will grant him a promotion, Christopher Young is sent to the small town to assess whether the company he is working for should by the family-owned mill, which is the livelihood of most of the town.
Harper and Christopher bump into each other and realize that a ploy to fake date could benefit them both. Harper needs her well-meaning coworkers to stop trying to set her up with a new man, and Christopher needs to gain the trust of the townspeople, without anyone figuring out why he's really there. As with most fake dating books, they start to catch feels and have to figure out if turning their fake relationship real is worth the risk.

Overall, I thought Faking It with the Grump was a super cute read and I loved the MFC and her family! This is a clean romance book (the main characters only kiss), which isn't always my favorite, but it led to the Hallmark movie feel of it all. I felt like Christopher's character could've been more three dimensional, because when his personality of not being so strict and single minded with his goals is let up to reveal his teasing and fun side, I wanted more complex emotions and diving deeper into his past. BUT Kate O'Keeffe is a queen of light and fun rom-coms, so it makes sense that the characters are also kept light. If you're a fan of Hallmark movies where the city-slicker moves to the small town for a business deal and falls in love with a local, then you'll definitely enjoy Faking It with the Grump!

Faking It with the Grump is a small-town romcom with plenty of Hallmark movies references. I enjoyed all the characters, including the main ones, whom I found believable (save from the moment Christopher asks Harper to move to NY; he’s more clever than that) and very likable, and the meet cute, which is particularly, well, cute—and funny. A buy repetitive at times, but a lot of swooning.

If you're looking for a Hallmark movie replica in book form, then this book is for you (the hero literally says many times that his current life screams Hallmark movie). If you're looking for a nice, clean, sweet romance, then this book is for you. If you're looking for a grump, or an original plot, then sadly, this is not the book you're looking for. That said, I liked this book since I do occasionally like those light-hearted Hallmark-esque reads. But I didn't love it and had some issues with the plot and writing.

I thought that Christopher & Harper were adorable together and was rooting for them. I just wanted more of that romance! Christopher was quite a surprise. At first I thought he'd be a bit too stiff, but once he arrives in town and meets Harper, it's like he turns into a puddle of goo. His stiffness just becomes quirky and quite humorous after a while (I mean who irons their jeans lol?). Harper definitely made him loosen up.

There were quite a few things I disliked about the book though. Not enough to make me reduce my rating too much, but they were still annoyances nonetheless.

The term 'grump' is really becoming overused in book titles. I've read 3 books in the last 2 months that had 'grump' in the title. And you know what? NONE of them had actual grumps as the heroes. Maybe the authors are mischaracterizing what we as readers consider a grump? A grump to me is someone who is typically unpleasant to be around (but not a douche) and someone who only tolerates people when needed. Christopher was not that guy. He was just set in his ways and determined. He was still respectful to everyone he came across, almost a little too much. So again, the title doesn't match the character.

Then there's the repetitiveness of the book. I thought to myself several times 'Didn't I just read this?' Because of this, it seemed the book did drag in some parts and was probably 10 chapters longer than it needed to be.

There wasn't much actual romance in this book, at least not where we could see the romance blooming. We were told about Harper and Christopher spending time together after the fact and I suppose that's when they fell in love. But the author left a lot of that out and it made it hard to believe they could just fall in love the way they did.

Harper calling Christopher, "Topher" was SOOOOO ANNOYING! Ugh, who shortens Christopher to Topher and not Chris? I know of people actually named Topher, but their given name was not Christopher and it was just shortened to that. The author totally lost me there and maybe it's a cultural/country difference.

As noted earlier, this is a good 'clean' book. I don't typically do 'clean' so it was a surprise for me. There's only a few scenes where they even kiss. This was the first time I've read this author, so at least I know for future reads.

Thank you NetGalley and Kate O’Keeffe for gifting me a copy of Faking it with the grump in return for my honest opinion.

3.5/5

I enjoyed this book it was a cute fun read that included one of my favorite tropes grumpy vs sunshine. I really like the characters and the development which is why I gave it just above 3 stars. The characters both grew and became better versions of themselves through out the book and it was wonderful to read.

Where it’s lacking is that it was a very repetitive book and very predictable. It was written like a hallmark movie so there wasn’t really any surprise involved in it. The plot was just the same as every hallmark movie/book. Which to make it worse, the grumpy pants would make comments like, what do you think this is a hallmark movie. Which was ironic since that what it felt like.

This is a good book to shut off your mind to and plow through. Did I like it and want to finish it, yes. Will I be able to pick up the book and remember what happened in a years time, no. That is not to say I didn’t like it, I did it was just kind of forgettable.

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.