Faking It was my first introduction to Beth Reekles writing. Although i did watch the kissing booth adaptations, i did not read the series, so naturally i was very excited for this romance and wanted to see her writing and story development. Unfortunately this one didn't really work for me. I have to admit that the summary and cover are a bit deceiving and definitely makes the reader believe they are about to read a rom-com when in reality it is more of a self love story. i didn't dislike the turn it took but i do think transparency for the reader is important.

Things i liked: The dialogue was funny. The humor in this book was what made me continue reading and i had so many moments where i was laughing out loud and having so much fun. The banter between Sophie and Harry was great and enjoyed some of their moments together. I am a huge fake dating trope lover so i really liked that this was part of the story.

Things i disliked: Unfortunately, there was a lot i disliked about this book. Sophie felt like an unreliable and unrelatable character. I found myself annoyed at her inner dialogue and the repetitiveness of it all. The chemistry between Sophie and Harry left a lot to desire in my opinion. I think that their connection didn't feel believable at times which definitely hinder on my ability to connect with them and root for them.

Overall, i liked the premise of the story but i would've liked stronger connections. That being Sophie's friendships, her relationship with Harry, her family dynamics. I really enjoyed the reinforcement that being in a relationship[ does not mean your life is automatically perfect. I liked how in the end she realized she didn't need to change anything because her life was already full as it was.

Thank you Wattpad Books & Netgalley for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

Sweet story! Strong characters, relatable story with all the life events and transitions and how that changes friendships. A bit predictable, but easy and breezy.

I usually do not like books where the author is British, I don't know why, but I can't get into them! This book was slow to start but was worth it in the end. I would definitely recommend if you love the fake dating trope, or if you live a #chaoticlife and want to see a relatable character in your books.

I unfortunately had to DNF this book. The writing style was not for me and so I couldn’t get into the storyline. I won’t do any reviews other than my feedback here as a result.

Unfortunately this one fell short of my expectations, I liked watching the kissing booth on netflix but having not read the book this was my first introduction to this author's writing.

I wanted there to be more substance to this, I like fake dating where there's so much angst, tension and banter as they realise they both like eachother and that was missing here. This definitely isn't your typical fake dating romance.

I didn't like Sophie as a character, I found her to be whiny and repetitive. She goes from being desperate to be in a relationship to the complete opposite by the end of the book.

I think the author also missed the mark by not including her articles that her friends rave about! We only get titles and that's such a missed opportunity.

Overall very slow, repetitive and not the right fit for someone who loves the fake dating genre, the author took a new spin on it and it just fell flat.

I was look forward to Reading this book, the cover and the title of the book makes me wander, but Honestly, I’m rather disappointed. I was expecting a romance/romantic comedy and feel this book was categorized incorrectly. I had a hard time getting into the book but once Sophie met Harry, I was expecting to be hooked reading about them falling in love and I kept reading hoping for more but it never came.

Thank you to the Publisher and netgalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

The character development was good from beginning to end, enjoyed the way the MCs found themselves fake dating. The ending was unexpected and a bit disappointing for me.

First book of the year. I really enjoyed #fakingit by Beth Reekles. Sophie is 25 and the single one of her family and friends.
She is always asked when she is going to find someone and is constantly on the apps looking for someone.
When a guys she’s dating declines being her plus one, she turns to the apps to have someone be her “fake boyfriend” for all events. She meets Harry, and they spend the year helping each other show up at events.
I thought this book was going to go the way of a rom-com, but it was so much more. Discovering that it is ok to not settle, to find out who you are.
Thank you to @netgalley for the ARC.

Hard to review this book because I mistakenly thought this was a romance and I really wanted the romantic ending that was all set up, ready to put a pretty little bow on it. However, it ended up being more of a love yourself, be happy with yourself, own your worth and your time book. While that's not a bad thing, it just wasn't what I wanted to see happen in the end.

Positives. The 10th birthday party was one of the funniest scenes I've read in a while. I laughed so many times at their guffaw and the ridiculousness of it all! I thought Sophie and Harry had great chemistry. They enjoyed spending time with each other, they could be their worst selves in front of each other, and the couple time seemed pretty outstanding. I appreciated Harry's honesty and his self deprecating humor.

Negatives. Sophie would go on these internal rants and while she made some good points they got pretty repetitive at times. I would have much preferred to read her columns that she wrote (and that everyone was going ga-ga over) and I feel like that was a huge missed opportunity for the author to connect her with the audience. Sophie was also kind of all over the place most of the book and I get it's because she didn't know what SHE wanted, only what she thought she should want, but I felt like once it was finally in front of her she had this epiphany and ended up doing the same thing to Harry that had been done to her a few times. It just left this let down feeling and I feel like if the author was going to chose to have Sophie "date herself" she should have made Harry less "right" for her. I think the cheating was supposed to be this big detractor but it just wasn't in this story.

I think if the reader knows what they are going into, an embrace yourself and don't settle type book, then this could be really enjoyable. However, if it's marketed as a romance in the "fake dating trope" I think you're gonna have a lot of readers coming at you with pitchforks.

I didn’t enjoy this book at all and came close to just not finishing it. The main female character spends the entire book complaining about how her family and friends make her feel badly about being single. She is yearning for a relationship. She ends up faking a relationship with a guy she meets over a dating app. He seems like a great guy, although he has his own troubled history with his former wife. But they get along great and enjoy hanging out together and having some lovely sex. But she’s still not happy. Eventually, she decides that her true happiness is just not dating and looking for a relationship. That’s it.

So, if you are looking for a romance with a HEA, this is not it. But if you feel badly about being single and want to read complaints about how that stinks, you might enjoy it.

I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book that I received from Netgalley; however, the opinions are my own and I did not receive any compensation for my review.

The storyline was cute but didn’t keep me engaged the whole time. I found the main character whiny and gullible at times. Overall, the book wasn’t too bad but wouldn’t read again.

This book starts out as another you-have-to-kiss-a-lot-of frogs-to-find-a-prince series of bad dates and relationships, but it moves beyond this to deeper discoveries about singlehood. There are some fun scenes, especially the one in which the main character eats one of the cupcakes meant for the dogs at a birthday party.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

2 stars!

I was really looking forward to this book because I thought it was marketed as a romance book. However, I would not classify this as a romance at all. The main character, Sophie, I found to be unrelatable. Her character never clicked for me in the story. Also, it felt as if several things were repeated throughout the story. I think quite a bit of the book could've been cut out. This story just happened to be one that I didn't click with.

Due to my review being 2 stars, I will not be posting it onto my accounts.

This was a fun read, and I had such high hopes for Sophie and Harry, but the ending was not the HEA I expected. I'm not sure it qualifies as a romance, as much as a lovely story about a woman's path to self-discovery and personal fulfillment.

I really wanted to love this book, but really i struggled through it. This is also not your typical rom com, and I know for some it might be refreshing, but I definitely missed it because I really wanted a traditional fake dating HEA troupe. This was more of a single woman finding herself book than a rom com.

I also felt that there was a lot of rambling going on. I’m sure Sophie can be very relatable to some single people out there, but I didn’t find her relatable as I’m at a different stage in my own life. I’m not going to lie, I skimmed through a lot of the pages where I felt like ‘You’re complaining again? Didn’t you just complain about this 3 chapters ago?’, which made me annoyed with Sophie a lot, so I skipped pages because I wanted to finish the book because it did have some compelling components to the story.

There were some very good LOL moments for me because Beth is a great author! The Banter between Sophie and Harry was magic! Furthermore, I did appreciate the author telling people that a love partner doesn’t always mean happiness. Finding your happiness is your own formula and we shouldn’t let society dictate what will make us happy. If you’re up for a non traditional rom com, then maybe this is for you!

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I loved this book! I devoured it in only a few sittings and wish there was more to read. The story line was paced very well and the characters were easy to love!

2.5 ⭐️

Unfortunately this was a dnf for me: I just couldn't connect with the characters and wasn't enjoying the main character at all.

I really love the fake dating trope but this one just wasn't executed well for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Wattpad for this advance reader copy my review is voluntarily my own.

Honestly a refreshing read,

Sophie becomes hyper focused on finding a boyfriend after being pressured by family, friends, and society. However her development throughout Beth Reekles ‘Faking It’s shows her that there’s a lot more to life than relationships and settling down. I absolutely love the plot and how this story unfolded, even if at some points the romance girlie in me wanted to come out and root for a HEA. Plus, Sophie did get a HEA just differently than I expected. In the end, this read was so refreshing to have a main character who self reflects and doesn’t just react. Can’t wait for everyone to meet Sophie and hear her story.

3.5
Soph is a hot mess! Haha I seriously love her but the ending even though I’m all for women empowerment I felt just felt rushed!

Through the book Soph is really trying to find herself! She is trying to find her place in a world that feels unsteady! As everyone around her is finding their forever and Soph is not close to even finding what she wants for dinner! I loved seeing her grow and find herself because she owed it to herself to find inner peace and happiness!

I loved that she found her backbone and stood up for herself but I wanted to see a soph settled. The characters in this book are amazing and I loved the crazy zany family Soph had!

This book was okay. I wanted it to end differently than it did. I did love the secret column aspect and wished that was explored more.