I normally love everything from Portia MacIntosh and always eagerly anticipate her upcoming releases - especially this one because it was a sequel following the relationship of characters from a past book (one I read two or three months ago)… but this one wasn’t her best. Not her usual excellent work leaving me wanting more from the characters and loving them the whole way. I was left sad at the state of the relationship.

I think the issue for most of the book is that it was a “relationship in crisis” trope - my least favorite to read. Neither one, in this story, was exerting much effort to save things while they faked their way through a holiday season with the families before breaking the news that they had split up. I was so invested in their fake dating to more in The Plus One Pact that The Faking Game made me too sad watching it falling apart. I was sad for Cara and Millsy, and the dialect coach he had with him 24/7 while he prepared for his next movie and had to pick up a southern accent by the new year, and how it was all falling apart.

Of course, being a romance, things turned around and it picks up by the end and the later bits pick up more to a 4-star, but too many things rubbed me the wrong way so my 3-star rating holds. It’s also sweet and swoony (aka clean or closed door), so no steam, like all her books. If marriage or relationship in crisis is your thing and you’ve read the first book (you definitely need to read The Olus One Pact first!), you will probably really enjoy this one! I still enjoyed it enough, it just wasn’t my favorite from MacIntosh.

I received an advance copy from NetGalley and Boldwood Books, and this is my honest feedback.

Cara and Millsy have broken up, however have decided to pretend they are still together so as not to spoil Christmas for their respective families. Things become complicated, especially when Millsy, who is an actor, is spending a lot of time with his young, attractive voice coach to prepare for a new film.
I did struggle with this a bit, although I did end up finishing this at 1am as I needed to find out what happened in the end. There are some very funny moments, although some made me cringe, but made me really happy that I haven't been in the dating game for a long time. It does show the importance of family support when the chips are down. The holiday in Scotland also sounded to be in a idyllic location, one that I'd love to visit. A cosy read to spend an evening of two with.
I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher through Netgalley, however this did not influence my review of the book.

This is a cute story of a second chance romance set around the holiday season. The writing was amazing and the story flowed well. I love the fake dating genre and combined with second chance romance it is pure bliss.

But something that did not work for me was that I couldn't connect to the characters, I couldn't feel the chemistry between Cara and Millsy.

It is a solid 3.5 star read for me and I would recommend it to everyone who is looking for a quick sweet holiday romance.

You can't go wrong with a tropey, one-bed, enemies-to-lovers, fake-dating deliciousness! While this was nothing ground breaking for me, I still enjoyed myself from start to finish. I will probably read the prequel book as well since I haven't yet, and I'm looking forward to learning more about the author!

Portia, Portia, Portia.

She can do no wrong. When I need a fun, sassy, witty and breezy read, I pick up a Portia Macintosh book and I am NEVER disappointed.

This was no different and I already can't wait to re-read it on audio when it comes out.

Another absolute DELIGHT of a book from Portia MacIntosh.

I recently read the book that featured Cara and Millsy on their beginning adventure so when I saw the same characters in this book I was absolutely ITCHING to read it. I really love the way Portia writes the most wonderful characters and this book still managed to be plot driven with the character development not being the feature, but still being a big part of the story.

I devoured this book in one sitting and I really loved being back in the world of Cara and Millsy! My only disappointment was the book wasn't long enough! HA! I didn't want it to end, but I also felt like we didn't get enough of the side characters, Charlie and Tally (though I'm glad they didn't get to run off into the sunset together because that would have been upsetting!)

This book was a really great, easy read. I loved that it had plenty of festive vibes throughout. I really adore Portia so her romances are easy recommendations for me!

A light and sweet romance, good for reading during the holiday season. I liked Millsy and Cara, and knowing that fake dating always leads to real dating, I was happy to know they would be getting back together. However I was a bit lost as to why they'd actually broken up. Their feelings were pretty clear so it took some miscommunication and interfering side characters to keep them apart. I enjoyed the writing style and knowing now that this is a sequel, I intend to read about the beginning of Cara and Millsy's relationship soon.

Cara and Millsy pretend they are still together even though they broke up 6 weeks ago so that they can have a good Christmas with family. This was a cute, quick read. Lots of funny parts!

This was my first book by this author, having seen her name around for a while, I decided to give this one a go.
First off, I liked the writing style and found the plot flowed well and the pacing worked really well for me. I also liked the characters and thought the story was a sweet, easy read.
However I did have an issue with it.
I found the connection between Cara and Millsy to be completely lacking. I never once felt any romantic chemistry between them.
I also felt like it needed some backstory to add depth (for example how they got together, their life together, why they split). I feel that this could have been better with flashback chapters explaining this. We were just told they had this great relationship but we were never shown it.
It felt like we were just dropped into the story halfway through.
This is described as lovers to enemies but it never really felt like they were enemies at all.
So, this was just on OK read for me. I had a good time reading it, but it could have been better.

If Beach Read went on Christmas vacation…
Cara and Millsy broke up a year ago, but in order to keep the peace over the holidays they pretend they’re still together for their families sake. Which is fine….until it’s weird feelings and familiar moments and suddenly it’s hard to know what’s real anymore and what they’re faking. Add into this jealousy, potential new romances extended family shenanigans and a sprinkle of Christmas and you’ve got a holiday romance that will keep you hooked .

I’m a big fan of fake dating, but am still on the fence with this new genre of exes reuniting and the way it falls under “fake dating”, but one thing I do enjoy is that the depth of the feelings feels real compared to whirlwind romances. Portia once again delivers a wonderfully descriptive all consuming story that once you pick up you won’t want to put down. Really enjoyed the chemistry not only between the protagonists but also the families and the way they all fit into their world.

A great stocking filler to keep you cozy this Christmas.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book was a lovely, easy seasonal read. It’s a romance through and through, not much plot aside from that - but sometimes that’s exactly what you’re looking for! It’s very Christmassy, and as someone reading this in September, it’s making me look forward for the holidays to roll around!
I really liked this book - though mildly disappointed that the steamy scene was fade to black - it was a fun Christmassy romp with a lot of relationship angst thrown in for a bit of spice.
The only thing I didn’t like about it was that quite a few of the sentences felt like they went on for a while and had a ton of commas in them—but it wasn’t annoying enough that it took me out of the story.
Overall really liked this book, even though I didn't realise until afterwards that this was a sequel! Worked perfectly well as a standalone.

This story was full of warm and funny characters trying to navigate a break up and keeping it from their families at Christmas....
I have to say Portia's unique hilarious way of drawing you into her story works every time for me!. I especially would love to meet Millsey, he sounds like a dream!!!. Poor Cara, an intelligent woman in her own right with a successful career plays the "single but trying not to be" so well that I could commiserate and fall about laughing at the escapades threaded throughout the story. This is definitely worth reading again and again!!
I received this free arc book for an honest review.
#Netgalley, #bookandtonic, #portiamacintoshauthor.

a good read and i didn't want to put it down. this was very enjoyable and loved it all. read it today. I will read Portia books any day of the week. Sign me up.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the eARC.

This was my first Portia MacIntosh book and I have to say, I liked it.
Cara and Millsy have broken up but to keep up pretences, they pretend they're still dating in front of their families. I loved the whole sort of second chance, lovers to enemies to lovers situation and I liked both Cara and Millsy as characters.

Portia MacIntosh has done it again, and written yet another utterly hilarious book.

This time with a pair of characters who are known for getting into sticky situations and coming up with ingenious ways of getting out of them. Plus Cara absolutely loves playing games, which already made me love her.

In fact Cara is an escape room designer, a job I would have loved to learn more about as it is so unusual.

And Millsy is wonderful too, complete with his new accents coach, who has to follow him around constantly to work on his Southern accent for a film he is shooting in the new year.

However Cara and Millsy have technically broken up but agreed to fake still being together over the run up to and over the Christmas period so that they don't upset all of their families. So this is a fake dating trope, but with a couple that were already a couple to start with, which is a nice spin on it.

And the various situations they get themselves into, always had me giggling away to myself. This is a fabulously light hearted festive story, full of weddings, a whole range of family dynamics, some online dating escapades and a whole lot more.

I couldn't get enough of this story, and it was a total joy to read.

Thank you to Boldwood Books and Netgalley for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

Thank you to Boldwood Books & NetGalley for an ARC of this book, in exchange for my honest opinion. Portia Macintosh is the best at writing laugh out loud romcoms, that could easily be turned into a feel good movie!

Cara & Millsy have been dating for 3 years, and everyone thinks they’re perfect together. But this holiday season what everyone doesn’t know is that they broke up. They’ve decided to keep their breakup a secret until after the holidays. Which means they must put on a show of acting like they’re still together and in love in front of all their family and friends. Throw in some awkward first dates for Cara as she tries to move on by using dating apps, unsuccessfully. While Millsy is stuck spending time with Tally, his voice coach. Amidst the chaos of the holiday season, and faking their relationship Millsy and Cara begin to rethink their breakup. Why did they even break up in the first place? And should they get back together?

A sweet story of a second chance at love, set in England and Scotland around Christmas time! Grab a cozy blanket and add this to your Christmas reading TBR!

First off, thank you NetGalley and Boldwood Books for granting me access to this book in exchange for an honest review.

The synopsis for this book sounded incredible and I was super excited to read it. I mean who doesn't like a fake dating, second chance romance rom-com?!? Unfortunately, it was just okay for me! After reading the book, I discovered that this is a sequel to "The Plus One Pact" that picks up with the same couple from three years ago. I believe the story would have worked better for me if I had read the previous book. For example, I really struggled to connect or care about the characters. I am not sure why the marketing for this book does not state its a sequel.

In addition, the story had the painful miscommunication trope. Ugh, like grow up and communicate like mature adults already! I get that authors will use this trope to create drama but when you add that to not caring about the characters it tends to make me lose interest. Plus I felt like it did not work for this story.

I know it sounds like it was all bad but I promise that it is a cute holiday read! I am glad I finished reading the book and did not give up. However, I would strongly recommend reading the first book before this one.

2.5 stars rounded up to 3 ⭐️⭐️⭐️!!!

In this book Cara and Millsy have been dating for a long time but decide to break up… however, they decide not to tell anyone so they don’t ruin the holidays. I found out that this is the second book in a series and I feel like if I had read the first book first I may have been more into this book. It was definitely a good read but I didn’t connect that much with Cara or Millsy.

I just reviewed The Faking Game by Portia MacIntosh. #TheFakingGame #NetGalley

I did not finish this one, it was not for me, I couldn't relate to the characters, and just did not care for the story.

Sooo this was very emotional for me to read.
In The Faking Game, we follow a couple that went through a recent breakup, but still pretend to be together for the holidays and for the parents’ sake
We get to know Cara and Millsy and what a lack of communication does to people. I loved it. I have recently been through just that and I felt just like that in my breakup so it felt good to resonate with main characters.
They had so much chemistry, more than Millsy and Tally, his accent coach, ever could have.

All in all I loved it, it was very emotional for me and would definitely read it again.