First of all, Thank you NetGalley, Portia MacIntosh, and Boldwood Books for providing me with the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review. That said, let's go into the review.

The faking game follows Cara and Millsy who were dating for quite some time but at some point, they decided to break up. We start following them after they have broken up, but the thing is that they haven't told anyone they broke up because their families were supposed to celebrate Christmas together and Cara and Millsy didn't want to ruin Christmas for anyone. So we follow them as they fake it till they make it during several family events and not only.

Well, let me tell you I devoured this book, like really devoured. I found it funny, easy to read, and very immersive.

Now let us get into some of my random opinions on the book:
- I really felt identified with Cara. She is a career-driven woman, she is not in a hurry to have children and she has big granny energy (if you read the book you know what I am talking about). She is working on an AR application which I, as a software engineer myself, just love, love, love, and the informatics slang is actually correctly used in this book.
- I really loved the family representation. Her family is (mostly) really cute and fun, except of course her aunt, but come on we all have a relative we don’t like. What I liked the most is how in the end they are not perfect, but they try for each other.
- As I already said we start the book with Cara and Millsy have already broken up and my interest in why they broke up was picked from the very beginning. It was pretty clear they still loved each other, so I didn’t see any possible reason they could break up, and even when we found out the reason, I personally didn’t find it very convincing, but I did get it slide.
- All the things that kept happening to Cara and Millsy were so funny, and how they kept trying to solve them without anyone noticing (my favorite one is probably the wine-breaking scene, and let's not forget the costumed wedding and all the costume misunderstanding)
- I am not sure how I felt about Tally and Jay and all the drama that came with them. At the beginning, I thought Cara was a little bit of a drama queen about Tally, but I liked Tally less and less as the book progressed. I didn’t like Jay straightaway. But I do understand these characters were needed to progress the plot.
- I really felt all the struggle with online dating and it was hilarious too. I really thought at some point this might become a love triangle (because basically, I forgot what the blurb was about)
- I saw the plot line with Charlie and Love @ First Site as soon as he mentioned the website for the first time, but it was still fun and I would like to know his love story too.
- This book has some pretty cute moments that gave me soulmates vibes like for example the moment with the breakfast where they exchange the food they didn't like without even having to ask each other. And I am all here for this kind of stuff.
- Even though for me personally, I don’t get Christmas vibes from the cover, this book takes place around Christmas time and it has a perfect amount of Christmas vibes.

I really would have loved to know that there is another book about the same characters that tells us the story of how they met for the first time and started dating before I started this book. I did research if this was a standalone or part of the series, and I found no mention of it being part of the series on Amazon, Goodreads, or the author's web page. How do I know it actually has a prequel? Because it was mentioned at the end of this book. I really think that reading the prequel before would have made my reading experience even better, if only there was information it existed.

P.D. I also posted my review on Goodreads and Instagram.

The Faking Game follows two ex-lovers who are pretending to be together to keep their families happy during the festive period. I loved the protagonists, particularly Cara, and how they provided an ounce of realism in the romantic-comedy genre.

I found the chemistry of the protagonists to be electric and seeing how their relationship continued to grow at the most unlikely of times was just beautiful. The tension between the two characters was second to none and witnessing this during their alone time together was honestly divine.

This novel was witty, and in no way slow. I found the narrative to move quickly, alongside the development of the relationship, and it made me continuously want to move forward with them. This is a fabulous read for any regular romance readers who are looking for something with a little more development and sparkle.

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC!

Fake dating, miscommunications out the wazoo, and Christmas shenanigans forever with this one. Main takeaway I had was just honestly there were too many events, if you love a hectic Christmas story this is for you, but I just felt like maybe TOO MANY things were happening all the time. And our main romance characters are clumsy certified, always getting into hijinks, ruining and fixing everything forever. I think maybe it was a bit over done somewhere in the middle there but I thought it wrapped up nicely. But on god these people couldn’t step outside of their home without ruining something.

I don’t really think the characters had a lot of depth, it was very this is a villain and there’s no other personality trait but evil. The relationship you’re rooting for also didn’t really do much for me, I don’t think I even understand why they broke up and I kept thinking the whole time that I really wish I could understand how we got to this point because it just didn’t feel very authentic that they would break up. Then the resolution is all so quick. I think I wish we could’ve spent time knowing them as a couple and understanding why breaking up was their only option, and then the get back together bit could have had more layers to it or just more of a build up I guess. The big drama moments were so fun so I really liked a lot of the antagonistic things that were happening to our couple that were preventing them from being together, but just the getting back together was such a short albeit very cute moment.

Still very cute and fun to read!

It was grand, nothing that blew me away, but it wasn’t unreadable or anything, I’d definitely recommend it if someone asked me about it, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to bring it up in conversation or anything. I don’t think I’ll be rereading it, but I don’t dislike the book, it just wasn’t for me I don’t think

This annoyed me from the word go I’m afraid! I get that there was going to be a fake relationship in there but this one was a bit over the top! And everything felt obvious within the first few chapters. I couldn’t connect with the characters sadly and I found it a bit underwhelming for myself personally.

Thank you to Netgalley for this advanced copy.
I was so excited to get this book by a new (to me) author. Unfortunately I’m under the impression this was somewhat of a continuation of her last book which I didn’t read.
Although a light, short read, it wasn’t an engaging plot and had unlikable characters.

A fun read!
When Cara and boyfriend Millsy breakup, they decide to keep up the pretence of a relationship to save the family Christmas they have planned.
This is a romcom which will keep you guessing until the end, what will happen with this relationship?
I don’t want to give too much of the story away but I really liked how the author didn’t make it a typical romance where you can see the ending coming a mile away.
There’s lots of different characters and I feel that I know them all well from how the author describes them. I must say I was really rooting for Cara and Millsy as I got to know them more, but what about Charlie? He seems like a potential contender! I didn’t feel much for Tally, but by the end I feel maybe she is a little overlooked and misunderstood, trying to find her way in a different country, over Christmas without any family close by.
All in all a good fun ready, I loved the chemistry of the two main characters.

It's a book that I liked but I didn't love it.

There are some elements like the girl's work that was very interesting or how funny a problem with the ex's accent was.
The situations that the two of them went through were also fun because they were always very crazy.

Maybe I would have made it shorter because I enjoyed the beginning and the end, those moments were very beautiful.

What a fun read!!
A rom-com, with fake dating and Christmas holidays what more can you want for a book!!
Second chance romance is something I adore!
A little spice which I loved!!
A love triangle not a big fan but it was written very well

I love Cara and Millsy story and the festive, fun rom-com feels.

Thank you so much for my ARC copy read of this wonderful story

3.5 stars
I got approved for an early copy of this book for review. Thank you to Net Galley, Boldwood Books, and Portia MacIntosh!

After years together, Cara and Millsy have broken up, not wanting to let their families down, they pretend they’re still together to avoid ruining the festive season.

I just found out (while writing this) that there is another book set before this one with the same MCs - The Plus One Pact. I wish I’d known, I would have read that one first.
I was scrolling through NetGalley when I saw this cover and I first clicked on it because of the colours but I got sucked in by the what seemed like a super interesting take on fake dating.

I liked this one, I read the whole thing in a day but there were a few things that I was a bit irked by. I get that Tally was meant to be there all the time but there is no good reason that should needed to be at the wedding or at the family events. Also, I’m willing to go with fake dating that’s a bit unrealistic or unlikely but I think I just found it hard to believe that they would pretend not to be broken up for so long just for their family Christmas. I also didn’t realise this was going to be Christmas-sy. I would have liked this if it was a dual point of view as well.

Cute fake dating/second chance romance romcom that will get you in the holiday spirit.
Cara and Millsy started out as friends and it gradually turned into something more, and they’ve been together for several years now, but when he goes to LA for a movie role, the distance proves to be too much and they break up but decide not to tell their families because the holidays are coming and they’ve all booked a trip to Scotland together and Cara and Millsy don’t want to upset everyone. So they decide that when he gets back for the holiday, they’ll just keep acting like they’re still together until after the new Year, and then tell everyone they broke up. The only problem is that the more time Cara spends with Millsy, the more she realizes that she doesn’t want to be broken up-she still loves him and wants to be with him. But he’s brought his dialogue coach with him and seems to have moved on, so she has to pretend she’s ok with it and goes on dates to make him jealous. Classic miscommunication which drives me crazy typically and after a bit it kinda wore on, but it did work for this story.
Thanks to Boldwood Books and NetGalley for this eArc in exchange for my review.

This was a fun read. The characters were great. As times you couldn't help but laugh out loud. I liked the storyline line too. Great nook

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this ARC. This is the first book I have read by the author Portia MacIntosh and I loved every second of reading The Faking Game. Before reading this book I was in a slump but thankfully this book got me out of that. It was a cute, funny, engaging, lovable and exciting, I loved the chemistry between the two main characters Cara and Millsy along with how they act on this trip. The ending was predictable but I still liked the whole book. I would rate it 4 stars.

Cara and Millsy have been a couple for the last three years. But when he moved overseas for six weeks to work on his new movie, they broke up. Problem? They haven't told anyone and with holidays coming up, they decide to keep it a secret and pretend all is well.

Then he comes back with a dialect coach who seems to be glued at his sides and he keeps on insisting that she moves on. So Cara downloads the dating app and gets on one horrible date after another. It's hard to get over someone if you are pretending to be in love most of the time.

This started out well, but by the last third, I was just confused by who I was supposed to be rooting for. I didn't feel a connection to any of the characters

An easy read but I didn't really invest in the characters very much, didn't get why they would pretend and lie so much and found it quite fake. Got better as it went on.

I love Portia MacIntosh books but this one wasn’t one of my favourites. I think it’s because I didn’t really gel with the two main characters from the beginning and the periphery’ characters were fairly unpleasant! Sorry!

The Faking Game by Portia MacIntosh reunites readers with Cara and Millsy from The Plus One Pact, one of the few titles from this author that I have not read. Fortunately for me, this latest can easily be read as a standalone.

Cara and Millsy have broken up following a long-term relationship. Each is adored by the other 's family, however, so for the sake of unity in the lead-up to the holiday season, they decide to play the happy couple for the duration of the family celebrations, setting the stage for some truly awkward discourse.

This is a lighthearted romcom, though I felt that without any previous context of Cara and Millsy's relationship, it was difficult for me to become emotionally invested in them as a couple. While told entirely from Cara's perspective, the narrative, in my opinion, would have benefitted from the inclusion of Millsy's point of view. 3.5 stars

Many thanks to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for an ARC.

I had high hopes for this and it seemed similar to Emily Henry's Happy Place, but I just found Cara and Millsy unrelatable and kind of annoying. It was just kind of toxic.

Another corker of a book from Portia MacIntosh. One of my favourite authors who just delivers brilliant book after brilliant book.

Millsy and Cara were great, well written characters. I liked the ‘reverse’ nature of this love story.

A great read and highly recommended!

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for my advanced copy of this book 📚

This was a nice read, it was funny, simple and light-hearted. Cute book for holiday romances, about second chances in love. I would definitely recommend as an holiday read.