When I saw fake dating for the holidays, I was hoping this would have a similar feel to The Happy Place, and while my stomach was in knots off and on during this book (I wasn't sure if this was going to end the way I thought it was), the characters lacked maturity and at times it was hard to imagine them being together. I think having a dual POV may have helped see the chemistry between the two more and help the reader to understand where each of our MCs truly stood with the other.

For how strong of a relationship they are portrayed to have had, their breakup, constant miscommunication, and often the ways they treated each other went against what I would expect. Tally's role in this book seemed unnecessary for the plot and she felt like an addition only for potential drama.

Overall, this was a quick, fun, and at times cozy read, the characters just fell a little flat for me.

The chemistry between Joe and Cara, the intimacy of their relationship.and history was really well done. I felt the pull between them throughout.

I just didn't like the plot. The reason they broke up was really shallow and underdeveloped. They both came across like immature teenagers throughout, not speaking to each other and trying to out do or make the other jealous. The red herrings of possible other love interests was over played with Jay, Tally, Charlie and all the other dates....

The same with the series of bad dates and then the series of the two of them messing up and solving whatever had happened, It was so repetitive.

I think as a rom.com film it may have worked because a lot of the jokes were quite visual but on a book I was reading thinking oh not again. With the maid costume, why on earth would she not just ask them if they'd signed foe her parcel?? It was just so underdeveloped as an event.

It just felt like the focus was off. The Tally/accent situation was not needed at all, it was super annoying. Yet when they were both at their restaurant with other people, which could have been a huge emotional wringer for both, it was abruptly cut short and continued off page so we lost any impact.

Some elements I enjoyed but as an overall, it just wasn't my cup of tea.

I actually really enjoyed this one. It was also really easy to read which shows the reading quality is extremely good. It was a fun story about a couple who have split up one is a promising Hollywood actor and the other works as a game designer. They decide that they will still follow through with their plans of spending the holidays together with all of their perspective families and so follows a funny story about second chances and lost love

This book gave me the warm fuzzies.
I loved Cara and Millsy in The Plus One Pact, they are probably my absolute favourite Portia Macintosh couple.
Three years after The Plus One Pact, we find ourselves thrown back into Cara and Millsy’s love story, only to find there’s no love story anymore, they’ve separated. But, no one knows and no one will know until after Christmas and New Years. The big question being, are Cara and Millsy able to fix what’s broken and find there way back to each other.
Once again, we get some witty banter from these two and some hilariously funny situations no one but these two could find themselves in. Everything I loved about Cara and Millsy in the first place was all here. Being thrown back into their world was so familiar and such a joy to be in again.

I wouldn’t say you need to read The Plus One Pact before reading this book, but I think it definitely helps knowing how their love story started.



Thank you Boldwood Books, Portia MacIntosh and NetGalley for allowing me to read this as an ARC. This is my honest review.

This is my first book by this author. I enjoyed reading this book so much. I actually laughed out loud!!! Great book and I definitely recommend. Will check out other books by this author

Many thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a cute little romcom and a quick read. I didn't become fully invested in the characters or fully convinced of the chemistry, but enjoyed it for what it was.

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<p>I gave this book a 3.5 stars. It is a very easy read. I thought it was a sweet, very cute story. I usually enjoy relationship troubles, but this doesn't make me feel that way - Millsy doesn't even like Cara that much. Otherwise, why is he constantly pointing between them? There's no faint line from him that makes you think he's in love with her, too. And I wonder why they broke up in the first place. Cara and Millsy may seem like the perfect couple to the outside world, but they're actually estranged. However, the holidays are approaching, they have a calendar full of events for family and friends, and they share the same apartment. To spend the holiday, they decided to play a simulation game for a while with everyone.</p>
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<p>#romance #booktour #blog tour #bookreviewer&nbsp;</p>
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The Faking Game is the sequel to The Plus One Pact by Portia MacIntosh, and takes up the story of Cara and Millsy several years down the line. On the surface, things are as good as ever, but what their families don’t know is that they split up six weeks previously before Millsy went to LA. I’ve never come across a sequel to a romantic novel before, as in this fictional world you don’t expect things to go wrong (unlike in real life). Amazon describes The Faking Game as a ‘laugh-out-loud fake relationship romantic comedy’, but this was not quite my experience of it. While there were some amusing incidents (trouble still follows Cara and Millsy wherever they go), my overwhelming feeling was of sadness and confusion. It was never clear to me exactly why they had decided to split up. I kept on reading as I like the characters and had to hope they would eventually come to their senses. Part of the problem for me was that we only get Cara’s point of view, so have no idea what Millsy is thinking.
They had arranged a large gathering of both families at Millsy’s gran’s house in Scotland, so decided to pretend to still be together until afterwards to avoid spoiling it for everyone. Added to this, Millsy has come back from the US with a voice coach in tow, as he is having trouble nailing the southern accent required for the part he is to play in a film. Tally is tactless and insensitive, goes everywhere Millsy goes, and I don’t know how Cara managed to keep her cool when Tally kept getting in the way.
It is very clear from the outset that Cara is not happy with the situation and wants them to get back together, but like the reader has no idea what Millsy wants. Lack of communication seems to be at the heart of The Faking Game. While I did not enjoy this as much as the previous book, it was fun catching up with the familiar characters, and the ending is definitely worth waiting for. Standout characters for me were Cara’s new work partner Charlie, and Millsy’s gran Iona. I’m not sure that The Faking Game would make much sense as a standalone – I think you would be better to read both books in order to understand what is going on. Thanks to Boldwood Books and NetGalley for a digital copy to review.

"The Faking Game" is the kind of book that is a cute, quick and fun read. It's not Shakespeare, but I wasn't expecting Shakespeare, just a light, no-strings-attached rom-com.

I appreciate the fact that despite being a romance novel that talks freely about relationships and sex, there is barely any smut. Instead, the focus is perfectly on the relationship between our two main characters, Cara and Millsy.

Cara and Millsy were a long term couple until six months ago, when they broke up. But they made an agreement to only tell their families after Christmas. So now Cara and Millsy have to fake date through the holidays while figuring out if they actually want to break up or not.

Even though I said this book wasn't the absolute peak of literature, I want to commend it for being decently written and interesting.

And another thing I must say is that I love it when couples are dedicated to each other. There were so many instances where I was worried that the author was going to throw another wrench into the works by having someone catch feelings for someone else... thankfully that didn't happen. As you can see, I'm not a fan of actual love triangles.

I didn't read too much into this books but still had a fun few hours reading it. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for giving me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. Final rating: 3.5/5.

If you love utterly absurd romcoms like The Hating Game and Happy Place, you’ll absolutely fall head over heels for this zany fake-dating story.

It combines all those tried-and-true, familiar tropes you all know and love to make something familiar and a little comforting, letting the reader sit back and relax in the cosy knowledge that they know this has the ingredients they like — but still get to enjoy the wacky antics our lovebirds get up to on the journey.

Now let’s talk about our not-so happy couple. They’re characters in a romcom; so of course they’re a little annoying. They’re dramatic, petty and sarcastic at times and it gets awkward and intense at times. But I loved them anyway — Cara was a delightful narrator, and always had something funny to say about just how weird being an adult is and the strange things we do to keep up appearances and keep up with everyone else.

As Cara and Millsy get deeper into their lie, things turn into total chaos — and they have to navigate sexy vocal coaches, murder mystery weddings, questionable relatives, karaoke singing rugby teams, romantic rendezvous in elf grottos, and of course the big question — are they really saying goodbye for the last time?

If you’re looking for something a little silly but a lot of fun to read, here you go!

A couple has broken up, but decides not to tell their families until after the holidays. They have planned a trip to Scotland for the families to get to know each other, and they don’t want to ruin everyones plan. Of course this would be easier if they were actually over each other.
I always enjoy books from @portiamacintoshauthor. The Faking Game was not my favorite of hers, but I kept wanting to read more. The characters were frustrating at times and the ending wrapped everything up in a bow really quickly. That said, this is a nice, quick holiday read.
Overall Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Spice Level: 🌶️/5

This was a cute Christmas read but I do feel like i was missing something and after doing some research it does seem that this is a sequel to the book ‘The Plus One Pact’. I do wish it had of been more clear in the promo that this is not their first story. It makes a lot more sense that this story would be stronger when having a foundation of who the characters were and their relationship. Because this story starts with them having been together for years and breaking up. The hook is that they decide to fake their relationship for the duration of Christmas to not ruin the planned big combined family Christmas celebration.

There were definitely things about this book I enjoyed when I thought it was a standalone book, I like the moments we got Cara and Millsy together - they had a sweet comfortable banter that made it clear they knew each other inside and out. I also loved the cozy setting of the UK at Christmas, it made me want o snuggle up by a fire under a blanket and it’s only just the beginning of September. I also enjoyed reading about Cara’s horrible dates, they made for good comedy.

I think where the story lacks for me is that I didn’t really feel super connected to the characters or knew enough about them to feel that they should get back together. I think that would have been solved by reading their first book though. I also didn’t really understand why Tally acted the way she did, it was bizarre and I could have done without.

This is a cute closed door romance, but I think it’s probably best enjoyed after reading their first book for it to really make an impact!

Thanks to NetGalley, Boldwood Books and the author Portia Macintosh for providing me with the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

First of all, I just want to thank NetGalley and BoldWood Books for letting read this book before it’s released!

I actually loved this book. It was fun, entertaining and a really easy and addictive read.

I will admit that I struggled to really get into it for the first third of the book or so but after that point I was hooked and totally invested to find out how it ended.

Chapter 11 had me giggling, it was actually really funny to me and it was written so perfectly for the scene.

The ending was predictable but it was still really cute and made the story feel complete. It gave all the happy vibes you look for in these types of stories.

The writing overall was simple but effective and being written from the MFCs point of view, made it really personal. At points it was like being in her head and knowing what she was thinking/feeling at the time.

I loved the characters and the way they were written and described really bought them to life. They all played a part in making this story really wholesome but also really realistic and relatable.

Overall a very good PG, cute romance book which I would definitely recommend and I will definitely be picking up more of Portia MacIntosh in the future!

This was SUPER CUTE! I love the second chance but not really romance, the family dynamic and the characters so much! The drama/angst was really enjoyable without it overpowering the entire plot.


Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC.

A pleasant read about Millsy and Cara, a couple who gave recently split but are faking it for the sake of both their families in the name of Christmas celebrations. Matters are further complicated by the presence of Tally, Millsy's voice coach who has joined his trip home. A good read all in all, thanks to natgalley and bold wood books for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

What a fun, and completely enjoyable RomCom. It is amazing what people will do for the ones they love. Cass and Milllsy (Joe) are the perfect couple, who are no longer a couple, but pretend to be for the sake of Christmas with the family. The antics these two get into will make you laugh out loud. While the plot is completely predictable, typical in this genre, the journey to get to the happily every after made for a wonderful read. Highly recommend.
I received an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review .

This was a quick enjoyable read. I always enjoy Portia MacIntosh, and this is one of her best. Filled with engaging characters, especially the protagonist Cara and her boyfriend Millsy. It is a pretty lighthearted roller coaster ride, but lots of fun. Thanks to Boldwybooks and Netgalley for an ARC of this novel.

Cara and Millsy are back! We met them in The Plus One Pact where they went from friends to lovers. In The Faking Game, 3 years later, they broke up but are keeping it a secret since they had major Christmas plans to get both their families together and do not want to let them down.

Millsy encourages Cara to move on, but she really doesn’t want to. He also brought along his voice coach, Tally, and I did not like this girl. He was very hot and cold the entire time and I had a hard time wanting to root for him. Cara went on a slew of really terrible dates (loved these for added humor)! These two truly had the worst communication possible. There’s a lot that I would have loved to know— what caused the break up? I feel like some more details would have been nice. It seemed like the ending was rushed and I had lots of questions. I did really enjoy all the shenanigans these two got into! I caught myself laughing out loud at some of them!

Overall, this is a good book but I would have loved more details and a little less miscommunication between the two MCs. It fell a little flat for me but I’m glad I stuck it out to the end!

Tropes -
Only one bed
Forced proximity
Fake dating
Second chances

Thanks to Netgalley, Portia MacIntosh, and Boldwood Books for the opportunity to review this book! 🫶🏻

I enjoyed this story so much!! Maybe it’s northern girl in me, but the wording, phrases, and even Cara as a whole felt so relatable to me. Reading this book truly felt like home. Because it had a little resemblance to "Bridget Jones's Diary," I really, truly loved this book. You'll enjoy Portia MacIntosh if you like Helen Fielding, not the plot itself because that's very different, but just the feeling it gives you as a reader.

Cara and Millsy appear to be the ideal pair to the outside world, but they are actually separated. However, the holidays are quickly approaching, they have a calendar packed with events for their family and friends, and they share an apartment. To get through the holidays, they decide to play the pretend game with everyone for a little a while.

This story has everything a romantic comedy should have such as humour, jealousy, longing and the incredible chemistry between Cara and Millsy. I laughed out loud multiple times.

Oh and fyi I could not stand Tally.

Thank you to the author and NetGalley for this ARC. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ / 5

The Faking Game

I do have to admit, I struggled a little at the beginning. Some where during the middle I started to get into the story a little more. Cara and Millsy had broken up, but have to pretend to be together for the holidays. I felt like this story was so back and forth. I couldn’t necessarily feel the love between them even though we know it’s still there. Then we add in Tally, Millsy’s speech coach. She rubbed me the wrong way!! I did love Millsy’s grandma, she made the story extra sweet.
I was able to read this story pretty quick and I think that most people well.
After I got into this story, I thought it was cute! Enjoy.