What a fun read! I always enjoy Macintosh’s stories. She has the knack of creating a little world of delightful characters. The heroine, Cara, narrates the story with such wit while describing her own romantic mishaps with a lovely, gentle humor. She and Milsy are a great couple so we can all enjoy their finding their way back to each other.

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

This was a really fun, upbeat read from start to finish I was hooked!
All of the characters were just so lovable, and the family dynamics were ever so relatable too!

From god awful dating app dates to fake dating within fake dating, this book has it all!

I look forward to reading more of Portia’s books as this truly had my heart.

Easy read but a bit boring to be honest. I didn’t feel as engage or invested in the plot or the characters. I love a good fake romance and this just fell flat. Closed door spice scenes which made it even less interesting. I was left wanting more.

Thank you @netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

The Faking Game is a cute second chance romance novel. The main characters, Millsy and Cara are getting their families together for their very first blended Christmas. Only they have a big secret, they broke up 6 weeks ago.

Deciding that it would be easier to pretend to be together for the holiday period, Portia MacIntosh takes us on a journey through their chaotic Christmas festivities. As the pair begin to get themselves into various situations, they start to realise why they were so good together.

But with both of them outwardly seeming like they want to/have moved on, will either of them bite the bullet and admit they shouldn’t have broken up in the first place?

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I really enjoyed The Faking Game, it was such a fun easy read which is perfect for the Christmas period.

Thank you Portia MacIntosh, Netgalley and Boldwood books for this advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review. The Faking Game is out on October 5th and I’d really recommend getting your hands on a copy!

Thanks to the Publisher and Netgalley for an early review copy.

I enjoyed this book.

When Millsy was leaving for a job opportunity, he and Cara ended their relationship, but didn’t tell anyone else.

Now with Christmas approaching and a joint celebration planned they both attend, as though they are still a couple, until after the New Year. Accompanying them is Tally, who is a voice coach, she’s come back with Millsy to help him with his upcoming shoot.

I recommend this book.

I liked the book, it had good moments, funny moments, however, I just felt it was a little flat. Millsy and Cara have been together but I just didn't get the angst and the why they should stay together other than they were comfortable. I didn't like the communication between the characters. It just felt forced for me. I think if it had been dual POV it would have opened up so much more of the story.

I appreciate the opportunity to read this arc for my review.

The Faking Game revolves around Cara and Millsy who, unbeknownst to their families have broken up. However their families have arranged to have a joint Christmas and New Year so they agree to fake still being together to avoid making the holiday season awkward for their families.

The components of this book that I enjoyed the most where the moments it explores relationships outside of romantic relationships. I enjoyed the friendship between Cara and her colleague Charlie and found their banter felt really natural. Some of the observations surrounding families and family traditions were very relatable and it was interesting to see this dynamics develop throughout the book.

My main issue with this book is that I didn't connect with any of the characters, particularly Millsy who had no personality beyond being conventionally attractive. I couldn't feel any chemistry between Cara and Millsy and I found it infuriating that we never really find out why they broke up in the first place. The main source of comedy in this book was the protagonists creating embarrassing situations and having to devise a plan to get out of them together, however I didn't find reading these scenes entertaining and instead found it quite cringey, especially as they are meant to be in their thirties. The entire storyline with Tally, Millsy's vocal coach, having to go with him everywhere he went felt ridiculous and added very little to the story. Finally the lack of communication between Cara and Millsy was very annoying and a lot of the conflict that arose could easily have been sorted if they actually just spoke to each other like adults.

Overall I really didn't gel with this book and found myself not rooting for Cara and Millsy as a couple. However this book may be someone else's cup of tea.

I’m a huge Portia Macintosh fan and was really looking forward to reading this. It is a follow on from The Plus One Pact but can also be read as a stand alone. It had all the usual humour I come to expect from this author and it’s always a highlight for me.
There was a lot of crossed communications in this book and it was getting me sooo frustrated I wanted to bang the two main characters heads together but then I guess there wouldn’t be a story to tell then 😂
Overall still a great read just not one of my favs.

Thanks to NetGalley for the chance to read this arc.

Messy messy messy😀 Portia Macintosh does that busy chaotic messy British thing so well! Lots of characters, lots going on, family shenanigans, Christmas time with plots and subplots, machinations all around. Light and lots of Christmassy fun. Oh and a touch of Scotland as well.

As is the case with this style of novel, the romance between Millsy and Cara is just one piece of the whole. It’s closed door, single POV, a little pining, some jealousy and wishy-washiness and a HEA.

The joy is in the way it all fits together. Recommended for British romance fans 💕💕💕

Thank you so much NetGalley, Portia Macintosh and Boldwood Books for the ARC.

Thank you Netgalley for sending me this arc!

When I stumbled upon this book en read the blurb, I got really excited. It looked like this book was going to be a fun, relaxing and quick read. Having read the book now, I can say that it was those things, but... just not enough. It was fun... but not fun enough... You get what I mean. It just did not live up to my expectations, and this is why:

The first chapter really had my hopes up, we instantly got thrown into the family drama. And let me say a lot of the extended family is quite problematic. So I understand why Millsy and Cara decided not to announce their breakup just yet. But the good feeling about this chapter quikly ended, when I felt like tha chapters were often just lose chapters. It happend very often that the characters were going somewhere, and then suddenly in the new chapter they were somwhere else again, and it was just like a time jump. The book was not very long, so I think the author could have spend more time on writing those scenes that we are missing now, and it would not have meant a insanely large amount of pages.

This also causes the story to move quite quickly. I feel like I would have wanted to see more of Millsy's emotions, because that made the ending feel quite rushed and even unrealistic.

Another thing that bothered me, is that we never really get into the details of why they broke up. It is just mentioned that they broke up. I would want to know what happened that led to that decision. You only find out a little about it, and that is at the end of the book.

I also wanted to say that the characters were all a bit flat, like I did not really get to know them that well. And honestly I even feel like I can't really understand why everyone was supposed to like this couple so much. It is made such a big thing in the blurb, but in the end I ask myself why, because I did not see it in the book, there were so many family members who did not really give a damn about them. And honestly I did not feel it either. This made me defenitely hope that Cara would end up with someone else.

In the end, I did find this a enjoyable read, but nothing more than that. It is not groundbreaking, it is not terrible, these were just thinks that bothered me a bit, and I started to think about them more and more after finishing it. I did finish it in one day so it reads quick for sure. I just think it could have been so much better.

This was an interesting take on fake-dating from the perspective of two (former) lovers. I wish I could say I was rooting for them but we just jump right into the story with no background or explanation of the relationship or situation. I kept feeling like I was missing something. While the breakup of the relationship was finally explained by the end it was too late to really help the story.

The concept was creative and often funny and had great supporting characters. I found my self bouncing back and forth from enjoying the story and just getting through it. But it felt like a classic Brit Lit, which is always a good time!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book. All thoughts are my very own.

Cute, corky romance with a perfect dose of misery.

Cara and Millsy were the perfect couple until they decided to end their relationship however in order to not cancel Christmas for their families they pretend they are still together. They live together under one roof but they are slowly starting to fade away from each other. But is that really what they want? Is it too late to go back or is it time to move on.

This book is the prefect adorable, grinning while you read book. Cara and Millsy are easy to fall in love with and easy to root for. Although we never really find out why their relationship ended we know that they have been broken up for awhile. Yet somehow they keep finding themselves in trouble and have to rely on each other to fix the whatever mess they are in. They should be quickly falling back in love but Millsy’s accent specialist makes that extremely hard. This book is full of miscommunication and mixed feelings. Both Millsy and Cara clearly don’t understand what is going on and how to communicate to one another. They are playing relationship chicken, neither one fessing up to how they really feel. It makes for some terrible decisions and some very funny moments. Overall the book had me totally hoping they would find a way to work it out and end up back together.

The ending - just wow!

Cara and Millsy broke up a few weeks ago. However, they have decided to fake that they are still together in order to not disrupt the holiday the two families have arranged to spend together.

First let me say I did not know this was a continuation from another book that I have not read. I would not have wanted to read it if I had known that.

A super cheesy romantic comedy that was only funny when the two managed to get themselves into trouble when they were together.

I think I would have been more invested in the characters and their relationship if I had read the first book.

All in all not a bad book, just not for me I guess. I suspect that others will like it if they have read the first book prior to this one.

Thanks to netgalley and Boldwood books for the arc.

I want to thank Netgalley and the author for gifting me the ebook.
I have read a lot of books by this author and I rest enjoy them. This was a very sweet rom com. The whole books takes place during Christmas. The main characters are very enjoyable and I loved their personalities. This is the perfect book to read with the Christmas season right around the corner. I also want to point out how much I loved the description of Christmas festivities around town. It just felt like I was there and got me in the Christmas spirit.

Cara and Millsy have gotten used to being everyone's favorite couple, but they are no longer together and have been dreading the amount of events the have coming up. So to avoid any awkward situations, they keep "dating" so that they do not let anyone down. Cara was very hung up on her ex and he really was not into her anymore. There was lots of family drama and a small storyline of the holidays being stressful. It is a good second chance romance, but fell short for me in a few ways.

Our story takes place weeks before Christmas 🌲☃️.
Our hero and heroine are Cara and Millsy.
To everyone, they are the perfect couple but in reality, they might not be. They have been broken up for six weeks now and only pretending to be together for the sake of their families coz this Christmas they will be together at Millsy's grandma's house in Scotland and they don't want it to be ruined for everyone. However, fake dating isn't as easy as they thought especially for Cara coz she is hung up on Millsy can't seem to move on, and is still hopelessly in love with him.
To make matters worse, there is a third wheel between them Tally the American coach who is helping Millsy with his accent for his upcoming movie so now Cara feels like she is left behind and Millsy has forgotten about her.
So the question here is, will Cara be able to move on? Is there still hope between them? You will have to read to find out 😉.
As you can see the book is promising however, it failed to deliver any holiday or romantic vibes for me.
50% in and I still couldn't understand where the author was going with the story and what Cara wanted. The way she was hung up on her ex bothered me especially since he was indifferent towards her.
There is so much family drama which I think the author tried to tell throughout the story how the holiday season can be stressful especially when you have members in the family you don't get along with.
All in all, I expected more of this book but it was OK.
Thanks to @netgalley and the publisher for granting me an ARC of #TheFakingGame in exchange for my honest review.

"...if friends are the family you choose, the family are the friends you don't choose, and there's not much you can do about that."

All the experiences Cara , the FMC, is having on a dating app made me laugh like crazy hahaha. I tried a dating app recently and oh damn I rather die single (that's a joke I don't want to die single hahaha). But those apps might work for a small group but in general I only hear bad things and hook-up stories that go nowhere!!! So reading her experiences on it I swear made my day hahaha.

Now, the book... found out it's a sequel and I would have loved to know that before picking up this book, because I felt no connection to the characters and maybe that's why. Or I want to believe that's why.

I was intrigued by why did the break up until it became obvious there's a huge lack of communication in that relationship and I don't find that cute. Also they had way more to work with the families but I think the author missed it there. The awful aunt Cara has must have been more involved but that was a total miss.

I loved the premise of the book but I'd have loved to know it was a sequel, first of all. And also I think I needed more of the characters. It felt flat for me and that makes me so sad because I adore Portia MacIntosh books!!!!! I deeply love her romance stories and I wanted more of her from this book. I do recommend it for second-chance fans. Just maybe read the first book before this one so you connect to the Cara and Millsy. The book is okay, just okay. A fast read and that's good too.

-#thefakinggame by Portia MacIntosh. Thank you to @netgalley for the advance copy.
This book tells the story of Cara and Millsy who have recently broken up after a long relationship and had decided to wait until after Christmas to tell the families.
Christmas in England, rom-com two things I love but this book fell short. I felt there were too many down moments and it was just fine. ⭐️⭐️⭐️

As cosy and romcom as you’re going to get, with a bit of Christmas thrown in. I don’t normally do Christmassy books and have now read two, both just enough and not too over the top for me.

Cara and Millsy have split up, but no one knows. For the sake of the huge joint Christmas planned in the HIghlands they are faking their relationship until the New Year, and still turn up to planned family events before. All with Tally in tow, the voice coach who seems to be getting a bit too cosy for Cara’s liking. There are laughs and serious bits, cringeworthy moments and cute bits too. I’m still wondering where Charlie is though, read it and let me know!

Overall a bit predictable but a good easy read for a Sunday afternoon.

Whilst I enjoyed the set up here and the story sounded really promising (I like a fake dating trope!), I hadn’t realised this book was a sequel and I wonder if I would have resonated with it more had I read the first book? No doubt it was well written and entertaining with a fun setting but ultimately, wasn’t for me! I would be inclined to read the author again but I’d make sure I read a stand alone or the start of a series.