This was such a cute paranormal romance, and a fast read. The tropes featured are exactly what you get, including the miscommunication break up, and it was the perfect light read. Loved the familiars too!

I was a little disappointed with the deviations made to vampires and that it was a bit too fluffy for me, but I would still recommend this book for an easy and fun read.

3.5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

Emma is a struggling witch trying to land a permanent position in her coven. Alaric is a duke and the most eligible bachelor in their county. Their paths collide when Emma enters the men's loo by mistake. Alaric finds her odd but somewhat endearing. Now, Emma has an opportunity to secure her position in the coven by organizing a ball that is very important for the coven. Now, she needs to come up with the best venue to win against her nemesis who is competing for the same position. The duke's mansion has always piqued everyone's curiosity. It's known to be breathtaking but has been left unexplored. Due to a misunderstanding, the duke's grandmother mistakes Emma for his girlfriend. Now, the duke offers Emma to fake date him in exchange for hosting the ball on his property. Oh, and he's a vampire. And she can talk to ghosts.
I really enjoyed reading this book. It was really cute and had some amazing laugh out loud moments. I really loved the cozy, fall and pumpkin spice everything vibes it gave. The characters were very enjoyable as well. I, however, felt the absence of proper world building. There was very little to nothing known about Vampirism.. which made the duke's personality seem very dull. The miscommunication annoyed me.
Overall, it was very well written and would be best enjoyed reading in October, for obvious reasons. This paranormal romance is a must read!!

A fake dating, vampire/witch, small town paranormal romance with surprisingly impressive emotional depth and a relationship you won't be able to help rooting for!! I loved both the MCs, especially his grandma, and the way that each of them has emotional baggage relating to their family.

Also, her skunk familiar, Penelope was the absolute BEST. Good on audio and perfect for fans of authors like Anne Aguirre or Jessica Clare. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review. This is book two in the Charming Cove series but definitely can be read as a standalone!

"How to Fake Date a Vampire" certainly had its moments of swoon-worthy banter. However, it's important to note that the story did come across as a bit corny at times, which might not be to everyone's taste. Interestingly, the title suggests a strong vampire element, but the vampire aspect of the story seemed rather superficial and didn't play a significant role in the overall narrative. Instead, it was like any other male lead with easy access to a vast resource. One notable drawback is the pacing, which felt off at times. The story might have benefited from a more balanced rhythm to maintain reader engagement consistently. It was average for me.



Thank you Bonnie Doon Press and NetGalley for the earc.

Emma Willowby has been trying to break into the local coven for awhile now. She grew up without a group or family to call her own so she's trying to find her place. One of her problems is that she hasn't quite figured out what her magic actually is yet so she can't really judge her own strengths. Something that would definitely get her into the coven would be successfully planning and pulling off the Beltane Ball but, in order to be chosen as the planner, she needs a venue. The most fabulous venue around would be the local duke's estate. But she'll need his buy-in and he's notoriously hard to get a hold of.
Alaric is bemused by the woman that he meets first in the local pub's men's bathroom, then as the goat she is working on training headbutts him. She is refreshing, unique, and doesn't seem to be entranced by his title or his pots of money. So when his grandmother, who has been looking rather worn lately, asks about his fiancee, Alaric sees Emma as his perfect chance to make his grandmother happy.
There are, of course, the requisite misunderstandings and deceptions around a fake relationship. There is also the last Big Misunderstanding which is blessedly short but a little out of left field. I think a number of people will make note of the fact that the title of this book has the word "vampire" in it but, other than the fact that they live the same number of years as humans and drink blood in their dinner drinks, we don't get to learn much about the lore of vampires in Hall's world which is disappointing.

Three stars
This book comes out August 31, 2023
Follows The Modern Girl's Guide to Magic
ARC kindly provided by Bonnie Doon Press
Opinions are my own

Emma and Alaric’s journey is a cute, joyful and romantic story based on the idea that out there, somewhere, you'll always find a family that suits you.
And if this premise doesn't make you cry already, I don't know what could!

You got me, I'm a sucker for the found-family trope, but how couldn't I be?! We're social animals, we crave the right type of attention and dream about finding the right person who'll have to deal with us for the rest of our days. Isn’t it romantic when you put it like that?

Jokes aside, I really liked this book: it's a good old-style romance, with barely any spiciness, but more deep meanings. Also, the supernatural part was just ideal for my taste: Emma’s Coven and magic were perfectly balanced in the story, even if I’d have liked to know more about the early stages of discovering to be a witch and Alaric’s vampire existence.
One of the most important aspects, the narration, is also chef’s kiss: the story takes place in more than a month's length but doesn't seem like it. I felt it was rushed near the end, though; I’d have liked an epilogue more than a hurried finale.

Thanks to Bonnie Doon Press and NetGalley, who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest opinion.

p.s.: to whom may concern, even if “How to Fake-Date a Vampire” is the second book in a series, it’s a stand-alone story; so it's not necessary to read the previous one and you're not missing anything from it for this particular story

Thank you Netgalley and Bonnie Doon Press for this ARC!

- This had so many of the elements of what made me love the first book in this series! The coziness of Charming Cove, the silly familiar, and the incredibly sweet MCs! I think I liked the first book more, but I still really enjoyed this one!
- I loved the development of the witchy magic system in this! The first book was so focused on plant magic that it was really cool to read about the coven and see more different kinds of magic.
- I wish there was more development in the vampire lore. There are a few things that are mentioned throughout, but it would've been interesting to know more.
- The romance is so sweet! Seeing Emma slowly realize how much she fits into Alaric's life was so fun, and I loved every moment with Vivian and Madeline.
- I loved Penelope! And I was so glad we got to see Boris (and Aria) from the first book!

I'm not from Insta-love and here is what we have.

This book reminded me of those readings of when I was a girl that we had the protagonist who sees the male protagonist for two seconds and describes it to you in great detail as if 15 minutes had actually passed. And already there... he didn't convince me.

How To Fake-Date a Vampire is the second in the Charming Cove series. I didn't read the first one but I didn't feel it was necessary.

Here we find a slightly crazy, funny story and one of those that I read when I was 14 years old. That's bad? Not at all. I just didn't get to connect and I didn't get to like it like I thought I would. I didn't think it would be like that and that's why I was a little disappointed. But it's not bad.

It's light, with short chapters, we go deeper into the story from the point of view of our two protagonists and that makes it much more interesting.

Thanks Bonnie Doon Press for the ARC I read on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a good lighthearted, quick read. The pacing was good and consistent throughout.

The story is about a witch named Emma who makes a deal with a Duke vampire, Alaric, to be his fake girlfriend so she can host her coven’s ball on his estate. Of course though, feelings get involved and things get complicated.

Personally, I think the story was too perfect. And in comparison to the first book, The Modern Girl’s Guide to Magic, I saw a lot of the same things. Girl who was trouble with her magic ends up in love with the best looking and richest guy in Charming Cove. (There are more similarities but I don’t want to spoil).

I liked Alaric but it seems there isn’t anything special about vampires? I was expecting something special about the guy, but he just drinks blood in a glass. No super powers or abilities. Kind of a bummer. His personality was cute though!

Emma was an alright character but even as a witch pretty unbelievable. According to her she isn’t a good witch but can pull off things other witches can’t at crunch time? Hmm.

What I did like was the help from friends and family in the story. The magical parts and there descriptions were great to read. And I LOVED how they met in a bathroom.

This book has fake dating, miscommunication, found family, and small town.

Thank you NetGalley for the eArc of this book. The review is my honest opinion.
#NetGalley

How to Fake-Date a Vampire by Linsey Hall Review 🪄

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

How to Fake-Date a Vampire is a sweet witchy vampire romance that was a very easy and quick read.

The romance between Alaric and Emma was a soft sweet fake dating to real dating trope that melts your heart in places at the way he cares for her.

Emma's relationship with Alaric's family was so cute, the grandma was my favourite character of the whole book! I also really enjoyed that she developed her powers through the book and was able to help make others happy with them 🥰

Now for why it's a 3 star read, I did struggle with the writing style and found it to be quite blunt. It often felt a bit immature that made me think it was more suited for younger readers if there wasn't the minor spice.

Although Alaric is a 'vampire', none of the standard vampire tropes exist within this world. This is fine if not for there was nothing to even make him a vampire other than drinking tiny bit of blood from a glass. Really, he just didnt need to be a vampire 😅

Overall, it was an easy and soft autumny style read to me but I probably wouldn't read another book in the series due to my dislike of the writing style.

Genre/Tropes 💙:

○ Witch x Vampire Romance
○ Fake Dating
○ Famous MMC
○ Minor Miscommunication
○ Small Town

This book was fun, light and easy to read along with. The story itself was quite cliche but the characters were interesting. It’s quite comical most of the time and I personally expected it to be something different.. However that being said it was a good read still :)

Finished in a day!!! Had me so hooked! The story follows Emma (a witch) and Alaric (a duke who’s also a vampire) in the modern world. THERES DUAL POV I REPEAT DUAL POV!!!

Emma volunteers to organise the Beltane Ball but she needs a venue 👀 Alaric needs to cheer his grandmother up and also lives in beautiful estate perfect for a ball.

So they start dating. Fake dating.

This book is a mix of pride and prejudice, the golden compass and beauty and the beast!!
What i love about this book is there’s no ‘a billion chapters long world building period’ - it’s straight to the point but very easy to understand. Very witty and funny loved every word!

This is such a fun and cute read. I love fake dating especially when it turns into more but they are fighting it for whatever reason. This is also set in a small town, which I love, and has some incredible side characters. Vivian, his grandma, and Penelope, her familiar, are definitely my favourites and anyone who disagrees is simply wrong. There is very little that I didn’t love about this book.

Emma and Alaric are beyond cute and I love them. `They’re so good together and you can really feel the chemistry. It’s a cozy and fun read with just enough conflict that it doesn’t get boring. And when I say conflict its because my brain is not working great and I cant think of another word, not because there is much actually conflict (violent or otherwise). I also loved how everything was resolved on this book, it was done so well and made me so happy. Seriously I almost cried happy tears because it was so cute.

I haven’t read the first in this series yet but after this I have to. It can be read as a completely standalone if you want. I think this is one of the best books I have read so far this year, highly recommend!

Thank you to the author and publisher for this ARC copy, this is an honest review.

This was way cuter and cozier than I expected! I loved that there was a bit of mystery mixed in and the romance was adorable. I loved the characters and the world, with the slight supernatural elements. The vampires were very casual and the witches were really cool. I really enjoyed this and want more in this series.

4.5/5 stars!!
I loved this just as i loved the first in this series its very light-hearted and fun to read!
My only very slight issue was that the mmc is a vampire but doesn't have any sort of 'typical' vampire traits and seems more human, which is fine and doesn't take away anything from the book but i feel this could have been expanded on a little more.

This is the second novel in the Charming Cove series and can absolutely be read as a standalone.

A quick, perfectly spooky fall read. Cute, heartwarming and incredibly cozy romance novel with a slight touch of paranormal goodness and spice. A perfect palate cleanser between those heavier novels.

Emma and Alaric’s romance is absolutely adorable and I fell head over heels for them both with the slow burn, fake dating trope. It was clear from the beginning that there was more than meets the eye and I feel like the dual POV amplifies it and allows you to peer deeper into the main characters.

Emma, trying to prove herself to take her rightful spot with the Aurora Coven, she is given the task of organizing the Beltane Ball. The perfect place? The Duke’s manor. Alaric definitely comes off grumpy but realizes later on he could use it to his advantage — his manor in exchange for being his fake girlfriend for his grandmother.

This novel was beyond charming and a quick, easy read. A refreshing first read for spooky season.

I had a great time reading this book- it was a fast paced, grumpy/sunshine cozy witch read. It’s perfect for this time of year and does it job as a rom-com by lifting you up with cutesy banter and making you jealous of the magical backdrop.

I really wanted to give that book a chance. I have tried my best to soak into history of Emma’s and Alaric’s romance story but I just couldn’t. Don’t get me wrong, storyline was promising, it was the writing style that turned me off. It is just so plane, you read about feelings they have for each other but yet you can’t actually feel them.

Emma is a witch, living in a small town somewhere in United Kingdom. Yes, magic exist but magican people stays hidden in our world. Emma is apperentice for her Coven. She has to prove her worth to other witches so she can became a proper member - this is where she needs our Vampire Duke - Alaric. They make a deal - he will help her and provide her with a place to host Beltane Ball and she will become his fake-girlfriend to please his grandmother.

Of course it won’t be easy task, they have to face a lot of problems with incomming event, and this is where they start to have feelings for one another.

3/5 ⭐️
0/5 🌶️

Thanks to NetGalley and Bonnie Doon Press for giving me that opportunity and providing me with a free eARC of that book. This review contains my honest opinion about the book.

Thank you to Netgalley, Boonie Doon Press, and Linsey Hall for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is the second novel in the Charming Cove series and it defiantly can be read as a stand-alone. It’s a quick cozy read that would be a perfect fall palate cleanser between horror novels.

This book was very cozy! It was cute and heartwarming in all of the best ways. The romance between Emma (a witch) and Alaric (a vampire) was perfection, fake dating / slow burn in the best ways. This book is the perfect fall read if you want a cozy paranormal romance with just a hint of spice.

This authors writing style was super enjoyable, the world building was amazing the author brought a cozy atmosphere to this story.

There is a miscommunication trope in this, but it gets dealt with relatively fast. The ending while magical and fairytale esk didn’t feel as impactful as I wanted it to.

Overall I will be going back and reading the first one in this series and future instalments to the Charming Cove series.

“How to fake date a vampire” is a fun paranormal romcom.

We follow Emma as she’s trying to prove herself a capable witch to her coven, meanwhile Alaric just moved back in the city after a bad breakup. Due to a mishap these two are forced to fake date, but the more they spend time together the more difficult it becomes.

I really enjoyed this romcom it was really refreshing and the perfect palate cleanser in between my recent reads. The characters were quite fun and I loved the found family in this. Emma was quite a good MC to follow and Alaric was a cute love interest. Their chemistry was quite good. The only thing I wasn’t convinced on was the main plot as it seemed like it was going to take a long time to solve all the problems, but in the end they were solved super easily. The ending also I wasn’t a big fan of for the same reason. However if you’re looking for a fun romcom look no further than this.

Thank you NetGalley and Bonnie Doon Press for allowing me to read an arc of this.