A often funny book with crazy occurrences and even nuttier characters. The hidden secrets could cause a traffic jam and just waiting for an accident. A tad dragging sometimes bogs the story down. Not too bad a read.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

✨Catastroph!✨

This was just pure chaos. It was a strange mix of YA and adult, but mainly it felt disjointed. The only real reason I was able to follow along is because I absolutely love Christmas in Connecticut—which was the entire reason I read the book to begin with.

Do I think a lot of the demographic has seen the movie(s)? No…So I sense a lot of confusion in its wake and even less of the “I forgive the book “X, Y, Z” because I love Christmas in Connecticut”that I afforded it.

The romance was instalove with not much else. The heroine was a chaos demon, but not in the enjoyable Elizabeth Lane way. Chaos for the sake of chaos. The hero was bland. I did like Hildy though.

There was a distinct voice to the writing…just not one I particularly enjoyed. It was overly quirky and trying to be “real” and relatable (by just being overly descriptive and a bit juvenile). It was funny at times, but not enough to keep me engaged through the whole thing.

Oh and I absolutely didn’t read any of the weird Instagram captions at the beginning of chapters.


⭐️⭐️.5/5

I receive an eARC from the publisher. All opinions are honest and my own.

2.25 ⭐️

When I read the description of this one, I was excited to get into it. It sounded like a silly and fun rom com that would be a light and easy read. Unfortunately, this one fell a bit flat for me.
It didn’t really pull me in like I hoped and I found myself picking up other books instead of continuing it. It ended up taking me two months to finish, which maybe explains my apathy.

While I did find aspects of the story funny, I mostly was suffering from secondhand embarrassment. The over the top charade to convince Hildy and Jefferson that Lillibet is a real person was just too much for me. The insta love on top of that just felt even more unbelievable. I did enjoy the second half much more than the first half and enjoyed the ending, but I just had a hard time connecting with the characters through all the chaos. While I think there is an audience that would enjoy this book, I prefer a story that’s a little more realistic.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Griffin for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Sadly, I had to DNF. I just can’t bring myself to read a book that is written in third person. This makes me really sad because I was so excited to read it.☹️

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Griffin for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book.

Very confusing, unlikeable characters, completely unrealistic, and I disliked the writing style.

While there are some truly laugh out loud parts in this book (primarily because they are so spectacularly outrageous), I could never really get into it. I didn’t particularly like any of the characters, the farce Libby and her friends put on seemed a little too far fetched, and I didn’t really see the chemistry with Jefferson. This one would be a pass for me.

What a a perfect summer read ! I really enjoyed this book and easy to read.

laughed many times.

I will definitely re read and recommend to everyone that wants to hear me

While I was super excited to read this and I normally love this trope I truly feel that it was confusing and hard to follow at times because of this I wasn’t able to connect with the characters and truly get attached to this book.
I feel like this book has some promise and if it was altered to make it easier to follow I would be able to absolutely love this book. I feel that the author has a wonderful idea but that they might need to look at how they executed in some areas!
Thank you for the opportunity to review this book and I will look out for it when it comes out!

I was intrigued by the cute beach romance with goats promised by the book cover. However, it didn't appeal to me. I couldn't connect with the characters, and the plot was tedious. The influencer aspect was cringeworthy. While others found it funny, I felt it tried too hard. The only part I loved was when the goat ate her bikini top. Overall, it's not for me, but others might enjoy it.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book.
SLIGHT SPOILERS TO FOLLOW

I'm going to be honest... I didn't finish this book. I DNF'd at 35% and it was a struggle to get to that point. The premise of the story sounded fun, a girl pretending to be an influencer but... the backstory of Hildy was confusing to me. I wasn't sure what she was an heiress of or why she wanted to partner with Lillibet (Libby) and what that partnership would even look like. What did Hildy think she was going to be doing with Libby? What did Libby and her friends REALLY think they would get out of this. I know Libby thought this might push her journalism dream forward but I didn't understand Jean's motivations other than money. It seemed like a very high risk ruse to take.

Everything also fell into place so easily for them? Somehow Jean was able to find a guy with a high-tech house who was willing to help them out, provide Libby with a wardrobe and pretend to be Libby's fake husband? It all seemed so far fetched that it would come together so seamlessly?

Jefferson and Hildy's fast friendship (which we don't get to witness) felt... weird? Not forced but it just happened so fast and we didn't get to watch them together. You don't read about their struggle in the snow together to get to the point where they were sharing everything with each other. We just went to his next chapter and he and Hildy had nicknames for each other (I don't remember Hildy's full name but she called him JJ), had told each other life secrets, and were suddenly taking a vacation together. Hildy and Jefferson both sounded like really cool characters and I liked their interactions but I would have liked to see HOW they became such good friends so fast.

Meanwhile Libby's first chapter felt so chaotic. There wasn't much happening but I felt like I was getting so much information from the characters about how they were living and I retained none of it. Libby and Jean sounded fun but I just don't think I liked the writing style of this novel very much. I'm not sure If I would have liked it more if I kept reading or not. When I got to the point where Libby's fake husband actually proposed marriage to her... the story lost me. I didn't think it'd get better past that.

Thanks to Netgalley & St. Martin's Press for the E-ARC! This actually surprised me! I liked the characters & the setting. Also loved the whole premise. Will definitely read more from the author.

I love a fake dating trope, which is what drew me to this title, but I really struggled to get into the story and ended up not finishing it. Thank you for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed many aspect of this book but the romance was a bit of a miss for me. I thought Libby and Jefferson lacked chemistry and overall I struggled to connect with the characters. This story was funny at times and takes place in a beautiful setting. I would still recommend this book to others as it was a quick and easy read, it just didn’t work for me as a romance.
Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

3 Stars Hate to Fake It To You is a fun novel set in a beautiful paradise. The premise of the book drew me in and while it had its fun moments, I couldn’t quite connect with the main characters or their love story.

Libby and her roommate, Jean, create a fake online personality to escape from the stress of life. A wealthy follower, Hildy, wants to come meet her and Libby has to pretend to be her online persona (which of course is very stressful!!).

She meets Jefferson, a photographer who comes with Hildy, and sparks fly even though they have a ton of obstacles to overcome.

To be honest, the beginning of this book was confusing to me - I felt like the characters were funny and entertaining, it just took me awhile to get into it.

This read like a “comedy” more than a “romance” or “romcom”. I think the romance was missing for me - and as a reader who ONLY reads romance - it caused me rate this book lower than I would have.

The author did a wonderful job creating unique and entertaining characters, I just needed more chemistry between the Libby and Jefferson.

I rated it 3.5 stars and rounded it up to 4!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I liked the general message of the book - that it’s important to tell the truth.

Thank you Netgalley and St Martins Press for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was very cute and had many moments where it was funny. I thought the descriptions of the settings and the people were very good. I didn’t connect to the characters as much as I wanted to though. It was enjoyable and I liked the premise of the story, but I was a bit confused during each chapter on whose perspective we were in and I found it to be a bit of a slow progression for the majority of the book.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this ARC.

This cover was the first reason I wanted to read this book! Who doesn't love adorable goats!!
I was not expecting to love this as much as I did. The banter and shenanigans between Mia and Vince are laugh out loud hilarious. Mia's sarcasm makes her all the more loveable! Being able to believe in yourself and face your fears is an important lesson for all of us. I definitely recommend that you add this to your TBR list now! This is a standalone book but LOVE the fact that we will see some of Sellett's characters again in another story.

This book was hard to get into. The characters sounded great, but it was so confusing to keep them straight. The overall plot is a good idea, but the execution was cringe with a very slow pace.

The scenery and location described in this book was gorgeous. Unfortunately, I just didn't; connect with the characters.

*ARC courtesy of the author and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. I want to thank the valued author, the publisher, and Netgalley for providing a copy.*

I liked the idea of this book, but it fell flat for me. The characters felt a bit one dimensional and I just couldn’t get into it. Props for the cute book cover though.