Hate to Fake it to You by Amanda Sellet. Pub Date: July 16, 2024. Rating: 3 stars. In this rom-com, themes of social media and influencers are explored in an over the top way. Taking place in Hawaii, the two main characters, Libby and Jefferson, found themselves in each other's lives based on fate and under false pretenses. I enjoyed the wittiness and banter between the two love interests, but overall I did not connect to either of these characters. Their romance did not feel as authentic as I wanted it to be and at times I felt it was rushed. This is a good palate cleanser type of book. Thanks to #netgalley and #stmartins press for this e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

This book is so over the top. Sometimes that's ok, but sometimes it was just too ridiculous. Overall it was fun, but not one I will be quick to recommend.

Libby and her roommate create a fake online personality to escape from the stress of life. A wealthy follower wants to come meet her and Libby has to pretend to be her online persona. Which is stressful and interesting. This is when she meets Jefferson and sparks fly even though they have a ton of obstacles to overcome.

the beginning of this book was a bit confusing to me. The characters were funny and interesting but took me some time to get into the book. This could just be me though. I think that the author did a great job! If you are looking for a fun read this is a good one.

This is my honest review. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC

A charming and quirky dual POV debut adult romance from YA best-selling author, Amanda Sellet that was set on the Hawaiian islands and sees a group of three friends get caught up in fake online influencing, fake engagements and more as they try to save a beloved business. This story also had delicious recipes, a couple of naughty goats and a sweet, kissing only romance. Full of misconceptions, swoony moments and found family, it was great on audio and an entertaining read. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review!

I'm so sorry, but reading this felt like eating glass. I get that I don't love the miscommunication trope, but this is literally every single character lying to the others. It wanted to be zany and fun, but it was over the top and annoying. And the plot? Also, the two MCs still believed the other was in a relationship at the 50% mark, and I just can't handle that in a romance.

This book is a classic sort of fake it until you make it! Through hash tags, profound words and serene photos of an idealistic life, Lillibette is born. In actuality Libby is living an ordinary life. When media heiress Hildy Johnson discovers lovelillibet she decides she wants her to be a part of her brand. With very little notice Libby forms a plan. With the help of her friends and a fake fiancé she bumbles her way through the best that she can. The rugged mountain man photographer that Hildy brings along is enchanted but suspicious of things not adding up. This makes for a very entertaining read. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martins Griffin for this free advanced copy. I am leaving this review voluntarily

Did not finish at 7%. Story did not grab my attention and I did not love the characters. Writing was good and had a few funny moments, but not enough to hold me.

If you want to turn off your brain and just enjoy a zany book, then Hate to Fake It to You will certainly work for you. There were definitely some funny parts and I even laughed out loud a couple times. On occasion, the humor felt forced and the island hijinks were over the top. The romance wasn't my favorite unfortunately, although I liked Harrison as a character. If you like OTT destination romances, then I strongly recommend this book.

Everyone gets a glow-up on social media, but Libby Lane's online persona is the fakest of fakes, like literally.
Libby and her friends decide to post on a blog and be "funny" about who "Libby" is, aka Lillibet. Lillibet is affluent, glamorous, and lives a healthy life while sprouting positive and pretty advice. All the things that Libby isn't in real life.
..Until one day Hildy Johnson, the ambitious junior member of a media dynasty, travels to Hawaii to talk to Lillibet about parlaying her lifestyle brand into a job and her and her friends are quick to scramble this "fake reality" into an actual real one. Libby's journey is absolutely a relatable one, as she grapples with the pressures of maintaining an idealized online presence while navigating the messy realities of her offline existence (like probably 99.9% of all of us do!). Jefferson Jones, the enigmatic wildlife photographer, adds a layer of intrigue to the whole story as well.
I enjoyed the rom-com aspect of it, but I am ALL for an open-door romance, while this was a closed door one (which is fine and I know some peoples cup of tea, just not mine). The shenanigans and silliness of it overall left me feeling giddy.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for this eARc!

This was an interesting rom-com! It was an easy read and some of the characters were a lot of fun. I really enjoyed the second half once Libby and Jefferson's romance was coming together. The first half of the story was a bit slow for my taste, but the chaos of the whole plan coming together definitely made for a lot of laughs.

Thanks to SMP for this ARC!

To be completely honest, this book was a real disappointment—I couldn’t even get through it. None of the characters resonated with me, and the plot failed to engage me. I just couldn’t muster the motivation to pick it up again when it wasn’t holding my interest at all.

I will be so honest this book was so bad I didn't finish it. I couldn't relate to any of the characters and the story was just not bringing me in. I couldn't bring myself to open the book and continue reading it when I was thoroughly not enjoying it.

Sad to say that Hate to Fake It to You just wasn’t for me. I feel like I’m partially in a reading slump which contributed to this, but I wasn’t invested the story and was a little confused by the premise and what was happening at times (so much pretending!). The characters were very quirky (almost a bit over the top in my opinion) and I didn’t really care for any of them. I did however really enjoy the setting — I love Hawaii so so much! I also thought it was a great idea to have the blog / social media posts included at the beginning of each chapter. I found the ending wrapped up things so quickly for Jefferson and Libby and I would have liked a little more focus on their romance. Overall, I didn’t love this one as much as I was hoping to but if you are looking for a dual POV, fake dating romance set in Hawaii with a MC as a social media influencer, consider reading Hate to Fake It to You (out now).

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: 2.5

Hate to Fake it to You is a rom-com that was very fast-paced. I am not sure why I requested this ARC as it had a lot of the tropes that I personally do not enjoy such as miscommunication. The book was great as far as the setting, I could picture everything as I was reading it. I think this could be a fun read for anyone who enjoys a good rom-com.

DNF I haven't been enjoying books where the main conflict is the two main characters not being honest with each other.

Hate to Fake It to You is so wacky but I also had a good time with it. The premise - two broke college dropouts deal with the stress of their circumstances by creating an influencer account where they pretend to be a zen, positivity, yoga mom type figure. When someone reaches out to meet "Lillibet" they find themselves in a ridiculous situation in an attempt to keep up the ruse. I went in assuming it was going to be fake dating. But no it’s like fake life-ing, plus some fake marriage, plus some side fake dating. It was utterly ridiculous and I never quite figured out how seriously Sellet was taking the story. Nevertheless, I had fun with it, and there was some great commentary about real life vs online life and the importance of friends. Go in expecting wacky, and enjoy!

Thanks to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately this one wasn't for me. I had to dnf this book. The writing style wasn't for me. Thank you for the opportunity.

I’m sorry, but I don’t think I will be able to finish this book. I’m at 15% of the book and really having a hard time following along with the story. I’m finding there are a lot of tangents, very little description of the characters and how they all relate to one another and the story jumps around quickly, making it hard to follow.

I appreciate the publisher providing me with an Arc copy, and hope to be able to read other books in the future. I hope this feedback is helpful for future publications.

I liked this rom-com with a fake relationship troupe. It didn’t feel like the cookie cutter version, had a unique storyline and an interesting twist towards the end. I felt like there was lots of growth and development from several of the characters, including Libby and Hildy. I love the sweet, sparkling chemistry reflecting from both Jefferson and Libby whenever they were together. Overall, definitely worth the read!

Such a good read that I enjoyed! I'm so glad that I got the chance to read it early and will definitely be recommending it to multiple people who enjoy these types of novels. I enjoyed the characters and especially enjoyed the writing by this author. I'm excited to see what the author comes out with next as I'll definitely be reading it! Thank you to the publisher for my early copy of this book!