Libby Lane works as a waitress but her alter ego is Lilibet who is a carefully cultivated influencer on instagram. She gives advice and shares snippets of a world that is perfect. She is helped in this by her best friend. Hildy Johnson, a media mogul, travels to Hawaii to meet Libby and offer her a job, believing in her brand. Now all of a sudden she needs a fake boyfriend which brings in wildlife photographer Jefferson Jones. This is zany, silly and a good comedy romance. Don’t read expecting character depth or a lot of personal growth from the characters. I did like that Libby is herself when she is with Jefferson so the love interest does seem real. But some of the shenanigans seem immature and unrealistic. I did love the setting in Hawaii and thought the cover with the goats was cute.

I had a hard time getting into this one. I couldn’t connect with any of the characters at all. I ended up DNFing at 35%. I’m sure others will love it but it just wasn’t for me.

A waitress masquerading as an influencer and a wildlife photographer are on a collision course with romance–and chaos―in Hate to Fake It to You , a zany modern twist on a screwball comedy classic about figuring out what you really want – by pretending to be someone you’re not.

Everyone gets a glow-up on social media, but Libby Lane's online persona is the fakest of fakes. Cooked up as a joke by Libby and her best friends, Lillibet is the affluent, healthier-than-thou opposite of her glam-free life on the side of Oahu most tourists never see. The phony fronting is all in good fun, until a real influencer stumbles onto the Love, Lillibet Instagram feed and starts making waves.

When 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, Libby and her friends scramble to take the make-believe to a new level. Complicating the charade even further is Hildy’s handsome companion, a wildlife photographer named Jefferson Jones, whose keen eye sees more than he lets on.

Between the pretend husband, borrowed goats, a made-up holiday, and Libby’s very real attraction to Jefferson, it’s anyone’s guess which lie will blow their cover first … especially since Lillibet isn’t the only one with something to hide.

This story is fun and cute, but it lacks connection. I didn't really enjoy the plot all that much as it seemed a little far fetched.

Thanks to NetGalley and Griffin for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

DNF at 15%.

I just couldn't get into the story, the beginning really didn't grab my attention.

Simply not the book for me.

Libby is down on her luck when she and her friends decide to create a fake Instagram account Love, Lillibet in order to pretend to be an obnoxious rich influencer. The account attracts followers and when media scion Hildy decides to visit Hawaii and meet Lillibet to encourage her to write for her, chaos ensues. Libby and her friends need to obtain a mansion by the beach, a fake husband for Lillibet and some goats? This would all be well and good but Hildy brings wildlife photographer Jefferson James with her and Libby is immediately smitten.
I'm not a huge fan of books where the characters are so dishonest with each other right off the bat but the writing was good and the story kept moving.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in return for my honest review.

Thank you St Martin's for the review copy. I wanted to like this one more than I did, it is a like for me because I enjoyed the setting and the themes but the execution didn't quite land for me. I think this is due to the range of ideas that Sellet presented in the book and since Lillibet was not real, and was a fake social media account, the development of that character when Libby had to try to make herself into Lillibet was flat (this might have been part of the point but it wasn't all that fun to read those sections). I liked the idea of this book, being caught in your social media influence lie and perhaps the comedy aspects were a little too heavy handed, the social media life so fake that it was too silly to really believe, and this lead the book to fall short of expectations for me.

A fast-paced romantic riot.

There were times when the only image I could see was Noises Off. If anyone is unfamiliar it’s a hilarious laugh-out-loud farce with things so ridiculous it feels fantastical and yet rooted in characters who feel like they’re right in front of me.

The romantic moments felt like an oasis. These moments were a breath before the combined chaos that was a comedic merry-go-round that felt like I might fall off at any moment.

Yet it was an unforgettable ride.

I must mention again that it was a hilarious time, like a literal award-winning farce.

I hate giving bad reviews! It makes me so sad. I’m sure the author is proud of this book and I’m sure a lot of people will like it. It just really was not for me.

It was just okay. I think my main complaint is that she tried to fit too much information in, with not much background, so multiple things ended up feeling incomplete, sometimes confusing, or just overall superfluous. We don’t get much background on Libby’s jobs, career, or post-college. We don’t really understand how Mr. L fits into the picture, why he needs a green card, or why he wants to invest in Keoki’s potential restaurant when he works in plumbing design? There are so many other examples I could provide.

I can’t stand the “character” of Lillibet. Also I’m sure this was mostly on purpose, but no one would believe the act Libby and Jean put on. I was also annoyed by Hildy until perhaps the last few chapters; I thought there was too much juxtaposition between her wanting to be a mature adult who wants to be taken seriously, but acting completely immature most of the time. Not to mention constantly commenting on Jefferson’s age (when it seems he wasn’t that much older than her?) which was annoying in itself. And don’t even get me started on Mr. L.

I really wanted to like this more. It is set in Hawaii, so if that’s something that interests you, it has that. There were also a few humorous moments, and it’s a lighthearted read.

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

I have found the writing for this to be rather juvenile, and I think the author has tried too hard to make this more comedy than romance. It felt overly cheesy in so many ways, and it made it hard to read.

Thank you, St Martin's Press and NetGalley, for the advanced copy.

This book was chaos from the start. Once we got past the slow and confusing beginning, the characters were just there. The blurb had potential; unfortunately, the novel just flopped.

Hate to Fake It to You is a romcom that didn't quite hit the mark for me. I loved the setting of Oahu, but it just took too long to get into the story and then once in, I was ready for it to be over. Lillibet is living a lie as an online influencer, and one lie leads to another when it became hard to tell what was really real. There are some funny moments, but overall I think it tried too hard to be funny. I'll be happy to give Amanda Sellet another try.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the ARC. The opinions expressed are my own.

This book was a wild ride. Everyone is pretending to be someone they’re not and it gets messy very quickly. I liked the personalities of the different characters and now I want to explore the world of expensive and fancy plumbing. It also made me want to go to Hawaii and hit up all the food spots there.

Only made it to 15%. I found this so hard to follow. I couldn’t figure out which character was which, I couldn’t follow what has happening. By starting off with the “Lillibet” posts I was thrown off. I’m not sure if it’s just me or the writing style that’s making it this way. The premise seemed cute but if I’m not connecting to the story or characters by a few chapters in the I have to DNF.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing the ARC.

I wanted to like this book more than I did. There were a lot of pacing issues initially and it took me so long to get into the story that I had almost considered not finishing the book. There was also a cast of colorful characters that were beyond ostentatious and they kept distracting me from the plot of the book. Which leads me to my third point - if there is one trope I absolutely hate, it is a miscommunication trope. And this one had one so stupidly simple that it was almost painful to read about these characters disagreement.

Overall, this book needs a lot of work and I wish it had been better than it was because I really liked the premise.

Hate to Fake It to You had such great promise but it just felt like it didn’t deliver on it. It felt like it started out much too slowly to really get the reader invested, and then had a hard time conveying the chemistry between the couple. The plot should have been ripe for hijinks and drama, but it all just didn’t quite hit. The mishaps felt more cringe than humorous, and I just couldn’t find myself getting behind the main couple. Unfortunately, this reader just couldn’t get invested and didn’t love the book. It was too slow to really get my attention and I found myself skimming over parts just to get to the good part, which ended up not feeling satisfying. Wish I could say I loved it :(

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I almost did not finish this book after reading the first few chapters but am happy that I stuck it out. It’s not because the first few chapters are bad per se, more so that Libby’s chapters at the start are quite boring. I mostly skipped the intro/”Instagram” portion of all the chapters as, while I understood the goal of the posts, it got highly repetitive for a large portion of the novel. I really enjoyed the banter and the dialogue in this book which had funny one liners that had me laughing out loud, and some of the awkward situations had me smiling as well (I knew the Irish housekeeper bit would probably be a bit cringe-inducing to most, but I did laugh at it). However, I didn’t like any of the characters as neither the friendships nor the romance was very fleshed out. I didn’t feel a connection to the main characters, and I didn’t believe in their connection with each other which is what made this book falter for me. Otherwise, it was pretty easy and quick read.

This was cute, but I really did not like the central conflict of this book, or the main characters. When miscommunication or withholding of information was the main conflict through the entire book, that just isn’t going to be for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Publishing for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Hate to Fake it You really lives up to it’s title. I struggled reading this one. It felt fast faced, over the top, and too much going on in one story for my liking. I do appreciate the author’s heart behind writing this novel and the backdrop being her home of Hawaii. That resonated with me when you create something in homage to your hometown growing up. I wish there were more scenes that brought the reader to Hawaii or on it’s sandy beaches. That would have made it the perfect beach read! Instead we only got a handful of beach scenes and a whole lot of unnecessary drama. I really struggled connecting to any of the characters and had a hard time justifying the friendship between Libby and Jean. Jean justifies lying and betrayal for profit, but then points the blame to Libby when the act falls apart, but then comes back to be her friend again? Eh, not the best relationship to put out there when so many people struggle to make and keep friends.

DNF at 28%

Generally speaking I don't DNF and when I do I try to get to 50% but Hate to Fake It to You by Amanda Sellet is simply too far fetched for me to enjoy. The premise is unique and I like the play on making fun of influencers, but within a minute of Hildy and Jackson arriving to the mansion the ridiculousness with this cast of characters went entirely too out of sorts to ever bring back. From Jean's ridiculousness of trying to be Irish to Rudy's obsessions with bathrooms, to not knowing how Keoki fit into the equation, the entirely unrealistic nature of it all became too zany. I realize this is supposed to be a romantic comedy, and for some people they'll find this level of ridiculousness funny and endearing, but I have a strong dislike of dumb humor and Hate to Fake It to You is choked full of dumb humor.

Thank you SMP Romance for the gifted ARC.

This is a good first attempt at an adult novel. The story is told mainly in the first person from the perspective of main character. The plot is a little spongy but will still fulfill the main pieces of the story. Overall it is a romance story that ends well.