I received this book for free for an honest review from netgalley. Thank you for the opportunity

Perfect romance for Valentine's Day

The Wrong McElroy is the most recent book from author K.L Hughes. I was excited for this book for its LGBTQIA+ themes but unfortunately it just ended up being incredibly problematic, earning itself my first ever 1* review.

My biggest issue with the plot was that Lizzie’s mum outs her to the rest of the family and then her brat of a sibling made the entire thing about them. This is a major trigger warning for any LBGTQIA+ readers as the blatant homophobia within the McElroy family was disgusting, as was their racism. There is asexual and aromantic representation which was nice to see. I did initially wish that this had been explored in more depth but given the homophobia seen in the rest of the book I ended up glad that it was not.

This should have been a very quick read but it really dragged unfortunately. The McElroy was a very large family and it very quickly became hard and incredibly tedious to keep track of them all.

It was also incredibly hard to root for Fiona and Lizzie’s relationship. They didn’t seem to have any chemistry and I also found it completely baffling that Lizzie would openly flirt with the woman she thinks is her brother’s girlfriend. And don’t get me started on their choice to have sex whilst the entire family waited for them downstairs. It was clear that spice was included for the sake of things as it didn’t help to progress the plot at all, it just made it all feel very uncomfortable.

Overall I was incredibly disappointed by The Wrong McElroy and wish I’d DNF’d it when I wanted to at the beginning.

Rating:⭐️/5
Spice Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️/ 5 (Open Door)

*I received a copy of this book in eBook format via NetGalley in return for this review. All reviews published are completely honest and my own, and are in no way influenced by the gifting opportunity. Thank you to NetGalley, K.L Hughes and YLVA Publishing.

I loved this one. I received a digital ARC after requesting it because the plot reminded me of one of my favorite books, Kiss Her Once for Me. I ended up devouring this one. I loved Michael as a character and understood why his friendship would motivate Fiona to pretend to date him. However, I was reading for Fiona and Lizzie and their story did not disappoint!

Well written book, I'm just not a fan of insta-love. And the placement of the sex scene in the story made me weirdly uncomfortable.

1.25/5 stars! For a story with an Asian lead and LGBTQ+ themes, there was so much wrong with this book. It felt like it reinforced stereotypes and stigmas, rather than tried to break them. I found myself frustrated several times throughout the story and had a hard time finishing it. Don't think I will be following any further books by this author.

would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this book

when your best friend asks for a favour your only answer is going to be yes to whatever they need.....

a pretend girlfriend... just for the christmas get together with family.... what on earth could go wrong....lots

it wasnt hard for fiona and michael to pretend to be a couple. after all they had been friends for ages and knew each other really well... could they pull this off and get away with it

this was a fun romp of a read with some serious issues included.... but i loved how i fell into all the characters and the christmas theme was lovely

will be keeping an eye out for more of this authors work

A short and sweet festive read, Humorous at times but also quite lovely. I found it slightly boring but as it was so short it was easy to power through

I always love a good holiday fake dating story even if the fake dating is with a sibling.

Fiona is Michael's BFF and when he asks her to post as his fake girlfriend during his Christmas visit home. she agrees. Turns out Michaels family is huge with 7 siblings but she manages to memorize all their names.

the sibling rivalry was quite fun during the games and challenges and the friendship of Michael and Fiona is very obvious. What was less obvious to me was the flirting Lizzie was doing with Fiona. You only get Fiona's POV so you have to guess how Lizzie is feeling and what she is thinking but it felt off at times when it was unclear if she knew Fiona was a fake girlfriend or not. There was not a lot of dialogue for me between Lizzie and Fiona to really feel the romance. The instant attraction sure I could get behind that.

Trigger warnings for racism and homophobia.

An ARC was provided to me via Netgally in return of an honest review.

The Wrong McElroy has small amounts of romance, but large amounts of comedy. And when that romance sneaks in there it does so with plenty of spice. As Fiona Ng, a lesbian, agrees to go home for Christmas with her best friend, Michael McElroy, to his small hometown in Arkansas and pretend to be his girlfriend, we know from the start it probably won't go as smoothly as they hope. KL Hughes does a great job of painting the picture of this seemingly stereotypical, but loveable, smalltown family. While trying to keep up their front as a couple, Hughes kept me laughing and hoping until the end Fiona would be leaving with the right McElroy.

Fiona has agreed to be Michael's fake girlfriend for the Christmas break. He is tired of having his family ask why he doesn't have one and he thinks this is what will quiet them. All is going well until Fiona meets Michael's sister, Lizzie. Lizzie sees right through the charade and is interested in getting to know Fiona even better.
Sparks fly between the 2 women and sparks fly when everyone finds out the truth.
I would recommend.
I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book was cosy and festive. It had fun and fleshed out characters. The romance was easy to become invested in, although the story felt a little slow at times. The story also contained one of my least favourite tropes, which I won't name so as to not give away any spoilers. However it was overall a fun read

With perfectly crafted plot and interesting characters, I finished this book in a day.

The book starts off with Fiona, who has agreed to be Michael's fake girlfriend.

I must add that the naturalness of Fiona and Michael's friendship is so sweet, And them trying to u nderstand each other through the book is heartwarming.

Later on Fiona meets the family (And Otis) and is introduced to the love interest, Lizzie.

The relationship between the two is so pure even though I mist admit, I didn't approve of the relationship (As Lizzie going for her brother gf is messed up) until we recieved an explanation.

Definitely humourous while also dealing with sensistive topics (racism, homophobia, transphobia etc)

The reader is assured to love Fiona and the story she tells as well as the many siblings she meets along the way.

Though one thing that bugs me is that even though it was explained before Jack just isn't there for the whole story.

Will totally reread this anyday of the week.

The Wrong McElroy was such a fun and wholesome read! While reading this, i just.kept thinking how badly i would love this plot as a movie. The story follow Micheal mcElroy and his lesbian best friend Fiona who decide to visit Micheals family for Christmas. However Micheal has asked Fiona to pretend to be his girlfriend for the four days so that his parents and grandmother can stop bugging him about not being in a relationship. Now what Fiona didn't expect to happen is to fall for one of 7 of the McElroy siblings. Lizzie takes Fiona by surprise by immediately flirting with her brothers so called girlfriend. The story unfolds as the two girls try to uncover their feelings for each other while dodging 13 family members in the same household. The story is a beautiful look at coming out and how waiting and hiding things can take a massive tole on someone. As well as a the love between siblings and the love between platonic friendships. I especially loved Fiona and Micheals relationship. Their love for each other was so pure and endless, how ever it was always and only purely platonic.

This book had been on my TBR for a while so when I got a chance to read it I was happy.
Well… I didn’t really enjoy it and it was mostly due to one thing.

We know this is a fake relationship and consequently falling for the sister of the fake boyfriend. But what we didn’t know is that the sister just flirts and hits on the fake girlfriend from the get go. That was just a bit yuck for me. And when a character doesn’t have any qualms about hitting in a supposed committed other characters it’s just a no-go. At some point we find out the sister always knew it was fake and knew the girlfriend is a lesbian. However, the created yuck feeling couldn’t be shaken for me.

What a wonderfully chaotic family bond. Everything is there, the racist grandma, the caring mom, the buddy dad and an extremely large bunch of different children.
That would be the McElroy’s!
Fiona and Michael are best friends and Michael finally wants some peace and quiet and not be the only one still single.
So the short, relatively immature plan - to turn best the lesbian friend into his girlfriend.
Everything is good until Lizzie (Michael's little sister) literally attacked Fiona in bed ;) …
It's funny and of course chaotic, but also hot between Fiona and Lizzie, who were made for each other from the first minute... if it weren't for this lie.
A fun read, perfect for a good laugh!

Thanks to the Author and Ylva Publishing for the Arc!

Fiona goes along with her friend Michael to his family Christmas, posing as his girlfriend. In addition to his HUGE family, she meets the charming Lizzie

The McElroy family is in general a riot, too. Very fun. Anyway.

Lizzie is a enigma, but Fiona is getting gay vibes from her. However, she's worried her friend Michael will have a cow if she actually HITS on her.

Very fun slow burn romance. Lizzie and Fiona are cute, the chemistry works really well. Plus it's really interesting to see the lone child Fiona coping with the HUGE McElroy family over the holidays.

3.5 stars.

Thank you to Ylva publishing and Netgalley for providing me with this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Bestfriend/fake dating, small town romance, falling for bestfriend sibling & holiday season tropes.

Fiona Ng’s bestfriend, Michael, needs a fake girlfriend to bring home for Christmas in Arkansas and she decides to step up for him.

How hard could it be to pretend she’s straight for one holiday trip as a favour to her best friend? That’s until she meets one of his many siblings, who happens to be just her type.

This book was very much a cozy, sapphic holiday getaway that you want to cuddle up by the fire with a hot chocolate to enjoy. Plus, the snappy dynamic between Michael and Fiona lead to some laughs. It was all very sapphic hallmark-eque which is perfect for winter.

Briefly discusses racists remarks from the family towards the main character & her experience handling this.

Well this was a very different Christmas tale. Snappy banter, cranky grandma, unique characters, snippy siblings , closeted siblings and a fake relationship that flips everyone on their head when Mike surprises his family when he brings home his best friend Fiona as his girlfriend. She might be doing him a favour but she can’t help thinking his sister is more than a little interested in her and she definitely is attracted to his sister Lizzie.

Does everyone have a secret in this crazy family Fiona wonders. This story is certainly a fast paced roller coaster ride with the McElroy clan that would keep anyone on their toes. I enjoyed it. It will get you in the mood for Christmas.

Holiday read #2 was fantastic! Just the fake dating messiness I needed in my life. Hughes hits it out of the park again with this book. I would die if they made this into a movie. Highly recommend.

Thank you to Ylva Publishing and NetGalley for providing an eARC for an honest review.

This was one of my favorite reads of 2023! Fun? Check. Fake dating? Check. Christmas? Check. Cat? Check. Witty banter? Check. Shenanigans? OMG, yes! HEA? Not ever after, but the start of something promising to come.

Fiona, a lesbian (bonus point for Asian rep - half Chinese/half Malaysian), agrees to be a fake girlfriend for her best friend, Michael, as he travels to his large family gathering for Christmas over a long 4-day weekend so he doesn't get pressured to get a girlfriend. From the onset, you feel the bond and chemistry between them as they clearly love each other, strictly platonically and there is no will they/won't they nonsense. Fiona quickly finds out Michael has a pretty big family, who are all gathered together as they do every year. And she quickly realizes that there are PLANS - every year certain activities take place and she is expected to participate. The other thing that she realizes pretty quickly is her "Lesdar" is going off like crazy around Michael's sister, Lizzie. Thus follows a funny, cute, quirky and fun storyline of the shenanigans the family gets up to during the holidays. Nice subplot of how Fiona wishes she had a family like this. Plenty of sapphic longing and sneaking around as the will they/won't they becomes a when will they?

Interesting bits:
> Diversity and rep - one of which would be a spoiler
> Grandma is a racist, which is made quite evident in the first interaction. Awkwardness from the rest of the family, including Michael. Fiona calls him out on this later and it is a good conversation on how to be a better ally. This subplot could have been more developed, but it is a short book and a bit heavy for the levity in the rest of the story.
> Very realistic coming out conversations after Lizzie is caught with Fiona. The family love shines through.
> So much buildup to the consummation of longing results in a super hot sex scene which I loved.

TL:DR: Loved the book - had me at the feels - 4.5 stars.

I received a copy of the book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.