Sophie Rogers is just trying to keep her eye on the important things, daughter, job and family. Sophie realizes quickly after her daughter starts school that she needs to start socializing with the other parents if she wants her daughter to have a better time at school. She's already behind since the other parents are already friends. When she tries to make conversation with the other mom's they're standoffish and she's scrambling to try and figure out how to break into the friend group. Enter Joe, the hot single dad that all the other moms drool over. Joe doesn't love this treatment so he and Sophie decide to team up, a fake dating relationship. Joe gets the moms to back off a little and Sophie gets an "in" to the friend group.

When does fake dating ever not end in love? If it does, then I don't want to read it. Sophia and Joe really go through it though on the way there. I don't think I agree with Enemies to Lovers listed in the tropes but she doesn't like him when they first meet, she thinks he's full of himself, and uses his looks and status with the other moms to get a leg up. I really enjoyed this book and definitely recommend it to the lovers of Fake Dating. I also listened to the audiobook and Olivia Mace did an amazing job narrating.

Thank you to NetGalley, HQ Digital, and Hannah Doyle for the opportunity to read and review this book.

This is the first book I have read from this author, and I really enjoyed her writing style. The main characters were likable, and the side characters added to the fullness of the story. There were a couple of moments that made me laugh out loud. I found myself invested in their relationship and outcome.

I read this book in one day! It had me completely hooked and rooting for the couple. I liked how it included the kids and families throughout the book and set very realistic and adorable scenarios. The banter was cute and the ending had me smiling. Absolutely would recommend. Hannah Doyle may very well become an auto-buy author for me.

This book had me completely hooked. The "fake dating" storyline is an absolute favorite of mine. I enjoyed that the two main characters, Sophie and Joe, were single parents, one looking to escape from the mom's attention and the other wanting the mom's attention. I admired Sophie's unwavering devotion as a mother and her willingness to go above and beyond for her child's happiness. Joe was lovely and caring; I was in awe of him. The banter and tension between them was just a chef's kiss! I couldn't get enough of them. Not only were they amazing, but the side characters brought me laughter, and I enjoyed them so much, too.
I look forward to reading more books by Hannah Doyle.

Love Always, Catherine

Thank you, HQ and Hannah Doyle, for gifting me this book.

This was a very cute story where I would laugh out loud at times. Sophie is a single mom who wants to get in with her daughter’s parents at school. She decides to fake date another parent Joe and along the way they start to develop feelings for each other and make a mess of it as well.

If you're on the hunt for a cute, fake dating escapade with a side of chemistry, then buckle up for "The Pick Up" by Hannah Doyle. Sophie and Joe, two single parents, cross paths at their kids' school and cook up a wild scheme to fake date and fend off unwanted attention. Sophie needs Joe to ward off her sister's matchmaking efforts and score some cool mom points, while Joe's just tired of being the school hunk and wants some peace. It's a foolproof plan, right? Well, not quite... because what they didn't see coming was falling head over heels for each other in the process.

The best part of the book? The banter! Not just between Joe and Sophie, but the side characters, especially those chatty moms. Sophie's indecisiveness and the never-ending miscommunication may have dragged on a tad too long for my liking. Despite that, "The Pick Up" is still a rom-com that will keep you entertained!

Thank you Hannah Doyle, HQ and NetGalley for the ebook ARC. All opinions expressed are my own.

The Pick Up is a wonderful, laugh-out-loud rom-com and features a fake romance trope.

This was a very easy book to read and the more i read the more i wanted to carry on so that i could find out what happened. Before i knew it i had devoured it all and was at the end of the book, feeling quite bereft now that it was all over…

Jake and Sophie were two wonderful characters, really down-to-earth and i absolutely loved the banter between the pair of them.

I absolutely loved this wonderful rom-com, it was funny, sweet, super-cute and heartwarming and i loved everything about it…

I absolutely love fake dating romances and this one does it very well I will continue to read Hannah Doyle‘s works.
Fake dating tropes are either really hit or miss and they did it very well

please note that the trigger warnings and topes/themes may contain spoilers
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
HEA: yes
POV: single 1st person POV
spice: slight insinuations of a closed-door relationship
TWs: mentions of abortion, absent parent, cheating, death of a spouse (recounted), divorce
standalone: yes
final thoughts: this clean romance was so good. Lots of banter, cute kids, and eclectic side characters. These single parents are both in need of a cover that fake dating will help solve and as long as no feelings get involved, they’ll be all set! But when their strangers-to-friends-to-lovers story is so believable that they are invited on weekend getaways with the other parents, they are forced together and forced to look at their very real feelings.
Part of me wishes we got the POV of Joe so we could see him falling in love but I love the POV we got to fully understand Sophie's thoughts and feelings.

read this book if you love
😬 angst
💌 clean romance
💏 fake dating
🏝️ forced proximity
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 found family
👦 he falls first and hard
🤫 hidden secrets
🛏️ “it’s just a fling”
💞 mutual pining
🚙 road trip
👩‍👦 single parent
💓 slowburn

I couldn't put this book down and it was exactly what I needed to get me out of a reading slump. This was a funny fake-dating single mum/dad romance and a quick and easy summer read. It was also really refreshing to read a romance about parents with kids. Highly recommend!

4.5 stars ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

This was a simple, fun, easy and quick read. The perfect type of book for your holiday, beach, pool kind of read. This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and I would read more of their work. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you very much to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

3.5/5.

A fake dating heartwarming story about two single parents.

Joe and Sophie have an amazing chemistry and wippy banter.

Joe the supportive, attentive listener.

Sophie mom to 5-year-old Lila is worried she and her daughter do not fit in.

Joe is sick of all the moms hovering over him.

Simple pact the help each other out ...

A easy laugh out load romcom.

This book was really enjoyable. Reading about a more mature couple who already have kids leant some weightiness to the story (in a great way), but it still maintained a sense of fun. I think this book would make a great movie - I could picture the group of mean girl moms, the local pub, and the weekend getaway. Highly recommend!

Thank you to HarperCollins UK - HQ Digital and Hannah Doyle for allowing me to review The Pick Up.

The Pick Up shows Fake Dating isn't just for the singletons and broken-hearted protagonists of fiction – even single mums and dads might need a bit of fake dating armour. Hannah Doyle's writing style is simple, engaging, and charmingly cute. She has written a fun, slow-burn, feel-good read full of cosy, heartwarming vibes and a good sense of humour. The plot is a nice twist: a fake dating story with some clever Bad Mom movie vibes, especially with the hot single dad all the mums have crushes on and being their eye candy.

The characters are likable and well-developed. I loved the dynamic between Sophie and Joe – they were opposites of personalities. Joe is warm and kind and a massive cinnamon roll type. Sophie was more controlled, closed off, and focused on keeping life together than going with the flow. The chemistry and banter between them were cute and funny. I love the portrayal of their kids most – the relationship between Sophie and her daughter made my heart melt. She is the best type of mum.

Part of me wonders if books should come with warnings about 3 Act break ups and miscommunication. Massive trope ick for me – I hold my hands up and will say it cost the review a star from me – it was a little cliché in the handling and, to be honest, could have been avoided to get the same outcome for the story plot and character development for Sophie and Joe.

The Pick Up is a cute, light-hearted read full of feel-good rom-com vibes without any dash of spice, just extra sprinklings of sweetness and warm, witty, and fun banter.

I really enjoyed this book and found I read if very quickly. It is a really fun, slow burn, fr)enemies to. lovers book! The one thing I really loved about this book was that the focus was on more characters than just Sophie and Joe. I did really love Sophie though, she is such a strong characer and you can tell Joe is a great match for her. I definitely recommend this easy, fun read.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

FAKE DATING!!!! I don't normally love single parents romances, but this was really good & absolutely laugh out loud funny. (Sophie's internal monologue had me cracking tf up!!) Joe was a top tier book bf! The other Class Moms brought a lot of humor. The tension, the banter, and the chemistry between the two main characters was amazing! I did love Sophie’s relationship with her daughter. The miscommunication in this book was actually done so well because the characters get called out for it- you have no choice but to laughhh!!!!

This is closed door romance, so no spice, but the tension is still hot.

3.5/4 stars

So sweet and adorable I enjoyed this one! I loved the characters so much and didn’t want this story to end
Thank you for providing me with the arc

This story is about Sophie who wants to give her daughter the best life and Joe who wants the ladies off his back. This is a single-parent romance novel that takes place in the UK. This book started off well in the beginning but then the story kind of began to dragged. The storyline was bad but there wasn’t much going on. I liked the UK style writing and traveling around the country with the characters. This story is told from Sophie’s pov.

Sophie is a single mom trying to figure out how to go about on her life. She wasn’t a bad character but I just couldn’t feel connected with her the way the pov was written. She’s strong and brave which I loved about her. Joe is the main side character and he was honestly bland. I didn’t know if he was in love with Sophie or not. There are other side characters but I didn’t really like them except Sophie’s sister who’s a sweetheart. The romance is fake dating, single parent, and friends to lovers. The romance could’ve been better but it just took so long to develop.

The ending was okay but I kind of stopped caring for the characters after they FINALLY got together. I was just hoping the would have more screen time together as a couple. This book wasn’t bad but also not so good.

*this e-arc was sent to me by the publisher to give an honest review in return*

Agh this book was so cute! Single parents Sophie and Joe decide to fake date to make life easier for them. Or so they think!

Sophie has a daughter Lila and she is raising her on her own after going through a divorce. Sadly, Joe's wife passed away several years ago and he is raising his son Sid alone. The meddling from Sophie's sister is so bad, the worst being that she signed Sophie up for a dating company and made her a profile without having permission!

Poor Joe is coined as 'hot dad' by the mom club and no one would mind him participating in everything going on. As Sophie and him find their arrangement being helpful, Sophie starts finding herself having real feelings for Joe. That wasn't the deal or what was supposed to happen. She can't help it though. That adds quite a complicated layer to this funny romcom.

I do wish this book was more of a dual POV and the ending was a tad rushed. I would have loved an epilogue to make the end of Sophie and Joe's story more complete. Overall this was definitely a cute romcom for a closed door romance and I laughed out loud several times for sure.

Thank you @Netgalley for my copy to read in exchange for my honest review!

I could have sworn I had already posted my review for this book, but I guess not.

Maybe I just thought I did.

Whatever the reason is, it's a good thing and let me tell you why.

The first time I tried reading this book, I couldn't do it.

It's not that the book was bad, I just could not get into any book. The beginning of May was horrible in terms of reading.

Every book I picked up, whether it was an ARC or a published one, was boring to me.

For the life of me I simply could not enjoy any book. I told myself I would go back and reread those ARC's because I'm a very easy reader to please.

I basically hand out 4 and 5 stars like they're candy.

The second time I read this book though?????? Completely different experience!

The slump is over and gone, and I can once again enjoy the books I pick up!

My second read for this book was everything I wanted the first one to be. I really enjoyed this book and I'm so happy I didn't give up on it.

If you were like me, consider giving the book another chance. Maybe the second time will be the charm.