I DNFed this around 25%. Talia Hibbert can be a bit much for me, spice-wise, but I can overlook that if I'm engaged in the story... but alas, I couldn't get into this one. It seemed way too farfetched.

📚 book review 📚 Thank you to Dreamscape audio for the review copy!

. . . . . . . series info . . . . . . . .

While this book is listed on Goodreads as Book 3 of the Midnight Heat collection, Talia Hibbert suggests that you read it first. I haven’t read the other two books, so I’m trusting the process!

. . . . . . . book review . . . . . . . .

This was an absolutely bonkers premise, which is my favorite kind of romcom, honestly. Some people worry about a realistic premise, but not me. A famous soccer player falls in love/lust at first sight and convinces his love interest to pose as his fake girlfriend for 350,000 pounds and whisks her off to a Spanish villa with his friends? Count me IN!

Should Aria have said no based on the prologue where she was in therapy because her last boyfriend stalked and kidnapped her best friend? Again, sure, but that wouldn’t be fun, and this book is all about fun.

Highly recommend if you are looking for a spicy, quick read - the Spanish villa setting gives such summery vibes it’s perfect for this time of year!

🎧 Rooke Kingston & Harvey Fuller were perfect casting for this book, and I enjoyed both of their performances!

Originally read this in 2022 when it was titled Sweet on the Greek (rated it a solid 3.5 stars). Not my favourite Talia Hibbert but it's still Talia Hibbert so I had fun. It was funny, hot and summery. Re-listening to this story via audio made me enjoy this WAY more and that was mainly due to the narration. Rooke Kingston and Harvey Fuller voiced Aria and Nik's POVs which are in third person .

Fuller was alright .I thought it was a little odd that when voicing Nik (A greek man) he would only speak in the accent when there was dialogue but with his internal monologue ,he spoke in a British accent ???? I understand the reasoning behind that (the book was written in 3rd person) but I wasn't particularly fond of that choice. Fuller was fine but Kingston is what really makes this worth the listen. She was PERFORMING.

I've listened to my fair share of straight, dual POV romance audiobooks. If you're unfamiliar, in these books the male narrator does the "woman voice" the female narrator does the "man voice" and it doesn't take me out of the story too much but there are some exceptions (I'm looking at you Aaron Shedlock in Done & Dusted) but Kingston's man voice sprinkled with that sultry accent on top made me feel things...Dude I was BLUSHING. Man-voice aside, Kingston just killed it with how she voiced side characters, she nailed the comedic bits ( she really captured that dry, witty humour Hibbert is known for) as well as the more sombre moments.

Not too much to say about the story itself other than I would LOVE a man to spend thousands of pounds on me just to have ONE shot with me .

thank you Dreamscape Audio for the ALC!!!

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the audiobook copy!

I have slowly been working my way through Talia Hibbert's books and finally, I'm starting on her backlog. The Fake Boyfriend Fiasco follows Nik and Aria who are fake dating but there is a twist. Nik wants to date Aria seriously but knows that she will reject him again. He decides to proposition her with a fake dating arrangement to get her to see his true feelings. I felt this book was just lacking especially with the characters. I liked Aria but Nik was just a bit too immature. I get he wanted to be with her but maybe go down the route of actually courting someone rather than lying. Outside of that, I think this book was enjoyable if you like smut. Just don't expect the plot to be a bit lacking.

Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the opportunity to read and review this audiobook!

Unsure of what to do in his retirement, Football legend Nik Cristou keeps his time and mind occupied by the many willing romantic partners who filter through his life. He has truly never felt rejection until he shares a passionate kiss with the tattooed goddess that is Aria Granger. Aria has every intention of dismissing the footballing himbo, but when he offers her an obscene amount of money to be his fake girlfriend she sees her dream of opening a tattoo shop inching slightly closer to reality. What Aira doesn’t know? Nik doesn’t want a fake girlfriend, he wants Aria for real, and plans to woo her however he can.

This was short, lusty, with some great banter, and a whole lot of spice! Our male love interest is sweet though a little bland, and falls first (and hard). Aria was a deeper character with a traumatic experience and a lot of trust issues when it comes to dating. What I really didn’t love was the idea that Nik was lying from the start. Aria assumes he doesn’t really want her because he could have anyone, and while she probably would have run if he was honest early on, the deception weighed on me throughout the book.

This is my second Talia Hibbert book every and I loved it! I am so excited to deep dive into all her work via audiobook because it's such a wonderful experience. Sexy, funny and highly entertaining. Everything I need!

"The Fake Boyfriend Fiasco" is exactly what it sounds like. Millionaire playboy Nik sees Aria and it is love at first sight. Aria, however, has no time or desire for romance. Nik hatches a plan to get Aria to fake date him and chaos ensues.

I am a fan of Talia Hibbert's work but this book did not resonate with me quite the way her other work has. I did enjoy that there were several positives including a diverse cast of characters and LBGTQ+ representation. Sometimes the execution felt a little clunky within the storyline though.
The narrators were able to bring this story to life in a compelling way as well.

Thank you NetGalley, Talia Hibbert, and Dreamscape Media for gifting me this ALC.

I re-read this with my ears after receiving an audio ARC and I think my impression of the book is mostly the same from when I read it a year ago. I'm happy to have read it because I really wanted to get to all of Talia Hibbert's back catalogue. I might not have re-read it if not for getting the audio ARC but the audio was pretty well done and it was still a fun and steamy read with very endearing characters, humour and just enough depth.

Original review from June 2023:

Rounding up to 4
Moving through my Talia Hibbert back catalogue. This is a notable improvement in polish compared to the other books in this series. Also I love a fake dating, forced proximity situation.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the ARC

I've read one book by Talia Hibbert earlier and knew she could write spice, but damn, this was spicy. I love how Talia writes her characters and the chemistry between them. This is totally he falls first and he falls hard. Our fmc has emotional scars and is scared to get involved with someone. The way our mmc treats her and constantly cares for her are so adorable. He does everything he can to ensure her safety and comfort and I loved it. Their relationship evolves from fake to real in a such a beautiful way. It was a lovely romance and I highly, highly recommend it. In addition I just love the representation in her novels! I'm all for diversity.

I absolutely loved "The Fake Boyfriend Fiasco"! The fake dating trope is one of my favorites and Talia Hibbert did a great job executing it. I was hooked on this story from beginning to end, and I will definitely read more of her work.

Regarding the audiobook, the narration seemed painfully slow. I sped it up to 2x speed at first, but it was still on the slower side so I listened to the rest of the book at 3x speed. It was also rough for me to understand some things due to the English accent, but overall I thought the narrator did a great job.

I loved that there were two narrators for Aria and Nik's dual POV, this definitely brought the characters to life and made it easier for me to visualize the story as I listened. I suffer from ADHD and have a difficult time paying attention when listening to audiobooks unless they're super engaging, but this audiobook kept me very engaged in the story from beginning to end.

Overall, I think this was a great audiobook and it did a good job of bringing this story and the characters to life!

Thank you to Netgalley & Dreamscape media for this audiobook! I’m a big fan of Talia Hibbert and loved going back to listen to her previous work.

This was a short, sweet, and sexy audiobook that was a great little pick me up. I loved how strong Ari was after going through what she did. Nik was an interesting character who I felt was harder to connect with given his job as a soccer player but was genuinely a kind man.

Unfortunately for me, the narrator of Nik wasn’t the best. I was confused if he was meant to be British or Greek. It went in and out. I loved Ari’s narration and character as a whole with her dry humor and black female empowerment.

Overall it was a fun time to listen to this one! You get to come along with Ari as she fake girlfriends her way through a week long house party with a hot soccer player. Full of tension, smart one liners, and plenty of spice!!!

*Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the audiobook ARC in exchange for an honest review.*

Unfortunately, this one didn't do it for me. If you enjoy rabid insta-lust from the MMC, mentions of traumatic pasts which are glossed over and never addressed, and an extremely fast blink-and-you'll-miss-it story, then this one might be for you!
As a lover of Hibbert's Brown Sisters trilogy, this didn't meet my expectations. I do know it was written before those, but still, I was disappointed.
I appreciated the different representation portrayed in both MCs, but there wasn't exactly anything groundbreaking.
And honestly, the reason this is getting the full two stars is all down to the audio. I thought the female narrator was really good; though sometimes sounded older than I thought Aria was supposed to be which occasionally took me out of the story. The male narrator was fantastic, swapping between accents effortlessly and making Nik sound incredibly sexy. They both did a great job, and if you want to try this story out, I highly recommend the audio as the way to do it.

This struck me as super cute! The ending was adorable, his himbo energy was adorable, her fiercely loving self was super relatable to me, and the sexy scenes had me dang near sweating lol

I just could not get into this audiobook. The plot didn't really grab me and I found that I was quite bored with the characters and the "dilemma" of the MMC needing a "date".
Maybe fake dating tropes just aren't my thing??
DNF at 17%

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with this audiobook in exchange for my honest opinion.

Aria is the perfect protagonist. I adored her fierce nature and her confidence. Her chemistry with Nick was there right from the beginning and made me fly through the story. This is definitely a must-read if you enjoy a good romance with two likeable main characters, and should be on your summer TBR.

He falls first? Fake dating? Just the right amount of heat? Curvy girl rep? Sign me UP. This didn't feel like a Talia Hibbert read but I still had a ton of fun with it.

A HOT NEW BOMBSHELL ENTERS THE VILLA, AND TICKS ALL MY BOXES ;)

-HE FALLS FIRST
-LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT (nice way of saying insta love)
-BI REP
- NEURODIVERGENT MMC
-FAKE DATING (DUH)
-CURVY & CONFIDENT FMC
-SPANISH VILLA HOLIDAY
-MILLIONAIRE FOOTBALLER MMC
-TOO MANY "AGAPE MOU"S TO COUNT
-UNFILTERED & UNINHIBITED SPICY SCENES

Not my favorite story, but per usual Talia knocks my socks off!!

thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the audiobook galley in exchange for an honest review

(3.5 stars)

Typically when I review an audioboook I create a static graphic. But this one had me itching to record a video about it. I also am USUALLY not the biggest fan of the "insta love" trope. Howver, when Talia Hibbert writes it I am apparently a fan. This book was sweet and spicy all at the same time. Being able to hear both perspectives was such an amazing touch because you truly get to see how much they love each other. I can't wait to read more by Talia and what she does in the future. I hope I get to read future arc by her and her team. A beautiful love story done amazingly.

This book is all spice and not much else.
This is a fake dating plot on holiday.

There was a third act breakfast which seemed completely unnecessary to me and the fmc was annoying at times too.

Thank you Dreamscape Media for the advance listening copy!

This being my first alc, and it being a “spicy”/ “steamy” book did have me looking over my shoulder to see if any heard the sounds leaking from my headphones!

This was a solid romance, and a fun read (listen?)! This being the third Talia Hibbert book I’ve read I can definitely say I’m a fan of her writing!

There were definitely some parts of the story that I did find myself cringing at, but I just chocked it up to me not understanding British humor.

I wish this did delve more into the fake relationship aspect because once the horniness took off there was no looking back until close to the end of the book with the revelations, and confessions.