A surprise fake engagement leads to a heartwarming, toe-curling, enchanting romance.

The romance between Dane and Amanda wasn’t like getting struck by lightning. Instead, it was more like a warm, cozy blanket that wrapped you up and you just wanted to stay there forever. Their friendship developed first and that quietly spilled over into falling in love. You could see it happening on the pages.

I loved how Dane put himself out there when he agreed to go along with Amanda’s deception. He supported her, no questions asked, and Amanda did the same for Dane. They may have had a fake engagement, but every interaction between them was honest and real.

The feud was something else. The way these families nursed their mutual hostility for a slight that no one remembered. I enjoyed Dane and Amanda’s attempts to get to the bottom of this hatred and how fed up the latest generation was with all this nonsense.

This was an amusing and lovely story, told from both Dane and Amanda’s viewpoints, and I can highly recommend it to anyone who loves a steamy romance that starts off with a pretend relationship.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with a copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

🎧📚Audio and eBook Review📚🎧

PIPPA GRANT STRIKES AGAIN! I don’t know what I was thinking back in the day when I said I didn’t like her brand of humor becauseshe is glorious!

I loved this story when I read it waaaaaaaay back in the summer (like July) and could not wait for it to release so I could get my hands on the audiobook because … Connor Crais & CJ Bloom!! *heart eyes* and they did not disappoint! But I didn’t have to wait because Hambright PR came to the rescue with an ALC! YAY :)

You can’t not fall in love with a story based in a Christmas town taking place in the middle of the summer! High-jinks and shenanigans abound! Throw in a family feud dating back decades and a fake romance/marriage that is the key to uniting the families and I mean what could possibly go wrong?

Bwaaahahahahahahaha

This story is just as outrageous as you would think, and it is perfection! The romance journey was just so easy that you just can’t help but fall into the story. Any conflict in the storyline was never between our main characters and I appreciated that so much! I mean there wasn’t even a third-act conflict … technically! LOL And the epilogue in Chili’s POV was sooooo much fun!

The Fake Wedding Project is a Christmas themed story set in Tinsel, Michigan and featuring two feuding families think Montagues and Capulets but instead of Verona.They're in small town America. Where Christmas is 24/7 365 days a year.

Only Amanda and Dane are no Romeo and Juliet and have no clue as to why their families are feuding, and to be honest neither do the families. As its been going on that long.

So in a bid to unite them and end the feud. Amanda hatches a plan to fake an engagement to Dane, and Dane; who has had a crush on Amanda since high school agrees in the hope that the happy news will finally bring their families together.

Only Dane and Amanda aren't even dating each other and now the families are not only expecting a wedding but planning one too.

A wedding that the whole of Tinsel is invited too. And as the pair try to work out how to contain their lie and bring their families together. The sparks fly and soon they realise they're meant to be together.

And with just the right amount of Christmas spirit and spice. This is an enjoyable, cosy and light hearted romance. That I'd happily recommend to others.

Not Faking It
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (4/5)  
Spice: 🌶️🌶️ (2/5) 
Audio Rating: 🎙️🎙️🎙️🎙️🎙️(5/5)
~
“I’m not supposed to fall for my fake fiancée. This isn’t part of the plan. But she makes it impossible to not like her. To not want her.”
~
Tropes:
Enemies to Lovers
Fake Engagement
Small Town Romance
Slow Burn
~
Vibes:
Adorably sweet with a dash of spice. This fake engagement enemies to lovers romance gives all the cute holiday vibes (it’s Christmas year round in Tinsel, Michigan). And you get a super fun mystery element all while falling hard for our MCs. You’re going to laugh at their antics, tear up at the pain of family drama, and shout for joy at this HEA.

Amanda Anderson was the popular theater chick in high school - but acting as a career lost its luster fast. Instead - she happily lives her life as a free spirit dog walker until family ties drag her back home to begrudgingly inherit the family’s Gingerbread bakery. But spontaneity and a willing accomplish have her dreams back on the right course - as long as they can pull it off. If she happens to fall in love in the process - who could blame her?

Dane Silver quietly lined after Amanda - despite her being a part of the enemy “Ginger-dead” family. Her joy for life and flare for the dramatic always intrigued and amused him. When her reckless words tie them together in a fake engagement - he makes the most of the opportunity. Together they can finally solve the mysterious origin story behind the generations long grudge. Will ending the feud also mean ending his chances with the girl of his dreams?
~
Recommended to...  
All the romcom readers who thrive on demolishing a ridiculous family feud.

Amanda and Dane grew up in the small town of Tinsel, which is a town where Christmas lights are up all year round. Their families have been feuding for decades, but no one knows the true origin of the fighting. Amanda makes up a lie that she is engaged to Dane as a way to out of her family obligation to her grandmother. Dane agrees to help her out because he is tired of the feud with their families too.

As Dane and Amanda plan their fake wedding, they both realize that they get along and have fun together. Some of their family members start to come around too. I liked the mystery of the origin of the feud, and I think that it was handled well.

There were so many fun parts of the story. It really brought the laughs and the romance to create an entertaining romcom.

The small town feel allowed for so many interesting characters that created a real feel for the town of Tinsel. Amanda's family has a Gingerbread bakery and Dane's family makes fruit cakes. I could picture the town so clearly as I was reading.

The Fake Wedding Project is a fun story with all the cozy Hallmark Christmas in July vibes. Set in a Christmas town called Tinsel, you get a star-crossed friends-to-lovers fake dating situation, feuding families, the perfect book boyfriend, and a heartwarming romance.

Amanda and Dane’s families have been feuding for generations, but no one can really explain why. After Amanda tells her family she and Dane are getting married, Dane decides to play along. Their fake engagement turns into a plan to unite their families.

This is such a fun story! Amanda and Dane have amazing chemistry. I loved the development of their relationship and the shenanigans that ensued. What starts as fake becomes a very real, feel-good romance. The Fake Wedding Project is classic Pippa Grant. It is an easy, fast-paced, steamy read with a great mix of romance, swoony moments, memorable characters, and scenes that make you laugh out loud.

Pippa Grant knocked it out of the park again!
This was such a fun book, as usual.
Grant writes characters you are excited to spend time with, even the animals are well fleshed out!
Chili's bonus chapter was the absolute cutest!
Read this if you like fake dating, slow burns, secret crushes, Hatfield–McCoy vibes, giggling, baked goods and Christmas bits.
I was switching between the ebook and the audio and book so delightful I would not recommend one over the other.
Much love to NetGalley & Montlake for my ARC.

The Fake Wedding Project is classic Pippa Grant in the best way! I have always loved picking up her books as much for the humor and interesting characters as for the romance. She weaves them together in a unique way that makes her stories so much fun to read.

This fake engagement/feuding families story is set in the Christmasy town of Tinsel. Amanda is desperate to find a way out of taking over the family business and blurts out she's engaged to Dane. He's the son of the family her family hates, but despite that they start to get along quite well. It was fun and funny watching the two of them navigating their fake relationship becoming real while dealing with their families and careers at the same time.

This was a great read and I hope we get more from the town of Tinsel!

Dane and Amanda's families .. h a t e .. each other and they are not happy when they hear that they are engaged. But it's a fake engagement and Dane and Amanda tackle the family drama head on.

What I absolutely loved about this book is how they both refused to get sucked into petty fights between their elders, and were each other's constant support and cheerleaders. And it was so heartwarming to see them fall in love with each other in the process of planning their fake wedding.

I think this is a perfect Christmas themed read, very light hearted, quirky and hilarious. I listened to the ALC, which was very well done by C J Bloom and Connor Crais. Thanks to @hambright_pr for the ARC and ALC.

#romancebooks #mysterybooks #thrillerbooks #fantasybooks #scifibooks #historicalfictionbooks #youngadultbooks #adultbooks #contemporarybooks

Talk about a summer treat with a Christmas twist!
This book was a delightful rom-com that flips the holiday vibe on its head.
When Dane suddenly finds himself pretending to be engaged to his high school crush, Amanda, in their small town, it’s like a Hallmark movie come to life—if Hallmark movies had a dash of spice!

The story zips along at a fun pace, blending humor and chemistry as they navigate their families' drama. I loved how Dane and Amanda discover their real feelings while juggling fake wedding plans, solving a family mystery, and ending a multiple generation family feud!

Plus, the narration by Connor Crais and CJ Bloom really brings the characters to life, making the reading experience even more enjoyable.

There’s no messy breakup to worry about, which is refreshing, and it keeps the focus on their growing bond.

If you're looking for a cute, feel-good read that’ll warm your heart (and maybe make you dream of holiday cheer in July), this one's for you! Perfect for fans of lighthearted romances with a sprinkle of holiday magic.

Audiobook and Book Review

🩵 Lazy dog
🩷 Rival families
🩵 Christmas town
🩷 Fake engagement
🩵 Best friend’s brother
🩷 Family secrets
🩵 THE BONUS EPILOGUE 🤣🤣

Story: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Spice: 🌶️
Narration: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

What a fun story! If you’re a fan of Hallmark Christmas movies, a mystery baked in fruitcake and gingerbread, a fake engagement to bring families together, and a love between two unlikely people who make the perfect couple!? Then this is the book for you! Plus the narrators were cast PERFECTLY! CJ Bloom and Connor Crais are THE BEST! More perfect people could not have been picked to do this book more justice!

The town of Tinsel, Michigan is a year round Christmas town. The rival families, the Andersons and the Silvers have been at odds for generations, but no one alive now knows the real reason why. Things start to come to light when Amanda Anderson may or may not have blurted out that she was engaged to Dane Silver because she doesn’t want to take over The Gingerbread House from her grandmother. But Dane sees this as an opportunity to bring the families together and to end the feud once and for all. So how can faking an engagement between two rival families go wrong? Perhaps if real feelings start to get involved…

I had an absolute BALL listening to this story! I’ve known of Pippa Grant for a long time, but why I haven’t read or listened to her books until now is almost as great a mystery as the feud in Tinsel. I was giggling and laughing from beginning to end. The camaraderie, fun, playfulness, and tension between Dane and Amanda was fantastic. Their chemistry leapt off the page and I wanted so much more of it!

When I saw the trope list and then Connor Crais and CJ Bloom as the narrators, I FLEW to fill out the form for this ALC. My gosh, they are two of the best in the business, and a lighthearted, fun story like this is their absolute JAM. They crushed every part of this performance. I laughed, giggled, swooned, cackled, and felt every other feeling this book evoked. Crais is my all time favorite narrator (yes sir, you have now bumped SebYo from the pedestal I had him on, it’s rightfully yours now 🤣). Bloom is SO FREAKING SKILLED, I love every narration she’s done, especially this one!

A huge thank you to Pippa Grant, Hambright PR, and NetGalley for sending me the ARC/ALC to listen and review this book. I am now in love with a new to me author. When a book has me smiling the entire time? I will be recommending this book to everyone who will listen to me!

🎅🏽”I panic engaged us.”
🎄”Amanda has her own magic.”
🎅🏽”I want to lick every inch her of her body, taste her skin, memorize the shape of her body, play with her p***y. Show her I can make her feel good. That I’m more than a nice guy playing her fake fiancé.”
🎄”The engagement is fake. My attraction to the man is not.”
🎅🏽”The woman of my dreams is standing at my doorstep and I just poked her in the shoulder.”
🎄”No more faking anything, ever again.”

This was such a cute story about two feuding families that at this point have no real idea on why they actually hate each other. Dane and Amanda find themselves creating a plan to try to fix their familes long standing hate for each other, for the town and their own sanities. But in that process they actually fall hard for each other.

If you're looking for a book to get you into the Christmas spirit this book is for you. I loved the detailed world development in this one. The supporting characters were amazing, the strong willed grandmoms were charming in the end, and the mystery of why was also an interesting twist. I would definitely like to see more Tinsel in my future.

Finally I just absolutely adored the epilogue by Chilly that was such a nice touch to this story. He definitely stole the show.

#BestFriendsBrother #FakeRelationship #ForcedProximity #OppositesAttract #RomanticComedy #SmallTown #ARC
This standalone is written in first person with an alternating dual POV and ends with a HEA. The setting is the fictional town of Tinsel, Michigan, where it is Christmas all year round. Dane returns to town from the west coast for his grandparents wedding anniversary, while Amanda returns the same week from NYC for her grandmother’s 50th work anniversary and retirement announcement. Their families have been feuding for generations when Amanda panics and announces to her grandmother that she is engaged to Dane. The book begins as she lets him know what she has done, though they haven’t spoken in almost 15 years.
Dane proves his heart from the very beginning of this book. He is a man that cares deeply and who is exhausted by the age-old senseless feud. Together he and Amanda set out to end it with their fake engagement to bring the families together. Hilarious moments ensue. Eggnog lattes, gingerbread, fruitcake, ugly Christmas sweaters and snow globes are all a big part of this story despite it being ninety degrees in August in Michigan. Amanda and Dane find themselves in close quarters to sell their story and it isn’t long before another kind of heat is bringing them closer to each other in all the ways. I loved how Dane is normally reserved and thoughtful while Amanda is impulsive, independent, and fun. They balanced each other perfectly.
I adored the friendship they formed. I loved their spicy hot times. I really appreciated Chili the laziest dog ever and his reactions to his people. It is important that a couple have fun and draw closer to each other during stressful times and Amanda and Dane do so naturally.
This was a fun read with holiday merriment and a bitter feud set against hot summer days and nights. The take on the fake engagement was fresh and I loved the details woven into the story as they bring the town together. I look forward to listening to the audio. I am certain it will be amazing.

Spicy, male female, dual point of view, fake fiance, contemporary romance. Very fun setting (it's always Christmas!), premise (feuding families), and cast of characters (scene steaking dog). Great chemistry and humor. The epilogue was perfect. I definitely recommend this sweet charming book.

This was such a fun story with a Romeo and Juliet vibe. The fact that it takes place in a small Christmas-y town was the icing on a cake. I found the characters super cute. The feud between the mmc and fmc family was so entertaining. This book had me laughing out loud, I couldn’t out it down. Such a fun and festive book! The audiobook though… it was my fave. The narrators did such a good job bringing this story to life!

A cute and quirky small town holiday book featuring a silly family feud and a lingering high school crush. It had all the usual humor and heat you expect from a Pippa book.

I was expecting a holiday romance. I was delighted to instead find a romance set in a holiday-town in the heat of summer. That setup makes this story an appealing read any time of year.

This book features Amanda and Dane as they embark on a fake relationship in their hometown of Tinsel in an attempt to force an end to their families’ generations of feuding. Of course very real feelings develop in this fake relationship as they always do in romance.

In recent years, author Pippa Grant has become a bit too good at writing some very frustrating family members. The feuding grandmothers made this one hard to read at times. However, the mystery in this one kept me reading — that and, of course, the laughs and happily ever after that are guaranteed in a Pippa Grant romcom.

5 star Review The Fake Wedding Project by Pippa Grant

Ebook/Audio
This was an entertaining book that ticked all the boxes for me. This is Amanda Anderson and Dane Silvers story set in Tinsel, Michigan, a town that celebrates all year round.

I was intrigued when I read this blurb and could not wait to dive in. This book was witty, romantic, and full of characters that you cannot help but fall for.

From the first to the last chapter, I was taken on a journey that was entertaining and well written, with characters who you cannot help but become invested in.

The narration by Connor Crais and CJ Bloom was excellent and they were easy to listen to. They brought the story to life for me that Ms. Grant created.

The Fake Wedding Project by Pippa Grant was a super fun and humorous rom-com.
With these cute and relatable characters I was sucked in to this sweet story.
I love the characters in this novel. They are endearing and vibrant.
I enjoyed every minute of this book.

Thank You NetGalley and Montlake for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

Loved this!
Oh my! The Fake Wedding Project was such a fun ride that I didn’t want it to end. I absolutely loved Amanda, Dane , Chlii and the rest of the Tensil town residents!