This again reminded me of Ted Lasso (specifically, Ted’s personality). This quite possibly one of the sexiest books I’ve ever read. I’ll read anything Stein writes at this point.

This was such a cute and fluffy romance! This book made me laugh and swoon! It had fake marriage, a cinnamon roll MMC and a curvy FMC in forced proximity! I ATE THIS TF UP

Thanks to netgalley, the publisher & author for the ARC. This was one of the funniest, best and most loving ROM -Coms. I’ve read. The spice is top tier, I loved the whole aspect & you have to read it yourself to experience the best forced proximity & fake wedding tropes.

I loved Stein’s first book, and this review likely mirrors others before this one. Beck is an awkward virgin version of Ted Lasso with extra height. The story goes from zero spice to four chilis in the span of a chapter…and the communication for the entire book feels forced because Beck talks like he’s never used words in conversation before (but writes like he’s just won the Booker Prize?) Hazel is a character who I was rooting for, but eventually, her lack of self-love grated on me a little too much and I didn’t care anymore.

One thing that I thought could use more attention was the background. This FLEW past, and I constantly had to back up to make sure I didn’t skip pages because surely this book didn’t gloss over whatever it just did…it felt like the editor said “no background, as little detail as possible, just keep the basic plot line” which was unfortunate.

To be transparent, I read this in one sitting, no breaks. I enjoyed it, despite the holes—and I would gladly read anything else this author writes!

It was kind of fortuitous that I stumbled across this ARC about 5 days after reading 'When Grumpy Met Sunshine,' and even luckier that I was approved to read and review (-thanks NetGalley, thanks, St Martin's!!!). Stein's writing is funny and warm, and her characters have great banter and chemistry. This book was a joy from start to finish. My only hangup was that the villain was a little cartoonish, but that's not the worst thing to have in a romance novel. I would recommend this to a reader who is looking for something light with a liberal amount of spice.

It’s taken me a while to write this review because I really struggled with this one. The MMC was written in a way that was just unbelievable and the FMC was a little annoying to read, however I was into the story more as it went on. Henry genuinely cared for Connie and he was very sweet to her. I liked how they stood up for each other too. It took me a while to get through the book, I did end up enjoying it.

This is really the sweet, cozy (yet spicy) read I needed while it feels like the world is falling apart. Connie has always been super self conscious, changing herself from a girl with glasses who loves Quantum Leap to a woman with contacts who is always waiting for men to let her down. But when her sweet across the hall neighbour Beck lets it slip that he's been pretending to be married, Connie decides to pretend to be the kind of woman Beck would be married to - who is an awful lot like the person Connie always felt like she needed to hide.

At one point, when it was mentioned the golden retriever of a main character was American, I assumed they must mean Canadian. Beck is far more reminiscent of our neighbours to the far north. But as the book went on, the pure kindness and respect he and Connie have for each other really did shine through. These two deserved to live happily ever after - and we all deserve a little kindness in our lives. I will definitely be checking out Charlotte Stein's other books in a time when I can use to believe we all deserve a kind happily ever after.

2.5 stars. Really fun, quicky fluffy little book. But the sugar sweet MMC really annoyed me with the sickly sweet language. Preferential to a grumpy MMC here. Thank you for access to the ARC, I did really enjoy reading this in one sitting.

A light refreshing read!
I will admit that it took me a bit of time to get started on this book, for some reason I could not get past the first chapter. Once I did get started though, I had a great time! I will always love a book that has great plus-size representation and this book displays that loud and proud! I also enjoyed seeing the character dynamics between Connie and Henry and watching as Connie learns that not all men are evil. I also really enjoyed the setting of this book, seeing characters pulled out of their comfort zone is always an amusing time. I gave the book 3 stars because while it was a fun read, to me it was a fairly predictable story with classic tropes and plot points. This is not necessarily a deal breaker for me but it something to keep in mind, readers should not go into the book expecting a life-changing experience but if it's kept it fun and light I believe the reader will have a great time! It's a perfect read for people (like me) who enjoy the comfort of a book they've already read with slight variations to the story.

First, this is totally a sequel to When Grumpy Met Sunshine. It can be read without it, but Mabel and Alfie show up. So you might want to read them in order.

Connie/Hazel seems to be the attempt at a black cat. However, her mind is so all over the place, that it comes off mostly as disjointed. There was more than one moment I had to go back and reread because I wasn't able to follow the sentence or paragraph. I'm happy to see that there are more paragraphs in this book than When Grumpy Met Sunshine, the formatting of that book was rough for me. Hazel is hiding behind the "life lessons" her parents instilled in her: be normal, hide your intelligence, men don't want the real you. She wants to be a writer, but has been holding herself back. She signs up for a writer's retreat to give herself the push she separately needs.

When it comes to Beck, I love the idea of a man who books like a bear, but is a golden retriever. However, he crossed the line from adorable to caricature for me. Especially at the beginning. How on earth did he get where he is in his career if he has NO ability to advocate for himself? He gets so flustered by Doug's teasing that he invents a wife? He felt too bumbling and hokey. And I wanted to like him SO much. It took until we got to the retreat and we got how he saw Hazel.

For me, what saved this book was the sexual chemistry. I know. That's a very weird thing to say, but once we saw Hazel's libido fall for Beck, and her mind catch up, the relationship really started for me. It was like their sexual longing was the vehicle for me to grasp their emotional longing. I wish we had set with Beck's inexperience a little bit more. It was almost a throw away. I feel like being vulnerable connecting with someone on that level for the first time is a big deal.

This sets up her style for me. While I see gaps in this book, the overall experience of a forced proximity, fake marriage, with a one bed...is usually a big old yes for me.

Sweet romance, if a little over the top

Beck is a big teddy bear, a little on the neuro-divergent end of the spectrum, a genuinely nice guy who has trouble expressing himself to his peers. Connie, on the other hand, appears to be an extrovert but it masks a lifetime of insecurities that have kept her from making a real connection.

Connie is a little hard to read sometimes, mostly because she has no experience with a truly nice man so she doesn't quite know what to do with him. I loved watching her learn to trust her own judgment as she gets to know him and is able to be her authentic self with him.

This was my first book by this author, and while I genuinely enjoyed the story I did feel that a lot of the descriptions were a bit too earnest, but if that's what you're looking for you'll feel right at home. I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book.

This was a classic feel good romance where the main character has to learn to love herself before she can truly accept love from others.

It was a beautiful story, watching Connie’s journey of slowly trusting “nice guy” beck. I can definitely understand this book may not be everyone’s favorite, but it is sweet and easy to read.

Personally, this hits all the marks. Fake marriage, forbidden romance(self-inflicted), golden retriever. The only thing I don’t always enjoy is the FMC tearing herself down so much she almost refuses to see the love in front of her(until she does!).

This had great comedy and some really sweet moments. I’d definitely recommend this book for a quick, wholesome read.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Author for providing me with an Arc!!

Now I may be biased because Charlotte Stein is one of my top favorite authors, but this is an easy 5 stars. It was so easy to speed through and so hard to put down I finished it at 2am.
The characters are so realistic and consistent that you can connect with them so easily. It’s impossible to not be invested. On the flip side, the situations they find themselves in are so ridiculous and fine that I routinely had to stifle out-loud-laughs (because, again, I stayed up till early morning binging this book). And as always, the communication is too tier here. The characters are allowed to feel their emotions for a couple hours, and then have responsible, honest conversations and everything works out.
The plot never left me bored despite it being 100% character driven. Nothing was too heavy in this book. It was just spicy fun written by an expert world builder.
I cannot wait for it to come out so I can have this cutesy cover in my library and force all my friends to read it.

Connie and Beck are neighbors, and very wary of each other. Connie because past experience has taught her that 'nice guys' are usually hiding a dark secret. Beck, because he has come to believe that he is just too much; too tall, too burly, and too clumsy. However as they begin talking in the building's hallway, they also begin to let down their guard. Which is good since Beck needs a fake wife to come with him on a writing retreat. What follows is excellent banter, and heartwarming. growth as our couple comes to see their worth reflected in the other's eyes. The high level of spice and dirty talk was not what I was looking for in a rom-com, but might work for another reader.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and St. Martin's Press | St. Martin's Griffin for the eARC ! OK, I will admit that I did not really think I was going to like this book at the beginning. The book reads like the inner monologue of someone who has ADHD mildly and who get stuck in their own head as life is happening around them.

Meet Connie/Hazel, who has SWORN off nice guys and believes they are all deep down terrible people, and her neighbor, Henry Beckett, who is burly, soft, gentle giant and a genuinely good and kind human. They find themselves in a fake marriage and stuck in a writing retreat for two weeks together sharing one bed. This book had so many of my favorite tropes: cinnamon roll mmc, forced proximity, one bed, fake marriage, slow burn, and a hint of grumpyxsunshine. But a lot of it just fell really flat for me. I think had it not been written via Connie/Hazel’s inner monologue, I might’ve liked it a lot more. There are parts of like the first 50% that I was like Connie is insufferable. I do like Hazel a little bit more. I feel like the last 30% really made me rate this book differently.

I will say that it feels kinda bittersweet that probably the best written smutty scenes were in here, because it takes so damn long to get to them! Like trudging thru the dark, muddy, abyss of Connie’s/Hazel’s inner monologue to finally see the light of the smut. Now, Miss Charlotte, you definitely can write some spicy scenes. And I think having the book read as Hazel’s in her monologue really worked here.

I would say this book is a book for vibes not as much logic. There are things that Connie/Hazel does that straight up don’t make any sense (see the idea of Hazel using the name, Connie to like avoid who she is/was). Overall, it’s OK! You might like it, you might not. I will say that the spice in this book makes it 100% worth the read!

So parts of this book really made me laugh, especially in the beginning. But here's the thing: I spent this entire book reading Beck's dialogue in my head with the voice of Jason Sudeikis as Ted Lasso. It was very very obvious from the cover and the description that was a real love letter to the character of Ted Lasso and a particular basketball game in the book calls to mind a particular dart game in the show. I liked the overall message of be who you are and like what you like and don't yuck other people's harmless yum but my problem with books that borrow so obviously from a well known media source is that it actually takes me out of the book and I kept trying to identify the other characters in the show and their counterpart in the book. Like is the heroine supposed to be Rebecca? Like asshole Doug is obviously Rupert especially in light of that basketball game. The hero in her last book who along with his love interest made an appearance in this book is Roy Kent. I think it's ok to be inspired by characters from other mediums (tv, movie, etc.) but I do think you need to differentiate enough bc I really could not get Ted Lasso's slightly twangy voice out of my head when reading this book.

My Big Fat Fake Marriage by Charlotte Stein had many of my favorite romcom elements — a plus size, badass heroine & a dorky, inexperienced hero — but unfortunately, it just didn’t work for me. Our narrator Hazel is justifiably closed-off and distrusting of men after a rough upbringing and dating history. Yet she admits from the onset that this distrust is just a protective front to keep her romantic heart safe. Despite this stunning self awareness from the jump, it takes her hundreds of pages to admit her connection with Beck is real. And as that connection grows, Hazel and Beck just seem more and more like caricatures of themselves — what man, however experienced, says “Gosh, I love doing myself” in bed?! Countless dialogues like these took me out of otherwise delicious spicy scenes. Unfortunately, this was a miss for me — 3*.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for providing this e-arc.

Thanks to NetGalley and St.Martin’s Press for allowing me to read this eARC. I didn’t quite know what to expect when I started this book. I really loved Connie/Hazel character, she was very believable. It took me a while to appreciate Beck’s character he seemed more like a caricature of a cinnamon roll MMC. I had a hard time believing that someone was that over the top wholesome, his character reminded me of a 1950s sitcom dad. Overall it was a cute fluffy read. And I would recommend but be warned he is sweetly sick in the way he talks.

I did not really like the writing of this book..it made me not like the characters
Connie adn Henry must fake being married because he told everyone he was married instead of single for his whole life.

I discovered Charlotte Stein when I read When Grumpy Met Sunshine and I LOVED it! Charlotte's books are unlike any other romances I have read in the best possible way. The main male character in When Grumpy Met Sunshine tries to hide behind a plant unsucessfully and the MMC in My Big Fat Fake Marriage says things like "golly", "gosh" and "oh my stars". He's described as burly and hairy. He is the biggest nerd and I adored him. Not only that, but Charlotte's sense of humor is so, so good. I can't even begin to explain it, but she is so funny. I was reading this book in a waiting room and I think people must have thought I was crazy because I was laughing out loud and grinning and I just couldn't stop.

The story starts with Hazel first thinking that her neighbor Beck's "goodness" is all an act. Then she is convinced that he is a murderer. Soon she comes back to the position that he is really sweet and she finds herself wanting to protect him which leads her to introduce herself to his bully as his wife. As a result, she ends up sharing a room with him at a conference.

We all know how this trope works. Soon Hazel realizes that Beck is unlike any man she has ever dates and she is really drawn to him. She also is convinced that Beck would never really want her as his wife, but she really wishes he did.

The book is spicy and funny and just such a great story. Read it. You won't regret it.