DNF @ 13%

I really wanted to like this -- I've heard great things about Charlotte Stein for a LONG time -- but I felt like I had been dropped into the middle of a story with no explanation of what was going on. This could be because I believe this is the second book in a series where I haven't read the first, but for a contemporary romance, I expect to be able to pop in wherever and pick up where things are.

I think this will be a story most people can enjoy IF they can follow along with the story.

Enjoyed this. Cute idea for a romance plot and the writing about Beck was fun to read. Kind of a big bear Ted Lasso with vintage fashion. Lots of spicy scenes. One thing I couldn’t wrap my mind around was the two main characters discussing how they could hear someone farting through the thin walls but if that’s the case wouldn’t the people in the next room also hear their secret conversation?

Thank you to St. Martin's Press | St. Martin's Griffin and NetGalley for letting me read this one early in exchange for my review!

✨ Cinnamon Roll / Spicy Black Cat
✨ Fake Marriage
✨ Deliciously Spicy
✨ Writer / Editor
✨ Only One Bed

What do you get when you mix a spicy mouthed black cat nerdy writer fmc and a cinnamon roll “touch her and get your ass kicked in basketball” mustached editor mmc? Well, this delightful spicy rom-com of a book.

To be 100% honest, I knew this was going to be right up my alley when I requested it, but it turned out to be even better than I imagined. I adored the growth, the honesty, the evolution of feelings, the forms of communication, it was all just so cleverly put together.

If you’re into any of the tropes listed above, or are looking for a book that will leave you kicking your feet giggling at the end, snag this one when it comes out.

This was a sweet as sugar romance between Hazel, a bad at love/romance aspiring author and her cinnamon roll neighbor, Beck, who is an editor at a publisher.

She finds out he made up a wife to get a work bully off his back and volunteers to become his fake wife for. Two week reading retreat.

Beck was so cute and endearing. And while Hazel was a mess she was fun.

Thank you Netgalley and St Martin’s Press for this ARC.

Summary:
Henry, Connie's new neighbor, seems nice enough, but so do most guys. Connie has a lot of trust issues and has been told time and time again that she is just too much. When she finds out that Henry has lied at work about having a wife, she steps in to help Henry save face at a writing conference. As it turns out, Henry actually is nice and Connie starts to fall head over heels... and head over horny.

Rating: 3.75/5
Spice 2.5/5

Tropes:
Fake Marriage
Forced Proximity
Virgin MMC
Opposites Attract

Triggers:
Work Gaslighting

My Thoughts:
Okay, this book is super cute. It took me a few chapters to get into it, but once I did, I finished reading it in one sitting. The chemistry of the characters is top notch and usually a virgin trope is an ick for me, but Henry's sweetness really won me over. I do have an issue that kept the book from being a full 4 stars. Henry is an American working in a British office and, especially at the beginning of the book, the author makes him seem like a bumbling American idiot. He says things like "golly" and seems entirely clueless even though he is a high powered editor and supposedly very well read. Once the "dumb American" vibe cooled down, Henry became very likable as a character.

This book was so amazing. The chemistry between the characters was out of this world. I loved Beck’s character so much, I kept catching myself giggling at what he would say. I love that Hazel continued to feel more and more comfortable in herself as the book went by. It made me happy that they brought the best out in each other. Beck and Hazel’s chemistry throughout the book had me blushing. The spice was also SO SPICY?! I knew what I was signing up for, but I was still so shocked by shy little Beck being like THAT. So hot. Have the biggest crush on that burly mustached man. I love Charlotte Stein’s writing so much, she really captures me from page one. I was giggling, blushing, crying, and so giddy over every little interaction Beck and Hazel had. I loved this book so much, and am already wanting to reread it to feel that giddy high again.

An adorably hilarious unhinged fake marriage, I loved it. This is the book you read when you want to have a good time and escape from reality. Individually the characters are special and together they make a great team to fool a Beck’s coworker on a marriage that doesn’t exist.

This is your typical romance with plenty of smut and misunderstandings, but there are a few things that work for me whereas most traditional romances don’t.

First Beck. He is endearingly earnest and incredibly dorky. I love the nerdiness. I love that he can’t lie without feeling nauseated. I love that he’s the inexperienced one. And I love how he makes our girl heal and feel.

Hazel has a taste for toxic men, or she thinks she does, until Beck shows her how good being treated well can be. I kind of like how she’s the one with the experience and leads Beck down that merry road.

But of course the two are pretending to be fake married so of course there will be miscommunication.

It was a good time for me.

This one was a gosh darn delight to read! A fake marriage between the good-guy editor and the aspiring author who lives across the hall gets the forced-proximity treatment when they go on a writing retreat together with his coworkers.

Oh my heart, there’s just something about a love story between two good people falling for each other.

At a glance:
- Single POV
- Characters in their 30s
- British setting
- Ted Lasso-esque love interest
- Super smart nerds—one who has been told she needs to cover up those aspects of herself and one who proudly embraces his geeky side
- Curvy FMC
- Gentle giant love interest
- Cinnamon roll hero
- Fake marriage
- Neighbors
- Forced proximity
- Only one bed
- Kissing (and more) lessons
- Food as a love language
- TV and film references

I received an advance copy of the book from St. Martin’s Press. All review opinions are my own.

I first learned about this book when Leni Kauffman shared her fantastic cover, and I immediately wanted to read it based on what I saw and the title, and I actually loved it so much!

I started to read the arc & then immediately realized the other book I'd seen by this author was connected and first, so I started that one but was already too interested in this one and had to come back to it. I'm curious to see what I'll think of Hazel as the best friend in book 1, because I love her as the MC in this one. She's fiesty, a little rude, loves going for shock value, all while being standoffish because she was essentially trained by her mother to be exactly what men "want", to hide her real self and interests, and except all nice guys to be fake. Then her adorably oafish, gentle-giant neighbor, Beck, sees right through that and without her even realizing it at first, encourages her to own who she is. She situates herself as his fake wife to help him save face with an awful colleague at a two week writer's retreat, where she struggles with the fact that the more she sees who he is, the more she feels her walls dropping and wishing she was someone worthy of his real love.

This book is such a great mix of so beautifully soft and incredibly horny. It's all from her POV so there were times I wanted to shake her and say, "Get it together! This sweet man CLEARLY wants you for real!" Beck is nearing 40 and very inexperienced, and I loved the way that was handled in the story, with her not only not judging him for it, but ultimately being excited by the fact that she's the one who gets to have firsts with him. He may be polite, and seem rather innocent because of his general demeanor with the public, but he also knows what he wants and is a very quick to apply what he's learned.

The ending made me feel a little emotional for them both and I think it's because the "everyone deserves someone to love them just as they are" message got to me a little, because isn't that what so many of us want?

Thank you to SMP for the arc, I very much enjoyed the story and will definitely look for more from this author in the future.

Could not stand the FMC had to put this book down and walk away several times she was just so insufferable

Charlotte Stein does it again!!! I absolutely adore her writing, it just flows and keeps me hooked! This story was just so much fun! It had a slightly zany premise, but Stein made it believable by having such amazing and hilarious main characters! I adored Hazel, and her insecurities hit me right in the feels. I adored seeing her discover her self worth and grow more comfortable with herself as the story went on. And Henry Samuel Beckett, what can I say about him that will do him justice?! I love him. He's just such a perfect cinnamon roll that needs to be cuddled and kept safe at all costs. They are so good together, their banter and cute scenes make me swoon a little-especially those emails! Also-the spicy scenes were HOT. None of them felt forced in, but each was organic to the story.

Connie is burnt out on love. In her experience there is no such thing as a “nice guy”. Connie runs into her neighbor Beck, who has been nothing but cordial with her. Except Connie believes he’s putting up a facade because in her mind nice guys don’t exist.


Connie’s suspicions are right about her nerdy bowtie wearing neighbor he is putting up a facade. Nice and sweet Beck told his coworkers he was married. When in reality he is 30 single and a virgin. Connie decides to help Beck and pretends to be his wife.


I loved their dynamic together. This was a really cute and wholesome read. If you like odd ball MC’s, fake marriage, one bed , forced proximity, then you’ll eat this book right up

Thank you St Martin Press and NetGalley for this arc in exchange for my honest review

This book didn't do it for me. The banter felt strange and unrelatable and the MMC was super unattractive to me. I'm sure this book will be loved by many but it wasn't my piece of cake!

“My Big Fat Fake Marriage” by Charlotte Stein
This story Surprised me..
This is a good, very good story. But IF you prefer not to read open door romance stories; you might want to pass on this story. I was offered a free read and what I read in the description left me a surprised reader when I got into this story. I persevered and must say it is a good story but .. it turned out not to be my cup of tea. If I had rated this story on my personal preferences alone. it would have only gotten 2 stars at most; but on the story and its merits alone it is at least 4 stars. Happy Reading ! !

My Big Fat Fake Marriage was so cute! I really enjoyed the chemistry between our MCs. I love how corny Beck is and the sweet moments had me kicking my feet! No third act breakup and great representation of larger bodies 👏
5/5 ⭐️
Thank you to Net Galley & St. Martin’s Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. It was a refreshing and captivating experience, and I found the writing to be both engaging and accessible. The story flowed smoothly, making it easy to stay connected to the plot and characters without feeling lost or overwhelmed. The author struck a perfect balance, keeping things interesting while still making the content feel approachable. Overall, it was a wonderful read, and I would definitely recommend it to others who are looking for an enjoyable and easy-to-digest book.

Charlotte Stein never disappoints. Funny, emotional, and utterly bingeable, I was unable to put My Big Fat Fake Marriage down and I’ll 100% be picking it up again when the audio is released. There is just something about Charlotte’s writing that makes my brain go brr and I never miss a chance to read her.

Henry is the type of guy who would make you cinnamon rolls while you read spicy romance about a cinnamon roll MMC and then give you multiple Os while you talk about your book. You just can’t help but fall in love with him. In fact, he’s so nice and loveable that Hazel, aka Mabel’s bestie Connie, is pretty sure he’s a serial murderer. All that aside, she’s willing and able to step in to put a shitty coworker of Henry’s into place.

Connie/Hazel (to be called Hazel for the rest of this review) is a badass who doesn’t need anyone. Except, she’s kind of addicted to everyone’s approval and being the posh girl. After years of conditioning from her perception obsessed mother, Hazel doesn’t know who she is or how to be herself. She’s so certain that she’s doing Henry a favor when she joins him on a writing retreat posing as his fake wife but Henry has his work cut out for him too. The way Henry nudges Hazel into being the person she wants to be without seeming to do anything is utterly masterful.

I absolutely loved seeing Hazel come out of her shell and Henry is a blushing, bumbling adorkable giant who is joining the top of my Book Boyfriend list.

Eeeek I feel bad but I jumped ship at 70% 🫣

I liked When Grumpy Met Sunshine so I was excited to receive an ARC of My Bit Fat Fake Marriage. Unfortunately, this just was really cringey.

I've read a lot of reviews that the MMC is meant to be inspired by Ted Lasso, but this just takes it a bridge too far. The quirks and dialogue were so over the top and unlike how any real person would act -- like, golly and gee wiz paired with the super awkward sexual talk did not work whatsoever.

I hope to give Charlotte Stein another chance in the future, this one just wasn't for me.

Connie has been burned by "nice guys" and when she finds herself falling for the ultimate nice guy next door, she doesn't know whether its meant to be or not... especially since they're pretending to be a couple on a writing retreat and sharing a bed. I want to start off by saying I adored "When Grumpy Met Sunshine", the first book in this series, and I can tell that the male love interest are all mostly inspired by Ted Lasso characters. In this book it follows Connie, a woman who is tired of "nice guys" being not so great, and so when she meets her next door neighbor, the ultimate nice guy, Henry Samuel Beckett, she knows there has to be something sinister underneath his nice guy persona... except maybe not. What Connie finds is that Henry is actually the ultimate cinnamon roll guy, he's sweet, he doesn't swear, and he's so naive and adorable. She also discovers that he's been lying about having a wife and that he's told everyone at his publishing house that he's married... and when he is almost caught, Connie steps in and says she's his wife... and so begins their fake marriage. They both have to go on a writing retreat, and keep up the act... while sharing a bed and Connie is finding that she is falling fast and hard for this nice guy... but is it all an act or is it real on his part? Henry definitely is a mix of Ted Lasso and Ned Flanders, and apparently looks like a hairy Captain America. I really wish I could have liked this one because i absolutely adored the first book but something about this one just missed the mark for me. Beck just felt so awkward despite being so wholesome and sweet. I just kind of felt so out of place in their romance. This book just didn't hit as well as the first book to me and thats okay, I'm still a huge fan of Charlotte Stein and can't wait to read what she writes next.

Release Date: March 11, 2025

Publication/Blog: Ash and Books (ash-and-books.tumblr.com)

*Thanks Netgalley and St. Martin's Press | St. Martin's Griffin for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*