"For husband, whose kindness made my life."

"You’re not scared of commitment, Haze. You just haven’t had anything worth committing to..."

"I knew how loved you made me feel, even when it wasn’t supposed to be real."

Starting with the dedication to her husband about his kindness, renowned droll RomCom author, Charlotte Stein, sets the tone for her adorable, surprisingly steamy, out right hilarious romantic comedy, My Big Fat Fake Marriage.

Hazel mistakenly believes Beck has murdered his wife. He doesn't have a wife. Never did. But he lied to the bully at work that he did and now he needs one for his publishing firm's writing retreat. Feeling bad for her accusations about Beck, Hazel volunteers to be his fake wife. Let the insanity, misunderstandings, vulnerabilities and forced proximity sexy times begin.

Hazel doesn't let anyone see her nerdy side. The one that watches Star Wars movies and rereads Interview With The Vampire. Beck wears his nerdy side with pride. He uses his vast vocabulary not to show off but to communicate the exact words for his thoughts. He's a quiet man but when put to the test he will easily win the game.

Their roles are reversed in every way. Charlotte's the dirty talker with sex on the brain. Beck is the inexperienced, only been kissed once, pursued man. It's different and a lot of fun.

Voice actress Imogen Wilde perfectly portrays the sharp comedic Hazel as well as the cinnamon roll unobtrusive Beck. Told through Hazel's first person POV, we see through her eyes Beck's decency.

There's nothing fake about the laughter, steam or romance found in My Big Fat Fake Marriage. It also proves, sometimes, the nice guy finishes first.

I received a free copy of this book/audiobook from the St. Martins Press and Macmillan Audio via #NetGalley for a fair and honest review. Opinions are my own.

I'm sorry, but I wasn't really a fan. I wanted to like it, but I had trouble connecting with the characters and also felt like some of it was confusing causing me to reread several parts.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Galley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I had to stop reading. This was not for me I made it 50% through and had to stop reading. The MMC was too cinnamon roll for me. I loved the concept .

Ahhhhhhh! I loved My Big Fat Fake Marriage! It is so delightfully bonkers, and sweet, and filthy. Charlotte Stein has become an auto-buy author for me. Her books are so joyful while also digging into very relatable anxieties.

Connie has a lot of experience with the modern London Nice Guy, and she knows better than to trust a nice guy. Her neighbor, Beck, is just so nice. He says “howdy neighbor” and leaves her pies that he baked himself. Beck is so nice that Connie is pretty sure he’s a serial killer. That impression is not helped when she sees inside his apartment and there are cut outs of women’s heads everywhere and a notepad that says, “Where can I tell people my wife is?” As it turns out, Beck has lied about being married to shut up a bullying colleague and the situation is getting complicated. The situation gets more complicated when Connie claims to be Beck’s wife, again to get that bullying colleague to shut up, and then they have to be husband and wife for two weeks at a writing retreat. The united against a bully, forced proximity, and only one bed situation gives Charlotte Stein a wonderful canvas for Connie and Beck to be honest and vulnerable and for plenty of shenanigans.

It’s generally accepted wisdom that you have to love yourself before you can love someone else. Stein digs into this in interesting ways. At heart, Connie and Beck like themselves, where things get stickier is how they interact with the world at large. They’ve both learned that the wider world does not reward them for being their true selves. Beck is himself anyway, mostly. Connie has erected a thick shield between herself and the world and she has a hard time believing that Beck sees and loves her for her own true self. Connie and Beck are similar in some important ways, they are both delightfully nerdy, with overlapping nerd interests, and they are both going to stick up for someone else before they stand up for themselves.

I’ve seen some conversations about My Big Fat Fake Marriage as being Ted Lasso coded and, yes, that’s in the DNA, but Beck is not an alternate universe Ted Lasso. He’s a cinnamon roll with some Clark Kent (mild manners hiding strength) and a mustache – a man sure of his own masculinity with no need to prove it to others. Beck is kind, sweet, and genuine, which gets mistaken for weak and maybe not super smart, even by Connie on occasion. But Beck knows himself and has made thoughtful choices about how he is going to be in the world.

As I’ve gotten older, I’ve realized how rare and wonderful it is to find someone with whom you can truly be your weirdest self and they can be their weirdest self. I identified so much with Connie’s reluctance to let down her guard. As one should expect from a Charlotte Stein novel, these two are delightfully freaky and filthy. When Connie goes feral over Beck’s tiny shorts and his high potency sex drive, it’s both steamy and achingly sweet.

I read both an e-arc and an audio arc. Imogen Wilde’s narration was delightful, giving added depth to an excellent text. Imogen Wilde conveyed emotions and moments of humor that I hadn’t picked up on. I love it when I’m able to read a book and have it read to me.

I received this as an advance reader copy from St. Martin’s Press, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley. My opinions are my own, freely and honestly given.

I received a DIGITAL Advance Reader Copy of this book from #NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I was a little afraid to read this book since I DNF'd this author's last book but I'm very happy to say that I enjoyed this one. Maybe it's just her paranormal books that won't be for me but I'd probably still give her next one in that series a try and any other ones.

The MMC, Beck is the ultimate cinnamon roll. I seriously don't think I've seen a bigger one. I'm not really sure what the point was for Connie to have two names and to actually have her name be Hazel.

I also wasn't a huge fan of the last 1/4 of the book basically being all smut with very little plot.

3.5 stars rounded down

(4.5⭐️)

Charlotte does it again with a book that delves deep into the mind of her characters, we meet "Connie" and Henry Samuel Beckett - an unlikely duo that fall into a sticky situation headfirst with nothing to catch their fall but each other. Quickly going from next door neighbors with vastly different perspectives and personalities to realizing just how much they enjoy each other's company and so much more. Hazel (a.k.a. Connie) and Beck are stuck together on a writing retreat and a little white lie that forces them to confront the many misconceptions that they have of one another. It's a wildly chaotic ride full of steamy emails, stolen kisses, some "peach" grabbing, a golden retriever MMC with a dirty mouth and two people who realize that they both deserve to be loved for who they are and not who they should be. I loved the quirky characters and heartfelt emotions that Charlotte always provides and I know so many more are going to enjoy this wonderful story that has you cheering for our main characters from their first interaction.

Henry Samuel Beckett and Connie are neighbors. He leaves her cakes, and she goes to say thank you with a slice of a cake and she sees something she didn’t expect. Who is this guy? Well, she finds out. He’s the ultimate nice guy; the guy who has never really been with a woman before; the guy who people make fun of; the guy who told people he was married but it was fake. So Connie decides to step in and pretend to be his wife. And now they are on a writing retreat together, faking a marriage. But then there’s a kiss, and tension. She thinks he wasn’t someone more tame than her, he thinks she wants someone better than him. The tension just builds and builds. What if they are really what they need for each other?

This book has some of my favorite tropes: forced proximity, fake marriage – YES! I loved the plot, I loved the setting, and I loved the characters. Connie is sassy, witty, and just a really fun character. HSB, or Beck as he was called in the book, was a harder character to believe. Are there really men at 37 years old that are like that? Says things like Oh Fudge? That’s never been kissed? Yes, it was hard to believe his character, he was unrealistic at times, especially with the way that he spoke, but he was still likeable.

The first half of this book was very vanilla, and the second half of this book was very spicy. It went that way really quickly. The spicy scenes were well written, but it felt like the whole focus of the second half of the book was mainly the spice and not anything else. For me, I wanted more than just the spice.

So if you like sweet and spicy, this one is for you!

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

My Big Fat Fake Marriage is told from Hazel’s perspective. Now I usually prefer dual perspectives, but with their book I felt like it was very well suited to be Hazel. She’s experienced a lot of negativity in her life- from her parents trying to reshape who she is as a person, to men treating her like crap and it severely impacting her faith in them (as a whole). So when her new across-the-hall neighbour is Henry, she doesn’t believe in his “nice guy” act **at all**. His pants are always starched, she’s never seen his moustache out of sorts, and he bakes her pies (cakes too). She doesn’t know exactly what’s wrong with him- but she knows that nice men like him are always lying. She’s a serial dater but her dates always turn out horribly. Stale conversation, the expectation of sex for bare minimum manners, and temper tantrums when things don’t go the guy’s way. Any hopes of being a hopeless romantic were smothered a long time ago. Yet, she gives new people chances in the small hopes that they will be different.
So when she gets sucked into Henry’s brand of chaos she finds herself shocked that she finds him endearing. Their friendship grows strong and steady in such a short amount of time. When Hazel realizes that the way Henry acts is not fake, but rather genuine she comes to be protective of him. He’s huge, he’s goofy, and he’s smart as can be. Yet his self-protecting instincts are dull, so he has a high tolerance for being picked on and he’s quick to excuse other people’s bad behaviour.
While being fake-married Hazel finds her emotions going haywire, and her libido ramping up in a way it never has before. Henry’s brand of kindness is an aphrodisiac personally made for her. While she’s building her confidence in herself as a writer on the retreat, Henry and her are growing closer and the feelings are turning real. I read this book twice because of how easy it was for me to read. Hazel and Henry’s chemistry is poignant, and they are funny together. This book was my kind of humour. Plus, Henry is just my type of main-male-character. I was very satisfied with their Happily-Ever-After and found it wrapped up perfectly.

My Big Fat Fake Marriage by Charlotte Stein is a refreshing tale that gives the reader an authentic view of the reality men and women have as they navigate dating. I found myself laughing out loud, yelling at both Beck and Connie and fighting tears. Beck and Connie take readers on a emotional roller coaster ride with twists, turns and heart breaking emotions. Both are accomplished people who have suffered from unkindness, passive aggressive comments and plain our bullying to the point that they are willing to settle for less than they really deserve. Their experiences have come to shape the way they see themselves and make them hide the parts of themselves that they think other people would deride.
I like reading Charlotte Stein's books because she creates characters who feel hope, desire and disappointment in real ways. Connie is every woman who struggles with body image, fitting in with others and accepting that she is loved. Beck is the shy man of many talents who is tender hearted and considerate beyond expectations. Their chemistry builds resulting in open door encounters that are funny but steamy!
I received an advance reader copy and am leaving a voluntary review based solely on my personal reading experience.

When it comes to reviewing books I try to reserve my rating until I'm done reading. This book however was screaming five stars before I was even half way though. By the time I was done I wanted to give it one hundred stars!

First we have Connie/Hazel, a strong independent woman working for an advertisement firm and longing to be an author. She goes about her daily life life work and back again doing all she can to avoid the suspiciously kind, handsome, neighbor across the hall who like to leave her freshly baked pies.

Beck is an editor from America. He keeps a kind demeanor, and neat appearance all the way to his precise handwriting and perfectly baked confections. But he has a secret, and it makes him sick to his stomach to keep lying.

"Lucky" for him, his neighbor across the hall decides to step in for him and tell his co-worker SHE is his wife. Now all they have to do is pretend to be married for the next two weeks during a writing retreat. Where they'll share a room, in a cabin with said co-worker. What could go wrong.

I loved both of these characters. Hazel/Connie has such growth and acceptance of herself, with the help of Beck just being HIMSELF. And Back while he accepts himself as he is and is true to himself from the beginning grows to finally see that, yes there is a woman standing before him that enjoys and loves all those things that make him HIM. And I love that.

This book is sweet and FUNNY. I could not stop laughing in some spots. It's also a slow burn but even though it is it's not one that leaves us wanting. It's one that had me biting my nails to the quick with anticipation because it smoldered so good. I love it. It was the fastest 5 star I've given in 2025 yet.

This was such a cheesy but also racy romance? The MMC was the definition of a “cinnamon roll” man. He was so sweet and naive lol It feels like his vibe was supposed to give this very innocent man willing to learn, but a lot of how he thought reminded me of a concrete thinker, someone who takes things so literal which I think was supposed to add to his “nerdy” brand. The FMC is a baddie when given the opportunity, I loved her confident sexual energy. I would recommend this one if you like a quick strangers to lovers, grumpy vs sunshine romance with spice! 🌶️🌶️🌶️

Thank you to NetGalley, publisher, and author for a copy of the arc.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice: 🌶️🌶️

This was a sugary, sweet romance with a lot of witty and nerdy banter! There was a bit of repetitiveness throughout, but still an easy read overall. I originally was drawn to the cover, plus size representation and of course fake marriage trope so definitely kudos to the author and illustrator for that!!

This book did help clarify that I prefer cinnamon roll MMC’s to only be cinnamon rolls with their partner and not agreeable to the rest of the world. I did love Beck’s emotional maturity and awareness of how his size can be perceived as a threat. He saw Hazel for how amazing she was even when she didn’t fully believe it herself, and I appreciated that angle. He was the true star of this story. I wanted to root for the FMC, but the lack of clear communication with Beck, let alone herself was too frustrating to get behind.

I will say there was more spice than I originally anticipated and that made the overall read much better.

Thank you St. Martin’s Press for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Storyline is nice, beginning of the book, was not so much for me.
Connie has a luck for nice guys, who ends up not so nice. When she meets Beckett, who is her neighbor, she thinks the same plus he has a wife. Then she finds out his secret.

I did a combination of the e.book and the audio narrated by Imogene Wilde. The narration was very good.
The story was a bit different. The MMC, Sam, was kind of a dork. He was very inexperienced in romance. It all just made him that more likable. He was just so sweet in his dealings with Connie. She ends up being his fake wife when his co-worker starts harassing him. They end up sharing a room and a bed at his work conference, and things really heat up. I'll be honest and say I didn't see all the heat coming in this story.

It really was a cute story. Both characters were very likable, and their caring for each other was adorable.

Thanks to Macmillan Audio, St. Martin's Press, and NetGalley for the copies. All thoughts are mine.

I'm not sure I wanted to have this story in just one POV; it didn't feel natural. The first three chapters dragged on. All Connie talked about in those chapters was how she doesn't like nice guys and how her neighbour's niceness is too good to be true.

Connie is used to dating Nice Guys (TM) - men who only treat women well in exchange for getting what they want, when they want it - and it’s been bad enough to make her swear off men… almost. Enter: Henry Samuel “Beck” Beckett, Connie’s neighbor across the hall, who bakes her pies “just because” and always greets her with a jaunty grin. Sure, he’s pretending to be married so he can get his jerk of a coworker off his back, but the deception tears him up inside. Before Connie realizes what she’s done, she volunteers to stand in as his fake wife. As they set off for a two-week writing retreat as husband and wife, Connie can’t help but wonder, could Beck be a real nice guy after all?

This novel had a cute premise but remained surface-level for the bulk of the story. The reader gets a lot of exposition in the beginning, with a full 8% of the story dedicated to the characters’ first full conversation in their apartment hallway. The fake marriage facade - at least, the part where they pretend to be married when observable by other people - comprised at most 15% of the total book. The main events of the novel take place over three weeks, which did not feel like enough time to give our protagonists room to grow. To get there, the story needed to let the characters make more active choices. For example, so much of Connie’s cynicism was shaped by her upbringing with shallow, closed-minded parents, but because they’re not actually in the story (Connie just reflects on how they would react instead), it falls flat. The more active choice would have been to have a scene where Connie has a phone call or meets up with her folks and either resists or internalizes their shaming about who she really is.

Speaking of characters who aren’t actually part of the story, I went back and counted - there are only nine speaking characters in the entire novel and a handful of locations, making the whole thing feel very small in scope. Other characters are mentioned (Connie’s parents and her other friend, as well as other members of the writing workshop), but conversations and memories are summarized as part of Connie’s internal monologue rather than written directly as part of the text.

That’s not to say that there wasn’t anything I liked here. Connie is hilarious. She can’t help but fall for adorkable Beck (even at his most pitiful), and her frustration at that fact is enjoyable to read. I also like that Connie sees being Beck’s pretend-wife as an escape hatch - “a way out of myself”, she says. Beck’s best moments come as he pushes back against Connie’s expectations of how she “should” behave - the clothes/shoes she thinks she should wear, or the interests she denies having. There are moments where he uses how “cool” she is to neg himself, which I don’t particularly enjoy, especially because he compliments changeable things about her appearance (hair, makeup, clothes) rather than things that indicate how much he likes her as a person. These moments of self-criticism make it difficult to envision a future where Beck will ever be able to advocate for himself, so when those moments do occur, it is satisfying to read. I just wish there were more of those moments throughout the book.

I experienced this novel in both ebook and audiobook form. Imogen Wilde, the narrator, has a lovely, sweet timbre that makes Connie endearing and relatable. The exasperation Connie feels as she develops a crush on Beck is palpable. I find no fault in any way the audio was done; I just think that any female narrator would find some of Beck’s lines challenging to read. For a modern ear, phrases like “oh, good golly” and “you bet your sweet bippy” and “you just wait a gosh darn minute” come across as, at minimum, corny. Imogen Wilde does her best, even if those lines made me cringe while listening.

Books centering around fake relationships are, as a whole, fun to read (if they weren’t, Christina Lauren would not have a career). I want to support size-inclusive romances whenever I can, especially when the main characters’ insecurity about their size is not the sole focus of the narrative. My Big Fat Fake Marriage was a quick read with an abundance of steamy scenes, but unfortunately, I think character development took a backseat in favor of the romance plot, which is not my preferred way to experience this genre.

**Thank you to St. Martin’s Press (St. Martin’s Griffin Imprint), Macmillan Audio, and Charlotte Stein for providing this ebook and audiobook for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.**

3.5 I was not sure about this one at all in the beginning. The MMC has a way of speaking that is so wholesome it reads as a little fake. Which the FMC also thinks & is suspicious of. He’s too nice to be real. Definitely reminded me of Ted Lasso- there are a few moments in the book that also reminded me of the show. I was curious enough to keep going & I wound up really liking it. Connie winds up becoming Beck’s fake wife to rescue him from a bullying coworker. She’s already signed up for a writing retreat that Beck is running. Cue the only one bed, we have to learn how to touch & kiss like a couple hijinks that’s usual for this trope. I was invested once they start to talk & interact more. And the sex scenes are pretty steamy. If you love a cinnamon roll softie, this one’s for you. Thank you to NetGalley & St. Martin’s Press for the advance copy.

At first, I was a bit lost in a way that we were so much into the dialogue of Hazel & Beck, that I had no idea where we were in the story, like we were too much into her head... but past 60% of the book, I felt that we were finally out of her head a little bit and also the chemistry between these two was amazing!

3.5/5

My Big Fat Fake Marriage is peak rom-com fluff—like being smothered by a pile of warm, fresh-from-the-dryer blankets. Improbable? Absolutely. A little ridiculous? Oh, for sure. But sometimes, a heavy dose of fluff is exactly what you need to make it through this world, and as a Certified Fluffy™ Person myself, I consider myself an expert on the subject.

Beck is a human cinnamon roll in a bowtie—sweet, soft, and seemingly untouched by the world (literally, the man has never been kissed). Connie is deeply suspicious of such unrelenting niceness, but when she agrees to fake-marry him to save his nerdy butt at a writing retreat, the sparks start flying. And by sparks, I mean shockingly high levels of steam for a book where the hero says "oh fudge."

Does the plot make sense? Not even a little. Do the side characters and setting feel like background noise? Sure. But does it deliver banter, tension, and swoony, soft-boy energy in spades? Heck yes. If you need a book that feels like a sugar rush with a side of serotonin, this is a great choice—just don’t ask too many logistical questions, and you’ll be golden.

Read if you love:
📖 Fake marriage shenanigans
🛏️ One bed (because obviously)
🔥 The sweetest slow burn with a spicy payoff
💖 A hero so soft, you might want to pet him

Thanks to St. Martin’s Griffin and NetGalley for the ARC!

Woah! Get ready for major steam with this one! I didn’t know that going in-I was expecting a cuddly romance and I got major spice. I’m not mad about it but I would have loved a warning 😂
Hazel is a distrusting writer and Beck is her shy and gentle giant co worker. One day Hazel discovers that Beck had lied to their boss about being married so he can get a promotion so she agreed to pretend to be his wife when the company has a writing retreat. However, because they are supposed to be married, they end up sharing a room, and the lines get blurred as their sparks turn into raging flames.
The romance was loaded with banter and they were so kind to each other and genuinely cared for each other and it was about so much more than sex- although there was no doubt about their chemistry there either! They were just completely obsessed with each other so I loved that they got their HEA.
If you want a rom com with loads of chemistry and a cinnamon roll MMC, then look no further.
Thanks to St. Martins Griffin and NetGalley for this eArc in exchange for my review