I adore books that are romantic but have comedy bits as well! This new title from Murphy was spot on for combining those two elements. I was entertained and enjoyed this story. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

This was a hard read as someone who recently lost a family member after a long fight with dementia. But it was also real, raw, and adorable. I’m so impressed at this being Megan Murphy’s debut— it’s so competent in its themes and plot and writing. And the relationship! I was a little worried about Adam not coming through since this is single POV, but I was worried for no reason; their chemistry flew off the page. An excellent, heartfelt debut.

WHEW my heart got a workout with this one (including bouts of delicious tingles).

It takes a deft hand to move a story featuring the mental decline of a loved one along in an enemies to lovers close proximity romance in a way so sweet and empathetic, balancing the tough parts with healing, heat and heart. In a way that doesn’t press down, but holds tight and lifts up. Murphy does it perfectly.

The energy between Elle and Nurse Adam is palpable, and it was an absolute pleasure to witness them fall in love. I smiled a LOT while reading.

Tough, independent women often get a bad rep because people often don’t take the time to see how much love they hold behind their walls. This story shuffles bricks aside until we can’t deny their understandable complexity, and fall a bit for them, too.

Highly recommend this love story for every one of its beautiful, funny, moving, spicy, relatable parts. Looking forward to what this new author writes for us next.

For fans of:
Abby Jimenez
Kate Clayborn
Elena Armas
Katherine Center
Falon Ballard
Jessica Joyce

Ugh! Why would I rate a book 5 stars and start a review that way? Because I didn’t know I would be feeling all the feels while reading this on an airplane today! Pretty sure my seat mate was side eyeing me wondering why I was tearing up. And I’m not a cryer. This book just got to me. Don’t judge this book by its cover. It’s the heartfelt story of Elle dealing with her Grandma’s Alzheimer’s alongside a live in nurse named Adam. They get off on the wrong foot, but end up in a fake relationship because Grandma Lovie thinks Elle and Adam are her and her late husband Buddy. Adam, dealing with his own familial drama, agrees to fake date Elle when Lovie is awake. This turns into a slow burn. Both Adam and Elle overcome pasts to lean into this new romance. The tension is 🔥. This is open door, but not very descriptive and easy to breeze past. Definitely worth a read!

Thank you Alcove Press for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

I have had the absolute pleasure of getting to read this book early and I wish that I could unread it so that I could go back to the beginning and witness Elle’s journey for the first time all over again. Elle is messy and stubborn and strong and it’s so easy to relate to her, to apply her story of growth and closure and grief and yearning to your own life. I read the very last sentence with tears in my eyes because there was a part of me that felt like I was given a piece of this happily ever after to carry with me.

I genuinely love Megan’s writing style. As someone who never annotates—ADHD simultaneously makes me want to do it all in, and prevents me from remembering to do it at all—I somehow ended up with hundreds of highlights of lines that just hit exactly the right way, or spoke to me in a way that made me as a reader feel very seen.

Fake It Like You Mean It is soft, and spicy, funny and heartbreaking, and just full of so much love.

I say this completely devoid of bias—everyone who’s looking for a love story that feels almost like a warm hug should read this as soon as it releases. I can’t wait to see what comes next. I’ve got my eyes on a couple of side characters whose love stories might get added to the top of my Christmas wish list.

"Fake It Like You Mean It" is an emotional whirlwind hidden within a charming, faux-dating storyline that masterfully blends humor, tension, and moments that will tug at your heartstrings. Megan Murphy weaves a touching narrative that follows Elle, a woman who returns to her childhood home to care for her grandmother, Lovie, whose Alzheimer's is rapidly progressing. However, Elle’s life takes an unexpected turn when she discovers Adam Wheeler, Lovie’s live-in nurse, has taken up residence in her former bedroom.
From the outset, the dynamic between Elle and Adam is both amusing and captivating, with their witty exchanges and initial dislike giving way to a slow-burn realization that perhaps their connection runs deeper than pretending. Lovie’s insistence that they’re a couple prompts them to play along, leading to a fake relationship that quickly becomes more intimate and emotionally charged than either expected. As they care for Lovie together, their worlds gradually intertwine in a way that feels both natural and inevitable.
The connection between Elle and Adam feels genuine—it’s more than just the usual enemies-to-lovers trope. Their bond grows organically through moments of shared vulnerability, humor, and tenderness. Murphy’s sensitive portrayal of Alzheimer’s is both heart-wrenching and compassionate, making Lovie’s character the true emotional center of the story. Her lucid moments, as well as her confusion, are portrayed with a level of empathy that will hit home for anyone who has witnessed the impact of dementia firsthand.
In addition to the romance, the book delves deeply into the pain of watching a loved one fade away and the profound sense of loss that accompanies it. Elle’s journey is not just about finding love but also about discovering herself as she navigates grief, memories, and the heavy burden of familial responsibility.
For fans of the fake-dating and slow-burn romance genres, this novel is a standout. It delivers all the light-hearted rom-com moments you'd expect but also offers emotional depth and beautifully crafted characters. "Fake It Like You Mean It" is a deeply moving exploration of love in all its forms—romantic, familial, and self-love—making it a compelling read for anyone looking to laugh, cry, and fall in love once again.
Grateful to NetGalley and Alcove Press for providing me with an advanced digital copy of this delightful romance in exchange for an honest review!

What a rollercoaster of emotions in this enemies to lovers read! It was a sweet romance but what got me was Lovie. I don't know how accurately this book depicted someone with Alzheimer's but Lovie was such a sweet character and I wish she were my grandmother!

Fake dating and enemies to lovers, this book has two of the best tropes and delivers them *chefs kiss* perfectly.

Elle and Adam have instant tension, it’s not clear why, maybe it’s one of those “I want you but I’m not sure if I can have you so I’ll be mean to you” situations but it creates the perfect enemies situation, and it’s delicious!

Enemies to lovers romance. Such an emotional rollercoaster ride.

When Elle learns that her grandmother, Lovie's Alzheimer status has progressed, she drops everything and heads home. Exhausted from travel she drops right into her old bed and on top of the live in nurse Adam. These two butt heads at every turn. Elle has decided that Adam will not do, and she will need to request a replacement as soon as possible. The only problem....Lovie thinks that they are in love. Sparks fly as these two are pushed together by Lovie.

This was such a great book. This author did a great job with all of the struggles that accompany Alzheimer's. As someone who has experienced this, I really appreciated how the author wrote this horrible disease. The banter between Elle and Adam was great regardless of whether they were fighting or flirting. Elle and Adam showed great growth through the book. I loved the ending; I did not want this book to end.

Thank you NetGalley and Alcove press for this title. This is my very honest review.

4 stars. This was a pretty good debut book by Megan Murphy. I'll first start out by saying, after growing up real close to the Elkhart/Goshen area it did make me have all the feels for living in Indiana. Now, the book as a whole was sweet. There were a lot of really great, cute parts. It does bring a lot of awareness to Alzheimer's. While, I have never been close to someone in that situation so I can't confirm how accurate it was, it all felt so real and raw. Elle and Adam were cute but I wanted to feel more. I didn't get the beginning part or why they disliked each other, or why they were pretending too. It might have been better as a friends to lover situation. I also wish we got a little bit of Adam's POV. There were moments where his actions were confusing to me and I wanted to know more about what he was thinking. To me, while the banter was fun and made me not feel as connected to the book or characters. There was a lot of talk about the cake for the baseball player. I am not sure if that is trying to set up for another book or what but if not I feel like they could have edited that out. Overall, this book was good. I would read more by this author in the future. It was a cute read, and I loved how it showed different professions than I am use to seeing in books.

Thanks NetGalley, Megan Murphy, and Alcove Press for the free eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Fue agridulce. Por un lado tenemos a Elle que regresó para cuidar de su abuela, Lovie, que tiene alzheimer y está parte es muy triste porque la enfermedad ya está avanzada y son muy pocos los momentos en los que recuerda a su nieta.
Por el otro lado, tenemos a James quien es enfermero de Lovie, quien se enamora de Elle, es una buena persona, gran hermano y tío y un novio que siempre está apoyando.

Una lástima que él no narre ningún capítulo, siento que al libro le falta enfocarse un poco más en él, porque al final parece algo decorativo y tiene muchas cualidades para ser un personaje entrañable.

Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The first half of this book was pretty rough for me. The dislike between the two main characters felt really forced and I didn’t understand why they even really disliked each other. There weren’t really any interactions that were positive between the two in my opinion, and I like to see the characters getting to know and understand each other sooner in a book.

That being said, the back half was enjoyable. Adam ends up being very sweet and supportive towards Elle. You also start to get to know the characters much better and that understanding led to feeling more of an emotional connection to our lead and what she’s going through. I don’t find the “faking it” trope to actually be that big of an important factor in this story, so if you’re going into this look for that just know that. This book is good if you want to enjoy a simple, sweet and emotional romance.

Enemies to lovers and fake dating are two of my favorite tropes in romance novels. That’s what I found in Fake It Like You Mean It.

Megan Murphy's debut, "Fake It Like You Mean It" had me at Elle on the L (despite the initial reference to the Chicago subway system. Has anybody ever called it that?). Loved the depiction of living in Chicago, chatting it up on the L, but also being tied to somewhere more rural, a few hours outside of the city. This story resonated deeply with me and, as such, I gobbled it up in one rainy Sunday. The barrier between 4-5 stars here for me was it didn't make me cry (so a very strong 4 star here)!

I didn't totally understand the enemies behind the enemies-to-lovers trope in this case (you've already accepted help into your home, why are you so mad at this man?), but Murphy made it much easier to look past any such criticisms as I totally fell for Elle and Adam. I appreciated the complexity and depth of each character - it made the ups and downs of their potential relationship make more sense & feel more real.

As someone who has stepped in to a caregiving role for a loved one, Elle's story really hit home. I so appreciated the perspective and representation of caregiving, especially in one's twenties, and the whole of what it is and how unfortunate it can be. Elle's life didn't stop because she went home to stay with Lovie - it changed and she changed, but she retained a life outside of her world in Indiana- keeping in touch with friends, falling in love, it all still happened. The world kept spinning. And yet, Elle had to compartmentalize so much of herself and her feelings. It was a dutiful representation of such a situation.

Murphy certainly delivered on a realistic, heartstring-tugging romance. Thank you to Alcove Press & NetGalley for the E-Arc!

There were some really cute things about this book, but also things that I didn't like that much, so this one was so so for me. I will say that I did enjoy the banter between the MCs & the "ruse" that they put on for Lovie. Overall I think this is a fun book, but I'm not sure I would read it again.

Thank you alcove press for this ARC of Fake It Like You Mean It by Megan Murphy!

This is a truly beautiful debut that I’m going to have to demand (we are beyond insisting, tbh) you all add to your TBR immediately.

(US Pub date: March 18th ‘25)

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

The blurb warned me - really, I had every reason to know this one would be gut wrenching - but the full weight of it still hit me like a train that I would gladly get in the path of again. You’ve got a few of your tried-and-true romance tropes (forced proximity, fake relationship, only one [bed/room/house/universe?], etc) and let me tell you, Adam Wheeler is a MMC for the ages. But you also have a deeply tender and raw portrayal of the many forms grief finds us in - some of which are uglier and sharper than others.

Elle’s relationship with Lovie is a parallel of her relationship with herself. Lovie has been an unconditional, unrestrained, and unfiltered supporter of her for her entire life; and that has helped Elle become the confident, warm, and delightfully chaotic person she is. But as Lovie declines, and the way she views Elle changes, so does the way Elle views herself. Her despair over losing her favorite person in painful slow-motion is interwoven with self-doubt, anger, and a vulnerability she doesn’t know what to do with.

Adam is so tender with her, and nonjudgmental about all of the ways she processes - even when it hurts him, too. His open and honest care for Lovie and the way he can match (or counterbalance) Elle’s energy in a heartbeat brings both joy and security to the home they all share, and Elle’s independence and determination is the perfect balm for him.

TLDR: go preorder, babes. Also add some tissues to the cart.

Fake It Like You Mean It is an emotional rollercoaster wrapped in a heartwarming, fake-dating romance that strikes the perfect balance between laughter, tension, and tear-jerking moments. Megan Murphy crafts a deeply moving story centered on Elle, a woman who returns to her childhood home to care for her grandmother, Lovie, whose battle with Alzheimer’s is rapidly worsening. But Elle's world is further shaken when she finds Adam Wheeler, Lovie’s live-in nurse, occupying her old bedroom.

Elle and Adam's dynamic is delightfully entertaining, starting with their sharp-tongued banter and instant dislike, all the way to the slow, burning realization that there might be more between them than just playing pretend. When Lovie becomes convinced that they’re a couple, the two decide to humor her, playing along in what becomes an unexpectedly intimate and tension-filled fake relationship. As they care for Lovie together, their lives intertwine in a way that feels inevitable and real.

The romance between Elle and Adam feels authentic—it's not just a case of enemies becoming lovers for the sake of the trope. Instead, their relationship evolves naturally through shared moments of vulnerability, humor, and care. Murphy’s portrayal of Alzheimer’s is both compassionate and heartbreaking, making Lovie’s character a true anchor for the story. Her lucid moments and confusion are depicted with a tenderness that will resonate with anyone who has witnessed a loved one slip away to dementia.

Beyond the romance, the book explores the pain of watching someone you love fade away and the sense of loss that comes with it. Elle’s journey is not only about love but also about finding her own identity as she navigates grief, memory, and the weight of family responsibilities.

For fans of fake-dating and slow-burn romances, this book is an absolute gem. It offers all the light-hearted moments you'd expect from a rom-com, but it also provides so much more with its emotional depth and relatable characters. Fake It Like You Mean It is a heartfelt story about love in all its forms—romantic, familial, and self-love—making it a must-read for anyone looking for a story that will make them laugh, cry, and fall in love all over again.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Alcove Press for sharing this entertaining romance' s digital reviewer copy with me in exchange of my honest thoughts I highly appreciate.

3.75 stars. A short and sweet read!
Elle had to move back home because her grandmother Lovie’s Alzheimer’s progressing fast and she wanted to take care of Lovie before it’s too late. Arriving late at night and being so tired, Elle discovered a guy, Adam Wheeler, was sleeping in her childhood bed! As a live-in nurse, Adam is quick-tongued and complete opposite of Elle. They immediately started disliking each other. What’s worse, Lovie thought they were madly in love. They decided to pretend as lovers in front of Lovie and the romance begins…
I found this book very easy to read. It’s such a lovey-dovey romcom that it can also be a little boring because all the topes and plots are so familiar. The premise was interesting; however, the romance between the MCs are not convincing to me. I still do not understand how they became enemies in the first place. I would recommend it if you are looking for a no-brained quick read romance.

Fake It Like You Mean It is the perfect balance of laugh-out-loud comedy, slow-burn romance, and raw emotional moments. It takes on the classic fake dating trope but with a refreshing twist that’s grounded in the deeply moving context of Alzheimer's and it’s done with care and compassion.

The story of Elle and Adam, two unlikely companions thrown together to care for Elle's grandmother Lovie, is equal parts heartwarming and heartbreaking. Lovie’s Alzheimer’s progression is portrayed with a sensitivity that truly resonated with me, as someone who has lost a loved one to dementia. Megan's depiction of Lovie's moments of clarity and confusion felt incredibly real and brought me to tears on more than one occasion and transported me back to my own experiences.

Elle and Adam’s relationship is everything I love about a good enemies-to-lovers dynamic. Their banter is sharp, their chemistry is undeniable, and the slow build to romance is so sweet and butterfly inducing that I found myself rooting for them the entire time. The fake dating scenario, brought on by Lovie's belief that they’re already in love, adds just the right amount of tension and humour.

Some of the quotes from the book will stick with me long after finishing - the line, “I don’t know who I am if Lovie doesn’t,” is a gut punch, expressing the raw vulnerability of loving someone who’s slipping away and having to face a world where they no longer recognise you.

Megan has an incredible skill for crafting likable, engaging characters that feel real and relatable. Her ability to handle difficult topics with such sensitivity and compassion is truly remarkable. The depth of emotion she brings to the story, while balancing it with humour and romance, speaks to her excellent writing skills.

Fake It Like You Mean It is much more than a romance - it is a beautifully written debut that tackles hard-hitting issues without losing the lightness and joy that make it such a delightful read. It’s a story about family, memory, and the complicated ways love shows up in our lives.

Thank you, Megan Murphy and NetGalley, for allowing me to experience this beautiful debut. This review is dedicated to my grandad and all those who have had to watch their loved ones disappear 💙

Tengo sentimientos encontrados con este libro. Por un lado me gustó la temática, la forma en como se dio la relación amorosa e incluso las partes de Lovie (aunque fueran dolorosas). Por el otro lado me fue difícil simpatizar con Elle ya que se me hizo egocéntrica y como todo es desde su punto de vista, hubo partes que me costaron mucho.


Ojalá Adam tuviera povs, me gustaría leer que siente al cuidar a sus pacientes, como fue que se enamoró de Elle y su lucha por lo que quiere y su deber con su hermana.


Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.