I loved everything about this book! I went into it thinking it was going to be a fun, light hearted read but it turned out to be so much more. As someone who is a nurse and has grandparents that have suffered from Alzheimer’s, this book tugged at every single heart string.
It was such a beautifully written story. Megan Murphy did a fantastic job balancing the serious moments with comedic relief. I smiled, giggled, and even shed a couple of tears.

I’m not usually one to listen to romance audiobooks but this one immediately grabbed my attention. The only thing that could have made it even better was if there was a male narrator as well.

Thank you NetGalley and DreamScape media for this AudioArc.
I truly cannot wait to read more from Megan Murphy ❤️

⭐️ Tropes: forced proximity, fake dating, enemies to lovers, one bed, slow burn, found family
⭐️ intertwined podcast, Nurse MMC, HEA

This book had all the feels. After a large childhood traumatic event, Ellie's grandmother, Lovie, took her in and raised her. Years later, Lovie is more progressively succumbing to Alzheimers and Ellie needs to return to her childhood home to prepare for further care and taking care of Lovie. The company caring for Lovie had arranged for her carer to switch to full time live in so now Lovie has Ellie AND Adam caring for her. This creates an interesting turn of events with throwing the two together in the most bizarre of ways, all in the name of not distressing her grandmother in her condition.
There's a lot of working through history, through trauma, through the very difficult life of caring for a loved one and losing someone to Alzheimers.

It was beautiful and lovely, comical and honest. It was so satisfying and really hard to put down.

(4.5 Stars) Thank you, @netgalley @meganmurphywrites @dreamscapeaudio and @alcovepress, for the #gifted advanced listening copy of this beautiful, emotional debut.

Ellie was raised by her grandmother, Lovie, and now finds herself in a new chapter of their relationship as Lovie’s Alzheimer’s progresses, making independent living impossible. Temporarily leaving behind her life in Chicago - where she’s a well-known podcaster - Ellie returns to her Indiana hometown to coordinate Lovie’s care with an in-home nurse until a spot opens in a care facility. That’s how she meets Adam, the compassionate but no-nonsense nurse assigned to help.

Navigating her own emotions about Lovie’s decline, Ellie struggles with following Adam’s advice and facing the memories tied to her hometown. But everything shifts when Lovie, in a moment of confusion, believes Ellie and Adam are actually her younger self and her late husband. To avoid distressing Lovie, Ellie and Adam play along with the charade. What starts as a harmless act of kindness soon leads to undeniable chemistry, as Ellie begins to see Adam for who he truly is - a steady, caring presence she never expected to need. But Adam has his own struggles, and as reality presses in, they both have to ask: is their growing connection just pretend, or something real worth fighting for?

This was an absolutely stunning debut. The small, intimate world that Ellie, Adam, and Lovie create is both tender and deeply moving, filled with moments of quiet resilience and unexpected joy. Murphy balances emotional depth with lighthearted, comedic moments as Ellie and Adam navigate an enemies-to-lovers, fake relationship, forced proximity, one-bed dynamic - all elements that keep the story engaging while still honoring its heartfelt core. The progression of Ellie and Adam’s relationship felt natural and sincere, and I loved how Murphy took the time to build their emotional connection. Highly recommend!

🎧 Audiobook Notes 🎧
Alex Picard delivers a beautiful solo narration, capturing Ellie’s emotional journey with nuance and warmth. She brings sensitivity to Lovie’s storyline while infusing humor and chemistry into Ellie and Adam’s evolving relationship. At 10 hours, this is a deeply engaging listen.

OMG, get this book! All the best tropes, such a beautiful story, lovely human beings, lots of emotions, and of course some romance. You get all the fun and joy of a romcom with more depth and so many relatable characters!

Elle’s grandma, Lovie, raised her and has always been her number one fan. Now that Lovie suffers from Alzheimer's and needs intensive care, it’s time for Elle, a successful podcaster, to step up and help her. And it’s a tough job. When Elle returns home and finds live-in nurse Adam, they instantly clash (and there’s instant chemistry and all the right kinds of tension). When Lovie mistakes them for a happy couple in love, they play along, thinking she’ll forget…but the joke’s on them…

I loved this book so much! I went into it thinking it would be a fun, light read with maybe a little heaviness—and it had plenty of happy moments, hilarity, things that made me smile—but also wove the heavy themes beautifully. Caring for a person you love who has Alzheimer's is no joke, and there are some tough situations in the book, but the author still managed to make it uplifting and beautiful. Elle and Adam took a while, but it was totally worth it! And Adam might be one of my new favorite book boyfriends—if you love the generous, loving, understanding, kindhearted type, he’s your guy.

The only thing I would have liked is more of Adam’s point of view, as the story comes solely from Elle.

Rating: 4.8
Themes and Tropes: Fake Relationship, Only One Bed, Enemies to Lovers, Proximity, Slow Burn, Podcaster FMC, Nurse MMC, Caring for a Loved One, Alzheimer's, Tall FMC and MMC

Fake It Like You Mean It by Megan Murphy (Narrated by Alex Picard)
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This one really surprised me—in the best way. Fake It Like You Mean It isn’t just a sweet, fake-dating romance (though it absolutely delivers on the charm and chemistry); it’s also a really tender story about grief, caregiving, and the heartbreak of watching someone you love battle Alzheimer’s. That part hit especially close to home for me, and I really appreciated how thoughtfully it was handled.

Yes, the romance kicks off a little fast, but honestly, when life throws you into intense situations, feelings tend to follow suit. And the growth we see in the main character? So good. I loved watching her find her strength and navigate both love and loss with vulnerability and heart.

Also—props to Alex Picard’s narration! It pulled me right in and made the emotional moments land even harder. If you like your romance with a side of real-life depth and healing, this one’s worth picking up.

Megan Murphy’s debut novel was so real, raw, and honest. It dove deep into what it is like taking care for someone with Alzheimer’s, how it takes a village to get through those times, the reality of caregiver burnout, and still managed to give us an incredibly sweet romance.

In just a few pages you get to witness Elle’s journey. She’s stubborn, strong, and relatable. Adam is logical, observant and sweet. Both grumpy. And together they stumble through life and fall in love in one of the best slow burn, fake dating, forced proximity (yes there is only one bed) romances I have read this year.

Fake It Like You mean it is sweet, fun, relatable, heartbreaking, and spicy, all rolled into one. Definitely deserved those 5 stars and I think I will be recommending it to EVERYONE. It is worth it!

An adorable story about Elle, who moves home to take care of her grandmother, Lovie, that has Alzheimer’s. Elle’s grandmother raised her after her parents died. When she walks in, she finds Adam, the round-the-clock nurse, in her bed. Lovie mistakens Elle and Adam for herself and her late husband. Elle and Adam learn to play along. I love the slow-burn, fake-dating, forced proximity troupes, they are my favorites. Unfortunately, I know all too well the care for someone with memory problems and the situations memory patients can get into. The characters were amazing, especially Elle’s character who was flawed and didn’t really know how to deal with the new version of Lovie. I found myself heartbroken at moments and smiling at other parts of the story. This was a story of empathy, love and change.

Elle moves back to her childhood home to care for her grandmother, who has Alzheimer. Her Grandmother raised her and she's trying to get her on her ins so she can put her in a care center to have around the clock help. Until then a service she's using is having to have someone there around the clock and the main nurse is Adam.

From the moment they meet there is such a hostility towards each other that didn't make a lot of sense to me. When we dive into the heart of the story of taking care of her grand mother who doesn't remember her and having to navigate that part which was heartbreaking to read. But having her and Adam hate each other from the get go was a misstep to me. I wish they could of been friends from the start and it would of made a romance more believable and the romance to me didn't work.

Thank You NetGalley for this Audio Arc in exchange for my honest thoughts.

Oof! I got smacked right in the feels with this one.

I laughed, a lot. I cried, A LOT. I swooned, and kicked my feet, and just all around had a fantastic time listening to Alex Picard bring Elle and Adam's story to life!

4.75 ⭐️

The emotions I went through reading this book… I laughed, I cried, I smirked, I swooned, and I fell in love.

The scenes with Elle’s grandmother were heartbreaking, while the scenes between Elle and Adam had me kicking my feet and screaming, “Just kiss already!” Their banter had me smirking through half the book.

Adam is such an amazing character, checking all the boxes: caring, understanding, thoughtful… just how I like my MMCs. It was a sweet romance, but it was also an eye-opening look at the day-to-day life of a caregiver.

The narrator did an incredible job portraying all the emotions. I really loved listening to the audiobook!

Thank you Megan Murphy, Dreamscape media & NetGalley for the ALC, this is my honest review ✨

𝐀𝐝𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐓𝐁𝐑 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞:
💛 Fake dating
🩵 Slow burn
💛 Only one bed
🩵 Banter & tension
💛 Alzheimer’s rep

I loved this book! It had so many fun, sweet moments with Elle and Adam. The beginning of their relationship was a little rough in terms of me actually believing that they would end up together, but by the end i really liked how authentic their characters turned out to be. They are real and flawed and they ended up working through their mistakes.

With all of the giggles and blushes with Elle and Adam, there are also heartbreaking moments with Lovie, whose Alzheimer’s is progressing and she no longer recognizes Elle or herself. This is really what makes the book shine to me, the difficulties Elle and Lovie go through in the face of this disease. I cried so many times, and a scene near the end of the book, ugh!

I think the podcast aspect of the book was really interesting. “Elle on the L” is such a fantastic premise and I think the transition from Elle focusing on that original podcast to starting one about Lovie is such a natural progression. Very well done!

I’m looking forward to reading more from this author!

Megan Murphy’s Fake It Like You Mean It took me by surprise! While I expected a fun fake-dating romance, I was met with humor and sincerely emotional moments. Featuring the struggles of Alzheimer’s made this book feel so real. I listened as the main characters experienced grief and added familial responsibilities but was equally comforted by their budding romance. Elle and Adam had such great chemistry with their relationship developing very naturally. I was so appreciative of how vulnerable they were able to be with each other. I love a slow burn and this one was definitely worth it. If you love romance that balances sweet, witty exchanges with authentic, emotional depth, this one needs to be on your TBR.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Dreamscape media for the chance to read and review this title!

The narration was pitch perfect and added to the overall quality of my experience.
This book felt very mature, and I was happy to read a romcom with real stakes and conflict that wasn't predicted on miscommunication. The Lovie arc was handled with realism and sensitivity, and I applaud the author for including such heavy subject material in what could have been a fairly light hearted enemies to lovers story.
On the other hand, I felt the enemies part to be a bit unnecessary and unconvincing. There was plenty of built in circumstantial conflict already, the whole "I don't understand why this home health aide I hired to live in my grandma's home is in my grandma's home," aspect didn't land well. Don't get me wrong, I like an enemies to lovers trope as well as anyone, but it did rob some of the realism from what is otherwise a very realistic novel about care, aging, and coming to terms with the past. If I could magically restructure the plot I'd have elle indifferent to Adam, maybe a little annoyed, then forced to pretend to be in a relationship and grudgingly noticing his many good qualities. The whole "I hate him for doing his job" bit just doesn't ring authentic and sticks out like a sore thumb in a story that includes such emotionally charged material.

This was a FANTASTIC debut about Elle, a podcaster from Chicago who moves into her grandmother's home to help with her care after an Alzheimer's diagnosis. Space is limited though and she has to learn to get along with her grandmother's nurse, Adam. The two get off on the wrong foot immediately in a hilarious late night meet-cute involving a vibrator and the banter between them doesn't stop from start to finish.

I loved the emotional depth in this story and how well the author does writing about Alzheimer's from both the patient and caregiver perspectives. Great on audio narrated by Alex Picard and highly recommended for fans of books like Say you'll remember me by Abby Jimenez or Can't get enough by Kennedy Ryan (two other books with Alzheimer's rep releasing this year). Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early audio copy in exchange for my honest review!

I will not lie I was a little worried when I began reading this book. It starts out so strong and then we meet our MMC and I was worried we were in an insta-love/lust scenario but this book won me over.

This story follows Elle, a podcaster, as she travels home to take care of her grandmother Lovie, the woman who raised her. When she arrived she learns she is not alone in this task and the prickly nurse, our MMC Adam makes sure she understands she has no idea how unequipped she is for this task. Following Elle’s journey of caretaking for Lovie was sweet and sentimental. I love that it showed the truth and harsh side of being a caretaker for someone with Alzheimer’s. Seeing the lose of the sweet person she knew and still having to take care of her was beautiful. Of course the attraction between Elle and Adam was there but seeing how the love developed was fantastic. I really enjoyed the mix between the depth of the relationships and the passion of the romance.

I recommend this book to anyone who has been touched by Alzheimer’s and wants a little fluff. Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this story.

Narration: 5 stars, really well done. Alex does a great job balancing both characters' speaking voices and I felt didn't overact with some of the more humorous situations.

Content: This is a solid romance. I loved the forced proximity of the boundaries blurring between workplace into the personal. I had to drop a star unfortunately for the beginning set up. It felt so clear it was forced "enemies" to lovers when I feel like the stakes could have been just as high if they actually acted like real humans when they first met. The accusations and misunderstanding at first, sure, but it really made no logical sense for why he of all people she took issue with when she had no problems with past caregivers of her grandma and him to her to act professionally.

Overlooking that, the rest of this book was great! I don't normally gravitate towards terminal illness in romance but it didn't feel gratuitous. The sad parts and the angst felt familiar in a safe way, not too emotionally devastating which I thought was well done keeping this feeling like a romance vs fiction/story just about the FMC's journey.

Thank you to Dreamscape Media for the ALC, I will be looking up this narrator again!

Really enjoyed this sweet story, and loved the added layer of something from my own reality - caregiving.

It had so many cute moments and was packed full of heart. I could have used a bit more spice, but as it was... it was really well done. Great story! I thought I was going to hate the podcast parts, but they were among some of my favorites.

A great read!

I often listen to romance at work because if you miss a little in the middle, it’s OK; there will be a HEA, most likely. This one, however, while listed as a romance, and has romance as the underlying theme, is about much more. I love the idea of Elle’s podcasts and the journey she takes with her more personal one about her grandmother’s struggles with Alzheimer’s. It’s not just mentioned a few times; there are a variety of scenes that stir all the emotions – frustration as she deals with the many ins-and-outs of insurance and healthcare, embarrassment when Lovie fat-shames Elle, sadness when Lovie doesn’t remember her, outrage when Lovie hurts her physically; we follow along as Elle navigates it all and really feel what she’s feeling. It has given me a better understanding of what caregivers face. The romance was cute but, for me, not central to the plot. While I enjoyed the banter between Elle and Adam, they could have also been written as an already married couple and it would have felt the same. For me, this was more about the characters and their deeper relationships.

If you're a fan of fake dating, enemies-to-lovers, and swoon-worthy forced proximity, then Fake It Like You Mean It is about to be your new favorite rom-com. And if you, like me, have a soft spot for a tragic backstory and a broody yet soft-hearted love interest (hello, Adam!), then buckle up because this book delivers on all fronts.

Elle and Adam's bickering-turned-sizzling chemistry is the stuff of Hallmark movie dreams (seriously, someone pitch this to them ASAP). Add in Lovie, the sharp yet heartbreakingly forgetful grandma who wants to see some romance before losing her memories. You've got the perfect mix of laughter, tears, and "Oh no, am I falling in love with my fake boyfriend?" moments.

As someone with family members battling dementia, this book hit me right in the feels—but in a way that felt both refreshing and real. It doesn't sugarcoat the struggles of caregiving. Still, it reminds us of the love, humor, and unexpected connections that can bloom in the most challenging moments. And because I'm a psychological thriller girl at heart, I spent the whole book bracing for it to Notebook me (no spoilers, but let's just say I had tissues and wine ready).

Also, bonus points for the fantastic audiobook narration. I could've listened to Alex Picard all day. A must-read (or listen!) for rom-com lovers, podcasters, and anyone who's ever wished their fake relationship would magically turn real. 💕📖✨

Megan Murphy’s new novel, “Fake It Like You Mean It” was perfection. The perfect blend of enemies to lovers and a fake dating trope. The chemistry between Elle and Adam was top tier and I couldn’t put the book down. This book was beautiful and heartwarming, but also has me laughing at loud. Would definitely recommend!