An enjoyable and unique romance! The premise of this book grabbed my attention straight away and I was excited to receive an early copy! I feel like this is the perfect book to read on a beach somewhere so be sure to add it to your tbr list!!

this was a quick easy read. It makes a good beach read. Likeable characters and location. enjoyed the story.

I received this book as an eARC for an honest review. Thank you NetGalley.

Hate to Take it to You was a cute and fun summer read. The characters were not super relatable unless you are Instagram-famous for pretending to be someone you are not, but overall I still had a lot of fun while reading this book. It was comical to see the chaos that Libby and her crew got into. There was a lot of laugh out loud moment, but the whole story was so far-fetched and unbelievable, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing since it did make it entertaining.

I feel like I didn’t know enough about Hildy to make her side of the story make sense. The history between her and Jefferson could have been explained a little more. Also, Jean is still a bit of a mystery to me. Maybe it’s intentional to set her up as the main focus of a follow up book? I loved Keoki and his family. I wanted to give his grandmother a huge hug.

Overall, the book started out slow, but if you can put reality aside for some time and just go with it, it’s a hilarious take on a modern screwball comedy. I was laughing so hard at times, and the goats make it worthwhile. A fun read, but I don’t anticipate it being something I will read more than once.

I really liked the premise and I was excited to read it. But it fell flat for me. I tried to pick it back up a few times but it was a dnf for me.

Thank you to Amanda Sellet, St. Martin's Griffin, and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

How cute is this cover?! I love it. Unfortunately, I wasn't a big fan of this book. To me, the main characters didn't have a connection and I couldn't connect to them.

There were one or two times I did laugh, but other than that I felt like the plot dragged.

While I like the premise of this book, it is extremely hard to read. The story jumps from one half thought to another and I am extremely lost after just a few chapters. I think given some time to develop, this could someday be an enjoyable read. As it stands, I can’t recommend it.

Just couldn't get into it. Everything fell flat for me. It sounded good and the premise was intriguing but maybe I'm just told old to enjoy this one especially with the whole fake influencer persona going on.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC

With a cover and a premise like this book has I totally expected five stars but man this was a chore to finish. Right off the bat I was overly confused on the setting the characters and when chapter two switched to DIFFERENT characters, I would have liked some sort of clarification/heads up.

But as the story went on it got worse. Every single character was extremely insufferable and with no connection to them, I didn’t care what happened. I liked the authors note and how the island setting was a tribute to her real life but even that could have been done better. And the whole influencer aspect was intriguing but confusing because she was a fake character?

Ugh so much potential with no execution.

This was a book that was a quick, easy, breezy read. I really enjoyed the characters - so relatable. And the banter between all the characters was hilarious! This is the first time I have read one of Amanda Sellet books, but it will not be the last. I highly recommend this book, for me it was just a ray of sunshine. If you are having a difficult time in your life this is a great book to devour, I read this book while getting chemotherapy and it helped the time go by. Excellent book!

Amanda Sellet succeeds in creating a modern day screw ball/romcom which addresses one of our most revered contemporary villians, the social media influence. Highly entertaining mischievousness at play.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press | St. Martin's Griffin, and NetGalley for providing an eARC for a honest review.

ibby Lane, a waitress with a secret online life, has mastered the art of social media fakery. Her carefully curated Instagram persona, Lillibet, lives a glamorous and healthy existence, miles away from Libby's reality. But the line between real and reel blurs when a real influencer shows up on Lillibet's doorstep, seeking to turn her online fame into reality.

To keep the charade going, Libby and her friends embark on a mission of borrowed goats, made-up holidays, and a pretend husband. But things get complicated when Jefferson Jones, a handsome wildlife photographer with eyes as sharp as his camera, enters the picture. He sees through the facade, sparking a real connection with Libby that threatens to expose her entire web of lies.

As secrets unravel and misunderstandings pile up, Libby must navigate a chaotic world of fake influencers, hidden identities, and unexpected romance. Can she find love and acceptance by letting go of the pretend, or will her online persona swallow her whole?

First and foremost, I really liked this! I thought the preface was a nice touch, I like that Sellet had help from people who live/are native to the area when writing this. The descriptions of the island were so vivid, I felt like I could truly see what the characters were seeing.

This book was a breath of fresh air! Packed with light-hearted humor and delightful characters, I found myself rooting for almost everyone by the end. Libby's friend group is an absolute riot, and I loved the backstory of her online persona evolving from a joke to a full-fledged phenomenon. Both Libby and Jefferson are charming characters, but their romance felt more like a bonus subplot than the main driving force of the narrative. This perfectly suited the breezy, week-long timeframe of the story, making it a quick and enjoyable read. I wouldn't mind getting a whole book about Hildy either!

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Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martins Press for this ARC.

The author's note at the beginning of "Hate to Fake It to You" mentions that this is a love letter to the North Shore of Oahu and her ode to screwball comedy films.

One of my favorite aspects of this novel was the environment. I could picture myself on the dreamy, warm beach with sand between my toes, eating the shaved ice. The scenery is so well done, and I could tell this was certainly the author's love letter to a place that helped shape her worldview.

I am not a huge fan of a plotline centered around social media influencers, so it took me a bit to get into the actual story. I also did not like Libby's friends. I thought they gave horrible advice 🫣 However, this is a very sweet, clean romance book with hilarious one-liners. If that is your cup of tea, definitely try out this book!

I truly wanted to love this book. Great setting and premise but I just couldn't get into it. It just felt forced sadly

This book's plot was an absolute gem, bursting with unparalleled originality that kept me gleefully hooked from start to finish! The characters? Oh, they were a kaleidoscope of personalities, each as unique as a snowflake. Sure, they were a tad unpredictable, making them a bit like trying to catch fireflies, but hey, that mystery only added to the fun!

Now, let's talk about Miss Jean - a whirlwind of chaos wrapped in a bundle of unpredictability. While I couldn't quite pinpoint her essence, it only added to the excitement, leaving me eagerly flipping pages, waiting for that "aha!" moment.

And can we talk about the Hawaiian flair? At first, it was like being whisked away on a tropical adventure, with every page dripping in island charm. Sure, it tapered off a bit, but the magic lingered, keeping me enchanted throughout.

Okay, okay, I'll admit it - the beginning was a bit like waiting for a pot to boil. But once it picked up steam, I was on a rollercoaster ride of emotions, flipping pages faster than a kid in a candy store!

By the time I reached the end, I was practically doing cartwheels of joy! While I initially leaned towards a 3 or 3.5-star rating, the second half knocked it out of the park, earning this book a solid four stars in my book!

Now, imagine if the characters delved a bit deeper into their thoughts and the descriptions of Hawaii were as vivid as a Technicolor dream - that would've been the cherry on top! But hey, even without those extras, this book was an absolute blast! And trust me, I'm not one to dish out compliments lightly.

I looveeee a good fake dating romance!!! All the tension and frustrated screaming im doing to tell the charades to just LET IT HAPPEN ALREADY lol

This was such a great idea for a romance novel, i enjoyed getting to know the characters and how they worked in this story. The romance element worked well with everything that I wanted and enjoyed the overall feel of the book. Amanda Sellet has a great writing style and glad I was able to read this.

Thank you to the publisher for an eARC of this on Netgalley, for my unbiased opinion. All thoughts are my own and are not compensated for.

This book had so many hilarious moments between the characters! Our main character, Libby, has a fake social media persona "Lillibet," that is pretentious and a bit of a humble bragger....which is absolutely nothing like the real Libby. Libby's life could not be more opposite from how she embellishes Lillibet's life (with the art/photography help from her best friend Jean, and culinary skills of Keoki). This charade is all fun and games until an actual (rich) influencer wants to meet Lillibet and stay at her "beach house" in Hawaii (with her own private beach). Jean has created the whole plan to have Lillibet be as real as possible when meeting Hildy and Jefferson....so what could go wrong? I did eventually hate how Jean treats Libby, and almost put the book down because of how crappy of a friend she was being, but persevered and finished.

Some tropes for your interest:
- Found family
- Screwball humor
- Closed-door romance
- Romcom

Favorite out of context quote:
"You're going to wet yourself when you see it. Although I guess not, since Lillibet is the queen of Kegels."

This book had a lot going on. For me, it felt like there was a lot of background noise, and it wasn't all necessarily relevant to what was going on. It felt like some characters just showed up, and maybe I just felt like I wanted to know them more? I think if this was a second book and I had gotten to know the main 3 characters more, that would have helped immensely, whereas with the way it is it feels like I met about 9 relevant characters and only a couple felt fleshed out versus "oh this person is here to serve this purpose". I thought the premise was fun and interesting, and I loved the scenery - it definitely helped the book! I think this book is definitely worth a re-read, and I think that might bump up the rating as I spend more time with the characters. I think another thing that would have brought me value personally was an introductory chapter or so to know the characters and their backgrounds, or even a character list might have been enough. I got sucked into the whirlwind and chaos of their story right away and that resulted in a lower rating than if there had been a bit more foundation before diving in.

I requested to read and this book for free From St. Martin Publishing Company. The description for this book had me intrigued. I started reading it and then wasn't sure. But as I kept reading I was back to being intrigued and wanted to see how this was going to end. Guy gets the girl or everybody goes their own separate ways working on their own issues. I think a lot of who we choose to be can be interpreted in different ways. Online no one wants others to feel bad for them or to know how messy their life can be. But we know in real life it's messy and uncomplicated. But sometimes being you is the best part of you. Everyone loves a good story though and with Jean and Keoki help Libby can have that any maybe more. The saying goes team work makes the dream work and in this case it's true. Add in a Hilda and a Jefferson and you have hilarious, fun and possibly romantic comedy. This is for a mature audience but can be read anywhere!

<b>2.5 stars, rounded down</b>

Honestly, I’m not sure why I requested this book as I’m not a big fan of stories where the characters keep things from each other and that is the main conflict of this book.

I just didn’t like that Libby wasn’t honest with Hildy and Jefferson. There were plenty of opportunities and she didn’t take them.

There were a few funny moments and comments, but this one was a little <i>too</i> zany for my tastes. A lot of the comments were cheesy and over the top.

The “romance” (if you could call it that) was complete instalove and I didn’t see any connection between the two of them.

I also thought the friendship was somewhat toxic and guy who was pretending to be her husband was really weird and I didn’t like him at all.

I really enjoyed the setting which made me want to book my own Hawaiian vacation. I also loved the goats and that super cute cover as well.