I generally don't, but loved the alternating chapters, and the voices were obviously different. However, there were parts of the books I just could not get into, but it was still overall entertaining.

I am definitely in the minority on this book. But after it has sat on my shelf for months and with repeated attempts to read I realize this just ins't a good fit for me. I could not connect with the characters at all and thus struggled with the storyline.

Other readers have loved this book so please take their reviews into account.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing.

Some of It was Real is a romance with some supernatural and mystery elements. Sylvie is a stage psychic-medium who connects people with loved ones on the other side. She's cornered by journalist Thomas after a show. He's planted fakes in her audience (including himself) using fabricated social media accounts to influence her research before a show. Sylvie's name will appear in an exposé about emotional vampire con artists in the industry, but she can tell her side of the story if she wishes. Sylvie takes his bargain to travel with her for the week leading up to her next show. Thomas will take away her opportunities to research her audience, and Sylvie can try to prove she's the real deal. Meanwhile, Sylvie hopes to use his interview questions and a visit to her unsupportive parents to manipulate Thomas and win him over to her side. She'll do anything to protect her career and survive. On the journey, it comes to light that Sylvie's been lied to about her bio parents. This coincides with the mystery of Sylvie not remembering anything about the first six years of her life before adoption, particularly strange given her eidetic memory. There are secrets and trauma in her past that both Thomas and Sylvie are determined to uncover, leading to tentative teamwork. Thomas still doubts Sylvie and hates her profession, and Sylvie still intends to ruin his story, but they will work together on chasing down the truth.

The romance is enemies-to-lovers with forced proximity. There's also a splash of "only one bed" and fake dating. While I didn't have a problem with their romantic journey or where it ends up, I do think it's the weaker plot in the story despite being the central one. There are some touching emotional moments, particularly as Sylvie helps Thomas deal with his elderly cat at the end of her life. The heavy foreshadowing makes this not a spoiler, but trigger warning for pet death. My ugly crying was no joke. Because of these strong emotional beats, the antagonism between our leads feels forced at times since they are growing so close and sharing vulnerabilities. They both continually claim they intend to throw the other under the bus given the perfect opportunity despite their evolving circumstances. I ~will~ say that the lack of final act breakup was a major win. The upshot is that the romance was ok but not as compelling as the mystery.

The danger with building suspense or mystery is that it puts a lot of pressure on a big reveal to make or break the story. Either it pays off in shock or emotion or the whole thing that was pulling the reader falls flat and shrivels. This is a case where the resolution was satisfying on many fronts, so I would recommend the mystery part of the story. Each clue is illuminating and interesting, each revelation gives more for Sylvie to consider as she reframes her understanding of herself. She finds closure for something she didn't know she was struggling with, and it propels her life in a new direction. Thomas also has some past traumas to confront. While they aren't mysterious like Sylvie's, their resolution has a similarly strong emotional impact as hers. Note the following trigger warnings: drowning, child abuse, murder, estranged parents, and a discussion of the failings of our foster care system.

I recommend this book to readers who enjoy romance with strong non-romantic side plots, particularly if you like mystery elements. It's got a bit of spice, the potential for a lot of tears, and some heart-warming moments to balance it all out. Thanks to Berkley for my copy to read and review!

I'm sorry--I was so frustrated with the characters' whiplash behavior that, since I didn't find them all that likeable to begin with, I couldn't even remotely buy the romance. This has to be the first romance book I ever read where *I skipped the sex scenes.* I just wanted to see if she ever figured out her origin story and what it was, but beyond that I made no connection with them at all.

Sylvie *is* actually cheating when she "reads" people in the audience. (Her manager gets the names of ticket-holders and gathers intel, so she guaranteed has something to say, when in real life she might not get a read on a particular person.) Thomas has got some real "love-the-sinner-hate-the-sin" vibes going on in wanting to help a woman discover her real past, only the goal remains, as he states repeatedly in the book, to completely destroy her career, and therefore her sense of self, in the end. Dude, she might still be self-loathing enough to be up for a hate hook-up if that's what you're throwing down, but I don't even have to remotely be interested or read about it.

Interesting premise but didn't like the execution.

I think this was one of the first concept driven books I've read in a minute that actually lived up to the concept. A solid purchase for most libraries.

Tales about psychics are a dime-a-dozen, but author Fischer makes this book stand out with her well-drawn, believable characters. I was hooked right away and stayed on for the great ride she created.

This is a really good book about finding yourself along with love, and I can't wait to read more of Fischer in the future!

Oh my gosh this book was incredible! It has everything mystery, romance and so much more.
Sylvia Young believes she has special gift to connect with spirits and she calls herself a psychic medium. Only twenty four years old, she’s a young star about to sign a contract for her own TV show , she always sells out every theatre. She brings closure to many grief stricken family’s.
Thomas Holmes is LA Times reporter who is bound and determined to fix his reputation after the last story he wrote completely ruined his career, and also adamant to prove that Sylvia is a fake and she makes money off fooling people. So he approaches Sylvia and joins her on a road trip which includes meeting with her foster parents and the social workers who know more about her childhood. She always felt like a part of her was missing, and she keeps having dreams that she wakes up from covered in sweat, she also suffers from panic attacks. She was always told her biological parents died in the plane crash , and she soon realizes that her adopted parents may have lied to her about her past and they also disapprove of her business as a psychic and she’s no longer welcome home. As we follow along with Sylvia trying to prove she’s not a fake and Thomas dealing with his own past, we find these two broken people slowly becoming closer , and realizing you can face your past and also have a beautiful future as well as romance. I cannot say it enough I loved this book!!

Nan Fischer did an excellent job of introducing every character and pulling me into their story. Sometimes I loved them, and sometimes I wanted to shake them senseless - but the point is, through the entire book, I was engaged. I picked the book up and didn't want to put it down; as I went through my day, I was continually plotting how and when I could get back to it.

This story was fun, unique, emotional, addictive — I never wanted it to end!

Sylvie is an up-and-coming psychic/medium until Thomas, a journalist for the LA Times, threatens to expose her as a fraud. Together, they play a game of cat and mouse — Sylvie determined to prove herself and Thomas determined to find her secrets. But neither are ready for the truths they uncover and the unexpected feelings that develop.

Beyond the originality of the plot and the slow-burn, enemies-to-lovers romance, this was a story of self-discovery and self-acceptance for two very stubborn, very lost individuals.

Overall, I absolutely adored this book and it has easily climbed its way into my top reads of the year. If it’s not already on your radar, I highly suggest adding it, because it has everything you want in a contemporary story.

I knew I would love this book from the moment I read the premise … and it didn’t disappoint. It kept me reading from page one and has all the great elements of mystery and romance that I look for in a great book. Sylvie is a loveable psychic-medium who isn’t sure of herself and her abilities. Thomas is a reporter set out to prove the truth. Need I say more?

This is touching and emotive contemporary about Sylvie Young, up and rising psychic-medium who has all her events booked, TV shows offers, helps people getting over their loss but Thomas Holmes, a reporter for the LA Times, thinks she is fraud and grief vampire and threatens her to expose her in front page unless she tells her real story. As they start digging in Sylvie’s past, secrets come out and truth is discovered that might threaten to destroy them both.The story is about loss, grief, childhood trauma, manipulations, truth, lies, secrets, survival, parental expectations, pressure, and bias, self-discovery, kindness, and love.

Plot is super interesting and character driven. I expected this to be good but I wasn’t expecting this to be touching and moving. There is so much depth, emotions, mystery and suspense here.

Both Sylvie and Thomas are flawed and realistic, carrying painful past baggage that they couldn’t get over, has different reasons to dig more about Sylvie’s past and it was wonderful to see how they both evolve over the course of story, how their hate for each other turned into respect and love.

Romance is super realistic and genuine with lots if emotional conflicts. Their on and off feelings, cat and mouse chase, work together and at the same time working against each other made this “will they won’t they” thing super interesting.I loved the layer of dysfunctional family, how parents could be so hard and austere and unrelenting and how that can drive their own kids away from them.

There is layer of bending law to save people, flaws of foster system, prejudice, and judgments. I liked the way author represented psychics and their work, how some can be real while others make it a means to earning money. The religious element made it more interesting.Mystery of Sylvie’s past, of her biological parents and why there wasn’t any information about her first six years of life is suspenseful. Author kept me on the edge until the last couple of chapters. I kept speculating what might have happened and when it was revealed it brought tears. End is heartwarming, uplifting, and filled with hope and goodness.

Overall, this is beautiful, deep, touching, and tragic contemporary about Psychics with layers, family drama, and mystery.

"Some of It Was Real" was a surprise 5 star read for me! I was pleasantly surprised to find a romance that had depth in its storyline along with mature characters with personality and a touch of mystery.

Psychic-medium Slyvie is determined to prove to local journalist Thomas that her unique set of skills is real, that she's not out conning people with her "grief vampire" actions. What unfolds is a story that forces both Slyvie and Thomas to look within to find the truth, to dig deeper for answers, some of which are hard to hear. I really loved that Thomas was able to get his answer on Slyvie's abilities while helping her learn the truth about her history.

This book was the perfect mix of mystery and love story. The opposites attract, flawed characters worked well within the pages of "Some of It Was Real" leaving me eager to read more from Fischer.

This story is one where you can't help but root for the main characters and you quickly become invested in what happens. Both of them have animals and that is a soft spot for me. The story is fascinating and has mysteries wrapped inside mysteries. The writing is fantastic and the plot is very well done. The book gets quite a bit darker than the cover would lead you to believe but it was an excellent read.

Some of It was Real by Nan Fischer was a complete surprise for me. I knew nothing about this book or author, which is crazy because she’s written many books. The story focuses on Sylvie, a psychic medium that can convene with those who have passed. Personally, I’m a fan of John Edwards, an actual TV personality/psychic medium who does the same thing as Sylvie. Could he be a hoax, who knows?

What I do know is that this story line was right up my alley as Thomas, a journalist, tries to bring Sylvie down and prove that she’s up to nothing but pure trickery. Both main characters have secrets and painful memories they’d like kept so they continue to go back and forth on who has the upper hand.

There are plenty of twists in this story and I ate all of them up. I really rooted for Sylvie and her dog and felt such loss with the storyline regarding her parents. At one point I slapped the book shut in pure anger at her mother. I really enjoyed the voices of both characters as they healed and grew into the people they were meant to become.

Loved it! We’ll written characters and a truly compelling story, made for a story that I could not put down. Caught myself at 2am in the morning bawling my eyes out. This book gave me all the feels.

What a great story! I have a new favorite theme in books, and apparently it involves a psychic.

Sylvia Young has a special gift of connecting with spirit, and is on a path to help others connect with lost loved ones. But is she really gifted after all? L.A Reporter Thomas Holmes is on a mission to uncover and expose Sylvie for a fraud.

I loved the mystery and connection behind Sylvia’s past, and thought this was such a great read.

*many thanks to Berkley for the gifted copy for review

Some of It Was Real is such a beautiful story. We first meet Sylvie Young, a rising psychic medium superstar, at one of her live shows where she performs a reading for audience member Thomas, who turns out to be a skeptic and purposely created a backstory through social media to show that Sylvie researches the audience members in advance and that she is a fraud. He is out to expose her with an article on grief vampires for the LA Times.

I don't want to say more without the possibility of giving away spoilers, but there is so much more to this story than the potential explosive expose article of Sylvie. It's filled with love, loss, redemption, and a good reminder to always believe in yourself. Not to mention, Sylvie's quest to find out what really happened to her birth parents before she was adopted.

While it's lighthearted and fun, there are some very serious and sad points that I found myself tearing up during. It was a beautiful story, with a beautiful ending.

Highly recommend. 4.5/5 stars

Thank you Berkley Publishing and NetGalley for the eARC!

This book is beautiful. I truly connected to the characters. I loved Sylvie and Thomas so much. I was drawn in immediately and had a hard time putting it down to discuss with my bookclub. I loved this so much. Might end up being one of my favorites of the year!

4.5 STARS

What a completely original and engrossing story!! It’s difficult to categorize this book into one specific genre but I could not put it down.

A compelling story of a psychic-medium filled with self-doubt, this book also delves into a mystery with lots of dysfunctional family drama along the way. There’s also a bittersweet romance but it’s all done beautifully.

The story is told in separate points of view from Thomas and Sylvie’s perspectives. Both have more in common than they first think. Thomas is looking for a career-saving piece of investigative journalism, by exposing Sylvie as a fraud. Although Sylvie seemed like the real deal to me (I do believe in psychics and intuition), she herself is filled with doubts.

”Is Thomas right that I’m rationalizing fraud? My reflection in the mirror blurs, like I’m losing definition, beginning to disappear. My heart doubles its beat. No. I’m the real deal and help people.”

Both are masters of manipulation and gamesmanship and I loved the cat-and-mouse lasted of the story. Sylvie takes a big gamble allowing Thomas to meet her family but the encounter pays off for Sylvie: Thomas finally sees the dysfunction that has shaped her.

Whether or not you believe in mediums or psychics, this book offers a fascinating glimpse into the “business” side of things. Will Thomas ever fully trust Sylvie or believe in her gifts? And do they have enough trust to love each other unconditionally?

Burying my face in her hair, I whisper, “I don’t want to hurt you.”

“You will,” she replies. “It’s the human condition.”

There’s also so much more to this magical book: the foster care system, mental health, repairing family relationships, as well as the beautiful bond Sylvie and Thomas both have with their pets Moose and Christopher Robins. This book really defies genres and I hope it gets the wide audience it deserves. Part thriller, part romance and a tiny bit paranormal, Sylvie and Thomas truly came alive as characters in this very original, touching and gripping story. I read a lot of books, but this inventive plot really stands out. Highly recommend!!

(Special thanks to the publisher for providing me with a review copy via NetGalley! All thoughts are my own.)