This book was everything! Fake dating turned to real love always has me on a chokehold. This sapphic romance had me turning pages and on the edge of my seat cause I just knew that cousin of hers was going to pull something out of his butt. The steamy scenes were on point, the banter and plot were fantastic and you will just not want to put this down!

This book wasn't exciting but really cute and perfect for fans of fake dating and readers' who want to be swept off their feet with a romance book cover model. Bellefleur has some fun details for her characters that made this a step above your basic romance.

I received this book for free from netgalley for an honest review.

My girlfriend read this with me. It was so great so sweet! Perfect buddy read.

“If it had to be anyone, I’m so glad that it’s you.”

This was fun! THE FIANCÉE FARCE is a sapphic marriage-of-convenience romance between a reserved bookseller and a wealthy part-time romance cover model. The leads, Tansy and Gemma, had great chemistry and I enjoyed watching their relationship slowly build and solidify. This story didn’t woo me though. The set up was pretty outlandish and I struggled through the first section. I didn’t find their character arcs that compelling so it was hard to stay invested. Not to mention the cover failed me in multiple ways. Maybe I’m not the right person for Bellefleur’s novels; I’ve read them all and find them increasingly - normative, perhaps? Definitely cheesy. They kind of bore me! I think sometimes I want something more subversive, more revolutionary about my queer love stories than Bellefleur gives. But also, her world is free of homophobia, and her characters do get to be just hot queer people falling in love - which is the type of fantasy many of us are looking for. I know many will love the romcom tropes and Taylor Swift references Bellefleur packs in here alongside the difficult topics she tackles. Thanks to Avon Books for the review copy!

Content warnings: sexual harassment, loss of a parent, bullying, emotional abuse, toxic relationship

Alexandria Bellefleur writes the most amazing, whimsical love stories and The Fiancée Farce is no exception.

This was such a great sapphic romance especially if you love marriage of convenience/fake engagement, millionaire love interest, book store worker/owner and "let me spoil you" tropes.

To get her family off of her back, Tansy makes up a fake relationship. She uses the cover model of a book she has seen in the book store where she works as her pretend girlfriend. Much to her surprise, Gemma, that cover model shows up at a wedding she is attending. Thankfully Gemma plays along with Tansy's story and goes even further wanting Tansy to pretend to be her fiancé so she can receive an inheritance she is due. As with the best marriage of convenience/fake dating stories, what starts out as a ruse, soon becomes more real than they ever imagined.

This story is beautiful and whimsical and I could not put it down. I loved the tender moments between Tandy and Gemma and the way Gemma went out of her way to take care of Tansy. Bellefleur writing the most amazing characters and Tansy and Gemma are certainly up there as some of the best ones she has written.

I would highly recommend checking out this book.

Thank you to the publisher for an EARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

A charming contemporary romance with engaging main characters that I could root for. I could see them staying together forever, and the smarmy villain was just as terrible as he ought to be.

I loved this book! Gemma and Tansy were delightful, and I also appreciated the more serious topics it covered, including grief and toxic relationships.

I have a soft spot in my heart for Alexandria Bellefleur. If you enjoyed her other books, I think this is probably a suitable choice for you. Bi rep meets marriage of convenience? I was ecstatic to read this book! Unfortunately, it wasn't a homerun for me the way some of Bellefleur's other books have been. I found myself thinking a little too hard about the mechanics of the story, and about the timeline these two lovebirds were following. If I'm thinking about things like that, it's because something about the plot was clunky-- I am not an analytical reader by nature, it only happens when I am forced out of the story. Throw in some out-of-character actions in the final 10% of the book and I was over the ending. A good, not great, read. Trysts in the library will always earn a star though, so I'm comfortable with a 3.5, rounded down.

Tansy cannot win when it comes to love, so she invents a fake girlfriend, Gemma, inspired by a model on the cover of a romance book. But when she meets the real-life Gemma at her step-cousin’s wedding, she is forced to face that lie head on. Gemma is the black sheep of her family, and now the heir to the family business. With one condition: she must be married. When she meets Tansy it is the perfect opportunity to say they are actually engaged. The two form a marriage of convenience, but they can’t ignore the real chemistry between them.

Gemma and Tansy might be one of my new favorite fictional couples. I loved them together and how their personalities really complimented each other. The way this marriage of convenience played out was *chef’s kiss*. There was the perfect balance of sass, sweetness and steam. I would have liked it to be a bit less insta-love and there were a lot of side characters to keep track of, but otherwise I loved this book!

Thank you to Avon Books and NetGalley for the advance copy.

Thank you so much to Avon and Netgalley for providing an advanced copy of this! All thoughts and opinions are still my own.

Alexandria Bellefleur is quickly becoming a favorite trade author of mine for sapphic romances. Not only are books beautifully written, but the romances are both swoony AND steamy.

This is the start of new series (not tied to her Written in the Stars series) and I desperately want more books in this world.

This book, on top of being a romance, was a love letter to romance as a whole. Following a bookstore owner and romance cover model, there were so many little nods to romance readers and the genre. Which I LOVED.

This also had such a fantastic fake dating plot line. I loved how these characters got into their wild situation right away and just rolled with it. Both of them need a relationship for separate reasons, but their willingness to just go along and help out another stranger was so fun.

Plus their romance stole me heart. The way these two fall for each was fantastic. It never felt insta-lovely (despite moving fast) an they were both so self aware of their situation.

Also that grovel/grand gesture at the end. Be still my heart.

I absolutely adore Alexandria Bellefleur and can't wait for more romances from her!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy of this book. I really enjoyed it. I like marriage of convenience romances, and it was so fun and refreshing to read one with a queer couple, especially a female couple.

4/5 stars - Such a fun, romantic, drama-filled romp with loads of witty repartee and sarcasm. The cover is horrible, but the story more than makes up for it!

Love love love this one. Alexandria Bellefleur truly can do no wrong in my books. Gemma is h-o-t-t HOT. She is brash and funny and witty and I love her. Tansy is an extremely compelling character. I love how fiercely she defends those she loves even if she is a bit of a pushover when it comes to herself.

This is fake dating/engagement done superbly. The tension is amazing, the will they won't they is amazing. The dramatic gestures at the end were perfect -- like are they over the top? Absolutely. But it just works in this book.

This review is no substance just vibes but 10/10 read this book.

A sapphic marriage of convenience between a bookseller and romance cover novel?? Amazing premise! The way the characters met and fell into this relationship was an absolutely absurd set of circumstances and I honestly would not have it any other way! This book jumped right in from the get go and was super fast paced. The way the characters communicated and worked through their feelings was super refreshing! Overall, a fun wedding season read- Would definitely recommend!

This book was really cute. Both FMC are great, relatable and funny. They were really great together, amazing communication, talking like adults in a relationship and supporting each other. Those were wonderful parts to read. As always I really appreciated Bellefleur expanding on the conflicts and emotional ties. She is a master at wringing your heart and you never feel shortchanged on why something is happening. In this book it was also nice to see the months go by instead of wondering where we were in the time frame.

Also she made some really great Taylor Swift references including that Bittersweet Symphony was there walking down the aisle song. The end felt a tad rushed but I’m glad we had the other parts well expanded upon to make up for it.

2.5 stars. Overall decently cute but the romance felt overshadowed by the drag of corny interceptions of business interactions and insufferable characters. I wish the actual romance could have had a little more time in the spotlight!

However, I really enjoyed the narration and I'm glad that I listened to this as an audiobook.

This was one of only two books I managed to read on my vacation.

I almost DNF’ed this because I was having a hard time getting into it.

I’m really glad I kept reading it because I really enjoyed it.

Gemma and Tansy were so adorable together.

4.5/5

I ended up listening to just the audio and I really liked it!

The narrators were great and I love a good fake dating or in this case fake engagement story.

I loved how protective Gemma was of Tansy from the beginning of their relationship. I also got somewhat Cinderella retelling vibes from the story because of Tansy’s relationship with her stepfamily.

The fact that Tansy lives above the bookstore her family owns was also very idyllic being a bookworm myself.

I think this was a great romance and there was steam but nothing “crazy”if you don’t like that.

A spicy romance full of bookish charm, playful banter, and a steamy library scene!

This book is a sapphic bibliophile's dream! A romance between a shy bookstore worker and an outgoing former romance cover model? Yes please! Gemma and Tansy's relationship is so fun and playful, and I loved seeing their feelings grow through the story. I also really enjoyed the found-family aspect of this story.

What a fun, breezy book! It’s a great read to lose yourself in for a little bit. I particularly enjoyed Tansy, she was level-headed and approached her problems rationally and like an adult.

Gemma, on the other hand, was a bit of a mess. She flip flopped too much for me to trust her as a love interest and it felt like she was love bombing Tansy. Gemma just raised a lot of red flags and I wanted better for Tansy, honestly.

But perhaps my biggest issue with the book is how many side characters are crammed into these pages. None of them get developed into feeling like real people because there’s just way too many of them. A lot of them are involved in this incredibly long and juvenile prank scene that took me out of the story. I’m sure there are better ways to create bonding moments between characters besides resorting to childish escapades.

I’m very much a sucker for sapphic bookshop owner romances and I’m glad to read another one. I had a good time with this book and would gladly recommend it.