A really lovely, funny, and sweet adult romance debut! I loved the humor, the found family , and the absolute love and respect for the island. Highly recommend!

This book wasn’t really for me. I struggled a lot with the characters overall and the love felt very insta-lovey to me.

The best part of the book was really the Hawaiian setting. I wouldn’t say I would never read this author again, but I don’t think this is the book I would recommend.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the eARC of this book for my honest review.

I will tell you that I love rom-coms and books that are not too serious. But this book wasn't it for me. I struggled to connect with the characters and be drawn into the story. I honestly put this book down and eventually got back to it, but I just don't leave books unfinished. Other reviews loved this book, but it just wasn't for me.

Had some trouble connecting with this story, the characters were flawed but their romance wasn’t felt. The island descriptions were very nice, made me want to visit and see it for myself.

I had a hard time with this book. I struggled with the characters and the miscommunication. The romance lacked chemistry in my opinion. I did like Hawaii as the setting and I did find it funny at times.

Libby Lane works as a waitress but her alter ego is Lilibet who is a carefully cultivated influencer on instagram. She gives advice and shares snippets of a world that is perfect. She is helped in this by her best friend. Hildy Johnson, a media mogul, travels to Hawaii to meet Libby and offer her a job, believing in her brand. Now all of a sudden she needs a fake boyfriend which brings in wildlife photographer Jefferson Jones. This is zany, silly and a good comedy romance. Don’t read expecting character depth or a lot of personal growth from the characters. I did like that Libby is herself when she is with Jefferson so the love interest does seem real. But some of the shenanigans seem immature and unrealistic. I did love the setting in Hawaii and thought the cover with the goats was cute.

I had a hard time getting into this one. I couldn’t connect with any of the characters at all. I ended up DNFing at 35%. I’m sure others will love it but it just wasn’t for me.

A waitress masquerading as an influencer and a wildlife photographer are on a collision course with romance–and chaos―in Hate to Fake It to You , a zany modern twist on a screwball comedy classic about figuring out what you really want – by pretending to be someone you’re not.

Everyone gets a glow-up on social media, but Libby Lane's online persona is the fakest of fakes. Cooked up as a joke by Libby and her best friends, Lillibet is the affluent, healthier-than-thou opposite of her glam-free life on the side of Oahu most tourists never see. The phony fronting is all in good fun, until a real influencer stumbles onto the Love, Lillibet Instagram feed and starts making waves.

When Hildy Johnson, the ambitious junior member of a media dynasty, travels to Hawaii to talk to Lillibet about parlaying her lifestyle brand into a job, Libby and her friends scramble to take the make-believe to a new level. Complicating the charade even further is Hildy’s handsome companion, a wildlife photographer named Jefferson Jones, whose keen eye sees more than he lets on.

Between the pretend husband, borrowed goats, a made-up holiday, and Libby’s very real attraction to Jefferson, it’s anyone’s guess which lie will blow their cover first … especially since Lillibet isn’t the only one with something to hide.

This story is fun and cute, but it lacks connection. I didn't really enjoy the plot all that much as it seemed a little far fetched.

Thanks to NetGalley and Griffin for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

DNF at 15%.

I just couldn't get into the story, the beginning really didn't grab my attention.

Simply not the book for me.

Libby is down on her luck when she and her friends decide to create a fake Instagram account Love, Lillibet in order to pretend to be an obnoxious rich influencer. The account attracts followers and when media scion Hildy decides to visit Hawaii and meet Lillibet to encourage her to write for her, chaos ensues. Libby and her friends need to obtain a mansion by the beach, a fake husband for Lillibet and some goats? This would all be well and good but Hildy brings wildlife photographer Jefferson James with her and Libby is immediately smitten.
I'm not a huge fan of books where the characters are so dishonest with each other right off the bat but the writing was good and the story kept moving.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in return for my honest review.

Thank you St Martin's for the review copy. I wanted to like this one more than I did, it is a like for me because I enjoyed the setting and the themes but the execution didn't quite land for me. I think this is due to the range of ideas that Sellet presented in the book and since Lillibet was not real, and was a fake social media account, the development of that character when Libby had to try to make herself into Lillibet was flat (this might have been part of the point but it wasn't all that fun to read those sections). I liked the idea of this book, being caught in your social media influence lie and perhaps the comedy aspects were a little too heavy handed, the social media life so fake that it was too silly to really believe, and this lead the book to fall short of expectations for me.

A fast-paced romantic riot.

There were times when the only image I could see was Noises Off. If anyone is unfamiliar it’s a hilarious laugh-out-loud farce with things so ridiculous it feels fantastical and yet rooted in characters who feel like they’re right in front of me.

The romantic moments felt like an oasis. These moments were a breath before the combined chaos that was a comedic merry-go-round that felt like I might fall off at any moment.

Yet it was an unforgettable ride.

I must mention again that it was a hilarious time, like a literal award-winning farce.

I hate giving bad reviews! It makes me so sad. I’m sure the author is proud of this book and I’m sure a lot of people will like it. It just really was not for me.

It was just okay. I think my main complaint is that she tried to fit too much information in, with not much background, so multiple things ended up feeling incomplete, sometimes confusing, or just overall superfluous. We don’t get much background on Libby’s jobs, career, or post-college. We don’t really understand how Mr. L fits into the picture, why he needs a green card, or why he wants to invest in Keoki’s potential restaurant when he works in plumbing design? There are so many other examples I could provide.

I can’t stand the “character” of Lillibet. Also I’m sure this was mostly on purpose, but no one would believe the act Libby and Jean put on. I was also annoyed by Hildy until perhaps the last few chapters; I thought there was too much juxtaposition between her wanting to be a mature adult who wants to be taken seriously, but acting completely immature most of the time. Not to mention constantly commenting on Jefferson’s age (when it seems he wasn’t that much older than her?) which was annoying in itself. And don’t even get me started on Mr. L.

I really wanted to like this more. It is set in Hawaii, so if that’s something that interests you, it has that. There were also a few humorous moments, and it’s a lighthearted read.

Thank you St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I have found the writing for this to be rather juvenile, and I think the author has tried too hard to make this more comedy than romance. It felt overly cheesy in so many ways, and it made it hard to read.

Thank you, St Martin's Press and NetGalley, for the advanced copy.

This book was chaos from the start. Once we got past the slow and confusing beginning, the characters were just there. The blurb had potential; unfortunately, the novel just flopped.

Hate to Fake It to You is a romcom that didn't quite hit the mark for me. I loved the setting of Oahu, but it just took too long to get into the story and then once in, I was ready for it to be over. Lillibet is living a lie as an online influencer, and one lie leads to another when it became hard to tell what was really real. There are some funny moments, but overall I think it tried too hard to be funny. I'll be happy to give Amanda Sellet another try.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the ARC. The opinions expressed are my own.

This book was a wild ride. Everyone is pretending to be someone they’re not and it gets messy very quickly. I liked the personalities of the different characters and now I want to explore the world of expensive and fancy plumbing. It also made me want to go to Hawaii and hit up all the food spots there.

Only made it to 15%. I found this so hard to follow. I couldn’t figure out which character was which, I couldn’t follow what has happening. By starting off with the “Lillibet” posts I was thrown off. I’m not sure if it’s just me or the writing style that’s making it this way. The premise seemed cute but if I’m not connecting to the story or characters by a few chapters in the I have to DNF.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing the ARC.

I wanted to like this book more than I did. There were a lot of pacing issues initially and it took me so long to get into the story that I had almost considered not finishing the book. There was also a cast of colorful characters that were beyond ostentatious and they kept distracting me from the plot of the book. Which leads me to my third point - if there is one trope I absolutely hate, it is a miscommunication trope. And this one had one so stupidly simple that it was almost painful to read about these characters disagreement.

Overall, this book needs a lot of work and I wish it had been better than it was because I really liked the premise.

Hate to Fake It to You had such great promise but it just felt like it didn’t deliver on it. It felt like it started out much too slowly to really get the reader invested, and then had a hard time conveying the chemistry between the couple. The plot should have been ripe for hijinks and drama, but it all just didn’t quite hit. The mishaps felt more cringe than humorous, and I just couldn’t find myself getting behind the main couple. Unfortunately, this reader just couldn’t get invested and didn’t love the book. It was too slow to really get my attention and I found myself skimming over parts just to get to the good part, which ended up not feeling satisfying. Wish I could say I loved it :(