This is a cute rom-com filled with friends, family, and humor. I loved this as the scenario and locale were portrayed so vividly. Definitely recommend.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Griffin for an e-arc in exchange for an unbiased review.

Thank you Net Galley for a chance to read this eARC. I wanted to love it but early on it was a struggle to read. The characters in this book were a miss for me. Besides Hildy everyone was lackluster or just unlikeable. It was a cute read but very very slow and at many times (especially the beginning) hard to follow and I wasn’t sure what the story was about at first, I got so confused that I had to read the bio to understand as it was not clear in the opening. The jokes missed, as I didn’t find a lot of them funny. This is just my opinion but it left me wanting more, more explanation, more background, and more substance.

Sellet has a talent for writing witty dialogue and beautiful description. The plot is a pretty standard romance that drew me in with a cast of warm characters that I would like to know myself.

I really enjoyed this book! It was such a cute story and I literally laughed out loud several times.

You can always make yourself look better on social media- Libby Lane gets firsthand experience on how this can really come back and blow up right in your face.

Libby is your ordinary girl, working as a waitress, just trying to get by in life. Lillibet is the glamourous Instagram influencer ready to create the perfect aesthetics and give out the best advice to all of her followers. When Hildy Johnson travels to meet Lillibet in real life to potentially give her a new job opportunity, Libby and her friends have to bring Lillibet to real life and embrace all the chaos that creates!

I will definitely be on the lookout for new reads from this author!

This book definitely checks the boxes for zany and screwball comedy. The situations were bizarre and over the top. I laughed out loud a few times.
Unfortunately, where it fell short for me was the romance, which was my main reason for picking up this book. Our MCs didn’t meet until over a sixth of the way thorough the book, and they were both presented to each other as involved with another person, so the fact that they kept having romantic feelings for each other was making me cringe rather than root for them. These two shared so few conversations that I really had a hard time caring whether they ended up together or not.
That said, I did find the book to be well written, and I really enjoyed it as a love letter to Oahu. I would read more by this author, but this one wasn’t for me.

I will admit I had a hard time getting into this one, and sticking with it. I think this is more a me problem than anything. This is a good read, but just not for me unfortunately. Felt like lots of parts kind of dragged on and were unnecessary in a sense.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the chance to read this ARC!

Disclaimer : I received this as an ARC through NetGalley!

Hate To Fake It To You is a humorous and engaging romcom with a modern twist on the concept of social media personas.

The storyline revolves around Libby Lane, who creates a fake influencer persona named Lillibet as a joke with her friends. The plot takes an interesting turn when a real influencer discovers Lillibet's Instagram feed, leading to a series of comical events as Libby and her friends try to maintain the facade.

The book explores themes of identity, authenticity, and the consequences of living a double life online. The mix of a pretend husband, borrowed goats, a made-up holiday, and many more.

My honest opinion, I did not think I would like this book, but I promise, if you keep reading, you will also adore it. I especially loved Hildy and the presence of her character throughout the entire book.

First, thank you so much for being able to early review!
This book just didn’t do it for me, it was hard to read, hard to follow, it didn’t hold my interest. I couldn’t connect to it.
But with that said I would love to read more from this author in the future!

Let's talk cover .... I love the colors and the look of this cover! First read by this author and will read more in the future.

RomCom is one of the best genres because they are so fast and easy to read and this did not disappoint. When you first read the book you are not sure about what is going on but you have to further read and the character build is great. All the characters i liked and i loved the quirkiness of the book.

I will recommend this book and the author.

Thanks NetGalley for letting me read and review.

ARC read:

Enjoyed getting to read this book prior to release date! Libby's wild dynamic is what kept the story so interesting. She had to be on her toes at all times once the journalist arrives on the island. Jefferson and Libby's commentary is hilarious. These two take a very comedic adventure together that may or may not result in a fling and a few white lies.

Thanks to Net Galley for this eARC. Here is my honest review. Hate to Fake It To You is a modern retelling of Christmas in Connecticut, one of my favorite Chrismtas movies with Barbara Stanwick. This book does not live up to the original, though it's not without it charms. The book borrows many plot points (crepe/pancake tossing, christmas/me-mas) and even the MC names from the movie. Their story was cute and the character of Hildy was refreshing. The best friend Jean (sub for John in the film) was awful. No idea how they could be friends! The book was uneven, don't get me started about the part with the cockroach, but was best when it highlighted Hawaii, it's beauty and culture. Cute read with enjoyable MCs and a fun take on influencers. Wish I had more of Keoko's story.

I stopped after chapter 1 (5%). It was solidly okay, and I imagine it will be three stars for the target audience, four for the right readers.

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

This was such a cute romcom. It had more com than rom which is fine by me. I felt the beginning was a little confusing, but I quickly fell in love with the characters. I loved how zany Jean was and Libby was a very relatable main character. If you’re looking for a romcom that has very tame romantic scenes then this one is for you. I would recommend to romcom fans.

Huge thank you to author Amanda Sellet for sharing this e-arc with me! The following review reflects my honest reading experience.

Hate to Fake It to You is a contemporary comedy set in Hawaii from author Amanda Sellet. I was immediately intrigued by the cover for this book and synopsis. Unfortunately, this book fell flat for me. The plot did not hold my interest and I was never really able to connect with the lead characters. I felt as though I was reading through an episode of the tv show Catfish.

Overall, I’m interested in reading future works from this author and thank you again to for this e-ARC!

A delightfully frothy contemporary ode to vintage screwball comedy, with a gorgeous Hawaiian setting and a lively ensemble cast ready to walk right into the sequels to come. Waitresses Jean and Libby are hard up for cash and inspiration when Jean hatches a plot to net Libby a writing job by taking her fake online lifestyle influencer persona into some real-life shenanigans. Hildy is a fast-talking journalist who needs a fake finance to maintain her viral internet status, and handsome wilderness photographer Jefferson fits the bill. As Hildy and Jean plot away, and as their plots intersect, Libby and Jefferson get swept up in the chaos of it all, all four of them trying to fake it when none of them are very good liars. Herein lies the comedy, along with some outrageously silly bathroom fixtures, a cute cameo by a pair of misbehaving goats, and a bonus fake husband who might prefer things less fake than initially planned. Though told with a wry eye for satire of social media, Sellet keeps the tone light throughout, and all that falls apart falls together again with the ease of a warm ocean breeze, making this an effervescent comfort read, one that’ll have readers making Hawaiian vacation plans, or at least exploring the cuisine that’s so lovingly integrated into the story. It’ll also have readers checking for news of Jean’s and Hildy’s books, which fellow classic film fans will likely see the seeds of in this story. Written with palpable fondness for its setting and characters, and plenty of laughs, this one’s sure to bring a smile.

FMC's personality gave me a little bit of an ick, but overall it was a funny little cute romance! It was successful as a light summer read rom-com.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC. Here is my honest review:

Transported to the setting on the island of Oahu. Descriptions of Hawaiian culture, food, and scenery help to set the scene. All of these make for the beautiful makings of a story …..

The story was slow starting and initially hard to follow creating moments where I was truly confused where the story was going. Once it began to flow, it was difficult to really dive deep into these characters for me and the comedic aspect fell a little flat

The story left me wanting. Wanting more from Libby. More from Jefferson. Just more, making the ending feel a bit quick and abrupt for my liking.

This was a cute, light hearted romance about a girl who creates a fake online persona only to have to carry out the act IRL. I really enjoyed the writing style, but I found some parts of the plot to be a bit choppy and the ending was a bit abrupt IMO!

Libby (the main character) had a cringey but cute personality, Jean was funny but I could’ve done without the Irish accent, and I would’ve loved to learn more about Keoki.

Overall I enjoyed it — this would be a great beach read, can be easily read in one sitting!

This was such a cute romance. I absolutely loved the setting and the banter was perfect. I would highly recommend this book!

"Hate to Fake It to You" isn't your typical "rom-com", yes I had tears in my eyes from laughing so hard and the swooning was there, but it was so much more than that. The scheming and found family was incredible, but most importantly the way that this book so perfectly shows how much we don't want to be "perceived" as young members of a social media obsessed society was everything.

My girl Hildy deserves her own book. I could just feel her character on every page. She is a feminist icon and a hilarious girl-boss.

"It's never enough. We make everything beautiful and stroke your egos and bear your children and then you try and nickel-and-dime us when it comes to pursuing our own ambitions."

"I'm trying to mature into a more forgiving human being. Except with a very small subset of people who will be my sworn enemies until death."

I have always dreamed of going to Hawaii, and this book truly gave me so much more of a deeper appreciation for the island and the people who live there.