Oof another one that just wasn’t for me. From the start the writing here was messy and hard to read. Leading me to not give a hoot about any of the characters. It would be hard to anyway with their attitudes towards normal everyday life things. Just not for me as I said. I’m sure these types of characters work well for others.

This was the perfect beach read for summer!! I absolutely fell in love with Libby and found the entire book to be a lighthearted, hilarious journey of romantic fun. For fans of Emily Henry or Annabel Monaghan, this book was an absolute joy to experience. I am so glad I got to fall in love with Amanda Sellet's writing and cannot wait to see more of her work in the future!

Okay, the overall GR rating for this book make no sense to me because I freakin' LOVED this book.

Amanda Sellet is a fantastic writer and this book was HILARIOUS. It had me cackling from start to finish. Seriously, she *nailed* the comedy in this book, and I haven't laughed out loud at a book like this in a while.

I loved the pacific island setting of this story, and the rich, well-rounded characters. Even the fake husband (and his bathroom appliances) were enjoyable!

The premise: a fake influencer and wannabe writer must put on a show when a media mogul (and her hunky saved-her-life companion) visit her Hawaiian home. But the more Libby and Jefferson get to know each other, the more Libby's true self draws the studly Wyoming wildlife photographer to her. The romance is dreamy and I loved each of these characters. Sure, it's a silly premise, but I bought their growth arcs and I was invested in the story as a whole. I could imagine this book as a lush movie and I WANT IT!

Gosh, this book really was goofy and fun and so enjoyable and I hope more people take a chance on it, because I loved it! The people who get it, get it!

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for the e-ARC in exchange for my honest, unbiased review.

Hate to Fake it to You by Amanda Sellet
Contemporary romance, romantic comedy.
Libby Lane’s online persona does not match reality. For the blog, Lillibet is affluent, glamorous, and lives a healthy life while sprouting positive and pretty advice. It’s all in good fun for Libby and her friends Jean and Keoki as they struggle to pay bills and scrape funds to feed themselves and family. Oahu is beautiful and encourages tourists dollars but for local residents prices are almost unmanageable. When an influencer from a major magazine wants to meet Lillibet for a potential lifestyle job, the friends scrabble to set up a charade to support their supposed lifestyle. A borrowed house, a pretend husband, a housekeeper with an obviously fake accent and more should set them up nicely, but things fall apart when computerized water commands aren’t known and Libby has to cook. Jefferson Jones is a photographer for the magazine and falls for Libby when he first meets her but it’s Hildie for the magazine they have to convince.

A comedy of errors as the fancy house and their roles prove to be too much pretense. Libby especially wants Jefferson to know she’s not married. They just need a break and hope the magazine could be their lucky break.
Slow burn, low heat romance with plenty of laughs as the friends figure out how to successfully manage life.

I received a copy of this from NetGalley.

I thought this was a super cute romance! I loved the setting, and while I wasn't as big a fan of" Lilibet", I LOVED Libby. When she was able to be herself I thought she was funny and just.. real. I can't tell you how many times I laughed out loud. Her relationship with Jameson was adorable, and I was rooting for them from their first meeting.

Everyone is hiding their identity and keeping secrets in this mostly comedic romance. Libby is an underworked underpaid waitress and wannabe journalist who is a very successful fake influencer Lillibet who writes the cheesiest posts paired with what seems like stock photography. And it’ll probably all come crashing down when she has to fake it all in real life with her trusty friends and a fake husband and a fancy house she definitely doesn’t live in when media heiress Hildy comes for a visit. Hildy wants to start her own magazine and needs a collaborator, so she thinks Lillibet would be a great fit. Meanwhile, she’s got her own ruse going with her fake boyfriend, Jefferson, who is a wildlife photography who saved her from a snowstorm. It’s a set up for absolute chaos when everyone is staying at this fancy house with the fanciest plumbing available, and Libby’s friend is pretending to be an Irish housekeeper who has a terrible accent. Oh, and Libby and Jefferson maybe kinda sorta have an instant connection. The romance here is slow moving and a little fraught, since they’re all lying about so many things, but most of the book is quite entertaining. Heads up, that this one is fade to black when our couple does finally get together.

I love reading a good romcom between other heavy books and genres. This was a fun, cute and silly book that gave me out loud giggles. Refreshing! I would read more from this author!

This book had a great setting! Libby Lane’s presence online is fake; there she is “Lillibet,” put together, fabulous, creative, and just has the perfect life. In reality, she’s a waitress living in a rundown apartment with her best friend Jean. Hildy Johnson had her life saved by Jefferson. She’s part of a media dynasty and loves Lillibet. So she travels with Hawaii to speak with her about a job opportunity. Now, Libby has to scramble to make it seem like her online persona is real. How long can she keep this charade up? Fake marriages, fake houses, fake life… but real feelings for Jefferson.

I really wanted to love this book. Alas, this book was not for me. I’ll explain why, but first let me get into the aspects I really liked. First, the setting – what better place than Hawaii? And I’m not just talking about touristy Hawaii, I’m talking about the real Hawaii where the natives live. I wish we had a bit more of their stories, but I did love Keiko and Tutu. Second, I also really liked the end. I mean we know we’re going to get a HEA, but it was sweet.

I just didn’t connect with any characters, I didn’t believe the love story between Libby and Jefferson until the end, I’m not a huge fan of instalove and that’s what it felt like. I was bored while reading it. I really tried to like it. I don’t give up on books hoping that they get better and I’m glad I didn’t give up because I did enjoy the end and I did enjoy seeing things work out for Keiko.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinions.

Ok I know I’m apparently in the minority with this review but here it goes.

I couldn’t get into this book! From the very first page I was so incredibly confused. I felt like important details were left out that could’ve helped the reader know what was going on instead on just throwing them head first into the deep end. Second, I didn’t find this humorous at all…it felt like she was trying too hard. I couldn’t connect with the FMC at all and actually ended up despising her best friend. Also, I just felt like this book was all over the place and I couldn’t keep up!

I was so disappointed with this book because the plot sounded so good and the cover is adorable but this book fell flat for me.

I’m giving this 2/5 stars just because the cover is cute and it had so much potential.

This was a cute and silly and completely over the top romcom perfect for a summer afternoon. The author really brought the setting to life in this book. I could perfectly picture the Hawaiian setting. It didn’t take me a little bit to get to know the characters because of how we were just thrown in to the story and I felt like there could’ve been a bit more exposition introducing them. But once I grasped the gist of the story, it was easy to follow. Overall, it was cute and I’d read this author again.

This one is a zany, suspend belief romcom with some truly ridiculous antics. A fake influencer scrambling to try and make her opulent online life real to impress someone is chaos waiting to happen.

Unfortunately, this one did not work for me. I had trouble suspending disbelief, did not enjoy the miscommunication, and could not connect with the main characters. I hope this works for others!

Hate to Fake It to You by Amanda Sellet ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Utterly ridiculous and nonsensical. Laugh out loud funny. Escapism. This book’s description promised screwball comedy and it delivered. It didn’t take itself too seriously at all (I mean, there were poop jokes!)

This was a fun read that leaned just a bit too nonsensical to me. Everything was exaggerated to a large degree, and it didn’t feel grounded in any portion. I didn’t really connect with any of the characters nor did I buy into any part of the plot.

With that being said, it was a great escapist read. The Hawaii setting was so well done. At times, I felt I was there too. Once I let myself just read and not try to connect the plot dots, I was able to just enjoy the silliness (and I did laugh out loud a few times).

Fans of light reads, silly reads, and reads that focus on the absurdity of everyday life will enjoy this one.

I was so excited to read a book set in North Shore on Oahu since I grew up on the island. The author's note that her mom grew up there, I had high expectations in regards to accuracy of the island. Sellet did a good job describing the north side of the island and the local foods. What disappointed me was that none of the characters spoke pidgin English which is such a big part of the culture.

The story for me was just a little slow and I wasn't vested in Libby and Jefferson's love story. I think all the lies that the story was built on just turned me off.

Thank you @smpromance @netgalley for a copy of this book.

I hard core judged a book by its cover here, it was so cute and I was expecting a fun romcom.

Then I see the author describes this as an homage to the Hollywood screwball comedy. And you know what, it was all that and a bag of chips.

With characters that the reader couldn't connect to, humor that wasn't funny, and a relationship that didn't give much for the reader to root for, not even the goats could save the plot. For those that are stuck in their melissa mcarthy bridesmaids comedy era, you may enjoy it, but this was not the light hearted rom com I prefer to read.

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC in exchange for my review!

Well written and so many hilarious moments!

I had an amazing time meeting and getting to know Libby and Jefferson.

These scenes were so fun to experience!

I can honestly say I haven’t laughed so much while reading in ages!

Definitely a must read!! Highly recommended!!

thank you to netgalley for the e-arc. thanks, but definitely respectfully no thanks. overall, i think this is my last romance where the characters don't communicate or hold secrets from someone. the "romance" in this was simply instalove and awful. also hated the influencer aspect.

Well, this book won't go in my "would recommend" pile, unfortunately. I really wanted to like it but that just didn't happen.

I did enjoy the last 5% of the book, but the rest of it wasn't for me.

The story seemed immature, and ridiculous. Yes, I know it's fiction, but unless you're reading fantasy I feel like it should at least feel like the story could be true. Or at the very least feasible. So much of the story was just absurd.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

The characters feel a bit flighty but the story was cute. The humor is good and the banter between all the characters was fun. I enjoyed the story and how the Libby seemed to find a way to be true to herself. I received an advance copy from NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review.

I have somewhat mixed feelings about Hate to Fake It to You by Amanda Sellet. I'm rounding up to 3 stars. Overall, I thought it was fine, but not something I enjoyed reading very much. I didn’t like the characters or the storyline. The madcap antics were so over the top, but compared with the rest of the story, I think they ended up being some of the stronger parts. I did like the setting, and the locations seemed like they were described well.

This was a DNF for me, unfortunately. Romcoms are my favorite genre and St Martin's generally publishes many of my favorites each year, but I could not get past how stupid the influencer personality was. I refrained from sharing these thoughts on Goodreads or my Booksta account, as I mostly try to support authors not bash.