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"𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘨𝘶𝘺𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘬𝘪𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘦"

so in this book, nice guys do finish. first.

i really enjoyed these characters in a way that even surprised me a bit. i did find the self-deprecation a little bit much at times. beck is such a sweet man, but such an unrealistic character. he's almost too sweet so i like when he gets a little protective and fiesty about hazel.

def recommend this one to someone who likes a book where the mmc is a virgin and he finds a more experienced jaded lady to fall in love with.

This book was just so much genuine fun to read. I fell in love with the MMC from page 1 and wasn't able to put the book down.

I couldn't find anywhere where this was specifically noted as being part of a series, but it is in the same universe as Stein's When Grumpy Met Sunshine and we do get some cameos from those characters in this book. If the first book was based off Roy Kent, then this one is 100% giving Ted Lasso vibes. We have an overly adorkable and mustachioed MMC who was so polite and easily flustered. Now listen, I love me an alphahole MMC at times but Beck (the MMC) was *chef's kiss* perfection. I absolutely adored the chemistry between our two MCs and how their opposite personalities actually worked together perfectly. There's something about their dynamic that most opposite attract trope books don't quite get to where they really feel like puzzle pieces snapping together. The fake marriage portion of the plot was fantastic and just the right amount of ridiculous for this sort of rom-com. This is the third book I've read from Stein, and she is quickly becoming a must-read author for me.

Tropes: Fake Marriage, Forced Proximity, Opposites Attract

Standalone

Thanks to NetGalley and St Martin's Press for the ARC. Publication date was March 11, 2025.

My Big Fat Fake Marriage is a sweet endearing rom-com I loved. This is Hazel and Beck's fake marriage tale.

Beck's was the definition of a cinnamon roll MMC and I fell in love with him from the start as he was so attentive to Hazel. These two were wonderful together and although they went from awkward to steamy, I enjoyed the process of seeing them get to their HEA and I was rooting for these two characters througout the story.

I really wished we got more of their relationship after the retreat however it was still an entertaining read and I would recommend it to romance lovers.

This was such a cute book! Way more spicy than I was expecting, but I ate it up. I completely enjoyed it from start to finish.

My Big Fat Fake Marriage was a read by Charlotte Stein. It was probably not my cup of tea as it was primarily constructed around spice. This book is plenty spicy, but definitely lacking in plot. Read this if your crush is Ted Lasso. Mine is not, so this was not for me. In theory I wanted to LOVE this book, but it was just not what I was hoping for. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the complimentary ARC. All opinions are my own.

This was really fun! Cute and steamy. I enjoyed her WHEN GRUMPY MET SUNSHINE more, but found this romcom to also be adorable. Very high spice. I think some of the interiority could be trimmed, but otherwise a great read. 4.5 stars.

I love a cinnamon roll MMC but Beck’s dialogue and lack of inexperience really didn’t work for me.

The writing retreat setting was nice but I don’t feel like we got enough of it or scenes of the couple trying to prove that their relationship was real.

This was such a cute book and I loved the representation within it. Such a sweet and heartwarming story and I really loved the characters.

Realistically I would give this book 2.5 stars. It’s close to 3 but this authors writing style just doesn’t work for me.
Everyone is always ‘slick’ and moaning and it just becomes too much.
The story, is often silly and the phrases the grown adults say are just so “gosh darn” distracting.
If you want a lighthearted read with a lot of weird smut scenes you may enjoy this more than I was able to.

DNF @ 17%. I am not vibing with the writing, the character or anything. Not interested. 🤷‍♀️ I think Charlotte Stein's writing is not for me because this is the 2nd book I haven't liked from her.

Cute book but didn't grab my attention the way I was hoping it would.
I didn't connect with the characters and that kept me from enjoying the book fully

If you enjoy fake marriage, slow-burn tension, and some spice then this is the book for you. I wasn't a big fan of this book and I cant really put my finger on why. I think it was a little unrelatable and unbelievable at times. I wasn't a huge fan of the inner monologues and felt that they went on and on when it wasn't really necessary.

I loved this book, it was body positive with a cinnamon roll in a bow tie. This book provided so much joy and laughter, it was perfect. I love seeing body positive stories about not perfect humans and supportive partners.

The ending was great. The writing was horrible. I almost dnf at 60% but I wanted to see how it ended. They acted like kids most of the time.

I feel like the advice I’d give this author is that sometimes less is more. I feel like this book was too wordy and redundant and yes, I’m going to say it, too much sex. It felt like more a stream of consciousness, thoughts and an internal monologue, with no real events happening, only her thoughts on the events happening.

Fake dating yes, but fake marriage? How can you fake a marriage?
Also, a MMC who is over 30 and practically inexperienced? But super cute, perfect, practically a catch?
She is so perfect that it seems almost too fake. A little too sci-fi for my romance reading.
Thanks to St. Martin’s Griffin and NetGalley for the ARC!

I love good fake anything in romance because it always leads to such a fun and hard earned HEA. Fake marriage is the faux du jour in Charlotte Stein’s “My Big Fat Fake Marriage.” Not only was this book sweet, it was funny in a way that surprised me. The levity might be my favorite part which is a feat in contemporary romance.

3.75 ✨️ This was a sweet and cute story. I love reading books about plus sized characters. Also, characters who don't always have the most sexual experience, especially when its a man. In a lot of books, it's always the other way around. Although the timid and unsure guy isn't usually the type of mmc I usually read about, I did enjoy this story.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for this arc.

I loved when grumpy met sunshine so i was excited for this one!

i appreciated the low-angst and the doorstep pies. i liked the bow ties and suspenders. the notes and emails were super cute.

but..

it just didnt quite get there for me. i wanted it to span a longer time frame. i wanted more "my wife" moments. i wanted more of them post-retreat. i wanted to punch Doug in the throat most of all.

thank you to netgalley and st martins for an ARC of this book.

would still read another by same author.