I really enjoyed this book! The podcast idea is so smart. I loved how Elle used it to raise awareness about the disease and what she was going through while taking care of Lovie. My heart definitely ached for her throughout the book. It's so tough to watch someone who raised you go through a disease like Alzheimer's.

Elle and Adam's romance was so cute and heartwarming. Their chemistry was crazy good. The tension between them was so intense that I couldn't stop reading. It was hilarious to see them trying not to fall for each other but failing miserably. Some of their decisions were a bit questionable, though, given their situation.

I appreciated how the author managed to find the humor in such a tough subject as Alzheimer's, which is no easy feat. But what makes it even better is that it never feels forced or disrespectful to the reality of the disease. You can tell they truly understand the struggles, both big and small, that come with it. It's a delicate balance, but they handled it beautifully. This is a must-read for anyone who has been in a similar situation as Elle or has witnessed someone go through it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Alcove Press for providing the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Read this if you want to cry as much as laugh at your rom coms! Enemies to lovers and fake dating blend compassionately with losing a loved one to Alzheimer's.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc! Opinions are my own.

Cute romance book between a nurse and the granddaughter of the woman he takes care of. It’s emotional and did make me almost cry once or twice, but very sweet!! 3.5 ⭐️

4.25-4.5 rounded up.
This was a cute romance with a whole lot of emotions!!
I loved the grumpy sunshine.
The Alzheimer’s aspect was super emotional and definitely had me on a roller coaster. There were couple of parts on the romance side that I didn’t love towards the end but overall I really enjoyed it.
Thank you NetGalley and Alcove Press for the early copy!

Such a sweet sweet story! Having a grandparent with Alzheimer’s and the struggles that come with it hits really close to home for me and the way it was portrayed in this book was amazing. It was considerate, respectful, and done in a way that didn’t negate the condition as a whole. I also enjoyed watching Elle and Adam fall in love, it was such a sweet love story from day one, fake dating, forced proximity, kind of enemies to lovers. This had it all and more. I would HIGHLY recommend this book!

Sadly I couldn't download the book, because it's not an epub. I can't download acsm's. Would have loved to read the book.

I wish I had more stars to give! I absolutely ADORED this book. I thought it might be a bit too sad for me at first, but it had the perfect balance of heartache and happiness.

The book revolves around Elle, a podcaster who comes home to help care for her grandmother Lovie who has Alzheimer’s. Immediately, she clashes with Adam, Lovie’s home health aide worker. But of course the dislike doesn’t last for too long.

I couldn’t recommend this book enough. It was hard having to put it down to do other things like go to work.

Thanks as always to NetGalley for the ARC.

There were some beautiful moments in this book, but I was also unhappy about parts of it. It's hard for me to put a finger on just what bothered me, but I didn't always like the main characters and found it a bit hard to connect with them. Overall it was a good book and well written, if not quite to my taste.

This was actually more like a 3.5 star for me but I rounded up. It took awhile for me to get through even though it is a shorter read. It only started to pick up after about 65% of the way through. Although it was a cute and happy ending it took awhile to get there and the story didn’t feel as romance to me as just contemporary with the main component of the story being about Lovie and her struggle with Alzheimer’s disease. It was an okay read for me but nothing too exciting and it did take me over a week to get through.

There were a lot of things in this book that worked well. Unfortunately the romance was not one of them.

Elle moves back to her childhood home to care for her grandmother who has Alzheimer. As it turns out, there’s a hot nurse living in her bedroom.

I couldn’t understand why Elle was so hostile towards Adam. Especially since she kept on objectifying him and dropping the vibrator in his presence, (which was a little cringe tbh). He was also a little rude and it was all so unnecessary, I hate forced enemies to lovers! They did have some chemistry, and I liked them, but I didn’t love them together.

What I really appreciated in this book was the part about caring for Elle’s grandmother Lovie. Elle’s struggles with accepting her situation were the most interesting, even if heartbreaking parts of this book. I liked Adam’s part in it too, he was supportive, understanding and very book-boyfriendy. They could have been friends all along, there was no need to create a fake conflict at the beginning.

There were a few plot holes and some not quite thought through bits, but overall it’s a solid debut and I might give this author another chance one day.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I thought at first I wasn't going to be able to finish this book. The similarities to my own grandmother's journey seemed too much to handle but then the author started to pivot away from that relationship after wrapping up the exposition of it. After getting past that point, I loved the book. The relationship between the FMC and MMC was cute and perfectly paced and damnit if that consent scene wasn't hot. I love that she touched on the mental aspect that comes from caring for a sick loved one as much as the physical of it.

Thank you so much to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the free copy provided in exchange for an honest review!
"Fake It Like You Mean It' was somehow funny, cute and heartbreaking all at once.
The portrayal of Elle's loss and grieving the woman she once knew and her frustrations with the challenges she had to deal with were articualted so well! There was also a balance of the sadness with Lovie's situation and the silver lining of Elle finding Adam in the process, who was such a cutie by the way oml!
You can tell the author spent a lot of time working with the characters and giving them depth and dimension, we got to see many sides of Elle, her deep friendships her past traumas, not just her challenges with Lovie. Adam was really well developed as well, even though we didn't get his perspective, I felt like I really knew his character as Elle was getting to know him too.
All together a really good book ! Wouldn't recommend reading it at the start of exam season after own grandmother has passed away from alzhiemer's relatively recently like I did tho, that was a bad move on my part.

This was a debut novel to be so proud of!
It felt like a warm hug, and it was such a cozy read with such important topics and messages.

The story centres around Elle, an independent and successful podcast host who returns to the house she grew up in to aid in the care of her grandmother, Lovie; a strong and wise woman who raised Elle. Lovie has been living with an Alzheimer’s diagnosis that is declining with each day, and while she tries to grapple with watching the grandmother she knew fade, she also has to deal with Lovie’s live-in nurse, Adam who she finds sleeping in her childhood bedroom. When Lovie mistakes the two of them for a couple, they decide to play along as to not upset what she perceives as her reality. It’s during this time Elle starts to question whether her fake feelings might actually be more than just pretend.

This book did such a good job with the enemies to lovers and fake dating trope! It felt smooth and the story didn’t feel over-the-top with how the characters brought the tropes to life. I also appreciated the slow burn aspect and it made everything that much sweeter because you saw Elle and Adam connect on a much deeper level. It was very sweet to see them connect on a deeper level and to see the ways each cared for Lovie. This care helped to deepen the love they felt for one another through admiration and appreciation watching each other approach an emotionally challenging situation.

Another aspect I really enjoyed was Elle’s career choice and how it weaved into her coping with Lovie’s diagnosis. It was such a unique idea to have her work through her emotions and connect with others by being vulnerable and I thought it all blended perfectly into the story.

I would highly recommend this novel and I look forward to her future works!

SO FREAKING GOOD! Really got me in the feels with the grandmother. Such a sweet love story.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this arc in exchange for an honest review!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Elle’s grandmother, Lovie, has always been there for her, but when her Alzheimer’s begins to worsen, Elle returns to her childhood home to care for her. She doesn’t expect the handsome live in nurse to be sleeping in her old bedroom. The two start off on the wrong foot and tensions rise as they argue about the best way to care for Lovie. As if that wasn’t enough, Lovie is convinced the two are madly enough. In an effort to not distress Lovie, the two play along until she forgets. The only problem is she doesn’t forget. The longer they go through with this the harder it is for Elle to decide what’s real and what’s fake.

While this is a romance, the novel also deals with the very real and serious topic of caring for a loved one with a serious illness. Ms. Murphy handles the pain that Elle feels as she watches her beloved grandmother suffer with Alzheimer’s with sensitivity and grace. She doesn’t shy away from the difficulty and reality families face as their loved ones begin to loose themselves with this disease. This to me is one of the strengths of the novel. The complexity of Lovie and Elle’s relationship is very well-written, and you can tell Ms. Murphy did her research.

Adam was such a wonderful and caring person, and I really enjoyed his relationship with Lovie. He respects her independence and treats her with dignity and care. He deeply loves his job, and it shines through in Ms. Murphy’s writing.

The romance and the serious subject matter are very well balanced. There’s definitely an attraction between Adam and Elle, and I appreciate the slow burn as they navigate their relationship and also the care they provide to Lovie. Adam does grapple in the beginning regarding his relationship with Elle given the delicate nature of his role in their home, but I think there could have been a bit more indecision on his part, as he is the one with the most to lose. There is a power dynamic at play, as essentially Elle employs Adam, and I think that could have been tackled with the same thoroughness Ms. Murphy gave to Lovie’s Alzheimer’s. That being said, I loved the moments of them getting to know each other and slowly letting down their guards. The banter was fun, and there are moments of levity throughout the novel that keeps it from getting bogged down, this is due in part to the author really encompassing all of the emotions that come to play when dealing with the illness of a loved one. There are moments of frustration, nostalgia, humor, and definitely lots of love in this novel.

This was a fantastic debut novel, and I’m excited to read more by Ms. Murphy in the future.

I actually loved this!! The premise was really unique and unlike anything I’ve ever read—the Alzheimer’s part, not the fake dating of course. There was actually a lot of emotion depth to this, I feel like the focus was more than just the romance. There were aspects about self love, and how people’s personalities can change due to this disease. The author seemed very knowledgeable or well researched on the topic, which was great. I loved how Adam’s family was a factor as well, and that he was such a kind and caring protagonist. Even when they “hated” each other, he was always kind of her. I appreciated that, because in a contemporary novel, it’s hard to make enemies to lovers when the stakes aren’t literally life and death. This was very well done and worth reading!

This book was a solid 3 stars for me. Fun? Yes. Heartwarming? Yes. Ethically questionable? Absolutely.

And in what world is a health nurse not having mandatory breaks, sleeps in a patient’s family member’s bed, paying for things himself etc.

Now that’s out of my system, I can say that Elle was a cool FMC and I liked her grappling with her grandmother’s Alzheimers. She still got irritated, sad, and lonely, and Murphy explored that quite well. I found the parts where Lovie was hurting Elle quite painful in their treatment. Adam knew but did nothing? No one thought enough is enough? Yes the reasoning was explained at the end but I think by that point it’s too late in the book to give reason to the behaviour.

All in all it was a good book and I enjoyed the read if I pretended it wasn’t the ‘real world’ and ethics were cast aside.

This was such an amazing read. It truly got me out of a reading slump with the lovable characters, the laugh out loud moments and the unique story. I loved every second of it.

A winning and sexy romance that also is deeply heartbreaking. Lovie and her Alzheimer’s and how it affects her and her loved ones is written so well. It’s deeply emotionally resonant. It added a layer of true urgency to this book that this trope doesn’t always have.

tThe question "do you want to Netflix and chill with me?" was posed, and I reminded myself that I have free will and don't need to force myself to continue.

Some questionable ethics and logistics in this one. why are we making the home health nurse sleep in the same bed as his patient's granddaughter? why are we making the home health nurse pay for an expensive security system for his patient's house?