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If you love the fake dating troupe this one is for you! I love fake dating and was so excited to read this. I liked the characters and learning more of their backstories and motivations as the story progessed.


Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Dell for the opportunity to read an e-ARC!

Thank you to Dell Books for a copy in exchange for a review!
I enjoyed this book. Wasn’t bad, wasn’t great.
I felt like at times it fell a little flat and I didn’t always feel the love between the two main characters. But I was hooked enough to finish it.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this ARC publication for an honest review.

This had all the classic makings of the fake dating/buy a relationship for good reason/falling in love despite a business arrangement storyline. Add in the complicated family dynamic and Indian heritage.

Harsha wants to be independent, so she cuts ties from her rich family to live her life as a photographer on her own terms. However, her father gave her a credit card with a large amount to fall back on...things that make you go, hmmm....

Veer is the cute barista that Harsha frequents the coffee shop he works at. They see each other daily and have flirty interactions as he delivers her coffee. Veer is also an unemployed actor who is financially supporting his family, especially his brother who is in dire need of tuition money after his scholarship suddenly falls through.

When Harsha's (mean) cousin sees her with Veer she thinks he is her boyfriend. When in reality, Harsha's boyfriend dumped her recently because his parents were arranging a marriage for him. This leads her to needing a fake boyfriend/date situation....insert Veer to the paid position.

There are some cute moments, some cringe moments, miscommunication, and the eventual ending you know is coming. Harsha's family (other than the aunt) are really horrible. There is a side story of Veer with his seeing his father who abandoned his family. The book was okay but lacking something extra. I'm not sure I believed there were true feelings with our main couple. And the ending tying up all the problematic loose ends didn't feel very organic.

3 stars

4/5 stars
1.5/5 spice (fade to black)

Tropes:
Fake dating
Class differences
Big family dynamics
Desi wedding
Indian culture
Single POV

This was my second book from this author and I actually enjoyed this one a lot more than I thought. I had some reservations in the beginning with their chemistry but then it just kept getting better. I loved the Indian rep and desi wedding. I loved the way Harsha and Veer became good friends. The 3rd act break up wasn't even really that dramatic but more like a hiccup since they both needed their space. Overall, I really enjoyed this fake dating romance and highly recommend it for fans of diverse characters and rom-coms.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own and offered voluntarily.

Thank you to NetGalley, Swati Hegde, and Random House Publishing - Ballentine a copy of this book in exchange for my review!

Harsha and Veer were absolutely adorable in this charming rom-com set in the heart of Bangalore, India! Harsha is a wealthy Indian woman determined to carve out her own path without relying on her family’s fortune, while Veer is a down on his luck (but oh so dreamy) barista with big Bollywood dreams. Their worlds collide at the coffee shop where Veer works, and before they know it, they’re in a fake dating arrangement. Harsha needs her family off her back, and Veer desperately needs the money for his own family. At first, Veer assumes Harsha is just another rich girl who can throw money at her problems, but as he gets to know her, he realizes she’s fiercely independent and trying to prove herself. As they spend more time together, real feelings start to blur the lines of their contract. But with doubts and misunderstandings in the way, can these two find their own Bollywood-style happily ever after?

This book was such a fun, sweet read! Swati Hegde’s writing is so immersive. I felt like I was right there on the bustling streets of Bangalore. Harsha and Veer were adorable together (even if their love was a little fast for my taste), and I loved the dynamic between Harsha and her cousin Neha, their constant one-upping was so entertaining and very relatable. If you’re looking for a cute romance with Bollywood vibes, definitely add this one to your TBR!

4 stars.

"Can't Help Faking in Love" by Swati Hegde is a slow-burning South Asian romance that sees Harsha and Veer fake dating so she can impress her family with a date to her younger cousin's wedding and so he can get the money to pay for his brother's college tuition. Harsha has just been dumped by her boyfriend and is desperate for this date, so she uses her trust fund to hire Veer. Veer is pretty reluctant to go through with this scheme, so he is a bit hostile and standoffish at first despite needing the money for his brother. Harsha has been estranged from her rich family for years because they did not support her college/career aspirations and wanted her to get married and care for her husband's family. Veer is trying to get over the trauma of his father walking out on his family. The longer they spend fake-dating, the more real their feelings become as they realize they might have been initially wrong about each other. This book is cheesy as heck, but I can't deny that I smiled on and off throughout the whole thing because of how cute it is. It's predictable, sure, but that doesn't stop it from being an enjoyable ride. The character growth feels authentic and is well-executed. It is mostly fast-paced apart from a few places where it feels a tad repetitive. This is a closed-door romance, so know that going into it. I loved seeing Harsha and Veer, two very modern people, combat their culture's toxicity around dating/marriage, working, and gender norms in their ways. All in all, a great novel with excellent South Asian cultural representation!

Thank you to NetGalley, Swati Hegde, Random House Publishing Group - Ballatine, and Dell for the complimentary ARC of this book. All opinions are my own. I was not compensated for this review.

Determined to establish herself on her own terms despite her prominent family, Harsha has moved to Bangalore to start her photography business. She becomes a regular at a coffee shop where she meets aspiring Bollywood actor Veer. When Harsha runs into her while out with Veer she plays off the assumption Veer is her boyfriend and agrees to photograph her cousin’s wedding. Veer will only pretend to be Harsha’s boyfriend if Harsha pays him. Veer needs the money to help pay for his brother’s college tuition. As they begin their fake relationship and spend more time with each other, their friends and family both Beer and Harsha realize this relationship may not be so fake anymore.

With determined and lovable main characters, clashing familial expectations and a slow burn romance this book was delightful read.

This book was so much fun! I adored the two main characters, Harsha and Veer, and loved seeing their story develop.

This fake-dating romance follows Harsha and Veer as they pretend to be a couple for Harsha's cousin's wedding. Harsha hasn't always been close to her family, and she's been working to make a name for herself as a photographer. Veer works as a barista at the coffee shop Harsha frequents and would do anything for his family. He agrees to pretend to be her boyfriend for the money he needs to send his brother to college. As they prepare for the wedding and other events with her family, feelings develop and complicate their business arrangement.

Sometimes, I am bothered by one of the perspectives in a romance novel, but not in this case. I genuinely enjoyed reading both of their perspectives from start to finish.

It was a quick read and rather light-hearted. I love how it highlighted the importance of family while showing the different challenges families face.

I loved this and would recommend it to everyone who loves a good romance novel.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy! I ended up listening to the audiobook thinking I would put it on for a little bit, and now it is 1 in the morning and I just finished binging this in one sitting because I couldn’t put it down.

This was the sweetest rom-com, and I enjoyed every second of it! The main couple was fantastic, but I also enjoyed the supporting cast of characters. The quotes throughout were a fantastic touch.

I will have my eyes peeled for any future adaptation news and any future works by Swati Hegde!

For you if you like:
Fake dating tropes (duh)
Cheesy romcoms
Bollywood movies and/or sitcoms (they’re referenced a lot!)

Not for you if:
You’re looking for something with a lot of spice (there are a few scenes, but it’s not the focus!)

Thank you to @NetGalley and Random House Publishing-Ballantine for providing this book in exchange for an honest review.
Cant Help Faking in Love is such a good fake dating story! Harsha and Veer have such good chemistry which made the book such an easy read. I would definitely recommend this book!

Can't help faking in love is a cute romance in the fake dating genre. Harsha is living in Bangalore, away from her Bollywood royalty family, trying to make it on her own as a photographer without touching her trust fund. He becomes friendly with her barista Veer, and then due to circumstances, tells her cousin that he's her boyfriend as she's just been dumped and needs a date for family events. I liked the complicated family dynamics and friendships here, I feel like there could be more stories about some of the other characters too.

Cute Desi romance with a determined FMC hoping to find freedom from her stifling and stiff family and an MMC working to support his family and neglecting his own dreams. I enjoyed the sweet vulnerability of each character and the fun use of tropes.

Story ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice 🫑
Sweetness 🍭🍭🍭🍭

Thank you to NetGalley for my digital copy. These opinions are my own.

Thank you @dellromance for the gifted copy and @prhaudio for the gifted ALC!

Mehr Dudeja was a wonderful narrator for this book and I appreciated her accurate pronunciations.

Let this be my public decree to prioritize desi romcoms set in India because I’m kind of tired of reading about the upper-class diaspora experience lol. This was a fun fake dating romcom following Harsha, a freelance photographer and black sheep of her well-off Maharashtran family with ties to the film industry, and Veer who is an aspiring actor and barista. I loved reading about two non-traditional people trying to defy toxic cultural norms.

There was so much heart in this novel, and I genuinely felt Veer’s pain and fear of abandonment after experiencing his father walk out in his youth, and his struggle in providing for a family on a working class salary. I also felt respect for Harsha and her ventures in defying her family’s expectations and choosing to struggle instead of succumbing to upper class demands. The parental juxtapositions were stark and I loved that Harsha found comfort in Veer’s mother when she couldn’t count on the same from her own.

I enjoyed Harsha and Veer’s banter and they reminded me of one of my favorite couples from a Desi drama called Mehndi Hain Rachne Waali.

One thing that I will love every iteration of is a fake dating story, especially when the MCs are reluctant to admit that the relationship is more real than they ever bargained for. MAKE THE READER WORK FOR IT!!!!!! This was an incredibly cute romance!!

This is the second book I read by this author and while I did end up enjoying it, it took a moment for me to. Veer irritated me to no end in the beginning. He acted as if Harsha blackmailed him into pretending to be her boyfriend when she only asked and offered money that he accepted. His hostility and coldness was annoying. Once he got over himself, I enjoyed the book more. Their relationship was cute and the steam was good. I liked the supporting cast as well.

Such a fun rom com with an all South-Asian cast! The perfect follow-up to Swati Hegde's debut novel, Match Me If You Can. If you are a fan of fake dating, forced proximity/only one bed romances with a big Desi wedding, you will love this story. The whole thing is so cute!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I knew I had to pick this up as a fan of South Asian-centric romance and as someone whose family is from Bangalore. I also grew up watching Bollywood movies, which made the premise really interesting to me. In the end, the story was quite solid and I enjoyed the reading experience, but the plot didn't have any major standout elements to me. Therefore, I'd give it somewhere from 3 to 3.5 stars. Harsha and Veer's romantic trajectory follows a pretty standard fake dating timeline, although I would have liked a bit more buildup of their feelings and a little more exploration into their development as both individuals and a couple. I did, however, really enjoy some of the explorations of different family dynamics and the LGBTQ+ representation. Overall, I do think this could be an enjoyable read for anyone looking for a fake dating story with some family drama mixed in!

Overall, this book was a solid read for me, but not one I completely fell in love with.

I really enjoyed the overall premise and cultural aspects of the story. The characters were a mix of loveable and frustrating, which made for a nice balance of sweet and tense moments. The story definitely had a lot of potential, but something about it just didn’t quite hit the mark for me.

The character development and plot felt a little too surface-level, which made it hard for me to feel the chemistry between the FMC and MMC. The pacing also seemed a bit off—fast in some parts, slow in others—which made it tough to really dive into their story and become invested.

I’m always here for a story about a young woman finding her independence and love, and while this one had its charm, I just wish it stood out a little more.

That said, I think this book would definitely be a hit for the right readers, so would still recommend!

Thank you Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine - Dell for the free eARC in exchange for an honest review!

I received this book as an ARC. This was a really fun, fake dating romance. The build-up was incredible, I loved Harsha and Veer so much! I loved how they both had their own dreams and how much they supported each other. I loved how much Veer really loved Harsha, even before she realized it. I appreciated that the third act conflict was resolved fairly quick. I also appreciated the different family dynamics that were included. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and loved Swati Hegde’s writing.

Another Romance book in February..... Well of course I read them all year around. :)
This book was so good, there were so many feelings and emotions and the chemistry is so hot.
This book definitely gives you the don't judge a person or better yet don't judge a book by its cover, bc Veer and Harsha judged each other and got a surprise.
We get the fake dating, difficult families and a wedding. So much drama and so much fun.
Also, there is a bunch of Indian culture in this book and it was fun to learn and read.
So glad to have read this book it was a fast read for me bc it was so good and held my attention.