I liiked that the premise for this was a bit more unique than other fake dating books. It felt more organic and like it could actually happen. It gave the book a more readable factor that I really liked. And no third act break-up!!!!!

This was ultimately a quick, cute romance. The quotes opening each chapter were fun.
Fake dating is not my favorite trope in this genre.

This novel read more YA than adult.

Thank you, Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Dell

A fake dating romance, the story of Harsha and Veer in Bangalore. I liked th the setting and how it was told from both points of view.

The chemistry between the 2 MC's is so palpable. It's what made this book so good. Harsha needs a date for her cousin's wedding to prove to her family she can make it on her own. Veer needs to pay for his brother's business school loan. They both flirt with each other constantly at the coffee counter. Ensue loads of family drama, with a Bollywood wedding as the backdrop and we have such a romantic story to tell.

My favorite part was that Harsha and Veer's story wasn't so over the top. Their love story was caught in the little moments they shared, in the train rides, in text messages, in late night conversations, because that's how real memories are made. I also really enjoyed the friend group.

Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC copy in exchange for an honest review as always, all words are my own.

I enjoyed reading Can't Help Faking in Love by Swati Hegde. You will fall in love with all the characters. I received an ARC of this book courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and given freely. Happy Reading!

I love the fake dating trope and I read it A LOT. This book is everything I love about it at its very best. I loved Harsha and Veer and that they each had their own storylines going on separately while also being absolutely swoon-worthy together with the sweetest chemistry. I also love that it was set in India. Would love to see this made into a movie one day!

Can't Help Faking in Love is the delightful romance of Harsha and Veer who have an attraction but are bound together as Harsha pays Veer to be her fake boyfriend. Of course complexities abound and the author makes these characters appealing enough that you want to go travel with them.

I especially appreciated Harsha's growth as it relates to her relationship with her parents as she sees what real parental love includes. The Indian Family background is one that also appeals.

This was a fun read that I enjoyed returning to each day. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of Can't Help Faking in Love in exchange for an honest review. This book is available now.

Veer meets Harsha at the coffee shop he works at, he is immediately drawn to her but isn't going to be doing anything about it. Until one day she comes in and he is mistaken for her boyfriend. Now she is willing to pay him to pretend to be her fake boyfriend to get her family off her back and go to some events with her. He doesn't do long term, and he needs money to help pay for his brother's college, so this seems like a win/win.
Harsha thinks this situation with Veer is going to help her, but of course she starts falling for him and he starts falling for her and things get complicated. I love a good fake dating scenario where they both catch feels and the pining is real.
There was lots of family drama and lots of longing and tension, which I didn't mind, but the ending was a little odd for me, but it quickly righted itself.
Thanks to Dell, Netgalley and Swati Hedge for an early copy.

What a great fake date to love story. Harsha was always heading to her favorite coffee shop and while there she would work on editing her pictures she had previously taken. She wanted to be a photographer so bad and yet her wealthy parents wanted more for her. They were not supportive at all. Veer was a barista at this coffee shop and he wanted to get into acting. So when Harsha’s nose up in the air cousin was getting married she knew she had to have a serious boyfriend. Hence the fake dating with Veer. Who wouldn’t want a guy like Veer so attentive, attractive and certainly a family guy. I loved how Harsha’s aunt filled in the void from her mother. This writer absolutely did a great job describing the clothing the scenery I felt like I was right there.

I received this ARC from Netgalley, I am leaving this review voluntarily.

First and foremost as always thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book. Okay, fake dating is ALWAYS my jam! You can never go wrong with the trope and this one did not let me down! This was an incredibly good read! The story was beautifully written and the characters were flushed out really well! Definitely worth the read!

What a sweet romance this was! I absolutely loved the chemistry and banter between our two main characters, Harsha and Veer. The fake dating trope is usually not my jam but I really enjoyed the message Swati Hegde's second novel puts forth through it all - it is difficult enough to find yourself while navigating what life throws at you as a twenty-something year old, let's not make it more difficult by maintaining unhealthy relationships with family members but allow those fulfilling relationships with supportive friends and chosen family to become our main focus.

With that said, I do wish the unhealthy relationships Harsha touches on with her parents had a bit more context behind them as it is such a common struggle within the South Asian community and I think it would've been nice to normalize this a bit. Even so, I truly enjoyed this and would definitely recommend it if you're looking for a fun romance that will have you laughing and aw-ing at the same time.

I loved reading her previous title Match Me If You Can.
So I was thrilled for the opportunity to start Can't Help Faking in Love by Swati Hegde.
A delightful and humorous romantic comedy that blends wit and charm.
A fun and entertaining romance! I always love representation of other cultures.

While this was a well written romcom, I wish I had vibed with it just a little more. The chemistry between Harsha and Veer was cute but I kept wishing for a little more. I really enjoyed the setting of the book.

Thanks to the Publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Dell for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I really enjoyed this book and read it in one day. I loved the storyline and the characters. I was pulling for them! I would definitely recommend this book.

“…family wasn’t necessarily who you shared dna with. It was who stuck around , in both good times and bad, even when they were going through their own battles.”
Harsha isnt going to let her family’s super serious standards get in the way if her living the life she wants for herself so she leaves the comfort and security of all they offer and strikes out on her own. She’s doing alright until a major family event comes up and her parents expect her to come back home for it, and when her cousin assumes that the server in Harsha’s favorite coffee shop is her boyfriend, Harsha goes along with it. Now she has to convince him to go along with it too in order to keep the peace in her family and not have them set her up with an arranged marriage.
Meanwhile, Veer, the barista mentioned above, has his only family issues. His brother is going to an illustrious business school when his scholarships drop and Veer has to come up with the money to keep him in school. So when Harsha asks him to go along with being her boyfriend, he agrees as long as she pays so he can pay for his brothers education.
Their chemistry was off the charts and their complex family dynamics and Indian culture added so much to the story. It was a quick read because I devoured it, but I also wanted to slow down and savor it. And it should totally come with a warning in the beginning that it will leave you with a big goofy grin on your face at the end, because it totally did! I also loved that each chapter started with a quote from famous love scenes, especially the last chapter which was one from my fav show, the office.
All in all, this is my fav read of the year so far.
Thanks to Dell Books and NetGalley for this eArc (that had its release day yesterday!) in exchange for my review.

Ooohhhh the fake dating turns to actual feelings gets me everytime! Loved this, and felt the jealous cousins, prying family, and unworthy feelings so much.

I think Swati did an amazing job showing how ingrained and intense families can be. I love that his mom works through her own issues to be there for her kids.

Her character arc was so good. I love that she rose above her family. And I love that he was thinking to use her family but came to his senses and didn't! :)

Can’t Help Faking In Love is a fake dating desi romance between struggling photographer Harsha Godbole and aspiring actor/current barista Veer Kannan. Harsha is a trust fund baby to Bollywood moguls; after leaving her family and her home in Mumbai for college in Berkley, California, she has returned to India— but to a new to her city, in hopes of making Bangalore home as well as thrive as a photographer without the need of her parents’ money and expectations that come tied with it. Veer Kannan’s favorite people in the world are his younger brother and their divorced mother, both of whom he has taken upon himself to help provide for— even if it means setting aside his dreams of becoming a Bollywood star in the meantime. Harsha uses her trust fund money to hire Veer to act as her fake boyfriend, and Veer hopes that this will be a stepping stone towards his Bollywood dreams, and along the way, they find that their chemistry is undeniable.

Veer Kannan gave me butterflies. Veer treated Harsha with the utmost care and attentiveness. Despite his reservations, Veer was built to love— his mother, his brother, his barista besties, and most definitely Harsha. Despite the present shadow of his father’s absence, Veer is surrounded by an outpouring of love, and reading him fall for Harsha felt like cracked pieces becoming whole again and healing.

Harsha grew up luckier than most in regards to money; her relationship with her parents and her cousin Neha on the other hand have nearly always been fraught. Her journey in finding family and home in Veer and coming to terms with what else family means to her— how there was no perfectly tied up resolution with her parents, how she and Neha are only in the beginning steps of moving towards getting along after a lifetime of competing, how she has the unshakeable love from Pinky Auntie— I loved that not every single one of these threads had an ideal ending and is really just the beginning for a better relationship, for that feels so realistic, true to life.

In addition to the romance, another aspect of this book that I loved was the friendship between Harsha and Sasha. Having a long distance best friendship can be hard, but there is still such beauty found in plutonic soul mates; while those exact words are never used within this book, their type of friendship and the surety of their bond is the kind that warms my heart as it reflects the same types of friends that I, myself, have been lucky enough to find and keep. Sasha is probably my favorite character from this book iIt’s okay, Veer, you’re a very close second) for all that she reminded me of my own irl friendships.

I really enjoyed reading this desi romance, and I look forward to reading even more from Swati Hedge! Thank you, Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Dell, for the ARC!

This was an entertaining, well-written book. It was fun, steamy and kept me reading. I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to others.

“You’re beautiful, Harsha, but that’s not all you are. You’re passionate, you’re kind, you’re brave. And you never stop being those things. How could I ever look away from you? I’m always so in awe of you.” 💜

a special thank you to Net Galley, Random House Publishing Group & Dell Romance for allowing me access to an Advanced Reader’s Copy of Can’t Help Faking in Love by Swati Hegde!! it’s an absolute privilege to receive an ARC & i’m so honored to be able to share a honest review in exchange.

🎥 publication date: february 11th, 2025
review: ★ ★ ★ ★ (02/08/25)
an absolutely adorable fast-paced storyline with a great fake dating love story with a slow-burn & closed doors!

the fawning over each other was TOO CUTE, i love having dual perspectives! and the commentary felt modern & casual, making the book feel like a faster read.

i enjoyed reading the quotes for each chapter, i love a good sitcom & quotes from some of my favorites, brooklyn 99 & abbott elementary! also, as a south-indian foodie, i loved the food references!!

the subtle references to inclusivity, like queer characters & multiracial couples, were a perfect addition to the book!

i loved reading about Harsha recognizing her own privilege, especially with it being something i am working on as well! it can, sometimes, be easy to forget how fortune you are.

found family is one of my absolute favorite tropes so i LOVED reading “It was who stuck around, in both the good times and bad, even if they were going through their own battles.”

although, at times, character personality and values felt inconsistent… but that might be because they were changing throughout the story!

This is exactly what I want from a fake dating romance novel!

I loved Veer and Harsha so much. Their chemistry was electric, the tension was phenomenal, and the vibes were everything I wanted. This is a closed door romance, and I didn't even miss the spice because everything about this was exactly what I wanted.

This book really tugged at my heartstrings. All of the side characters and familial relationships were so good that I just found myself completely immersed in this story from the very beginning.

Harsha came from a very wealthy family but has been on the outs with them because she is determined to make it on her own as a photographer rather than entering into a marriage with a wealthy bachelor of her family's choosing. Veer and his family have always struggled and he needs to come up with a large sum of money in a short time to try and pay for his little brother's tuition. Harsha needs a fake boyfriend to bring to her family's wedding, and who better than the attractive barista who works at her local coffee shop and is in need of some money.

Thank you so much to NetGalley for providing me with an advanced reader copy!