This one was so cute! A huge thank you to HarperCollins One More Chapter for the e-arc! I had such a fun time reading this one!

This book is a fun rom com, with just enough humour and funny moments, with lovely romance in the side. The set up was amazing and it enabled so many amazing things, and I just loved how planning a proposal spiralled into fake dating, and so many pretend kisses and more.

I really liked both Pricilla and Oliver, and I feel like they were perfect with each other. The chemistry was definitely there. Tina was also an amazing side character, but Ryan was a bit too basic and didn't really have a big role in the story. I may have enjoyed this one even more if it was a dual pov and we could have seen the other side of the plan and the relationships as well.


For a fake dating, forced proximity rom com this one was a really eno´joyable, and I would definitely give it a chance!

4,5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and One More Chapter for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

My full review is already available on my Goodreads. I will post about this book on my socials (TikTok and Instagram) during publication week.

It pains me to say, but I did not enjoy this book. I was SO excited when I got approved for this ARC because I really enjoyed Donna Marchetti’s debut novel, Hate Mail. It was funny and had this romcom feeling that really differentiated it from other romances.

The Proposal Project started out on similar grounds: a funny romcom plot where two people have to work together to pull off their best friends’ double proposal. The idea was creative and really reminded me of Set It Up, one of my favourite romcom!

I also wanted to add that I really enjoyed the names of the chapters – they added a bit of humour and were very welcome.

The first chapter was promising, fun and light, with some memorable quotes and a main character with a distinct personality. And then it all goes downhill from here.

The main male character is actually plain rude and has the personality of a cardboard box. We know NOTHING about him apart from his job later on. He basically insults the FMC and then makes sexual allusions and is vaguely jealous and is unable to communicate. Great???

The FMC had a bit more background but I just found her very childish? She was extremely nosy and did not respect people’s boundaries. Her "banter" with the MMC was basically just fighting like a bunch of children and blushing every time someone mentioned they would hold hands.

On this topic, I both found the book extremely sexual (in the sense that sex was mentioned every chapter – either by the FMC’s meddling best friend, the MMC’s innuendos or the FMC’s thoughts) but also extremely prudish. I’m guessing the characters are 25 to 35 years old, and the reaction of the FMC just seemed completely unreasonable for no apparent reasons.

The friendship between the FMC and her best friend was also very flat. Basically, the best friend kept prodding the FMC for personal details she obviously didn’t want to share, was very selfish and annoying, and did not support our FMC in the slightest. Same could be said on the other hand, it just did not feel like a genuine friendship to me, and made me increasingly irritated as I read this book.

Finally, the writing really made it worse. I, once again, remember really like the author’s debut and not having any qualms with the writing. I found the letters and humour hilarious – but for The Proposal Project every joke or reference felt very cringe. The writing completely lacked any emotion, describing every single action with very simple sentences. This really hindered the development of the relationship since it just seemed that the two main characters wanted to bone each other and nothing less. When they said they loved each other, I was just confused because… when did that happen? It really would have helped for the writing to lean more on the character’s feelings. To show and not tell.

I do want to say that the proposal and epilogue were very cute, once again showing that the original idea really was exciting but the execution just felt lacking overall. Very disappointed about this one… but I would still reach out for her next release because Hate Mail was great and I’m sure the author can come up with something fun again, maybe with just a bit more editing this time!

I've never been the biggest fan of second-chance romances, maybe because I've never had one of my own, and there's someone I wish I could have a second-chance romance with. Alas, I wasn't sure how I felt about Tina proposing to Ryan. I know, I know. Gender roles and all that jazz, but I like a little bit of tradition. I think the ending turned out really well though. It was quite sweet, and it didn't feel like the two proposals were forced together.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!!!

The concept of this book is really fun: a couple is planning a surprise proposal to each other and they both enlist their respective best friends to help plan. OF COURSE these best friends are enemies and have to be forced into a fake relationship in order to explain why they started spending time together when planning the surprise!

While I love the trope of fake dating, I do think it is fairly hard to execute perfectly. In this case, I found their relationship to be very surface level (mostly physical) and repetitive. There were too many moments of lust, followed immediately by thoughts of insecurity and doubt crawling in. I wish I saw more displays of WHY they liked each other!

Proposal itself was also incredibly cheesy, and I personally would hate it lol but overall it was still a very quick, light hearted read if you're in the mood for something fun and breezy!

This was super sweet, I read it in one sitting. Despite racing through it all, not sure i really understood the big dramatic reason for the 2 MCs not to be speaking to each other for a year. But if you you can live with a nonsense plot for the sake some fun banter and swoon, then you'll have a great time!

Priscilla is fired from her job on the same day her friend, Tina, hires her to plan an extravagant proposal to her boyfriend, Ryan. Priscilla happens to ride in Ryan's best friend, Oliver's, car and sees a ring box. When she realizes that Ryan may be planning to propose and could beat her to the epic she's planning, she has to team up with Oliver. Unfortunately, Oliver embarrassed her in front of a bunch of friends about a year before and she's avoided him ever since.

Priscilla doesn't know Oliver very well but she finds that she trusts him. To avoid speculation from Tina and Ryan, they pretend to be dating each other, but that forces them on a bunch of double dates because their friends are so excited. Their fake dating leads to real feelings.

I don't recall Hate Mail being spicy, but Tina's crass commentary seemed forced and awkward. Oliver was great and Priscilla was okay. But her misunderstanding from the previous year seemed overly dramatic and is one of those annoying "miscommunications" that could be resolved in a 5 minute conversation. The big over-the-top proposal, especially from a woman to a man, is not my thing either. The story was cute but didn't check all of the boxes for me. I think Marchetti's premises are creative and I'll continue to check them out, but this one wasn't it for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and One More Chapter for an ARC in exchange for my honest feedback.

I’d heard great things about Donna Marchetti’s book (Hate Mail), so I was really excited to dive into this one—and it totally lived up to the hype! The Proposal Project had me laughing, giggling, and full-on kicking my feet. It’s such a sweet, funny, and feel-good rom-com.

The characters were absolutely lovable and super relatable. I was rooting for them the whole way through. And if you’re a fan of classic rom-com tropes like forced proximity, a cozy cabin getaway, and the iconic “there’s only one bed” moment—this book delivers them all with charm and playful energy. You can tell Marchetti really gets the genre and has a lot of fun with it.

Yes, there were a few moments of miscommunication that had me mentally yelling “Just talk to each other!”—but honestly, it didn’t take away from how enjoyable the story was overall. The writing is light and engaging, and I flew through it in no time.

If you’re looking for something adorable, funny, and full of heart for a weekend read, this one’s a great pick!

Many thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter for the digital copy in exchange for my honest review.

I feel bad for even saying this because the author is a fantastic writer but holy hell what was this? I adored Hate Mail and eagerly looked forward to this one with a light-hearted premise. But I'm afraid this was a slog at the start, then read a lot of chapters before finally reaching 60% and ended up skimming more, then jumping to the end. I can only guess this book is a sophomore slump and that the editors had to just get it out. I'd rather they just delayed this book for a massive re-write (and oh boy it had the bones there for a bit of a fun rom com).

This feels like a bunch of drafts of rambling chapters repeating the same 'oh we better make a PDA for our friends in such an obvious manner so they won't guess we're fake. Oh, this feels real...oh look they're gone we can stop faking it' *cue the disappointment by the character*. It was such a literal interpretation of 'fake dating' that I just had to eye roll. Come on, the best way to make people think you're dating it is to be seen together all the time but behaving like you're trying not to touch each other.

And let us not even go there about how immature all of them were for characters in their 20s - which, we never know their age really because this book is terrible on those sorts of details (which was a minor issue I had with Hate Mail, the author had a very screwy timeline including their ages). From Priscilla and her grudge against Oliver to her best friend Tina who couldn’t keep Priscilla's confidence about her crush on Oliver and couldn't stop loudly talking about Priscilla’s sex life, to Oliver barely was a character, let alone Ryan. Plus, cartoonish villains (Malcolm). There are minor asides that went nowhere (the poetry).

If this book were set in high school about a prom proposal, I think I'd have bought this more.

I wish this was a more measured review. Truth is this comes out of a place of disappointment. I’d still read this author. I think she’s talented, but it’s a no for this one.

Thanks to One More Chapter/Harper Collins UK and NetGalley for the ARC.

thank you so much for the approval- i cannot wait to dive in, this is one of my most anticipated reads of the year! i will be sure to leave a review on GR/retailers to come! 💞

The plot was decent and i read this pretty quick, but I wasn't a huge fan of the characters, miscommunication isn't my favourite trope and it became a little annoying

2.75 stars!
This was honestly such a bingeable book, but I felt like the actual romance lacked a bit of substance. It felt mostly physical; we got no real communication between the MCs! All they did was plan a proposal and fake date! We never saw any time spent outside of the plot, and I think it could’ve helped make their romance feel more real. It had its cute moments, but I wouldn’t say there was anything special about it.

This was a super cute rom com - and the refreshing read I needed!

After losing her job (and at the behest of her best friend), Priscilla starts her own event planning business - with her best friend as her first client. The job? Planning Tina's proposal to her boyfriend. The only wrench in the plan is her boyfriend's best friend (and Priscilla's moral enemy), Oliver. Now finding themselves thrown together to plan a joint proposal, they have to find a way to work together.

The pacing was great, and the character development was just the right amount. I found myself rooting for Priscilla and Oliver and really enjoyed watching their journey to each other.

Tropes: Enemies to Lovers, Forced Proximity, Fake Dating
Spice: 2.5/5

**Thank you NetGalley and One More Chapter/Harper Collins UK for sending this book for review. All opinions are my own.**

Typical Donna! It was a book about lovers of rivals to lovers. For me it gave me a summer feel, it was light and snappy and the humour was like a fresh, cold lemonade. The characters were likable and the spice was... 5/5

This author is new to me, but I will be keeping an eye out for anything else they publish. I loved the story and the characters. The pacing of the story was great and the characters were relatable.

I started off enjoying the story. I loved Hate Mail so I figured I would like THE PROPOSAL PROJECT.

The premise about Priscilla and Oliver, assumed enemies, planning their best friends proposals was interesting.

However, at times I found the proposal planning details TOO detailed.

I thought the spice was okay, maybe a bit too much towards the end. I wavered back and forth on if I even liked Priscilla. I liked Oliver and his loyalty to his best friend.

I thought by the end the poetry book Priscilla found of Oliver's would lead to more of that poem about eyes like chocolate - which Priscilla is brown-eyed. But it was never talked about again.

Overall, I think the premise was a good one, but the romance took a backseat at times.

Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter to review.

I rate THE PROPOSAL PROJECT three out of five stars.

Sadly, I didn't enjoy this one. I have had Donna's other book on my TBR for a long time so I thought it would be fun to read this ARC and discover a new to me author.

Though some scenes were really funny (I truly wasn't expecting to burst out laughing), the over all plot was a miss for me. The "Miscommunication" between the characters (if we even want to call it that) was just silly. Like the main character holding on to a grudge for years that wasn't even really there.. it just didn't give the plot anything. There was some scenes that happened early on that were openers to something that would possibly happen in the book later.. to only not be mentioned again. IE. there is a scene where she reads a line in the MMC's journal and its a poem about someone. We assume its about her but he gets a hold of it so she can't keep reading. So we think, maybe later he will admit to his feelings for her and possibly writing poetry about her.. the journal/poem is never mentioned again. So what was the point of that scene? There were just parts that had no baring on the overall plot.

The concept of this was fun and creative, I just don't think the overall plot/conflict was strong enough.

I really enjoyed Hate Mail, but this one didn't quite hit the same spot for me. It felt too heavy on the action (much of which struck me as too over-the-top and unrealistic) and too light on character development, which left me unable to really empathise with Priscilla or Oliver. There were a couple of elements that seemed like unnecessary padding (Malcolm) or simply unfinished (the poetry), and although it picked up in the final third, it took me a while to get that far. It's a light, low-drama read if that's what you're looking for.

The author’s first book? Bit average, to be honest. Kinda cute in places, but I found myself getting bored and wasn’t totally sold on it. But this one? I was smitten from the very first page!

I’m not gonna spoil what it’s about – I’ll let you enjoy that for yourself. But let me just say: it’s the kind of love story that made me genuinely miss the whole dating phase and those magical early days of falling for someone. The spark, the butterflies – pure magic!

I really like the author’s style too – this is one of those books where “just one more chapter” actually turns into five, because you simply can’t put it down.

Absolutely brilliant. Can’t recommend it enough – I’m obsessed!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the privilege of reading this book.

The book is funny, light hearted and fun to read.

The cabin with one bed was hilariously done

I sped through this bookvand enjoyed every page.

A great read!

⭐️⭐️⭐️.75
🌶️🌶️

Be still my beating vagina because this was good, it was good.

Priscilla And Oliver are cutest little delectable pairing. Sweeter than nectar. I mean he sweetens her nectar using his honey bee so what more could you ask for 😂

Priscilla has just been fired from her job and on the same day her best friend decides that she wants to propose to her long term boyfriend and she wants Priscilla to organise it. There is no limit to budget so she goes balls to walls with organising this grandeos event only to find that the boyfriend so plans to promise in a spectacular fashion. Helping him plan his proposal though is none of other than the man that embarrassed Priscilla, the soon to grooms best friend Oliver.

Now both Priscilla and Oliver that they are organising this proposal and neither party is backing down so they come with a pact to plan the proposal together until they are caught in a compromising position that leads them to having to fake date in front of her 2 best friends.

But what happens when the feelings can no longer be denied as faker than Dakato Johnson’s tits 😅

I loved the writing style and the story telling behind this plot. Written in first person and the epilogue was just chefs kiss 💋