Priscilla is hired by her best friend Tina to plan the perfect proposal. Then she finds out that Ryan (Tina's boyfriend) is also planning a proposal to Tina. Priscilla decides to team up with Ryan's best friend to plan the perfect double-proposal.

There's just one problem -- she hates Oliver, Ryan's best friend. There was an initial attraction when they first met, but Oliver humiliated Priscilla years ago and she can't let it go. When Tina finds Oliver and Priscilla together, they don't have an explanation... So they lie and tell Tina they're dating.

We all know what's going to happen here, but being along for the ride is satisfying. Recommended for romance fans, especially if you love the fake dating trope.

Marchetti has grown a lot since Hate Mail and it was immediately evident. This book was a lot stronger, serving classic 00s rom com plot and cheese, but with spice. At about the 75% mark the story diverted a bit from where I hoped it would go, but it was so strong prior to that that I’m not mad. Great build up of tension to the peak of the premise. One star deducted because flash mobs make my skin want to peel itself off. I know this is irrational and not the book’s fault, but I did not need to be haunted by the cringe of 2010 and felt I’d done nothing to deserve it. Jokes aside, really enjoyed this fun read!

Love this so much! I definitely enjoyed reading this- a competition to see who can propose first with the help of besties 😭

I previously read this author's book, "Hate Mail" and I was so pleasantly surprised by it and felt it was a refreshing plot etc. So I was ecstatic to be given an eArc of this book (thanks Netgalley and One More Chapter!)
The main plot of this book was over - the - top. Our main girl (Priscilla) gets fired from her party planning job and her bestie just writes her a SIX FIGURE check to help her propose to her bf... but wait.. her bf is also trying to propose to her! So then she has to work with his best friend (Oliver) to secretly plan a joint proposal. It's wild. Oh and did I mention - she had feelings for this best friend...
All that said, while I found the plot completely unrelatable... it was still very engaging and entertaining. The tension between Priscilla and Oliver is excellent and he definitely gives book boyfriend vibes.
I was torn between 3.5 and 3.75 (rounded up)⭐

The Proposal Project was a fun and lighthearted romance that delivered exactly what I expected. It’s full of classic tropes—fake dating, one bed, forced proximity—and the banter between the main characters was definitely a highlight. Priscilla and Oliver had some really sweet moments, and I enjoyed their dynamic, even if it felt a bit predictable at times.

It didn’t blow me away or hit particularly deep, but it was such a good palette cleanser! If you’re looking for something quick, tropey, and entertaining between more intense reads, this is a great pick.

Fake dating? Check. One bed? Check. Swoony banter and a pinch of chaos? CHECK!
This was such a fun, feel-good read with just the right mix of heart and heat. Priscilla and Oliver's chemistry is undeniable, and their snarky-sweet moments had me grinning like a goof. A little predictable, maybe, but honestly? I didn’t mind one bit—I was too busy enjoying the ride. Perfect for a cozy weekend or beach day. I didn’t expect to smile this much! From the very first chapter, the setup was adorable, and the vibes were exactly what I needed—light, flirty, and full of charm.

I absolutely adored Hate Mail so I knew that I needed to read this new one from Donna! I still think that Hate Mail was my favorite so far, but this one was fabulous! When Priscilla gets fired from her dream event planning job, she gets hired by her best friend to plan a ridiculously-over-the-top marriage proposal. Things get complicated when she finds that Oliver, her best friend’s boyfriend’s best friend (and her nemesis for the last year) is carrying around a ring! This is a wild and complicated ride of hilariously funny moments, witty banter, misunderstandings, and slow burn romance. The writing is fabulous, flows well, and sucks you into the story! I was literally reading this on my phone while waiting in a queue - addicting! Overall, I would give this 4.25-stars. For fans of fake dating, enemies to lovers, grumpy x sunshine, and second chances, this one is definitely one to check out & recommended for your summer TBR! Thanks so much to Donna Marchetti, One More Chapter, and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this e-ARC!

Donna Marchetti’s sophomore novel was just as fun and compelling as her debut!! I flew through it, laughed out loud, and rooted for Priscilla and Oliver the entire time.

dnf at 39% (12 chapters read)

i wanted to like the book. i really did. i liked the premise presented in the blurb and once i started reading i actually liked the mmc, but, oh lord, the fmc?! noooo
i couldn’t find myself liking and even less rooting for her. i get that she is supposed to be obsessive and that is a big deal but the overdramatic reaction to one little sentence and the therefore ensuing villainization of the mmc (who, as far as i know and judge, did nothing else controversial) just wasn’t for me and made it unbearable for me to read.

𝐃𝐎𝐍𝐍𝐀 𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐓𝐓𝐈 - 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐏𝐎𝐒𝐀𝐋 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐉𝐄𝐂𝐓  

𝐀𝐑𝐂 𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐈𝐄𝐖  

This was a really cute and heartfelt read with a touch of enemies to lovers added into the mix.It read more like a chick lit for me, but be prepared for some spiciness. Nonetheless, the story perfectly blended into my summer reading vibes, with the wedding theme and all those bells and whistles, so no complaints from me!

As someone who totally enjoyed Hate Mail I was quite excited to start Priscilla and Oliver's story.Priscilla was just laid down from her job. Getting blamed as an entry level professional and taking the blow-out was not on her plans when trying to climb the event planning ladder.
So when the opportunity comes along to help to plan the biggest proposal of the century for her best friend, and the subsequent wedding related event she can't say no. Her plans start to get bumpy when it turns out: the soon to be groom also wants to marry the girl of his dreams.Great minds think alike, but with that comes a careful balancing act to not ruin the surprises.

Add Oliver, the gorgeous but obnoxious best friend of the groom. The two of them don't see eye to eye on most things but one: the proposal has to go down without a hitch!Pretending to get along may be the solution, even if it's impossible to act out.
However the forced proximity might just start to work and the universe might surprise Priscilla with feelings she never anticipated.
The fake dating trope is ALWAYS a hit for me, but pretending to like each other while simultaneously not getting on well was the cherry on top! The added layer of a past misunderstanding, the two-way attraction simmering for a time and the obliviousness of Priscilla when it came to Oliver's true feelings.
The boy obsessed was cheeky, teasing and one handsome fella.I liked how Priscilla found her footing, both in her private and professional life as the story unfolded. The romcom elements were shining, but the added spice and no third act breakup were the show stealing elements for me. And of course Oliver. Because that's who he is.

Priscilla is tasked with arranging her friend Tina's lavish proposal to her boyfriend Ryan, however finds that she has to cooperate with her nemisis Oliver when they find that Ryan was planning to propose to Tina at the same time.
Priscilla does seem to go for everything flat out, but I couldn't help feeling for her. Oliver is more reserved, but I had the inkling that he rather fancied her as well. Cue some amusing / embarrassing moments whilst they try to keep things from the happy couple to be.
I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher through Netgalley, however this did not influence my review of the book.

*4.5

Donna Marchetti is becoming an automatic must read author for me especially after Hate Mail and this book!

The Proposal Project contains my fave trope ever, enemies-to-lovers, and is a cute romcom novel focusing on a fun group of friends!

Priscilla is in charge of organising her bff Tina’s lavish dream proposal event to her boyfriend Ryan, but her plans start to falter when she discovers that Ryan is also planning to propose to Tina. Priscilla must join forces and work with Oliver, Ryan’s bff, who happens to be her enemy (and the guy she used to be obsessed with until he embarrassed her), to pull off a double proposal stunt for their two friends without them knowing. Cue fake dating, banter, and meddling friends. I loved the friendship in this book, it was wholesome and made me smile and laugh.

I wish it could have been longer as I wanted to read more about Priscilla and Oliver’s relationship! There was a strange side plot involving a rich CEO who was hitting on Priscilla but it was only for a couple of chapters and I felt it could have been left out as it wasn’t expanded on and didn’t impact the story that much.

Thank you to One More Chapter for reaching out to me about this ARC and to netgalley! ✨

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!
This had a lot of fun tropes. I enjoyed the friends to enemies to friends to lovers story. They were both such great friends to Tina and Ryan and I loved their little group.

Got the arc for this book. This book is about Priscilla and Oliver and they are planning their best friends proposal. Somewhere along the way they end up fake dating. This book was very cute and sweet. Maybe too short I would have liked a little more of this story

I absolutely LOVED this newest book by Donna Marchetti! It was so good that I could barely put it down and finished reading in less than a day. Main character Priscilla Cain has such a great personality and so relatable, like when she was agonizing over her crush I had to hold back my squeals of laughter and delight. The whole back and forth will they, won't they get together for the main characters had me so entertained and I just loved everything from the epic miscommunications (one of my favorite book tropes) to the grand gesture that tied up the story at the end in a neat bow. Throughout the book Bruno Mar's song "Marry Me" was on constant repeat on my mind and a perfect soundtrack for this story <3

10/10 would recommend to all readers

Two enemies have to team up to create a marriage proposal of their friends' dreams. What could go wrong?

Tina and Ryan want to propose to each other, but they both don't know about it. Who figures it out are their respective best friends, Priscilla and Oliver, who are trying to make their friend's dream happen, but ultimately have to work together so that Tina and Ryan propose to each other at the same time. Win-win. But what does this teamwork mean to Pris and Oliver?

Author's debut "The Hate Mail" has been delightful, so of course I had to pick up her next release!

"The Proposal Project" is a quick, funny and light read with a bit of spice. Good to just lay on a beach and relax.

Oliver is a teacher, which I found adorable. He's a bit cocky and loves pushing Pris' buttons, while also being so down bad for her. Priscilla is a likable character. I enjoyed how she stood her ground with her parents being against her owning a business.

The tension and banter between Oliver and Pris were just amazing! There was a bit of the miscommunication trope, but I think it was done well and it actually felt realistic.

Many laugh out loud moments, bordering on cheesiness, a little ridicious, but I had a great time reading.

Okay, I loved this…all of the characters, their personalities, friendships and relationships!

Two people coming together to plan the proposals for their best friends who both want to propose to each other while having to fake date only to actually fall for each other. It read like a rom com movie that I would absolutely watch!

I loved how the story developed and all came together in the end. It was such a sweet story and it was so well written.

Plus, many of the tropes I love:
• fake dating
• dislike to love
• forced proximity
• one bed

I really loved Hate Mail by Donna Marchetti last year, so I was truly excited about this book.

Unfortunately, I didn't get far. The MCs felt like litteral teenagers, made me actually annoyed? (It rarely happens in my household.)
Like what do you mean they stick their tongues to each other?

I'll keep my eye on Donna for her next release tho.

⭐️⭐️/5
🌶️🌶️/5

I’m sorry but I did not vibe with this at all. Reading this book felt more like a chore and I struggled to force myself to pick it up.

I can positively say that this was not the worst thing I have ever read, so there’s that.

Right out of the gate, I did not like the FMC. In the very beginning, she gets into a sort of altercation with her boss over a tape dispenser while he was firing her. It was so immature and rubbed me the wrong way but I kind of just chucked it up to her being emotional from losing her job and pushed on. Unfortunately, I quickly learned she was all around childish and that wasn’t a spur of the moment situation. Between the tantrums and the child like dialogue, it was hard to see her as an adult. I felt like the author was trying to go for a sort of fun and quirky MC with Priscilla, but it just did not work.

The MMC really sucked too. Oliver had the personality of a dead fish. Every single interaction with him felt so forced and awkward. The dude didn’t seem like he wanted to be a part of this book at all lol.

If the characters as individuals wasn’t bad enough, I really didn’t like them as a couple either. From the very beginning, there was this sort of forced enemies to lovers situation that didn’t make sense at all. Like, why do these two not get along? Their fake hatred for each other really interfered with the story and not just because it didn’t flow well at all. Between their unfortunate personalities and their forced animosity, I really couldn’t ship them. By the end, I genuinely did not care for either of them and in turn, I didn’t care if they had an HEA or not.

As if the MC characters weren’t enough, the side characters were equally as bad. Kinda like Oliver, Ryan was just kind of there. The only difference between them is we saw more of Oliver lol. Unfortunately, Tina played a big role in this story. She was such a bad friend. The way she would constantly meddle in Priscilla’s life and publicly talk about her personal matters was so gross. As much as I didn’t like Priscilla, she still deserved so much better.

I don’t think Tina wouldn’t have bothered me so much, if she didn’t play such a big role in the story. It’s not just the fact that it was her event that Priscilla was planning. There were times where I felt like this book was more about the two best friends than the actually couple and that rubbed me the wrong way. I feel like I would have enjoyed this story so much more if Tina would have just taken a backseat so that the relationship between the main characters could have fully blossomed. Idk. This dynamic between Tina and Priscilla really overshadowed Oliver at times.

Setting that aside, I wasn’t really a fan of the conflict in the storyline either. It was so stupid IMO. It was so frustrating because it could have been easily solved if Priscilla and Oliver could have set their fake differences aside to find some common ground. Maybe I wouldn’t have hated the “conflict” so much, if I truly felt like these too had a valid reason to dislike each other. Maybe then, them not being able to properly communicate would have made sense to me.

Overall, this was not a vibe for me. The characters all sucked and I really wasn’t impressed with the story either.

I don’t recommend this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy of The Proposal Project!

This charming rom-com is a trope-lover’s dream! With fake dating, forced proximity, enemies-to-lovers tension, and even a one-bed moment, Donna Marchetti delivers a feel-good romance that’s equal parts flirty and heartfelt.

Priscilla is the ultimate planner—organized, driven, and totally unprepared for the chaos that is Oliver, her best friend’s best man and her total opposite. Their chemistry is immediate, their banter is addictive, and watching them go from sparring partners to something much sweeter is so satisfying. Add in a secret joint proposal mission, and you’ve got a story full of hilarious mishaps, slow-building tension, and genuinely touching moments.

No third-act breakup? Yes, please. Clueless FMC and secretly obsessed MMC? Even better. The Proposal Project is light on angst, high on charm, and will leave you with a goofy smile by the last page. Perfect for fans of cozy, closed-door rom-coms with all the tropes and none of the drama.