The Faking Game by Olivia Hayle (ARC Review)

⭐⭐⭐⭐

This book was so sweet!

I had the absolute honour of reading an ARC copy of The Faking Game over the long weekend while staying with family and oh my god, I could not put it down!

I have to admit that I wasn't a fan of West in the beginning, but he quickly won me over with how kind and caring and protective he was towards Nora, and how he helped her step out of her comfort zone and learn that it's okay to say no to things that she doesn't want to do.

Nora's journey as a people pleaser who is learning to stand up for herself was so powerful and relatable, and you could really see the growth between her and West not just in their relationship with each other but as individuals as well.

I loved the setting of Fairhaven so much! It was perfectly described and felt like something out of a fairytale! Also, the bromance between the MMC's friend group was so funny and sweet, I can't wait to read Rafe's book, and I desperately hope that James and Alex will be getting books of their own as well!

This was my first time reading anything Olivia Hayle! And I highly recommend this book if you like the following tropes:

✨billionaire romance
💘dating lessons
✨suspense
💘roommates
✨forced proximity
💘virgin heroine
✨brother's best friend
💘fake dating

A huge thank you to @oliviahayle and @netgalley for the ARC💕

Hello, new insta-read author alert-

Nora Montclair just moved to NYC to participate in an exclusive fashion design competition in NYC. She soon realizes she brought more than just her design talent with her: her stalker followed her over. To stay safe, she reluctantly moves in with Rafe's overprotective best friend West Calloway; his sprawling Fairhaven estate is practically a fortress. Or a prison. But there are some perks. She gets to set up an atelier space for her fashion designing, for one. Oh, and Nora needs some help practicing dating so she can find her one true love... a man without constant expectations who can also pop her cherry before she turns 25 (but she doesn't tell West that last part). West is up for a bit of fake dating for her benefit. It would send her stalker a clear message. And maybe, as an added benefit to West, showing Nora off as his girlfriend will finally stop his mother constantly shoving prospective brides in his face. She's his best friend's sister. So she's practically his own sister. That's how West SHOULD view her, anyway. Who is he kidding... At least Nora hates him just enough to make this deal work.

This book is everything. Every time I put it down to do important things like eat or sleep, it beckoned me like a freaking Siren: "Continue me. You know you want to."

Did I request this ARC for the romance? 100000%. The romantic compatibility between the lovely heroine and absolutely delicious hero was taking up all the space in my head, living rent free, demanding my attention. The book is written in dual PoV, which is my favorite way to read romance. West's chapters did not disappoint. His desire for Nora ratchets up to a 100, nice and slow and intense.

Their shared socio-economic status is another reason why this book is a success for me. Rather than have "just a naïve small-town girl falling for a billionaire", Nora herself is wealthy and well-connected, with a solid career and further ambitions of her own. West respects and admires her, and while he's overprotective due to her stalker situation, he also supports her as she follows her dreams.  

While I came for the romance, I left with that AND (surprisingly) a really reflective, memorable character arc. Nora's development throughout the book is sublime, and man, how hot is it that West and their fake dating both help get her there. I don't always love a fake dating trope, because it at times quite literally contrives the romantic tension, but it's a whole new ballgame when there's a genuine desire for the male love interest to build up the heroine. Nora & West's first intimate moments are swoonworthy, but the more profound romance is seen elsewhere: it is in every step she takes, with his encouragement, to come out of her people-pleasing shell. Their realness with one and other, and their mutual enjoyment of the way he chooses to guide her (oh hello, praise kink), makes their connection deeper and believable. Basically, none of it ever really felt like "fake dating" at all. I just think it was beautifully done. 

The stalker storyline in the end doesn't really make much sense, but heck, let's be real - I never read this for some stalker storyline. So that's neither here nor there. This book's still perfection to me and it's already on my reread pile. 

West is part of a group of friends who met at boarding school, Belmont, and basically grew up together. As it tells West's story, The Faking Game introduces us to the other guys: Rafe, Alex and James. Each is set to be the leading men in subsequent installments of The Billionaire Games series., and from the introduction we learn the guys have a lot in common, but have unique enough personalities, which should make follow-up books in the series surprising and varied enough. So I'll be looking out for those releases!  

This is my first Olivia Hayle book, and clearly it won't be my last. There is no faking how much I thoroughly devoured and loved this steamy romance. Take all the stars, an infinite amount of praise and a whopping thank you to NetGalley and Oliva Hayle for generously providing me with a copy of this book; all opinions expressed are honest, voluntary and 100% my own.

I don’t usually love brother’s best friend romance but this book does it sooo well. It started out a little slow but I got hooked when they started their “lessons.” Honestly some of the hottest scenes I’ve read in a while 🥵 I’m really glad that I was approved for this ARC because I loved it and want to read Olivia Hayle’s other books now. I’ll definitely be reading Rafe’s book. I was hoping all of the guys would get one but especially him.

I’m a sucker for a fake dating trope always and I liked the kind of bodyguard aspect to this one. The romance was cute, pretty slow burn and I liked seeing them together. This just felt way too long, nothing really happened for the first half of the book - could definitely have been under 350 pages.

This book was such a fun surprise! I was a little hesitant as I am not usually a fan of the brother's best friend trope, but Olivia Hayle did an outstanding job. I also really appreciated Nora's character and her growth. Her constant struggle of trying to make those around her happy is something i really resonated with and it was refreshing to see it reflected in a romance novel. A great read overall!

✨ Fake dating? Check.
✨ Brother’s best friend? Yup.
✨ Slow burn with ridiculous chemistry? Absolutely.

This book had me kicking my feet and giggling. Nora is a model with a not-so-secret dream of becoming a designer, and West is her brother’s grumpy, gorgeous best friend who suddenly finds himself fake-dating her to catch a stalker and save his family estate.

Their banter? Chef’s kiss. The chemistry? Off. The. Charts. And once the dating lessons started? I was fully in. I lived for every moment Nora pushed West’s buttons, she knew exactly what she was doing.

That said, can we talk about how the book kept reminding us she’s “basically his sister”? It was mentioned so many times it started to feel unnecessary. And Nora comparing West to her cousin? That was... a little weird.

Also once the stalker was revealed, it felt a little underwhelming. The tension just kind of fizzled, and after that, the book really started to drag. I just wish the ending had packed a bit more of a punch. After all the buildup, the reveal just didn’t hit. It was underwhelming, especially considering how many other characters could have been strong suspects, an old photographer, a fellow model, someone with access to her therapist, even a fan. There was so much potential to build tension, but the final twist felt like a missed opportunity.

Honestly, I think the book would’ve been stronger if it were a little shorter. The pacing dragged in the last stretch, and by the time I got to the end, I was just pushing through to finish. It almost felt like the author lost a bit of the spark that made the beginning so engaging

This was my first book by Olivia Hayle, and I’ll be keeping an eye out for more.

Tropes:
💗 Fake dating
💗 Brother’s best friend
💗 Roommates
💗 Virgin heroine
💗 Dating lessons
💗 Bilionair romance
💗 3/5 🌶️

Thank you to NetGalley and Olivia Hayle for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

When Nora temporarily moves in with her brother's best friend to avoid a stalker situation, there enemies to fake dating heats up to real...real fast.


I very much enjoyed watching West and Nora fall in love. They were caring, intentional, and before long they were *everything* to each other. This was a loooong book, but that didn't stop me from turning it into a one sitting read. And I'm now hoping that there'll be books for the rest of the friend group, especially with a sliiiight cliffhanger.



Thank you to the author and netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my review!

3.75 stars round up to 4.

The Faking Game was good. When I read the blurb to this and saw the tropes, I was immediately excited because it had some of my favorite tropes: Fake dating, brother's best friend, forced proximity, dating lessons, and on top of that, you add a bit of mystery with a stalker, I was sold. When I started reading, it felt a bit slow, it took me a little while to get fully into it, but once we got through the 20-30% mark, I was hooked.

I liked both main characters, their personalities and interactions were great, they had banter, humor, tension, and their chemistry developed naturally. It never felt rushed, and I really appreciated that. I like a bit of a slow burn. I loved how West helped Nora grow into a confident woman who made her boundaries clear, became more confident in herself and her talent, and stopped being a people pleaser.

And West? He was freaking perfect. He was always there for Nora; he saw her true self from the very beginning and helped her come into her own. He never told her what to do; he listened to her and her needs and always made sure she was safe and felt protected. He basically worshipped her.

Now onto the things that didn't fully convince me and the reason this is only 3.75 stars but leaning into 4. 😅 Besides the fact that the beginning felt a bit slow for me, the whole length of the book felt a bit much, some chapters could have been shorter or cut altogether. In my opinion, a contemporary romance doesn't really need to be 500 pages long 🙈 And the other thing was the stalker subplot, I really hoped there would be something more to it because it felt like the story was building up to something interesting but when we got there it was like "that's it? 🤨", it was very underwhelming. I know this isn't a romantic suspense, but still, it was way too surface level for me.

Overall, it was a good book, I really enjoyed it and now I'm excited for what's coming next, I can't wait for Rafe's story after the sneak peak at the end, and also Amber's story to find out her mystery man, although I have a theory about it. This was a great introduction to this new series and the characters for the next books.

PS. This quote at the end of the acknowledgements spoke to my soul: "Speaking your piece and staying true to you, even in the face of others' displeasure, is hard. It's terrifying. And it can be incredibly rewarding."

Thank you to Olivia Hayle and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Olivia Hayle and Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op. I was given this book as an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Happy release day. This was a 5 star read for me and I can’t wait to have my book club read it so I can fully gush over it.

I’ve read a couple of books by @oliviahayle but dang this one was my favorite. It was is so good and I was hooked pretty much from chapter one. The banter between the two characters was chef kiss. If you love the forbidden best friend sibling trope, add in forced proximity, and a slow burn, you definitely need to read this. The spice in this book was a 4 out of 5. The perfect amount for this book.

This book is the first of a coming series. I believe there will be 4 or 5 books in total.

Until my next spicy book review friends, happy reading
~ MaeBae 💚

To protect her from a stalker, Nora moves in with her brother’s billionaire best friend. In a mutually beneficial agreement, Nora and West decide to pretend to be together to keep both Nora’s stalker and West’s mother’s matchmaking attempts at bay. The line between fake dating and dating blurs as they get to know each other…

I really loved both Nora and West! This was one of the books that I really enjoyed the dual POV chapters. They were both very strong on their own, and their chemistry was absolutely perfect! Nora especially felt like a very well rounded character and I really loved seeing her growth, especially as a fellow people pleaser. I love how supportive and encouraging West was of her. This was such a great read. Thank you to NetGalley and Olivia Hayle for the advanced reader’s copy! 💕

I rated this book 4 stars. It was absolutely a great time. I loved the banter between the 2 main characters. The pacing was awesome I was not bored for a single second in this book. I loved the fake dating to dating scenario with him teaching her how to date while also being possessive of her and not wanting to let her go out and date. Overall I would recommend this book to any romance reader. It did have a little more spice than I would like in a book but it was not just there for no reason. It actually went with the plot and was part of the plot progression sol 10/10 there. Nora learning to speak up for herself and what she wants and learning not to just people please all the time is a depiction of a real life struggle that many go through and it is not talked about enough. I really appreciate the addition of real life struggles that didn't make the characters feel like the cardboard cut outs of every other romance novel. This book really shined in being relatable and true to what it is like to be a normal person. It was a good time and I will be picking up a physical copy of this book.

Rated: 4.5🌟

The Faking Game by Olivia Hayle is a trope-lover’s dream and a swoon-worthy ride from start to finish. Packed with fake dating, forced proximity, and a forbidden brother’s best friend dynamic, it blends romantic tension with emotional depth in all the right ways.

We follow Nora Montclair, a fashion model with a public image to maintain, who ends up under the protection of Weston Calloway (her brother’s best friend and a wealthy, emotionally guarded security mogul) after receiving threatening letters. When the media catches wind of their connection, they agree to a fake dating arrangement… and from there, sparks fly.

The chemistry between Nora and West is undeniable, but what really stands out is how both characters grow emotionally throughout the story. Nora learns to reclaim her voice and boundaries, while West begins to open up about his past and his feelings.

The “dating lessons” trope is executed with clever tension and just the right amount of steam. It adds an extra layer to their dynamic that feels fresh, even in a genre full of similar setups.

If I had one critique, it’s that the stalker subplot—while necessary to the plot—ends in a bit of a whomp-whomp moment. But I am also assuming that this was necessary to build up for book two.

This book delivers on every romantic promise it makes. It’s flirty, tender, and full of emotionally satisfying moments. Fans of Tessa Bailey, Lucy Score, or Lauren Asher will find plenty to love here.

Tropes:
😏Fake Dating
❌Brother’s Best Friend
🏡Forced Proximity
🌶️Dating Lessons
🍆Protective MMC
🔥Slow Burn Romance
☄️Opposites Attract

Plot: 💜💜💜💜
Characters: 🤩🤩🤩🤩
Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️
Writing: ✍🏼✍🏼✍🏼✍🏼✍🏼
Overall: 🌟🌟🌟🌟.5

“You’ll call me.”
“And you’ll come?”
“Always.”

This book was the perfect fake dating/brother’s best friend romance. It had everything you could have wanted, the jealousy, the tension, and the yearning! I love reading a fake dating situation when one of them starts to get jealous.

Beautifully done, I enjoyed the writing style and the mystery behind the stalkers identity. I can’t lie I suspected for a while that it was one of the men from their friendship group, Olivia Hayle did a great job at keeping me guessing.

I did not expect the ending either, I definitely NEED to read the next book. I would say this is perfect for fans of Ana Huang.

✨brothers best friend
✨fake dating
✨forced proximity

**Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this ARC**

Fake dating, a protective brother’s best friend, and allll the slow-burn tension you could ask for! This book gave me everything I wanted.

I seriously loved it! The story pulled me in right away and I couldn’t get enough of Nora and West. Their chemistry? Off the charts. I loved watching them fall for each other while pretending it was “just practice” (as if anyone believed that).

What really stood out to me was their growth, especially Nora’s. She started off unsure of herself but by the end, she was strong, confident, and knew what she wanted. We love that for her.

Also… I need a West in my life. The way he understood her, supported her, and helped her become a better version of herself 🩷

And now I’m just sitting here waiting (not so patiently) for Rafe’s book. I need more of this friend group asap!

3 🌟
Thank you so much NetGalley for providing me this arc!!
I really liked the vibe of this book, it was such a light funny read.

Things I enjoyed:
- the banter and chemistry between the main characters
- the way the male main characters supports the fmc to overcome her people pleasing problem
- the group chat the mmc have with his male friends, they're so funny

Things i didn’t love quite as much:
- the whole plot about the stalker felt a bit rushed in the end
- the book felt a bit slow and repetitive in some points

Although it wasn't a life changing book, I would recommend it if you like the fake dating and the brother's best friend tropes.

I really enjoyed this book! I am a sucker for brothers best friend! Even more though I am a sucker for a virgin fmc! I loved all of the spice and lessons! I thought the stalker storyline was also well done!

Thank you NetGalley and Victory Editing for this ebook ARC copy.

The Faking Game by Olivia Hayle
Pub Date May 25, 2025

Nora Montclair has a stalker. She’s forced to move into her brother’s best friend’s estate. West Calloway also happens to be someone who turned her down in the past, but in order to draw the stalker out they have to fake dating. Nora doesn’t know how to date, so she agrees with the stipulation that they practice real dating, but of course the situation turns into something more..

Brother’s best friend!! One of my favorite tropes.
Forced proximity. Fake dating. Dual POV.

My first read by Olivia Hayle. I enjoyed it so much & I need more.

The billionaire trope has never been one of my favorites but it’s also not one that I dislike.

The guidance. The buildup. The small things.

It gave me Twisted Lies & Play Along vibes.

The family dynamics was a subplot that worked well & the way the characters for future books were introduced just enough to get us invested in more. I read this in one day that’s how much I enjoyed it.

It’s definitely open-door spice. Their chemistry was pretty intense, the way they were so open with each other was a big factor. They truly laid out the foundations of a relationship without actually being in a real relationship.

“Don’t leave me. I might die if you do”

This was one of those books that I couldn’t put down and yet wanted to savor it for as long as I could.
West Calloway is the book boyfriend of my dreams! Every time he calls Nora “Trouble” I swear my heart skipped a beat.

Nora is an aspiring fashion designer who goes to New York in the hope of achieving success for her talent, as opposed to her family name. However, her brother is concerned as Nora has been receiving letters from a stalker so asks his best friend to provide security for her. Billionaire West Calloway takes Nora’s security very seriously and when Nora insists she wants to practice dating while she is in New York, and the stalker escalates his behaviours West comes up with a plan. West will pretend to date Nora. This will hopefully force the stalker to make a mistake, allow Nora to practice and the bonus? It stops West’s mother from trying to match West with a wife before the marriage deadline that will mean he looses his families company.

This romance has everything you could dream of. Brothers best friends, a billionaire and fake dating? These are all tropes that we have seen before but Olivia Hayle manages to bring them all together in such a new and exciting way. The plot moves at the perfect pace and the characters develop in such a natural way. The dual POV draws us into the evolution of both West and Nora’s feelings. It’s a long time since I have been left feeling so entranced by a book couple.

It is the first Olivia Hayle book I read and it most definitely won’t be my last. I love a romance, but in a world which is filled with them, it is rare that I feel like I have just read something special and unique but I wouldn’t change a thing about The Faking Game.

Thank you to Net Galley and the author for providing me with an ARC copy of The Faking Game in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

This was an quick easy book to binge even though it was 500+ pages.

Billionaire romances usually are a little silly, but I enjoyed both MMC and FMCs. I can tell the found family aspect will only get stronger as the series continues.

Book publishes 5/25/25.

I really enjoyed The Faking Game! It had the perfect mix of fun banter, sweet moments, and lots of chemistry between the main characters. West and Emilia had great tension, and their fake dating turned real in such a believable, swoony way. I loved the brother’s best friend trope, and how West went from cold and distant to super protective and thoughtful. The storyline was easy to follow and had just enough drama to keep me hooked without being over the top. Emilia’s journey of finding her voice and confidence made her easy to root for, and West helping her grow added a soft, emotional touch to the romance. The side characters were also great and made the story feel more full. This is a great, steamy, feel good romance that’s perfect if you love fake dating with real feelings.
Very grateful to the author for my arc , opinions are my own