An absolute delight! A-plus yearning on the hero's end + a road trip + enemies to lovers + fake dating = a total swoon, from start to finish.

ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

I ADORE Charlotte Stein's writing, and she's done it again! Fake dating is truly where she shines, and I'm so glad to see another fake dating trope from her. Also ROAD TRIP ROMANCE?!?!?!?!!? Sold immediately. I sat and read this in one evening, and was in love by the end.

The tension?! The pining?! The pent up longing and poignant touches!! Charlotte Stein absolutely wrecked me with While You Were Seething. Daisy and Caleb have so much tension, from their background and history in college to their roadtrip and forced relationship. The whole book was so full of that build up, and I loved every second of it!!

You can’t go wrong with the combination of forced proximity and fake dating. We all love the one bed trope… but I think we need to add the one tent trope to that list!! Daisy and Caleb’s dynamic of two people with history and shared knowledge combined with their mutual dislike at the onset of this book truly was fantastic.

While You Were Seething hit so many of my favorite things in a good romance. I was so happy to see Daisy and Caleb’s dynamic morph into something beautiful. It’s one of those books where the epilogue hit just a little extra, and it was an absolute delight to read this book.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and St. Martin’s Griffin for the opportunity to read and review this book! I received a free advance copy of this book via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review. All opinions expressed are my own.

A swoon-worthy, high-tension romance that proves love, desire, and big feelings were never the problem…

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The novel kicks off with Caleb, a wildly successful romance writer, doing the unthinkable: completely alienating his fan base by declaring that love, as he writes it, is fake. Made up. Not real. Enter Daisy, who is hired to rehabilitate his image and get him through an upcoming book tour. The catch? Daisy and Caleb have been at odds since college, and now, with Caleb’s book sales and Daisy’s professional reputation on the line, they’re forced to work together and make sure the tour goes smoothly.

Spoiler: it absolutely does not.

Before long, the two find themselves trapped in a fake dating scenario, and the simmering tension between them quickly turns scorching. What follows is a sharp, sexy, emotionally charged story that had me hooked from start to finish.

This book is beautifully written and deeply swoon-worthy, and I loved that it is not dual POV. I know dual POVs have become hugely popular in recent years, but if you’ve read my reviews before, you know I’m pretty critical of them. For me, dual POV often kills the tension. When I’m inside both characters’ heads, I already know how they feel without them having to reveal it to each other, and that mystery is a huge part of what makes romance work. I also find that male POVs are sometimes written in ways that feel inauthentic, as if the character thinks and speaks exactly like a woman. Having grown up around boys and maintaining many close male friendships, even very feminist ones, that portrayal often feels off to me.

Thankfully, While You Were Seething avoids all of those pitfalls. The tension is delicious, the chemistry is palpable, and the spice is immaculate. I’ve been gushing about this book for weeks, and for good reason.

On top of all that, Daisy is plus size, or at least on the higher end of mid-size, and as a reader, I absolutely love seeing myself reflected in romance. This book is for the plus size girls who were told they felt too much. For those who were made to feel like a problem for being too sexual, for enjoying sex, for believing in big, dramatic romance, or for being open about their desires and emotions. This story pushes back against all of that and boldly declares that none of those things are flaws. It’s the kind of book I wish I had found years ago.

Now, I know I’ve probably gotten you very excited, but I do have to end with a bit of disappointment: this book doesn’t come out until April 14, 2026. That said, I highly recommend pre-ordering it, because I have no doubt it will be one of the standout reads of the year.

I am a big Charlotte Stein fan, and this totally lived up to my expectations! As usual, the humor was so fun to read, and the spice was so well written! I loved the story and thought the characters were really relatable! Can't wait to read whatever she writes next!

While You Were Seething is probably my most favorite book by Stein to date. I'm a sucker for fake dating and forced proximity, and top it off with enemies to lovers chemistry and tension, I was in heaven!