Reviews with content warning for Toxic relationship - The Fiancée Farce

You don’t understand how SAD I am that my last sapphic readings have been a 3 ⭐ and in some cases a disappointment, is it because I’m a fantasy girly and they were contemporary? am I the problem? lol. But yeah from the very beginning this felt like a 3 star book.

This book was a bit funny to me in the beginning because I imagined myself in the main character’s situation but applied to me, for example if I say I’m dating Harry Styles and then oh surprise! He is in the same room as me and tells my family he’s really dating me and not only that but we’re about to get married 💀

Things I liked:

I really liked that this was a dual pov and we could read what was going on in their heads so it wasn’t just from one and then we would get it all wrong, we knew what each girl was thinking and understand better their decisions / actions.
Thank God I finally found a contemporary romance book where the characters TALK, they communicate like ADULTS, but then that was ruined by the end…
I really liked seeing them together as friends and then as a couple because we saw how their relationship progressed.

Things I disliked:

I don’t like insta love and this felt a little bit like that because Gemma kept repeating how Tansey isn’t her type at all and yet could not stop thinking about how pretty she is, and of course Tansey was one of those girls who keeps thinking she’s not pretty.
I wish we saw a little bit more of their relationship with their friends instead of their shitty families.
This book had my blood boiling and wishing this was a fantasy book so I could see the two assholes getting tortured after what they did, but especially that guy, ugh, so infuriating.

Anyways, this had a happy ending because of course everything is fixed in the last chapter (not that I’m mad about it, honestly if they didn’t give me that happy ending after making me so angry I would've rated this even lower)

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lindseyhall44's review against another edition

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emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This is one of the first modern day marriage of convenience novel’s I have read, and Bellefuer did an amazing job brining the beloved trope to the contemporary world. There are some aspects that may seem a bit far fetched, but, hey, my hopeless romantic heart is happy. For any fans of the written in the stars trilogy, or romance enthusiasts in general, I would definitely recommend!

*Imagine The Proposal but with a book store manager and romance cover model/marketing CEO.

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yuri_rum_raisin's review against another edition

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battyaboutbooks's review against another edition

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funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

🦇 The Fiancée Farce Book Review 🦇

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

❝ She was a total fucking goner. Whatever magic Tansy was made of, Gemma wanted to drown in it, revel in the honeyed heat burning her up from the inside out. It was better than the finest bourbon she’d ever had the pleasure of sipping. ❞

❓ #QOTD What was the best sapphic novel you read this year (I need recs!!)? ❓

🦇 After losing her parents and a traumatic romantic experience as a teen, Tansy Adams focuses all her time and energy on her late father's bookstore. To dodge questions about her love life, Tansy invents Gemma, a fake girlfriend inspired by the stunning cover model on a best-selling romance book. She never expected that real-life Gemma would step into her life, play along, and announce they were engaged, imploding that white lie into a full-on farce. Gemma van Dalen, the outcast of her wealthy family, needs a spouse to inherit Van Dalen Publishing; her grandmother's legacy. In exchange for Tansy's hand in marriage, Gemma offers to save Tansy's beloved bookstore before it's sold off. Can their marriage of convenience work, or will Gemma's scheming family get between them?

❝ "As for feeling like you’ve failed, well, failure is an inescapable part of life. But failing doesn’t make you a failure. And I’m sorry your father made you feel like the two were synonymous. You are more than your achievements, Gemma. You are brilliant, and ambitious, and you are good, do you hear me? And what you do or do not achieve in this life has no bearing on your value.” ❞

💜 Oh. My. Goddess. That's right: goddess, because that's exactly what these two cunning, sassy women are. Alexandria Bellefleur has taken the generally predictable "marriage of convenience" trope and turned it into an emotional, powerful story about finding the love you don't realize you deserve. Both Tansy and Gemma are full of so much pain, their family trees full of broken branches (and in Gemma's case, poisonous barbs. For them to find love and family in one another so unexpectedly (for them, at least, because, come on, that's what we're here for), so flawlessly...it's not only swoon-worthy and sweet, but a relief. It's the insane, instant, undeniable chemistry between Tansy and Gemma that empowers their every interaction from the start, but unlike other marriage-of-convenience stories, smut doesn't drive their relationship. What starts off as a business relationship blossoms from a friendship to a true partnership. Gemma is sweet and giving as she navigates her first real relationship, while Tansy comes out of her shell to defend Gemma when no one else has. These goddesses support one another, even when the relationship is only a farce, until it all becomes real. The character development between them both is a flawless example of how empowering love--and having someone by your side--can really be.

🦇 As much as I loved every interaction between Gemma and Tansy, it's difficult to love everything that happens outside of their sweet sapphic bubble. The toxic men--namely Tucker, Gemma's cousin, who manipulated teenage Tansy and shared underage nudes of her--seem unrealistically cruel. Tansy's step-mother goes from a social ladder-climbing step-Bridzilla to suddenly sympathetic. None of the secondary characters have real layers, making them no more than pawns to the story's plot progression. Because of that, none of the conflicts or twists are surprising. The boardroom scene/resolution seemed beyond unrealistic, regardless of how sweet the gesture was. You may need to expand your suspension of disbelief and focus on the sapphic sweetness for this one.

🦇 Recommended for fans of Stars Collide, Cleat Cute, and Love at First Set. This heartwarming sapphic romance is full of feels; a stunning addition to any shelf.

✨ The Vibes ✨
🩷 Fake Dating
🩷 Marriage of Convenience
🩷 Bi MCs (Bi4Bi)
🩷 Sapphic Romance
🩷 Mental Health Rep
🩷 Opposites Attract

⚠️ Content Warnings: Past Sexual Exploitation, Threatening Interactions, Toxic Men, Spice 🌶️

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stacy837's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Narrator is excellent at capturing character's emotions

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savanah's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.25

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kbairbooks's review

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challenging emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Are you actually kidding me? I loved this so much! The characters were so funny and witty and the romance was fun and sweet. I gobbled this up and didn’t want the story to be over BUT THE HEA WAS SO CUTE. I loved this. Loved it!

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