The Great Dating Fake-Off by Livy Hart

3.78 AVERAGE

lagadema's profile picture

lagadema's review

4.25
funny lighthearted medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
For some time I'm planning to read Livy Hart's book, and this was a perfect chance to get to know her work. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. 
This story offers a unique take on the fake dating trope, one of my favorites. Sebastian and Nora fake date other people as plus ones for a week-long wedding event, but their undeniable chemistry makes it hard to keep up the charade. Their emotional and physical connection is intense, leading to some heartfelt moments. The secondary characters, Benji and Alessia, added depth to the story and made it even more enjoyable.
Thank you to NetGalley and Entangled Publishing for the eARC
docrobreads's profile picture

docrobreads's review against another edition

4.25
funny hopeful reflective sad tense fast-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

casuallycolorado's review against another edition

3.0
lighthearted medium-paced
dtieds_allbookedup's profile picture

dtieds_allbookedup's review

5.0
adventurous funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted relaxing 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

maria_29's review

4.25
funny lighthearted fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
elegantfantasy_blogs's profile picture

elegantfantasy_blogs's review

3.0
emotional funny lighthearted relaxing medium-paced
I always enjoy Livy Hart's books and this one was enjoyable too. I liked how Nora & Sebastian met at the bookstore and their chemistry was good. They couldn't stay away from each other and I could feel the attraction but I think the insta-love was what let me down. Also, since the beginning itself, so many side characters were introduced left and right and it was really difficult to keep track of them especially because they were from two different families. So the beginning was very chaotic. Perhaps if the character introduction was slow and brief, I would've liked the book more. Because figuring out the dynamics between all of them was hard and I feel like it overshadowed the romance tbh.

I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange of an honest review

joyfullylauren's review against another edition

5.0
emotional funny medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
Livy Hart takes a popular rom-com trope and turns it upside down in the most delightful way in this story about two fake wedding dates who fall in love with each other instead of the friends they arrived with.

When Nora overhears her best friend's family giving him a hard time about attending his sister's wedding alone, she eagerly rushes in to help him. She introduces herself as his girlfriend and convinces him to let her attend the wedding as his fake date so that he can spend quality time with his grandfather without his mom and sister meddling in his private life. He begrudingly agrees and off they go to spend a week at a luxury resort in the Adirondacks. The only problem? Nora's mysterious bookstore crush is attending the wedding, too, as someone else's date.

Sebastian did not volunteer to be his best friend's fake date, but when she and her girlfriend told him that they were not ready to come out to her entire extended family and steal the spotlight from her brother's wedding, he agreed to pose as her boyfriend. He did not expect to run into the beautiful bespectacled bookseller that he couldn't stop thinking about in the middle of the Adirondacks. Pursuing his interest in Nora would require both of them to abandon their friends, so they agree that, at least for this week, they'll stay away from each other.

Except they can't. Livy Hart does an amazing job of developing Nora and Sebastian's chemistry through every interaction, and the tension between them slowly builds until it becomes unsustainable... and has disastrous results for their friends. This book has everything you want in a rom-com: absurd predicaments, delicious romantic tension, tight-knit friendships, and spicy scenes that make enduring the slow burn worth it.

I also love that you can feel how important the stakes and challenges are to the characters, which helps you buy into their dilemma. You're able to understand both why Sebastian's job is so important to him and why Nora won't allow herself to follow him when he leaves town. 

This book is perfect for fans of big, fat, dramatic family weddings, forbidden love, forced proximity, and seeing the familiar tropes played out in a refreshing way. Thank you to Entangled Publishing and NetGalley for providing a digital ARC copy for me to review. 

jdoerhoff's review

5.0
emotional lighthearted medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I did not want this love affair to end! Not only are we focused on our two leading characters and their love but we have friendship and marriage all tied into it! I am so sad this book is over I wanted the story to keep going! 

We have two big Italian families coming together for a wonderful wedding week. But these two families have been in a feud for a hundred years. We’ve got Romeo and Juliette vibes going on here. The bride’s brother, Benji, is single. His family is always hounding him to meet a girl or trying to set him up. Nora the bff steps in to help Benji survive this crazy wedding week coming up. They decide to fake it. Alesia is the groom’s sister and hasn’t told her family about her girlfriend. Fearing drama at the wedding she  decided to brings her friend Sebastian as her “boyfriend”. As the week progresses sparks arise and it’s not easy to keep a fire this hot under wraps. 

In this you’ll find fake dating, breakups, family drama and finding out what home really means. This was such an emersive read that I wanted the story to never end. Grab your copy today (8/6) and dive right in!

Thank you Livy Hart and NetGalley for allowing me this read in exchange for an honest review. 
bookishwithlex's profile picture

bookishwithlex's review

4.75
emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: No
This was so very cute and I  loved these two chaotic characters so much! Honestly I really Loved the concept of the two both fake dating different people. It was chaos waiting for a disaster to strike and I  was living for it. I wish There was a tad more romancing happening but the parts we did get were top tier! I  loved how deeply these two understood each other on a cellular level almost like they were fated to be it for the other. The side characters were to die for especially nella! 
Read if you love 
-fake dating
-found family 
-loud family chaos
-medaling friends 
- friends to lovers 
- banter 
-Feuding families 

kayleigh_reads_romance's profile picture

kayleigh_reads_romance's review against another edition

5.0
Livy Hart has done it again. I loved this book! I loved that the ending took turns that I wasn't expecting. And that the big "reveal" happened earlier than I was expecting, allowing a more developed story at the end!!

5 stars

  Thank you to Netgalley, Entangled Publishing, and the author for an advance copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.