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3.78 AVERAGE
3.78 AVERAGE
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
2.5 stars, rounded up.
Nora and Sebastian find themselves at a wedding, pretending to date their respective best friends. They find themselves spending a lot of time together and realize they have feelings for each other. When they accidentally get caught, chaos ensues.
The premise of this book is so good. It has so much potential to be fun and swoony, but just missed the mark for me.
It also took me forever to finish this book. I think there are way too many characters with relationship drama. It's a lot to keep track of, especially with the family dynamics. I also just couldn't really get into the romance between the MCs. The romance was kind of instalovey and there was a lack of chemistry. I didn't feel an emotional connection between Nora and Sebastian and I kept hoping for fun banter that never really appeared.
The writing itself was fine, but I didn't love the writing style. I did enjoy the dual POV and the fun twist on the fake dating trope.
Thank you to Entangled and NetGalley for the ARC.
Nora and Sebastian find themselves at a wedding, pretending to date their respective best friends. They find themselves spending a lot of time together and realize they have feelings for each other. When they accidentally get caught, chaos ensues.
The premise of this book is so good. It has so much potential to be fun and swoony, but just missed the mark for me.
It also took me forever to finish this book. I think there are way too many characters with relationship drama. It's a lot to keep track of, especially with the family dynamics. I also just couldn't really get into the romance between the MCs. The romance was kind of instalovey and there was a lack of chemistry. I didn't feel an emotional connection between Nora and Sebastian and I kept hoping for fun banter that never really appeared.
The writing itself was fine, but I didn't love the writing style. I did enjoy the dual POV and the fun twist on the fake dating trope.
Thank you to Entangled and NetGalley for the ARC.
funny
lighthearted
medium-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
Thank you to Entangled for the advanced reader copy. These opinions are my own.
Livy Hart writes such fun rom-coms. In this one, Nora agrees to fake date her best friend, so that he doesn't have to go to his sister's wedding alone. And Sebastian agrees to fake date his best friend, so that she doesn't have to talk about her girlfriend with her extended family at her brother's wedding. As you could guess, it's the same wedding. And if all the fake relationships weren't enough drama, the bride and groom's family have a feud that dates back generations.
The families are intense. The wedding parties and activities are hilarious. The venue sounds fabulous with lovely scenery. And the chemistry is steaming.
This was lovely and funny and head me rooting not only for Nora and Sebastian, but equally for their fake dates and for the bride and groom.
Livy Hart writes such fun rom-coms. In this one, Nora agrees to fake date her best friend, so that he doesn't have to go to his sister's wedding alone. And Sebastian agrees to fake date his best friend, so that she doesn't have to talk about her girlfriend with her extended family at her brother's wedding. As you could guess, it's the same wedding. And if all the fake relationships weren't enough drama, the bride and groom's family have a feud that dates back generations.
The families are intense. The wedding parties and activities are hilarious. The venue sounds fabulous with lovely scenery. And the chemistry is steaming.
This was lovely and funny and head me rooting not only for Nora and Sebastian, but equally for their fake dates and for the bride and groom.
I really enjoyed this book! I became a fan of Livy Hart after reading Some Kind of Blunderful! I can’t wait to dive into more of her books!
I loved Nora and Sebastian’s meet cute! They both had an instant connection and they thought they would never see each other again. After they run into each other at a big Italian wedding fake dating other people, they find they can’t stay away from each other. These two had amazing chemistry and their connection was undeniable. I loved all the side characters it just made the story that much better! I can’t wait to listen to the audiobook!
What to expect:
Fake Dating
Forced Proximity
Found Family
Overbearing Italian Families
I loved Nora and Sebastian’s meet cute! They both had an instant connection and they thought they would never see each other again. After they run into each other at a big Italian wedding fake dating other people, they find they can’t stay away from each other. These two had amazing chemistry and their connection was undeniable. I loved all the side characters it just made the story that much better! I can’t wait to listen to the audiobook!
What to expect:
Fake Dating
Forced Proximity
Found Family
Overbearing Italian Families
“That's the thing about big, meddlesome Italian families.
Nothing stays secret for long.”
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This book was SO fun 🤭 such a cute, spicy rom-com and perfect palate cleanser! I was giggling and kicking my feet while reading this book 😌 we have a fun double fake-dating situation with plenty of tense, spicy and humorous moments!
Nora will do anything she can for her best friend, including trying to get his overbearing family to stop trying to set him up. She steps up and offers to be his fake girlfriend at his sister’s wedding. I loved this girl from the start 🫶 she’s so caring and always wants to help people in anyway she can!
“I have to look out for my own heart, because no one else will. No one else ever has.”
Sebastian finds himself in a similar situation when his best friend asks him to be her fake wedding date to avoid coming out to her family. Sebastian yearns to make a difference in the world and change lives, yet never thinks he’s good enough 😭 he is also very selfless and looks out for those he cares for 🫶 also, this man is 🥵😮💨
"I don't like getting things wrong. It's not that I want to be perfect. I've just spent a lot of time feeling like I'm not- like I'm going to disappoint people."
The romance was so friggin GOOD! There was so much tension while they tried to stay away from each other 😩 these two are like magnets and always found themselves back in each other’s arms (literally 😌). The spicy scenes? No words 🤭🥵 but fr, they were so cute together 😭❤️
"It doesn't matter what you wear, Nora. Or where we are, or how much time has passed. I will never stop wanting you."
I also really loved our side characters and the subplot with Ro and Enzo! There were so many hilarious moments with the obnoxious families and heartwarming moments between the side couples 🫶
Nothing stays secret for long.”
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This book was SO fun 🤭 such a cute, spicy rom-com and perfect palate cleanser! I was giggling and kicking my feet while reading this book 😌 we have a fun double fake-dating situation with plenty of tense, spicy and humorous moments!
Nora will do anything she can for her best friend, including trying to get his overbearing family to stop trying to set him up. She steps up and offers to be his fake girlfriend at his sister’s wedding. I loved this girl from the start 🫶 she’s so caring and always wants to help people in anyway she can!
“I have to look out for my own heart, because no one else will. No one else ever has.”
Sebastian finds himself in a similar situation when his best friend asks him to be her fake wedding date to avoid coming out to her family. Sebastian yearns to make a difference in the world and change lives, yet never thinks he’s good enough 😭 he is also very selfless and looks out for those he cares for 🫶 also, this man is 🥵😮💨
"I don't like getting things wrong. It's not that I want to be perfect. I've just spent a lot of time feeling like I'm not- like I'm going to disappoint people."
The romance was so friggin GOOD! There was so much tension while they tried to stay away from each other 😩 these two are like magnets and always found themselves back in each other’s arms (literally 😌). The spicy scenes? No words 🤭🥵 but fr, they were so cute together 😭❤️
"It doesn't matter what you wear, Nora. Or where we are, or how much time has passed. I will never stop wanting you."
I also really loved our side characters and the subplot with Ro and Enzo! There were so many hilarious moments with the obnoxious families and heartwarming moments between the side couples 🫶
funny
lighthearted
medium-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
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
This is hovering between 3 and 4 for me. I loved the idea of the feuding Italian families, but it got confusing about whose love story we should focus on. I know for the most part it was Nora and Sebastian and I loved them together but I feel like it took a while for them to get their footing. They had a third-act break-up when they weren't officially together, which kind of rubbed me the wrong way. Some of the humor had me cackling and I really loved some of the side characters. Shout out to Nella for being the star here! I did love the spice that Hart included. I was hanging onto every word between Sebastian and Nora and I was not disappointed. There was just too much going on for me to fully be invested in what was happening. Thank you to Netgalley and Entangled for an e-ARC to read and review!
Thank you to Entangled Publishing for this e-arc! Livy Hart is easily becoming one of my favorite romance authors. I have loved all of her books, and this one did not disappoint!
I adore Nora and Sebastian. Their relationship is everything. I am a sucker for the fake dating trope and this book had that times 2! I was sold on both the fake relationships between Nora/Benji and Alessia/Sebastian. You could feel the attraction and chemistry between Nora and Sebastian immediately and knew these fake relationships were going to cause chaos. It was hilarious watching all these relationships play out and the situations they got themselves in.
I loved how these two tried to stay away from each other during the wedding week and to play up their fake relationships, but they just couldn’t stay away! The spice between these two is everything. Watching them figure out their feelings and figure out what they want in life was beautiful. I really liked how their friends were involved and helped them figure things out. They didn’t have to go through this alone. Good friendship is one of the best things there is!
I adore Nora and Sebastian. Their relationship is everything. I am a sucker for the fake dating trope and this book had that times 2! I was sold on both the fake relationships between Nora/Benji and Alessia/Sebastian. You could feel the attraction and chemistry between Nora and Sebastian immediately and knew these fake relationships were going to cause chaos. It was hilarious watching all these relationships play out and the situations they got themselves in.
I loved how these two tried to stay away from each other during the wedding week and to play up their fake relationships, but they just couldn’t stay away! The spice between these two is everything. Watching them figure out their feelings and figure out what they want in life was beautiful. I really liked how their friends were involved and helped them figure things out. They didn’t have to go through this alone. Good friendship is one of the best things there is!
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
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:
Yes
The Great Dating Fake Off was highly amusing and entertaining with loveable characters. It was also drama filled, funny, cute, sweet, steamy, angsty and so much more. I quite enjoyed it and definitely recommend it even though the drama at times overshadowed the romance developing between the main characters.
Copy provided by publisher through NetGalley
Copy provided by publisher through NetGalley