Hannah has a secret, she’s a published author of an erotic novel but none of her family knows, except her husband and mum. Now she has to attend Sex Con to publicise her book...what could go wrong?!

Hannah has a secret, she’s a published author of an erotic novel but none of her family knows, except her husband and mum. Now she has to attend Sex Con to publicise her book...what could go wrong?!

I had such high hopes for this book from reading the description. I imagined it would cover Hannah’s escapades as she navigates the world of the Sex Con event and crazy S&M parties but unfortunately it just didn’t deliver that.

The ending felt very rushed as well, especially after everything that had lead up to that point.

The plot lacked any real progress and I had little connection with the characters that I didn’t really mind if they succeeded or not. I was also hoping for some more laugh out loud moments which never came bar that first chapter.

This was a struggle for me to read. I didn't want any of the characters to succeed. They were just so dreadfully boring.

Hannah is a 40-something teacher and mom of three who secretly writes erotic fiction under a pseudonym and is desperate to keep her children and community from finding out. When she gets invited to speak on a panel about "real sex" (whatever that means!) she engages in an effort to connect with her more sexually liberated alter ego.

I did not like this book. It's too long and there's not enough plot to keep the reader engaged. I also felt like it was trying to be so sex-positive when the whole book is built on the premise that there's something shameful about writing romance novels. Thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK for the advance copy in exchange for my honest review

Well this novel sure pulled a bait and switch.

The book description on the website is hot. The book is not. What one might expect from the description is that married mother of three Hannah is seeking inspiration for her next erotic fiction novel so she sets herself on a new course involving "S&M Parties" and reconnecting with her husband. While, I guess, this is what happens in some vague sense, the real plot isn't quite as exciting as it sounds. Every step of the way our main character doesn't choose to step outside her comfort zone, but is rather pushed, complaining the whole time. I thought I was getting a novel about a middle-aged woman reclaiming her sexual identity and trying new things with her husband, but instead the focus of the story is more on Hannah's struggles as a wife and mother, with sprinklings of her writers' block thrown in for intrigue. This book is not *bad* it's just not what I felt like I was signing up for, and perhaps I'm just not the target audience, being closer in age to her children than Hannah. I typically like books with older heroines because it either gives me hope for the future or something to look forward to, but this book was perhaps just a bit too real when it came to the struggles of being a mother of three for someone like me.

Setting aside the plot, this book certainly has some funny moments, like the S&M party mentioned on the cover (that really isn't), and Hannah's really rather rude daughter (are children actually like that?) taking great pleasure in aggravating her mother. However, the author reuses the same joke format of communication issues (either between characters or us and the author) making us think we're talking about one thing when we're talking about another a little too often. It was hilarious the first ten pages and then not-so-much thereafter. The excerpts from Hannah's erotic fiction novel were... painful... to read a little bit. I get that they were supposed to be unintentionally funny, but they were just uncomfortable, and the cluelessness of Hannah that came out her writing didn't mesh with the rest of her character. She just didn't seem that clueless in the rest of her life as to not understand why people found her writing humorous.

This book had so much potential, and I really liked the premise, but it just didn't live up to my expectations.

Faking It is a light hearted comedy that centres around a 40 year old erotica author and her quest to write the sequel to her first book.

There are plenty of cute parts in this book. The premise is adorable and the plot twists and turns into some entertaining settings.

I did find the pacing to be a little slow for my liking and the humour missed its mark a few times but overall it was a light and easy read.

First off this was really hard to read. Words were weirdly spaced out, the paragraphs were all over the place, and the flow of the book was off putting. For much of the book I felt like nothing was really happening. I didn't really feel like the characters were well enough developed. Nobody had a very distinct personality. It was kind of just a list of the issues that Hannah was facing. The book was just boring in my opinion.

I would like to thank #OneMoreChapter for sending me an #ARC of #FakingIt by #RebeccaSmith, in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Faking It by Rebecca Smith is centered around 44 year old Hannah Thompson, mother of three, wife, part-time English teacher, and secretly, a newly published erotica writer. Faking It follows Hannah, struggling to balance her family life, with her secret alter egos life.

Faking It was a little out of the box compared to what I normally read. That description lured me in, though, and I had to request it. As a married woman in my early thirties, with also three kids, this book was incredibly relatable. Put aside the published author bit, and what Hannah goes through is what every woman goes through at some point in their lives, including me. It's hard to feel sexy when one is changing diapers, cleaning house, raising humans that other people can stand to be around, and working a job that doesn't give you much fulfillment. Not only do you struggle with yourself, your spouse, and children, but it can feel incredibly lonely. This book is a way to not only highlight that, hey, everyone goes through this, and yes, its okay, but it also kind of takes a dig at the erotica genre. In a good way. Sex in books is often ... okay, 99% of the time, romanticized. It can make the reader question if they are doing it right in real life. What Faking It does is throw that out of the window. Sex can be messy and awkward and thats okay.

I liked the realness of this book. The humor infused with situations that, if it was happening to you, you wouldn't find that funny, made me laugh out loud quite a few times. That being said, I wasn't an overall fan of the writing style. I hate when I feel like I am reading someone's rambling thoughts, which reading this book was. Even if some of those thoughts were pretty funny. I found it too long for the story that it was telling, and a lot of it wasn't moving the story along. The characters were all written very colorfully, and just like kids in real like, Hannah's kids came off as a bit annoying as well. Her husband Nick is written as a wonderful, doting husband, who is the calm to Hannah's storm of anxieties.

In the end, while I enjoyed some aspects of Faking It, I didn't enjoy it enough to give it a higher rating. It was a bit too slow paced for me, which led to me reading a few chapters, only to put it down for more interesting reading. That being said, though, Rebecca Smith nailed what it sometimes feels like as a woman who is expected to run the world, while still feeling like a sex goddess, while injecting a fun, lighthearted humor that, in Hannah's crazy life, is needed.

Hannah is a mother of three with a loving husband. Before the story starts, we know that she took the terrifying leap to publish her first novel, and it's one she doesn't want her kids finding out about because well, it's erotic.

This book had me quite literally laughing out loud throughout the whole thing! It was fun to read about an author writing a book as well as about a mom figuring out how to raise her teenagers into grown adults, and most importantly to watch what felt like a very real account of a loving marriage. While being hilarious, there are also many moments that were heartfelt and again, felt so real rather than like a fantasy version of what reality should look like.

Get ready for LOLs, I highly recommend this book!!

this book was okay- not a favorite but pretty fun. I enjoyed the concept- a mom who writes erotic novels and is in a slump. I wasn't super in love but didn't hate it either

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an arc in exchange for an honest review!

Hannah Thompson is a wife, mother, teacher and secret erotica writer.
This synopsis initially made me so excited to read this book and about Hannah's life. Whilst reading, I was shocked that Hannah was a mother of 3, in her 40s. Perhaps it's because I have never read from a protagonist of this demographic and I don't tend to reach for books with them in, but I did not finish this book. I DNFED it around the 30% mark for several reasons. The biggest of which is that I just felt incredibly disconnected to the characters and Hannah's perspective. I didn't really enjoy reading about her interactions and this made it hard to get through.

However, I do like Rebecca Smith's writing style. It is fast paced and does have some good elements of humour. This book just wasn't for me.

I tried this as the plot made the book sound like the kind of light and fluffy read i wanted. However, I did not really enjoy this and found myself switching off soon into this. The characters were weak and i did not really care for Hannah and thought that the whole secret identity thing could have been done in a better way so the main character seemed less irritating whenever someone would mention a smutty book.

I couldn't make it to the end of this one. I know this wasn't the final edited version, but the lack of spaces between words that occurred more than occasionally and other editing oddities really pulled me out of the story. I might have stuck with it if it wasn't for my dislike of the story. The daughter was a real piece of work, he premise was unbelievable, and a spirit of meanness pervaded throughout. I will not be recommending this title.

Hannah is a forty-something mom and teacher who also moonlights as a sex goddess, aka an erotic author. Faking It is lighthearted, fun and gets real about sex and life.

This book was so funny! "Faking It" is about a woman who is married with three children and teaches high school English. She is on a mission to find herself so she writes an erotic fiction novel under a pseudonym because she wants to protect her children from the embarrassment of having a mom who essentially writes porn. The novel explores what it means to be a mom and a wife and how sexuality fits in that picture. There are many moments of honesty that make you feel like you aren't alone if you don't feel sexy, even with lingerie on!

With one successful erotic comedy secretly under her belt, and under pressure to deliver #2, she's trying to hide her new career from her kids, avoid the over-achieving, guilt-inducing PTA mother, get a son ready for college (and herself resigned to the change), pay the ever-mounting bills, and make sure her kids are productive, happy people - or at least not terrible people. She's also been volun-told for a panel discussion at Sex Con. What can go wrong?

But it turns out that, with a little support, a lot of truth-telling, and a really, really good pair of [terribly uncomfortable] shoes, it's amazing what a good character can do.

“Faking It” celebrates a woman rediscovering herself, amid the pressures of working, being a spouse, and being a parent – all while secretly authoring an erotic novel. A little bit scandalous, funny at times, but mostly heartfelt, “Faking It” dives into motherhood, and life beyond the age of forty.

If I’m honest, I anticipated that this book would be a bit racier than it actually is; it’s pretty tame, but that absolutely opens it up to a broader readership. It will make you laugh, it will make you cringe, and you will find a way to empathize with the protagonist, even if you don’t necessarily share a great deal in common with her.

“Faking It” will be a great pick for book clubs, and a nice gift to fans of romance and light fiction.

I received an ARC of this from Netgalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Perfect lighthearted read (especially considering the times in which we currently live) about a devoted wife, teacher and mother who wants a bit more from her life.

Hannah Thompson, 44, is ecstatic when she's published an erotic novel under her alter ego, Twinky Malone. The only thing is - her publishers want a sequel, and has she got it in her? What ensues is a lot of cringe, laughter, experimentation and empowerment between Hannah and the other women in her life. The characters are funny and sweet and I particularly enjoyed the family dynamic portrayed in the Thompson interactions.

I think the overall message is positive and sweet and would appeal to anybody feeling in a bit of a rut.

This book focuses on Hannah Thompson, a mother, a teacher....and a writer of erotic fiction. This book starts with Hannah working on her second book. Throughout this book, we see her go through every writer's struggle - actually writing the book. There are also other struggles within that - her son going off to uni, her daughter acting like a typical teenager, money issues etc.

In trying to paint a realistic picture, some of these struggles, to me, felt unnecessary and the constant internal struggle with writing, while realistic, also got boring after a while. I got quite bored during the middle section of this book because of this. It started off strong, felt a bit lacklustre in the middle, but then got a second wind where things picked up again.

This story does have an important message, the idea that anyone should be able to feel sexy and talk about sex. That it's not necessarily dirty or wrong to think about it, let alone take pleasure from it. My favourite bit was the ending where these messages are most explicit.

Did I find Hannah a bit overbearing, bordering on unrealistic in times with her reactions? Yes, but that's most likely because I found her un-relatable in that respect. There probably people who do act and think like her out there. But sometimes it felt like she acted a certain way just for comedic value, rather than 'yes, someone would definitely respond like this'. But overall, I enjoyed her POV and the writing was good. A solid 4/5.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Hannah is a middle-aged wife, mother to three, and English teacher to yet more teens. Looking for an escape from her mundane day-to-day responsibilities, she authors an (unintentionally humorous) erotic novel, which gets published. We meet Hannah as she starts on the path of writing the “difficult second book” while balancing work, parenting, and a perceived need to transform herself into a “Sex Goddess” to give her ideas for her new novel.

If you pick up this book expecting erotica, you’ll be disappointed. Instead, this is a light-hearted bit of escapism with a fair few laughs. The book touches on a few important topics, but doesn’t explore them all to a great depth. While some messages are a little mixed, the general moral of the story is that meaningful sex is (and should be) real, which doesn’t mean perfect. Overall, the characters and their relationships are fun and, as long as you’re not looking for anything too philosophical, this book is a hoot!

My thanks to the author, NetGalley, and the publisher for the arc to review.

<i> I received an ARC of this book on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review </i>

I wasn't expecting this book to be about a married woman - perhaps the impression I got from the description was off. Nonetheless, it was a fun read! I enjoyed the slice of life story that made me a lot more appreciative of my own normal life. The hijinks are absolutely hilarious, and I definitely went through a whirlwind of emotions as I navigated the world Hannah Thompson had landed herself in.

The character is a 4o-something year old mother of three, English teacher and secret erotica writer who thinks her life has just gotten far too mundane to inspire another sexy romp between the pages. She takes things into her own hands *ahem* and oh boy does she get herself into a situation.

I loved how sex and body positive this book was, and Hannah's relationship with her daughter and her students really warmed my heart. It also oddly reminded me of my relationship with my own mom, and my struggle trying to push her out of her comfort zone into areas she might find shocking but appreciate once she realizes how happy it will make her. I struggle trying to tell her to own who she is, to make an effort, dress up and take risks. In this aspect, I respected Hannah, and I loved seeing her grow to become more confident and happy.

This book left me with a smile on my face, and even though I'm quite a ways off from relating to the struggles of a middle-aged mother, I loved following her on this journey!