Cover Image: The Real Thing

The Real Thing

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Member Reviews

I liked the character Allie. She's sweet and kind, but very naive. The book starts out with her trying out online dating and end ups being cat fished. During the book Allie grows more confident and starts trying out new things, one of them being going back to roller blade and trying out for a roller derby team. I like the character growth and grit Allie shows through out the book.

Though the premise of this book is interesting I find the character Geena somewhat off putting. She's calculating and selfish. I don't find her growth during the book believable, which in large why this book never really clicked with me. This is not a bad read, it's just not a book I would re-read.

This review is based on NetGalley ARC provided in exchange for an honest, unbiased opinion.

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I RECEIVED AN ARC OF THIS BOOK FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA NETGALLEY AND VOLUNTARILY LEAVING MY REVIEW.

ALLIE IS A MASSAGE THERAPIST AND GEENA IS AN ACTRESS ON A FAMOUS WEB SERIES.

I REALLY ENJOYED THIS AUTHORS LAST BOOK 'A CHAPTER ON LOVE' BUT THIS ONE I DIDN'T THINK WAS ANYWHERE NEAR THAT LEVEL. I AM ON THE FENCE WITH THIS ONE. SOME OF IT I LIKED AND SOME OF IT I DIDN'T.

THE STORY LINE WAS OK, I LIKED THE CHARACTER OF ALLIE BUT TO ME THE CHARACTER OF GEENA FELT FAKE (I KNOW, PROBABLY JUST ME). I DIDN'T FEEL THE CHEMISTRY BETWEEN THE MAIN CHARACTERS AT ALL. THE SECONDARY CHARACTERS WERE GOOD AND THE PACE WAS OKAY.

WHAT CAN I SAY, IT WAS READABLE AND I READ IT BUT I WOULDN'T READ IT AGAIN. HOWEVER I WILL STILL READ THE AUTHORS FUTURE BOOKS

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This is a sweet romance with a really unique story how the both main characters are getting to know each other. My first thought was that I kind of liked it that Allie had to meet women online because it's realistic. There just are not that many lesbians everywhere, especially when it's a rural area and not a big city. Then on the other hand, Geena, who is the star of a small lesbian web series is really famous and everybody knows her. But hey,that's fiction, so what.

I didn't care for Geena much in the beginning but that changed really quickly as the author made sure there is much more to her and there is. So it was really nice to get to know Ginnie better. And Allie was a sweetheart anyway and I really liked her character. The only thing I would possibly criticise is that the lovestory is kind of happening really fast. But it's the real thing between those two, so...

Overall I would rate this book with 4,5 stars and I will look for more books from this author.

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I expected to read some sappy book, but I was pleasantly surprised by this one.

Allie is a massage therapists small town in Vermont, she is looking for someone to spend her life with. She uses a dating app, on this app she gets catfished. And honestly, in these first few chapters where the catfishing happens I was almost screaming at the book how extremely obvious the catfishing was. i thought if this book goes on like this I won’t like it, but it founds it’s groove after those chapters.
When Allie discovers she was catfished she contacts Geena, an online star, to inform her the catfisher used her picture. They strike up some sort of friendship that turns into a romance, with its troubles. There is some solid character development for both characters, but there are some gaps here and there.

For me I, I got lost I’m the timing of the book, some days seemed to last forever and all of a sudden weeks went by. It was a bit confusing for me. I also would have like to find out who catfished Allie. I thought it would be resolved when one of her clients hit on her, but it wasn’t. Other than that it was a pretty good read.

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I received an ARC copy of this book from the Publisher via Netgalley and voluntarily leaving my review.


Allison finally has the life she wants great career with a thriving business as a message therapist. She finally thinks her love life might on the right track as she prepare to meet the women she been talking to for months when she learns she been catfish she vows she done dating. She decide to warn the woman Geena who is web series star that someone using her picture. Allison also decide to make changes in her life by joining a roller derby team she use to love skating so she wants to see if she good at roller derby.

Geena aka Virginia Harris hadn’t gone by that name for awhile since she web star she a player who loves to seduce women. When she reads a email from Allie about someone using her picture she wants to meet her. When they meet over coffee Geena decide she wants to seduce Allie and think if it as challenge.

I like the character of Allie even though she was hurt by the women who pretend to be someone she not she didn’t wallow in her pain she decide that if loves comes she won’t turn from it but she won’t let anyone make her fool again and though she starts to like Geena she knows who she really is and doesn’t let her guard down much. I like Geena but also didn’t I understand why she was the she is but what made me dislike her is that someone went out of their way to warn you and you decide for fun to seduce that person yes Geena change but I didn’t like her actions in the beginning.

Overall good read.

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Allison is is happy and settle with her life and cannot wait to meet the woman she had been chatting with and met online. However, when she realizes she had been catfished she is heart broken and to protect other women from the same catfish, Allie contacts the actual person who the picture belongs to, a webseries actress, Virginia Harris aka Geena. Geena is used to any woman she wants at any time, but when she meets Allie she might get more than just a quick fling.

The book premise was interesting and the book started that way. However, it quickly turned a bit boring and too descriptive for me. I thought it was a bit repetitive and by half the book there was barely any contact between the two main characters... I was expecting more. Sure, the characters interact lots with secondary characters and there will be readers that will like that very much, but unfortunately I didn't like it that much. Mostly because I felt like i hadn't made a connection with either one much less with their relationship.

Overall, it was well written and I am sure there will be people that will love this book!

This ARC was provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

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This was an ok book. I hated Geena did not understand her at all. I did not even understand why they met ! thought she was running from herself and she never fixed that or shared it with Ali. having said that I really did sympathized with her.

Ali had a very honest and likable interest. who disappeared suddenly just like they entered. nevertheless, why did she go with Geena is beyond me she deserved better

This is my first catfishing book the theme was interesting and the writing was good I just did not like one of the main character's and that ruined it for me

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I liked this book. The catfishing storyline is new and fresh which added some interest to the book. I think the character development was interesting as both had flaws but the sympathy you feel for each was different based on their behavior. I think anyone who acts like Geena has some kind of underlying issues and deserves the same consideration as one who acts needy and makes choices that put them in bad situations engendering sympathy. I loved the rural scenery, maybe because I actually live in the region described in the book, but it's well done and accurate. I thought the ending was sweet. I recommend this book. I received an ARC of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

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So, let me start by saying: I don't know. I have mixed feelings about this book and it has nothing to do with the writing style. I saw I am not the only one that has this issue, but I really, really dislike one of the main characters, Geena, and that makes it very difficult to get into this one. Cause why would an introverted, honest person instantly connect and like with a player like Geena? Yes she is charming, and yes they did have some fun dates I guess, but on every one of those dates Geena is still manipulating Alli and she knows it. For me the growth Alli had in this book makes sense, but Geena's change of heart was a little bit more sudden and unbelievable. The author did write about the reasoning behind her actions and tried to explain her turnaround, but it just didn't feel quite right.

Anyways, not a bad book at all, but for me a main character that's really unlikable is a bit of a turn off.

***an ARC was provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review ***

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ARC received via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I was lukewarm on the first Webber book I read A Chapter on Love, and this was a mixed bag as well.

The premise of this is that Allie is a massage therapist living in rural Vermont, she’s a lesbian in a small town, and her dating pool is small to non-existent. She signed herself up for a dating app and met ‘Lauren’. The two email, text and talk on the phone but have yet to video chat as this requires Allie to log in at the local library. Even though this raises red flags with Allie’s cousin, Allie continues to make excuse for Lauren until a teenager at the library points out that Lauren is actually an actress named Geena. Allie realises she’s been duped and contacts Geena to let her know that her picture is being used as catfish material.

Enter Geena, a self-centred player of an actress whose only redeeming feature appears to be that she spends six weeks a year working at a kids camp. She’s the star of a web series, but somehow thanks herself so famous that she thinks it’s ridiculous that Allie didn’t know who she was. I think it’s ridiculous that Geena is so freaking full of herself. Upon hearing that Allie has been duped using her picture, Geena’s first thought is that she will set herself the ‘challenge’ of bedding Allie for some fun while she’s stuck at the kids camp (she sets a limit on her player-ness by not sleeping with anyone from the camp, what a woman!). She then contacts Allie and they meet up and Geena goes out of her way to play up her fame (though again, I found it highly unlikely that she’d be famous enough for so many people she came in contact with to know who she was). Geena is also thrilled that Allie is, in her words, ‘as good on the outside’. Man, she’s shallow.

While all this is going on Allie has had an epiphany and a makeover, she’s also joined the local roller derby league and is getting out there. I did like Allie’s character growth, I just wish she’d had it with someone else, she deserved way better than Geena. Some of their dates were fun, but this was undercut by Geena still just wanting a superficial relationship.

Anyway, about the 85% mark there’s choices to be made, and I did like that Allie wasn’t written as some clingy person, it was Geena who made the overtures there. It’s wrapped in a nice big bow, but I still think Allie deserved better. 3 stars.

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I was intrigued by the synopsis and started reading immediately. I found he book to be a bit of a let down. I felt kind of sorry for Allie with the whole catfish debacle but she seemed really desperate. I couldn’t find much to like about Geena. She wanted as much attention from the masses as she could get and had no qualms about saying she didn’t want a relationship. We know that adulthood was shaped by her terrible childhood and I think delving deeper into her backstory could have enabled the reader to develop a stronger connection with her. I honestly would have liked more time with Mashley Whiplash because she was cool. This was a book that was an easy read that passed the time but it wasn’t one of my faves.

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I’d never heard of this author before, but I thought the description of the book sounded interesting. I’ve never read a book about catfishing in this genre, so it was about due time….unfortunetly, the description was better than the book was.

I didn’t like Geena. She was so grossly a player and fake, that I just didn’t sympathize with her at all. She spent a good portion of the book talking about how everything she does in life is just to be liked and admired by as many people as possible. I don’t even think that changes by the end of the book. I thought Allie could do sooo much better. But then Allie falls in love with people way too quickly! I just had a hard time with these two MCs.

And how old were they? I feel like they were both suppose to be in their 30s, but they acted like early 20s. Geena especially, since she had and has so much growing up to do.

I also thought more would come from the Charlie person. She sort of popped up in the book like an option for Allie, but then that never materialized into anything other than a random person showing up.

Overall, they just weren’t my favorite two main characters so I didn’t connect with their love story.

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So the blurb on this one was a bit confusing when I first read it and now that I have finished reading this one, I understand. Allison joins a dating website and meets a woman who she knows is the one for her. Her picture is beautiful and they have been having great conversations on the phone. She finally convince the woman to meet her and her date stands her up. Not only is she stood up, but she finds out the woman in the pictures is an actress and not the woman she has been talking to. At this point she decides she is going to stop dating for a while and joins a roller derby team. Allison also decides to let the woman in the picture -Geena - and the dating website know that someone out there is using her picture. Geena gets the message and decides to meet Allison in person. Geena is a player and loves seducing women. Sometimes the seduction is not even necessary because most of the women she meets want to sleep with her. Once Geena meets Allison she decides she is going to seduce Allison too.

Okay that was a really long blurb so let me get to the meat of this. I really did not like Geena. She hops from bed to bed and even though she doesn't lead the women on she sleeps with, I don't like that she feels she needs to seduce Allison. It really bugged me and for the life of me I could not understand why Allison with go there. I figure when an author is writing an unlikable character they must know some folks will be turned off. Yeah I was. I think maybe it would have been different if we knew of Geena's issues earlier on and that the issue was a little deeper. I mean, IDK, i just thought Geena was scum. I did find the writing to be fine and I did like Allison and her cousin.

Anyway, I give this one 3 stars.

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