Dylan and Flo are in love. Until they aren't. Or are they? He is an aspiring actor who lets pride get in his way too often. She is an aspiring singer songwriter. Their break up inspires progress in both careers and as they hit the meteoric heights of stardom, we are willing them to get together. Is this what they need? Laughs along the way, plenty of cheesiness and overall a nice way to spend a day in bed with Covid!! #netgalley #thefakeup

The Fake Up is a humorous standalone romcom and my first book by this author. Floria and Dylan are a happy if struggling young couple both determined to find fame and fortune in the world of entertainment. Working class Dylan is a wannabe actor who tends bar while waiting on being ‘discovered’ while Flo dreams of singing stardom. Pressures from friends and Flo’s wealthy mother along with the usual money worries and just being from opposite ends of the social spectrum eventually cause them to breakup but misery comes with its own rewards as career wise things start to take off for them. Now all they have to do is keep their reunion on the down low

This book had great supporting characters, some you will love and some you’ll ate but in the most part are well meaning in their own ways and have what they believe are Dylan and Flo’s best interests at heart. While I did enjoy this book I didn’t love it. it seemed to fall a little flat for me in places and there were times I wanted to bang their heads together. For me a big part of a book is how I feel about the characters and by the end I just didn’t care what happened to Dylan and Flo, they just hadn’t made that much of an impression on me.

This was not my usual type of read but I found it enjoyable. I Will look out for more by this author in the future.

This is a fun, lighthearted read. A rollercoaster of a story with turns aplenty. Some of the characters aren’t particularly likeable but I suppose that’s part of the plan as you will Dylan and Flo to succeed.

Flo and Dylan come from very different backgrounds but have an amazing connection. If it could be just the two of them all the time without family and friends interfering then everything would be perfect….

I love the fake dating trope so I imagined a fake break up story could be a really great twist on that. I was so excited to read this book but I unfortunately found it pretty hard going, a bit all over the place and it was at times confusing. There were lots of interesting characters but almost too many to keep up with and I didn’t find either of the main characters particularly likeable.

I did enjoy that the book explored how differently women and men in the public eye are perceived and the best thing in the book for me was the friendship between Dylan and his best friend Max. I really wish there had been more focus on that because the small snippets were so lovely.

Overall, I was disappointed in this book. The more it went on the more I questioned how a fake break up actually benefited this couple and the ending nearly had me throwing my Kindle across the room!

Flo and Dylan are a “mismatched” couple in the eyes of their families and friends. They both have work jobs that won't fulfill their passions and live in a not so nice flat.

While some characters were fleshed out great with their reliable struggles and difficulties in moods and feelings, I felt like some others were just like caricatures and added in to put the spotlight more on the main characters.

I love a good romantic comedy and this one was great in showing that many times, as adults, people have to live with the pressure of their close circle and their way to fame and succeeding in their dreams and career is not always as easy as it seems. The consequences for this couple were to break up, but that love wouldn't let them live it up.

I enjoyed this story and I’ve read his previous book so I knew I was in for a treat with The fake up.

🆓📖Very grateful to the publisher for my review copy through NetGalley.

I was interested in reading this book, as it features a twist on the fake romance stories. It sounded interesting and a little different.
Sadly I didn't enjoy it as much as I expected to. The book was very slow in places, especially in the middle. I couldn't relate to the characters and didn't like them very much. There were some funny and amusing moments, but overall I struggled to read.
Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for my ARC.

This book started so well and I found myslef fully invested in the characters. But about half way through it fell flat and I really struggled from there I'm afraid.

Dylan and Flo, are struggling artists, trying to get their big breaks in acting and music respectively. At the start of the story, it's clear that they love each other, but are getting bogged down by the inevitable pressures that face wannabe stars, as well as the everyday ones that affect relationships. There's an immediate disparity in class, at least according to Flo's mum and her friend's perceptions of Dylan, despite him coming across as likeable from the start. When the pressures become too much, they split. Both upset, they channel their heartbreak into their careers, and boom! Their acting and music benefits (whoever could have guessed that music and heartbreak were a winning formula, eh? 😉 Or that channeling deep emotions makes for a better performance?) Still, their mutual love doesn't dwindle, and they decide to get back together, but in secret.

I immediately loved the premise of this story. Fake-dating is one of my favourite tropes, and i was excited to see it being flipped on it's head. However I'm not convinced it was completely successful in execution, particularly as I felt a lot of the conflict was literally only there to pad out the storyline. I liked both main characters at the beginning of the book, and I loved reading about how they got together, but for a rom-com, I found the romantic elements lacking. At times it really dragged, and I wasn't a fan of the obvious classist stereotypes. There were a few amusing moments, and I really liked Max, Dylan's best friend. There was also some social commentary on contemporary themes that felt well-integrated, but my biggest concern was that by the end I didn't really like either Dylan or Flo that much.

Overall Rating: ❤❤
Heat Rating:
Emotional Rating: 🥰😢😡🤦‍♀️

*Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to leave an honest review*

I WILL POST THE SAME REVIEW ON AMAZON UK ON PUBLICATION DAY

So this is a bit of a twist on the “fake romance” trope, in that Flo and Dylan ARE in a relationship, but are pretending not to be.

From very different backgrounds, which is a source of friction in their relationship, Flo and Dylan are both on the cusp of success when we meet them, Flo as a singer-songwriter and Dylan as an actor. A short lived break up coincides with opportunity landing at their respective doorsteps, but they soon realise that they want to be together and so reunite. Their fledging careers rely on a certain extent to their being single so they pretend that they never got back together.

This book has a good sense of humour and likeable characters. It’s fairly easy to see what is going to happen but it’s still enjoyable to watch events unfold. I do feel that it was a little long, I started to get a bit tired of the whole situation and so I think it could have been better cut down some. I did roll my eyes a little at the ending.

Enjoyable rom-come with a twist on a familiar trope.

I really liked this book at the start - I loved hearing about Dylan and Floria and wondered how their lives and careers were going to pan out, the writing style was right up my street. However...I then got to a point in the story where I felt like I'd hit a brick wall. The book then seemed to drag and the story felt like it was padded out. I skimmed through a lot of it from then on. I lost interest in the characters, the will they/ won't they phase went on far too long for me, and I got to the point where I just couldn't care less about whether they got back together or not.

I am so sorry - this just wasn't the book for me, although I am sure that many other people will love it.

This book was enjoyable but not gripping, it took me a while go get through which shows it wasnt a "page turner" I didn't really take to the character.

This book started off with such an interesting perspective, I found myself enjoying finding out about Flo & Dylan and cringing along with the description of their dingy flat.
However as the story carried on, I realised I was not invested in either the plot or the characters. Reading became a chore and I really wasn’t interested in the ridiculous situation the two main characters found themselves in, or even cared about how the story would end. Maybe it’s the ‘fame’ business, but egos were huge and there was a real lack of humanity / warmth. Not for me!

The story of Dylan and Flo. Both struggling to get their careers off the ground until they split up. Everyone but them seems happy that they are no longer together, but will it last? I liked how it is told from both of their points of view.

Dylan and Flo are happily in love until they both achieve fame. They split up, then get back together, but don't want everyone to know. A really different love story, funny, giving an insight into the lives of celebrities. I couldn't wait to see what happened in the end. Brilliant.

Thanks to Little Brown Book and Netgalley for an advance copy of this book in exchange for a review.

Unfortunately this one just wasn't for me. Sorry.

I have mixed feelings on The Fake Up hence the three stars.

I enjoyed the beginning and the light hearted Rom com and also the ending. But the middle of the book seemed slow with a story that was long winded.

Am sure others will enjoy.

A fun light read. Great characters and humour. An unique relationship between a couple who apparently don't belong together according to friends and family. I raced through and enjoyed this hugely.

Confusing at first with the different characters,parts were funny but it felt too long and wasn’t really for me

I found this book wasn’t for me. I really tried to like it but I just couldn’t identify with either main character, they both seemed to live in a world of their own and felt all their problems were some one else’s fault. Then they break up, get back together and ‘fake’ being broken up, ‘fake’ being with other people and then decide to reveal their relationship only to break up at the last minute and then because of media interest decide to ‘fake’ being together. Max was the most real character in the book and would of really liked to see more of him.

This just wasn’t my kind of read,