I've never picked up a read by Carter before now, so was pleasantly surprised and found it to be an enjoyable few hours spent in Abbey and Ted's company.

It's an easy, lighthearted romance that's hot on the fake dating and meet cute tropes. There's bitching, banter and it's fun.

The characters could be real, I loved the dialogue between them and you kinda knew that their fake dating wasn't going to be a thing for long, the feelings were kicking in...

I'm definitely looking forward to reading more from this author in the future, and would love a follow on from this book to see how their future shapes out.

This is a lovely, funny charming story about Abby and Ted. They are so to say in the same "pot" both being cheated on, and in front of making big changes in their lives. So when they meet one lie turns into another until the truth comes out in unwanted circumstances. For me a very funny read and I enjoyed reading it. This is a story about finding yourself, a story about family, and a story about finding love.
I volunteered to review an ARC of this book for Netgalley

A fun little fake dating story, featuring jerk exes, a family vow-renewal, and a very hot neighbour! Did however feel like it was missing a little bit of the spark that makes me love a story, like it didn't go quite deep enough into the characters or the story.

Fake it ‘til you make it is an easy going, lighthearted read with great and relatable main characters.

I wish Ted was real, I wouldn’t mind him being my date even if it was fake! 😂

I think this book is a great example of not judging someone by their supposed job/how they dress etc.

Andrew was a character I really wanted to strangle all the way through…read this and tell me you don’t feel the same!

🌟 2/5

I wasn't the biggest fan of all the lying going on. Between both the FMC and the MMC, the "truth" of their relationship felt fake and half-hearted.

Not that smut is necessary, but when it's teased enough throughout the book, and not shown, it feels a little tacky.

Lastly, bringing politics into a book is kinda trashy. While I didn't necessarily disagree with the statements being used, I felt like it was unnecessary. I read books to escape from the drama of the world we live in, and I definitely don't want it brought up in a fictional romance book.

The cover is cute. However, the title becomes tiresome after a while, as it’s been used in many fake dating romances.
The story is adorable. The characters are lovable and have great chemistry together, but the ending feels rushed. It comes out of nowhere. There’s no epilogue or anything. The characters end up together (obviously) and that’s it. I was expecting more and better.

Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher, for this eARC! This slow-to-start story allows you to imagine what life might be like if you lived a little differently than you daily routine. It's a story of courage and consequence, heartbreak and healing. Ted and Abbey were likeable leads, and I found myself hoping for the best for them even as they made poor choices. The style is a little repetitive, and I've never read "whilst" quite so much as in this book. It's a cute, simple read!

This was...just not it.

I love fake dating romances, but this one was so cookie cutter, basic, run of the mill...

One of the other mayor tropes in this book is miscommunication. I hate that trope. I despise it with a burning passion. JUST TALK TO EACH OTHER ALREADY. I'm a way too honest person for all the lying in this book.

Nope, nope, nope. It was not the book for me.

Ammmmmm……… this was not good…….. but not good at all
I ended up skipping a lot of pages that so boring and had horrible dialogue 🤠🤠
Came for the cover left because of the writing



But many thanks to Netgalley for the arc 🫶🏻🫶🏻

DNF @ 11% - This was just not good. The writing was strange and stilted. The characters didn’t seem like real people at all. I maybe would have kept going, but this book is set in the U.S., (with a Canadian main character), but it’s so obvious the author is British, it’s annoying. There was no work done by author or editors to make sure things like measurements, slang, etc. made sense for the setting. The premise sounded fun, but the book was just bad.

I just finished Fake it ‘til you make it by Laura Carter and here is my review.

Abbey and Andrew have been together for years… He wants to go to dinner at the restaurant where they had their first date and she hears wedding bells in her head. What she didn’t expect was to be told it was over and he was leaving her for someone else.

At least she had her job to focus on… Until that ends too. Needing to shake up her life, she moves into a new building, one she loves, gets herself a new wardrobe and works on herself.

Bumping into her new neighbor ignites a flare of something she has never felt before and when he pretends to be her boyfriend in front of Andrew, the idea of faking dating the hunk from upstairs is too good an opportunity to miss.


I had zero idea what this book was about as I went in blind and within 8 pages I knew this book was going to be perfect for me. I love Abbey. She is this perfect, feisty nerd who didn’t fall down and weep when her life broke. She made a change and did what she wanted to do.
Ted, aweee Ted! He is my kind of man. Sexy and smart… Hiding out after his relationship imploded. It was great watching the 2 of them fake dates and Ted pretending to be his brother… I wish he had told her sooner. I understood why he didn’t but it was a real shame. I feel like she wouldn’t have cared but he was hiding from what had happened and having people know where he was… It made sense why he kept the facade going and then found it harder and harder to admit the truth.
It was cute and funny with some great dialogue. Bonus that some of it is set not far from where I live in Canada and that was a thrill.
Definitely not a complicated book and the romance will tickle you pink.


4 stars


Thank you @theboldbookclub and @netgalley for my gifted copy

I absolutely loved this book. How the main characters who found fault in themselves due to cheaters is relatable. The fake dating and forced proximity was like icing on the cake. I absolutely loved it so much. I can’t wait to get the paperback copy! The author did amazing flushing out these characters making them real. Well done.

This book was a sweet addition to the many on my radar. The added touch of hidden identity is what really drew me in!

The story was lighthearted and easy to get into from chapter one. Abbey decided to go after what she wanted despite facing hardships, and I thought that was so courageous of her. The girl gang aspect with her friend and sister was so cute, I love that they supported her and helped her realize what she deserves in life.

Ted was a sweetheart and totally didn’t deserve the betrayal he got! I love his nerdy personality and was low key sad he had to pretend to be an arrogant player for most of the book. Him and Abbey being nerdy together was so cute and I loved their friendship turned romance.

One thing that prevented me from giving it a higher rating was the word choice at times. It just felt weird, almost juvenile and basic. Having someone say “lol” or “feck”multiple times in a verbal conversation just doesn’t sound realistic. The insta-love aspect also didn’t sit right with me. The ending was so rushed and the resolution happened late in the book.

It was a cute fake dating story and certainly a sweet, fluffy read for those times you want a comfort romance where you know it’ll all work out in the end!

Fake It 'til You Make It is the first book I have read by Laura Carter and I really enjoyed it. Abbey Mitchell is ready for Andrew, her boyfriend of four years, to propose at their quiet, romantic dinner. Instead of a proposal, he tells her that he has been cheating on her and that he wants to break up. She is devastated, and when she quits her job as an auditor before being fired for massive mistakes the next day, she is floundering. Her sister and best friend, convince her to fake it 'til she makes it, so she empties her wedding fund account, rents an apartment for 6 months in an extremely expensive building she has always wanted to live in, and buys a new, classy wardrobe to present the new Abbey to the world. She meets a neighbour in a meet cute in the lobby, and she has no desire to spend more time with him. When she can't sleep due to the banging from upstairs, she storms up to complain and finds out it is the same man she met the day she moved in. Ted aka Mike, is hiding out from the disasters in his life. His self-esteem is at rock bottom and he feels the only way anyone would be interested in him would be if he pretended to be someone else, thus he becomes his brother, Mike, the baseball star. As Abbey and Ted spend more time together, they begin to really like each other, but will it work when they both realize they are faking it and trying to be someone else?

I really enjoyed this story, despite not being a big fan of lying and miscommunication. That is a testament to how well this story is presented. Both Abbey and Ted are sweet characters, who have been wronged and are feeling vulnerable. Their self-esteem is low and they both believe they have to change if they want to have a successful life. I wanted them to realize that what happened to them was on their partners, not them, and eventually they will. I enjoyed their meet cute and several encounters. Their banter was great and I laughed often. The secondary characters played vital roles in this book from being the supportive family and friends, to the cheating partners who I disliked, just as the author intended. The descriptions in Alberta of the mountains, streams and hiking areas were wonderful and left me yearning to visit there again. Abbey's family are dealing with several issues, specifically the sisters feeling they have let their parents down, and the scene at their parent's vow renewal was a hoot, although devastating for Abbey. The relationship development was bumpy, and although it was fake, it seemed real to me, especially as they finally accepted that their feelings weren't fake. This is a fun rom-com, with some serious issues: pleasing your parents, betrayal, trusting your instincts, self-esteem, following your dreams and personal growth. I do recommend this one.

I enjoyed reading the new book Fake It 'til You Make It by Laura Carter. I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley and the publisher. This is my honest and personal review. Happy Reading!

Newly single and unemployed, Abbey decides to live her best life and fake the life she'd rather have by moving into the fanciest building in New York and buying herself a fancy new wardrobe. Her upstairs neighbor, Ted, likes to bounce baseballs off the wall all day and night as he works through a cheating fiancé and business partner. A little mistaken identity turns into and fake dating since Abbey needs a date for her parents' vow renewal to show her ex-boyfriend that she's doing just fine. I did truly enjoy Ted, he was so lovable. Abbey was pretty relatable and was just dealing with so much while trying to find herself.

I enjoyed the story for the most part. Solid 3 out of 5 stars. Parts were hard to follow with quite a few characters being introduced. I didn't like the miscommunication that the main characters had, or that they were basically lying to each other for the whole book. The story also dragged a bit in the middle of the book, and the ending felt way too rushed.

Some of the dialogue was hard to read. The book is set in America/Canada, but clearly written by someone English that doesn’t know the conversational slang used in America.

I received this ARC from NetGalley and Boldwood Books to read/review. All opinions are my own.

I thought this book had a lot of potential but it fell a bit flat to me. You had to really suspend your belief in reality and adult communication sometimes. The male and female main characters were well rounded and realistic but both fell into this trend of tech and numbers people being protagonists but it was clear the author didn't know much when she referred to his work as "codes". It was also really clear the author had not spent a lot of time in New York. Overall okay book with cute plot and pace.

Firstly thankyou to the author, and the publishing how for allowing me to read an ARC of this book.

Fake it till you make it - oh my goodness.. a toe curling, laugh out loud, comedic love story, that was just absolutely spot on!
Abbey, is a numbers woman with her life already planned out for her, and she finds herself in muddy territory when her boyfriend dumps her for another woman.
Ted, a self made millionaire, posing as someone else.. offers to help Abbey.. but how long can it last before they realise what’s right under their nose?

The tension in this book was wonderful, and the story was well thought out and made for a nice easy read.

I’m excited to read more from this author.

It’s really a 2.5 but I can’t give it the extra half star here. This book had such potential - I LOVE fake dating and this still felt a little flat for me. I didn’t really connect with Ted or Abbey - I didn’t fully understand any of the choices they made or really feel the connection between them. But if you’re looking for a quick, light, cute read, this is definitely the one.

Maybe a minor issue for many but it was very distracting to me that the characters are all meant to be American or Canadian but the slang, the grammar, and so much of what they say and do is decidedly British/Irish. I found it a bit distracting.

Firstly thank you for the opportunity to read this e-arc,
I am whizzing through this book! As it stands (I will update once finished if it changes) I give this book a 4.5!
I’m really enjoying the authors writing style, and the way in which this story line is being played out, coincidentally 2 characters in very similar situations.
This book gives me many feelings anger at certain characters, happiness when your seeing developments between characters, sadness at what the poor characters are going through.
I highly recommend this book!
Happy reading!