It’s official, Donna Marchetti is the Queen when it comes to writing fun and flirty romances. 👑💕 I really enjoyed her debut Hate Mail and The Proposal Project is the perfect follow up. Enemies to lovers, fake dating and the silliest plot that sees it’s protagonists planning a *kind of secret* over-the-top, double proposal for their mates - there was no way I wasn’t going to have a good time. What can I say, I’m a sucker for a cheesy love story! 💍✨

✔️fake dating
✔️(sort of) dislike to love
✔️forced proximity
✔️single pov
✔️best friend's friend


Real rating 3.25


This was definitely a fluffy, lighthearted, and entertaining story. I read it in just a couple of hours. The premise sounded super fun, and fake dating is one of my absolute favourite tropes, so I was so eager to read it.

Did the book deliver? Sort of. We had some cute moments with a pinch of the angst that comes with fake dating, but I still feel like the actual “falling in love” part was a bit missing.

I loved the friend group dynamic — that was fun — but I wanted a bit more depth to them as characters and to their relationship. The only thing we really know is that their best friends are getting married, but not much beyond that.

Still, it was a fun, super easy read — the perfect palate cleanser between heavier or fantasy books.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Estuvo entretenido y tenía una de las tropes que más disfruto leyendo: proximidad forzada, pero no termino de encantarme tanto como esperaba, además que habia una trope que no me gusta muchas veces, otras sí, depende de como se escriba.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I felt myself slowly slipping into a reading slump and this book took me right out of it!!!
I'm just as obsessed with this as I was with her first book Hate Mail!!!
The Proposal Project is a 1st Person single POV that follows Priscilla Cain as she plans her best friend's proposal!
There's fake dating, enemies (ish) to lovers, and some hilarious hijinks!!
This book had me laughing out loud and got me in all the feels!!
Also safe to say I might be obsessed with Oliver! 😉🥰❤️
Can't wait to get a physical copy of this for my library 💕

Thank you to @netgalley and @harpercollinsuk and @donnamarchettiauthor for the ARC!! 💖

I diid not finish this book.

I got into the first chapter and the writing just felt so predictable and cheesy that I just couldn't stick to it. I was really excited about this one too because I loved Hate Mail.

The Banter, The "they doth protest too much" vibes, the fake dating, the over the top proposal ..all soooo good.
I loved how you could see how much Pricilla liked Oliver but wasn't going to do anything about it cause she was afraid of his rejection. I could feel her pain of being seen as over the top and kinda of having your feeling thrown in your face. I am never a huge fan of miscommunication trope but this actually worked for me. I loved how they kept getting thrown together, even when she tried soo hard to stay away.
As we started to get to know Oliver I jut couldn't figure him out. Did he like her too? He seemed so confident and put together so I was on board with Pricilla thinking he was just a tool for making her feel so bad about her crush when they first met. And then she treated him bad, so he treated her bad but their "hate" banter was so perfect.
I also loved how Priscilla really came into her own as an event planner by doing this 'favor" for her friend so she could propose. I loved this storyline, and how it just got bigger and crazier and how Oliver and her had to work together to get it done so her friend could have the perfect proposal. (yes I probably cried when it all went down cause it was sooo perfect).
This author is seriously good at the enemies to lovers, hate banter that you know is leading to the best love. I truly enjoyed this story and am looking forward to the next book by this author.

After reading Hate Mail, I knew I couldn’t not read this authors next book.

A fake dating, not quite enemies to lovers romance. I managed to read this in one sitting and didn’t want to put it down, I really love the writing as I feel instantly immersed in the story. I liked the unique idea of setting up the proposal too. There was only a couple of things that meant it didn’t get the 5 stars, I felt the resolution was way too quick, the Malcom situation felt thrown in and perhaps could have had more time on it. Especially would have loved more detail on the job situation.

Apart from that a really fun read!

A breezy, charming rom-com that’s perfect for lazy afternoons, or literally, any time you want a sparkly, snarky love story with zero heavy emotional baggage. It’s funny, flirty, and full of spark, but if you're into deep character work or slow-burn realism, the pacing or emotional payoff might feel a touch too fast.

Cute and fun read. Easy too. Sweet and spicy! This is my second book by Donna and I’m really enjoying her style!

This book should have been a win. The setup had all the makings of a fun romcom—joint proposal planning, fake dating, enemies-to-lovers—but it got lost in the sauce. The main character, Priscilla, came off less quirky and more immature. It was hard to root for her when she acted like planning this one proposal was a life-or-death mission.
Oliver, the MMC, was obsessed with her for reasons that never felt earned, and somehow all the classic tropes were jammed into the story without enough development to make any of them land. It felt like a checklist instead of a plot.
The whole conflict—two people stressing about who gets to plan a proposal first—didn’t have the weight or urgency to carry an entire book. The pacing dragged, and what should’ve been a snappy, charming storyline could’ve easily been wrapped up in two well-written chapters.
If you're in it for the tropes, they’re all technically there. But if you're hoping for real emotional payoff, believable tension, or a satisfying journey to love, this one might leave you underwhelmed.

I absolutely adored Donna Marchetti's previous release, Hate Mail, so when I was given the opportunity to read this release early, I was thrilled.

Once again, Donna Marchetti weaves a compelling romance with just the right number of twists and turns to keep me interested. I always love a good playlist at the beginning and fun chapter titles throughout the book.

Priscilla was a fiery and fantastic FMC and I found myself rooting for her from page 1. Her romance with Oliver was probably one of my favourites of my 2025 reads.

Loved the enemies to lovers, adored the one-bed, could have done without a lot of the miscommunication.

Overall, this was a fun and sweet read, perfect for the summer!

The banter, the angst, the "we can't work together but god I want to kiss you also" vibes. Would recommend to anyone!

My first book by this author, the Proposal Project is a likeable, easy to read romance with an interesting premise set around a planned proposal. You kind of know where its going but you still want to read to get there. It's not hard to get into and light hearted to read. I liked it, but I didn't love love it. Recommend for fans of this genre.

Silly. Fun. I enjoyed. I thought the concept was cute but other parts I was so annoyed. I didn't think they had any chemistry and I wanted to just end it.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this book before publishing.

This was a fun read! I like the banter between the two main characters, but I personally don't like not saying how you feel so the whole evading their feelings felt a bit annoying at some point.
Will definitely read more romance from this author :)

Unfortunately not for me. The premise sounded good, but I disliked the miscommunication trope.

2.5 Stars rounded up, because it was me disliking the trope.

The Proposal Project was such a charming, feel-good read. Sweet, funny, and full of heart—with just the right dash of spice. The chemistry was instant, the banter was adorable, and I found myself smiling the whole way through. Total comfort read.

This was such a sweet and lovely read. I adored the characters and how their relationship was portrayed throughout with lots of cute and funny moments. There was also not too much spice which is refreshing for a romance. I think this makes for a great read especially for summer, perfect for any romance lovers.

I absolutely adored this book!!! The characters had dimension and the way they were portrayed was actually really well done. I felt like I was actually experiencing the emotions they were experiencing.

The banter was incredible, though not as great as Hate Mail, but still hilarious nonetheless. The minimal spice added just the right tough to the story and I loved the way they were able to put their issues aside to help plan this insane proposal!

My favorite scene had to be the baseball game moments because they were just too funny!

this book felt rushed to me, I didn’t find that the couple was a full fleshed out relationship but rather a default caused by the forced proximity of planning the proposal. they only truly reacted to each other around 70% of the book which didnt give them enough time to coexist as a loving couple but was rather tarnished with pages of smut. As a reader I didn’t feel like they had emotion, only passion. However, the plot was heavily engaging and i felt entertained through out. It wasn’t a boring book- it just as ‘romantic’ as advertised. I felt the proposal was the main focus of the book and not the couple or the main characters. I would recommend this book for a fun flirty quick read but it probably wont become your favourite book.