Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC. This book had some of my favorite tropes and it did not disappoint. Fake dating and billionaire?! Sign me up. The first quarter of the book was a little slow for me but after that I binged it. West is such a likable character and the care he puts towards Nora was swoon worthy! Seeing Nora find herself and regain control of her life made it easy to root for her as a character. The conflicts at the end were necessary but mild and the epilogue sets this series up for more wonderful chaos. I can’t wait to keep reading!

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7589022885

This book was such a fun and heartwarming read—I couldn’t stop smiling (and maybe even giggling) the whole way through! Nora and West totally stole my heart. Their chemistry? So good. But it was the emotional connection between them that really got me.

West had me swooning with the way he respected Nora’s boundaries and slowly started realizing his feelings. And the way he drops everything the second his guys mention her? Not just because her brother asked—he feels it. That mix of protectiveness and real emotion? Chef’s kiss.

Loved the perfect mix of humor, heart, and that delicious slow-burn tension. Definitely a must add to TBR!

Thank you @oliviahayle & @netgalley for the ARC opportunity in exchange for my honest review, it was a wonderful read 📚💖

Thanks to NetGalley and Olivia Hayle for an Advanced Reading Copy of The Faking Game.
The Faking Game released on May 25, 2025 for sale and on Kindle Unlimited.

The Faking Game is a guilty pleasure. Forced proximity and brother’s best friends are two tropes that come together for a steamy ride. Nora is a socialite that wants to be a designer instead of a model. Her biggest problem though, is that she has a stalker. She lived in France, and decided to move to NYC to get some distance from her stalker. Her brother Rafe’s childhood best friend, West, is a billionaire with his hands in many different businesses. He promises Rafe that he will help watch out for Nora while she is in NYC.

The stalker quickly shows that he is still watching Nora, and West decides that he and Nora need to pretend to be in a relationship. He has Nora move to his family’s estate, Fairhaven. He doesn’t tell Nora his own problems. If West does not marry before his 30th birthday (in 5 months) he will lose Fairhaven to his married cousin due to a 100 year old clause in the family trust. Nora and West start attending events together, and Nora slips up that she has very little experience relationship wise. Her and West take their friendship to another level of lessons, which shows their very real affection to each other. West is afraid of her brother’s reaction, and has made it clear to Nora that he will never get married. When Nora finally finds out about the marriage claus, and they find out who the stalker is, West and Nora have to decide if what they have is enough to last, for real.

The Faking Game has spice and a plot centered on a billionaire’s world. This is the first book in the series, and I can’t wait to read the next billionaire guilty pleasure!

West Mutherfxckin’ Calloway. Yes please.
He has made his way into my top book boyfriends.
The way that he loves, protects, and 🥵 praises Nora is absolute top notch. A man who loves his woman out loud, but also quietly is always a 10/10 in my book and that is West to a T.
Nora is also a relatable queen. From her chronic people pleasing to her sarcasm.

These two were so well written. The character arcs for both of them were amazing. Their relationship evolution was beautiful. It wasn’t too fast paced but it also wasn’t too slow either. It felt perfect for the characters and their situations.

The ending of the stalker plot felt a little meh to me, but it seems to have set up for a second book in the series so I can see why it was him.

I loved the banter between West and Nora, but also between the guys and in their group chat.

This was my first Olivia Hayle book but it will most certainly not be my last!

Thanks so much to NetGalley for this ARC!

This book had me hooked from the beginning, it does not miss a beat.
Nora is a model from a well off and well known family. She is also a people pleaser who is inexperienced with love and wants to find a relationship.
West is her brother’s best friend and becomes her head of security after someone continues to stalk and scare her.
She pretends to be his girlfriend in exchange he teachers her how to date. What could go wrong?

I loved Nora and West’s chemistry, their characters felt believable.
I can’t wait for the next book about Rafe to come out!!

Enemies to lovers
Bodyguard
Brother’s best friend
Dual POV

Thanks so much to NetGalley for this ARC!

Brothers bestfriend, fake-dating and billionaire romance with a stalker side-plot. This book was both romantic and suspenseful. I loved the growth of both the main characters, and how real their flaws felt.
The only reason this isn't a five-star read is because some of the scenes felt a little bit cringey at times.

This book was so good!!! The romance was amazing, and I am so excited to reread it over and over again!

Thank you to NetGalley and Olivia Hayle for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was such a fun, feel-good read!

The Faking Game gave me a bit of everything snappy dialogue, great chemistry, and characters I actually cared about. The book follows Nora, a model with secret dreams of being a designer, and West, the quiet, brooding billionaire who just so happens to be her brother’s best friend. When Nora needs a safe place to lay low (thanks to a stalker situation), West offers his fancy gated estate…and suggests they fake-date to keep up appearances.

Naturally, feelings get involved. And it’s delicious.

But what really stuck with me was how much depth this story had underneath all the fun tropes. Some of Nora's traits hit close to home, she’s so used to shrinking herself and putting others first, and watching her learn to set boundaries and go after what she wants? Super relatable and honestly kind of empowering.

West, though. The man really sees her. Not just the beautiful version everyone else sees, but the real her—the one who’s scared to take up space. And he keeps showing up for her, again and again, in quiet but meaningful ways. The romance felt steady and genuine, not just swoony.

I flew through this in less than 24 hours. The writing’s smooth, the pacing works, and the fake-dating setup is just chef’s kiss. My only tiny gripe was that the stalker subplot wrapped up a little too quickly, and I wouldn’t have minded more development for some of the side characters. But overall? Super satisfying.

If you’re into brother’s best friend, fake dating, and slow-burn romance with emotional payoff, this one’s totally worth picking up.
4.5 Stars!

#NetGalley, #TheFakingGame, #OliviaHayle

this was really mature, both the mmc and fmc treated this relationship like actual grown ups, which is rare to see nowadays!! i loved that for them.

the fmc was written exceptionally well, i love it when the female character is headstrong but also soft inside.

the writing was easy to read, no nonsense scenes or unnecessary plot devices. i think it took me really half a day to finish it, it made for a good feel-good weekend read :)

I could not put this book down! It had the perfect amount of banter and spice. It’s probably one of my favorite reads of 2025 so far
I am looking forward to more books from this author.

This was such a cute, fun, and quick fake dating romance! It follows Nora, a model who dreams of becoming a fashion designer, and her brother’s best friend, West. Nora has a stalker, so her brother sends her to stay with West at his estate—what he doesn’t know is that West is about to lose the estate unless he gets married before turning thirty.

Nora agrees to faking a relationship with West, but of course, things start to feel a lot more real. Along the way, West encourages Nora to finally put herself first and go after what she wants, not just what makes everyone else happy.

This one had some great banter, a little suspense, a bit of spice, and just a good vibe. Super solid read!

I devoured this book and left no crumbs. It consumed my every waking thought and some of my sleeping ones.

The Faking Game is everything I want in a romance. Drama, lust, forbidden love, and the most perfect ending.

Every detail was perfection, and I can't wait for more. I am praying to anyone who will listen that there be more. I need a book for every guy in the Lost Weekend crew and Amber.

When I review, I usually like to go into the story and characters a but, but this one doesn't need that. You just need to read it.

Thank you, Olivia Hayle, for the ARC.

ARC Review: Thanks to Netgalley and Ms. Olivia Hayle for the e-ARC.🎀

This was such a lovely read, I found myself smiling and even giggling throughout! Nora and West are both beautifully written characters. Their chemistry is undeniable, but what really pulled me in was the emotional depth between them.

Even though West once made a comment about Nora that hinted at some inner conflict, he constantly checks himself and respects the boundaries he knows are important. That awareness and the slow realization of his feelings made his character so compelling to me.

What I loved most is how West is always ready to drop everything when his men report something about Nora. Not just because her brother, Rafe, asked him to protect her, but because he genuinely feels something for her. That mix of responsibility and real emotion? Chef’s kiss.

This book had the perfect balance of humor, heart, and slow-burn romance. Definitely one I’ll think about for a while.

This book while it kept me engaged and turning the page, felt like something I had read before. It was a good pallet cleanser of a book though and had me smiling. Although not that original still enjoyable.

This was my first book I have read, written by Olivia, and let me tell you, it won’t be the last!!

This book had the ✨vibes ✨

Nora, a famous model with a stalker, moves in with her brother’s best friend, West, for safety. Still inexperienced with men, Nora asks West for lessons in dating… and let the fun begin!!

The sloooow burn, the chemistry, the tension, the will-they-won’t-they, I was on the edge of my seat, kicking my feet and giggling. If I could’ve locked myself away for 24 hours just to binge this, I would have.

West Calloway now has a permanent spot in my heart. The way he protects Nora, encourages her to set boundaries, and empowers her to speak up? Absolute perfection.

This is a must-read.

If you were to, liquify this book, put it in a cup, and put it in front of me, I would empty that cup faster than the speed of light. This was a juicy, easy, blissful read. I want to stay at Fairhaven.

a great billionaire fake dating book with the beloved trope of brothers best friend. West was one of the greenest flags I have read in a while. Catch me on my way to a jeweller to get a tennis bracelet!
Also thank you Netgalley for the Arc!

Posted to Goodreads on the 26.05.2025

4.25⭐ IM BACK guys im trying to hop back on the review game i know you all missed it so much (said not a single soul ever)

this was one of those books i kept seeing lil teasers for on instagram and always got immediately intrigued so when i saw this on netgalley i HAD to snatch (thank you to netgalley and olivia hayle💗💗💗)

now i know some people hate it when books have a ton of tropes but i will eat it up every single time. i am also the biggest brothers best friend fan EVER. and fake dating?? sign me tf up 🖊️🖊️ i loved all the tropes as well as the plot and the characters just 🤌🤌

nora was actually suchhh a sweetheart and i loved her more than i thought i would. usually i kind of get sick of the "super innocent virgin fmc" cause sometimes they are just plain dumb but she wasnt written like that at all but still managed to have the innocent vibe and i loved her. also fake dating your childhood crush/brother best friend that turn into dating lessons? love love love! her people pleasing hit a lil close to home and it made her so relatable and ugh i loved her

WESTWESTWEST god i love this man. hes rich. hes obsessed. hes offering to teach her everything about dating but falls even deeper in the process. name one person who wouldnt be obsessed?? i loved his character in so many ways like he was so obsessed and supportive of nora and everything she did and was also her dominant counterpart without being an overly dominant character yk? (also love his name but i digress)

honestly such a funny spicy read with great characters. my only two things was that i feel like the whole "stalker" plot was kind of anti-climatic and it couldve been slightly shorter in general but i still had such a good time!!

I went into this one blind, i mean the cover was beautiful and i just had to read it! well i'm just here to say this book is a damn good time and i enjoyed every minute of it.

Nora has a stalker and her brother wants to keep her safe and the only way he can think to do this is to send her to stay with his friend West in his huge estate. West who she has had a crush on for a really long time....

West suggests that they start to fake date and Nora agrees on one condition, that he helps her practice real dating. So they start to date and soon it starts to feel real....but is it?

This was the perfect fake dating book and i highly recommend!

• Fake Dating
• Brother's Best Friend
• Dual POV
• Slow Burn

Nora is forced to move into her brother's best friend's estate, after a stalker disrupts her life and safety. West proposes a solution to send a message to the stalker... They should fake date.

Truly, I was not expecting to like it as much as I did. In the beginning, it was a bit slow. I wasn't sure where the book was taking us, with the amount of conflicts there were. But in the end, it did come to a satisfying conclusion. I did enjoy seeing Nora people's pleasing issues, it wasn't just an after thought in the book. You can see her progress throughout the book and not see it go to waste towards the end. This book was a fun and easy read for anyone who's interested.

Thank you Netgalley and Olivia Hayle🫶🏾