REVIEW: Hate to Fake It to You by Amanda Sellet

Hate to Fake It to You by Amanda Sellet: While Libby Lane might just be a boring waitress, her social media alter ego Lillibet is making waves living the plush life, well sort of. What started out as a harmless joke between Libby and her best friend soon turned into Love, Lillibet a thriving social media page that has now landed Libby in a bit of a pickle. You see after a near death experience influencer Hildy decides that she needs to meet her real-life inspiration the girl behind Lillibet and truly find herself again… which is how Libby finds herself in Lillibet’s house with a make belief husband and two goats trying to live up to the fantasy that she created… after all how hard can it be faking it to make Hildy happy for a few days, right? Well the one thing that Libby did not take into account was, Jefferson, the wildlife photographer that saved Hildy… the question now is can Libby maintain the lies that she wove, maintaining her sanity and try to secure the job of her dreams all while trying to figure out these pesky feelings that she has developed for Jefferson?

I enjoyed this book! After seeing the vibrant cover I could already tell that this book was going to be one that I would enjoy and let me just tell you that Hate To Fake It To You did not disappoint one bit. This quirky cute tropical romcom was filled with laughs, twists and some really cute moments. There was something very cute and easy about this book that I really enjoyed and the setting only made me love it all the more. While this was an easy going story I liked that it highlighted the lengths that people would go to in order to secure their dreams.

Okay Libby was an interesting one, I liked that she was a bit all over the place and that she was trying to do some major damage control while trying to secure her dream job. There was something very relatable about her character that I liked. I will say that there were moments that she felt a bit to extra but all in all I really liked Libby. As for our hero, well Jefferson was pretty much your standard outdoorsy hottie that knew when to smoulder and when to be a touch witty. There wasn’t much that I could fault with Jefferson nor was there anything particularly stand out about him.

As far as the love connection between Libby and Jefferson went, well these two definitely played right into the insta love trope, and for this book I found that it worked really well. While I did not like the fact that Libby was lying for the majority of the book I do have to say that I liked the fact that she was most comfortable and most like her real self while with Jefferson. I really liked their banter and the real moments that these two shared together. While this book leaned into the more closed door romance, I did not find that it was missing anything without being overtly spicy.

One of the things that I really liked in this book were the supporting characters. We got a whole host of extras in this book that really amped up the giggle factor. I absolutely loved Libby’s friends and the way they supported her and added to her wacky plans. As for Hildy well she was an interesting one I have to say, a bit strange but funny non the less.

All in all Hate To Fake It To You was a nice tropical romcom that will have you giggling more than a few times, definitely a book to check out!

Book Info:

Publication: July 16, 2024 | Griffin |

A waitress masquerading as an influencer and a wildlife photographer are on a collision course with romance–and chaos―in Hate to Fake It to You , a zany modern twist on a screwball comedy classic about figuring out what you really want – by pretending to be someone you’re not.

Everyone gets a glow-up on social media, but Libby Lane’s online persona is the fakest of fakes. Cooked up as a joke by Libby and her best friends, Lillibet is the affluent, healthier-than-thou opposite of her glam-free life on the side of Oahu most tourists never see. The phony fronting is all in good fun, until a real influencer stumbles onto the Love, Lillibet Instagram feed and starts making waves.

When Hildy Johnson, the ambitious junior member of a media dynasty, travels to Hawaii to talk to Lillibet about parlaying her lifestyle brand into a job, Libby and her friends scramble to take the make-believe to a new level. Complicating the charade even further is Hildy’s handsome companion, a wildlife photographer named Jefferson Jones, whose keen eye sees more than he lets on.

Between the pretend husband, borrowed goats, a made-up holiday, and Libby’s very real attraction to Jefferson, it’s anyone’s guess which lie will blow their cover first … especially since Lillibet isn’t the only one with something to hide.