Spotlight & Giveaway: Hate to Fake It to You by Amanda Sellet

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Amanda Sellet to HJ!

Hi Amanda and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, Hate to Fake It to You!

 
Aloha gentle readers! Thanks for hanging out with me here at HJ as the sun sets on beach read season.
 

Please summarize the book for the readers here:

When Libby Lane and her best friends Jean and Keoki invent a fake lifestyle influencer as a joke, the last thing they expect is for a real media heiress to show up on Oahu ready to offer “Lillibet” a job. Rather than ‘fessing up, they decide to grab this chance to make their career dreams come true—even if it means finding a phony house, husband, wardrobe, personality, and pet goats!

It’s a recipe for chaos even before a handsome photographer enters the scene, bringing authentic feelings into a deeply absurd situation.
 

Please share your favorite line(s) or quote from this book:

“Libby had her doubts. In fact, her doubts had doubts of their own, tucked away like baggies of worry inside a doubt drug mule—who had just been pulled aside by airport security.”

Please share a few Fun facts about this book…

• Hate to Fake it To You is a very loose retelling of the classic screwball comedy Christmas in Connecticut, and while I always knew I wanted to transpose the action to Hawaii, in the early drafts it was still a Christmas story. It wasn’t until my editor pointed out that a book set on a tropical island wouldn’t have the chunky sweaters and hot cocoa by the fireside vibe that people expect from a holiday romance that I had the idea of inventing a completely ridiculous new holiday for my fake influencer to pretend to celebrate. In a matter of weeks, the title changed from Christmas in Kahuku to Kiss Me in Kahuku and then finally, after trying out a million and one puns, HTFITY (aka “Hot Fitty”).
• All the flavors and places are drawn from my experiences visiting extended family on Oahu. Just thinking about it makes me want to go body surfing on the North Shore and then eat shave ice, garlic shrimp, a fresh papaya, and a box of warm malasadas! Not necessarily in that order.

What first attracts your Hero to the Heroine and vice versa?

Libby is attracted to the idea of Jefferson when she sees a news clip of him rescuing a lost hiker from a freak blizzard in the Tetons, because most of the men she’s dated have been too lazy to pick up takeout, much less carry someone off a mountain.

When she meets the real Jefferson on an Oahu beach, she doesn’t realize it’s the same guy, and he has no idea who she is, so it’s like they’re in a little bubble, without context or preconceptions, in one of the most beautiful places on earth. It’s a golden moment that feels somehow set apart from their regular lives, so even though they’re both cautious by nature, they let themselves experience an immediate mutual attraction that only grows stronger as they banter about snacks and sunsets and Disney movies.

Which of course makes things complicated when Libby has to pretend to be married, and Jefferson has agreed to fake a temporary showmance with the girl whose life he saved!

Did any scene have you blushing, crying or laughing while writing it? And Why?

At heart, Hate to Fake it To You is a farce—the kind of story where a preposterous situation is always teetering on the brink of falling apart as characters rush around narrowly avoiding disaster. One of my favorite scenes in that vein takes place the evening all the characters come together for the first time at a cocktail party, and the situation keeps spiraling farther out of Libby’s control. The guests arrive hours ahead of schedule, her best friend decides it would be a good idea to fake an Irish accent, Libby has to pretend to create a “tablescape” with a handful of ground-up shells from the driveway, the guy she met on the beach turns out to be her future employer’s (alleged) boyfriend, Libby’s pretend husband talks way too much about plumbing, and finally a giant piece of art is revealed to everyone, featuring … I won’t spoil the surprise, but it’s the crowning glory of this trainwreck of an evening.

Here’s a little snippet, including Jean’s Irish-ish accent:

“The pipes, the pipes they’re calling,” Jean warbled. “No doubt everything’s flowin’ like a river for these spry young things. Unlike me poor old Uncle Malachi. Speakin’ o’ dribs and drabs, can I get a refill?” She rattled the ice in her glass.

Hildy had gone back to studying Lillibet’s Me Tree centerfold. “So do you decorate a Me Tree?”
Sure, Libby thought. It’s like Pin the Tail on the Donkey, only with nipple tassels.”

Readers should read this book….

A lot of so-called rom-coms are pretty serious, which is great if that’s your jam. But if you love to laugh as much as I do and are looking for the zany energy of Bridget Jones’ Diary or anything by Sophie Kinsella, Hate to Fake it To You is that kind of romantic comedy.

What are you currently working on? What other releases do you have in the works?

Right now I’m working on the first of my two (!) 2026 books, while also trying to get my daughter through her senior year of high school and college applications; thoughts, prayers, and chocolate are appreciated!

In the meantime, I have another adult rom-com releasing in 2025, starring one of the supporting characters from Hate to Fake it To You. More details on that, including the gorgeous cover, will be revealed on September 13; swing by Instagram (@amandajsellet) or my website (www.amandasellet.com) to get the scoop! For now, I can tell you that the title is The Odds of Getting Even.
 

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: St. Martin’s Publishing Group is giving away five finished copies of Hate to Fake It to You. This giveaway is open to US/Canada residents only.

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Leave a comment with your thoughts on the book…

 
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Book Info:

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.
Book Links: Amazon | B&N |
 
 

Meet the Author:

AMANDA SELLET is a former journalist and the author of romcoms for teens and adults, including By the Book, which Booklist described in a starred review as, “impossible to read without laughing out loud.” She loves old movies, baked goods, and embarrassing her teen daughter. Hate to Fake It to You is her adult debut.
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