{"id":75971,"date":"2024-08-18T07:25:51","date_gmt":"2024-08-18T11:25:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/?p=75971"},"modified":"2024-08-18T07:25:51","modified_gmt":"2024-08-18T11:25:51","slug":"arc-review-the-great-dating-fake-off-by-livy-hart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/?p=75971","title":{"rendered":"ARC Review: The Great Dating Fake-Off by Livy Hart"},"content":{"rendered":"

Buy:\u00a0\u00a0Amazon<\/a><\/strong><\/h4>\n
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Review<\/b><\/h4>\n

4 stars<\/b><\/p>\n

This is a really a fun read. A fake dating (with a twist), forbidden-ish romance with a bit of My Big Fat Greek Wedding<\/i> thrown in, it\u2019s so entertaining, and I really enjoyed this one.<\/p>\n

Nora and Sebastian meet in the bookstore where she works. They flirt and banter, and it\u2019s clear they\u2019re both interested in exploring more. The next time they run in to each other, it\u2019s at a wedding where they are both pretending to be the significant others of their respective best friends. And not just any wedding, but a big, festive Italian wedding where the bride and groom\u2019s family hate each other with grudges going back generations. Nora and Sebastian are there to support their best friends (respectively the brother and sister to the bride and groom) during the week-long festivities, to keep their over-involved families off their backs and make the whole event just a little bit more bearable.<\/p>\n

It’s a fun twist on the fake dating trope, and even though their respective \u2018partners\u2019 and even the groom can see Nora and Sebastian\u2019s growing attraction, they desperately try to keep it a secret from the family. All while trying to help prevent World War 3, and dealing with their friends\u2019 meddling families.<\/p>\n

\u201cUh – I wanted my own room, out of respect for the family. With us being unmarried.\u201d
\n\u201c<\/i>Oh. Well, that\u2019s unnecessary. You\u2019re welcome to share and enjoy your trip.\u201d Mamma V drops to a near whisper. \u201cThe good lord and everyone else know Benjamino is over thirty years old and has needs.\u201d
\nI look up at Benji, seeing my own horror reflected in his eyes. I could live a thousand lives and it\u2019d still be too soon to hear Benji\u2019s mother discuss his needs and how welcome I am to meet them.<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The book takes us from the wedding and beyond, and the story shifts as we see Nora and Sebastian\u2019s lives continuously colliding. For very real, very good reasons, they are trying to ignore their feelings for each other, but the chemistry is intense and the sexual tension is sizzling, and every little near miss moment had me bubbling with excitement.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to talk.\u201d
\nShe lets out a panicked sound that\u2019s almost feline. \u201cDo we?\u201d
\n\u2026 \u201cI keep finding my mouth on yours, so yeah, that warrants a conversation. Preferably before I trip and fall and find my hands on you, too.\u201d<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I love Sebastian and Nora so much. They\u2019re funny and flirty, and they don\u2019t hide what they\u2019re feeling from each other. They talk about the depth of their growing feelings, and the barriers keeping them apart, but they also embrace their moments when they can, and they are so hot together! But more than just sexy time, there\u2019s a true emotional connection between them, and I just loved seeing them fall so hard and so completely for each other.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve waited a lifetime to see my own longing reflected in someone else\u2019s eyes. To be needed as strongly as I need. To feel like I\u2019m on the same page with a person so it\u2019d be safe to fall.
\nAnd I finally have it. <\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

There\u2019s a big cast of characters that are consistently involved, and though it\u2019s sometimes a little hard to keep up with who everybody is, I loved the dynamics, and the way such a close friend group came together.<\/p>\n

This is a really fun read with a gorgeous love story, and I finished it with a big smile on my face.<\/p>\n

I loved it \u2013 4 stars.<\/p>\n

An Advanced Review Copy was generously provided by the publisher via NetGalley for an honest review.<\/i><\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Buy:\u00a0\u00a0Amazon Review 4 stars This is a really a fun read. A fake dating (with a twist), forbidden-ish romance with a bit of My Big Fat Greek Wedding thrown in, it\u2019s so entertaining, and I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":74245,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","yasr_overall_rating":4,"yasr_post_is_review":"","yasr_auto_insert_disabled":"","yasr_review_type":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1132,65,9],"tags":[59,1477,48,76],"class_list":["post-75971","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fake-relationship","category-lol-funny","category-romance","tag-arc","tag-livy-hart","tag-review","tag-standalone"],"yasr_visitor_votes":{"stars_attributes":{"read_only":false,"span_bottom":false},"number_of_votes":0,"sum_votes":0},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/The-Great-Dating-Fake-Off.jpg?fit=200%2C300&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7gaNL-jLl","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75971","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=75971"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75971\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/74245"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=75971"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=75971"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=75971"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}