Faker

I have a rule - I only rate books 1 star if I DNF them. Congratulations to this book for being the exception to my rule. I really don’t even know where to begin… the dialogue was unbearable, the main characters went from enemies to lovers out of nowhere, and the book was just all around cringey. The first ~30% of the book was really cute and had such great potential and it all went downhill so fast. The biggest issue for me was the lack of bridge between the enemies to lovers. I literally had to flip back to see if I missed something because one page they hated each other and the next page they loved each other. The way the characters spoke was so unrealistic it drove me insane and I legitimately rolled my eyes a thousand times reading this book. This book is also the epitome of "told, not shown." We're told all about the chemistry between these characters, but never actually shown it. Everything you want to feel in a romance book is said by the characters (in ridiculous dialogue mind you) instead of being described to the reader. The only good thing about this reading experience was the fact that I borrowed this book from the library instead of wasting my own money on it. Note to reader - don't waste your time, money, or energy reading this book.

I never read books with ratings this low, but it has a cute cover and it sounded like it might be a fun story, so I went for it. While there was good angst between the main characters, it just seemed very juvenile. They talked and acted like 15 year olds, not 28 year olds. I skimmed the second half of the book just to see how it ended. I hate giving low ratings, but I would not recommend this book to friends.

This was SO ADORABLE!! Thank you to Berkley and Netgalley for providing me with this book! I had so much fun reading it! Faker is an office romance between enemies Emmie and Tate. They work across from eachother in the office of a construction company and have to work together on a project. When Emmie gets injured, Tate steps in and helps her out and the two grow extremely close and a relationship blooms. First, I LOVED EMMIE AND TATE! Emmie was such a headstrong character and I loved how awesome she was in a mostly male dominated work environment. I really appreciated how the book made sure to point that out. And TATE! Ahhh I loved him! He’s an introvert and the things that he would say to Emmie just made me swoon! He is so charming without even realizing it and it was so endearing. I loved watching his relationship with Emmie grow and I especially loved how a really good portion of this book focused on their relationship dynamic when they were actually in a relationship. We get to see all the adorable and awkwardness of these two first entering and being in a relationship with their one time enemy. The first half of this book really did give me massive The Hating Game vibes but then it definitely stood on its own and I really loved watching the bickering and banter turn into a full blown serious relationship. That being said, I didn’t really care for some of the drama in here. Obviously the book needs to have some drama but I just didn’t think that last moment was necessary and I didn’t like how that was the driving force of Tate not liking Emmie at first. I guess it made sense but I felt so bad for Emmie. It just dampened Tate’s character a bit for me. He did grovel for her and prove to her multiple times in the book how he felt about her, which was appreciated after a moment like that. I also liked how it wrapped up quickly. We didn’t drag it out or anything like that. I loved how most of this book was light and fun, a classic romantic comedy! It’s easy to fly through and get lost it and it has MANY MANY moments where I was just grinning at my kindle with butterflies. I highly recommend everyone pick this up in October and I’m excited to read more from Sarah in the future!

I haven't officially marked this a DNF yet, but some initial thoughts: Was this book written by a high schooler? Emmie's internal dialogue sounds 16. There is SO MUCH exposition. I almost can't take it. Everything is so overt. Not a real quote but may as well be: "I did this. Doing this makes me feel so much better. After doing this, me and my friend do this. I feel so much better! Then we do this. When it's time to say goodbye, I do this. This is really what I needed to feel better." You get the point. Even the sentence structure is juvenile. This books seems like it's trying to be The Hating Game, or something like it, but failing miserably. UPDATE. I'm calling it. DNF @ 30%. How did people get through this one??

tbh, its been like two months and I hardly remember the plot

*Huge thanks to BerkleyPub for my free advance copy. This did not affect my overall opinion of the book. Our main character is Emmie and she works at a male dominated power tool company called Nuts & Bolts. She's one of the few female employees there so she needs to show (or fake it) that she is tough. One thing she can't fake is her annoyance to Tate, her colleague. For some reasons, they can't seem to get along and it doesn't help that they are forced to work together on a charity project for their company. I really wanted to love this book mainly because the main character is half-Filipina and I also enjoy enemies-to-lovers trope. Unfortunately, I ended up pretty disappointed. The story was okay. The beginning actually got me hooked. I thought their banter were entertaining and I really enjoyed it but everything changed when they officially became lovers. I just didn't feel the chemistry. There were some steamy scenes but I found it cringey to read. I didn't lose hope though. I was waiting for some big drama the whole time because I was getting bored already. It happened around 250 pages later which I thought was a long wait and quite unnecessary. I don't want to be too specific because I don't want to give spoilers but I would probably enjoy it more if the one of the side characters was involved in the said drama. I wished there was enough drama or conflict than the number of times Tate's milky and glowing white skin were mentioned. I also want to add that I wasn't satisfied with how the sexual harassment issue was handled in the story. Overall, I still had fun reading this book especially the first half of it. I just didn't love it as much as I wanted to.

*3.5 Being one of the few female employees at the male dominated power tool company, Nuts & Bolts, Emmie Echavarre knows a thing or two about faking it. She spends the work week pretending to be this hard-ass boss lady, which is the complete opposite of her real laid-back self. The one thing Emmie doesn't have to fake? Her utter annoyance with her co-worker, Tate Rasmussen. From his very first day, Tate has seemed hostile and harsh toward Emmie, always quick with a sarcastic comment and never engaging in Emmie's attempts to get to know him. When the pair are thrown together to spearhead a charity construction project, Emmie begins to chisel away at Tate's rough exterior and sees the sweet heart that lies beneath. But Emmie soon learns it'll take more than a few nails to build a connection between them that'll last. I liked this, but I didn't love it as much as I thought I would. There were all the typical chick-lit tropes: the hate-to-love romance; the leading lady getting sick so the broody love interest then nurses them back to health; the secondary love interest there to stir the pot, and while I do tend to love all those, I felt like I had seen them done better. I liked Emmie and Tate and thought their romance was alright, but I spent most of the book waiting for a "Wow" moment and I didn't feel like I ever got it. That aside, it was a cute story that would be good if you're in the mood for a quick fluffy read.

3.5

I really enjoyed my time reading this book. There are just a few things that I'm going to point out that may get on other people's nerves. The main character Emmie constantly points out Tate's color of skin. Like, constantly. From reading other people's reviews, they didn't like that. That's why I'm bringing it up here. I, personally, didn't see it as an issue but something was just kind of annoying. Other than that, I freaking loved this book. I basically listened to it in one sitting. I didn't want to stop. Faker follows Emmie who believes that her coworker Tat hates her. She's used to men treating her differently as being one of the few women working in a type of business that sells tools. Emmie has to deal with Tate constantly giving her weird looks. Almost like it pains him to be in the same vicinity as her. She begins to learn that he's not what he seems when she gets stuck working on a project with him. I had a fun time listening to this book. There were times I would laugh. Times I would blush. There isn't that much smut in this book but what little it has, is great. I also really like that there could have been a love triangle in this book and there wasn't! I will definitely be picking up more books by Sarah Smith in the future. I freaking adored this book! 4.5/5 Stars

This was another book that I read solely because it was recommended as a book you’d like if you liked The Hating Game. Um, NO. I hated these characters. I have read so many romances at this point and I have never, ever felt that a book was so copied/ modeled after (and unsuccessfully) as this is for The Hating Game. It cannot be a coincidence. I don’t now why it says I read it 2 times. I read it once under protest.

It reads like a well-written fanfiction and I mean that in the highest possible praise. Also, it was such a delightful surprise to find a Filipina main character, represent 🙌🏽.

4.25/5 stars I am eternally grateful to Sarah Smith for writing Emmie. My hapa-girl-from-Hawaii-heart is bursting at the seams with my love for Emmie. First, Emmie is hapa (Filipina-White)! I'm automatically inclined to adore books that feature hapa characters because I so wish that I'd had more books featuring hapa MCs when I was growing up and I'm so happy that we have so many more now. Second, Emmie is from the Big Island. Yep, you read that right: for once, an author didn’t just say “from Hawai'i” but actually recognized that there are different islands. BLESS, SARAH SMITH, BLESS. Third, when Emmie talked about getting teased for calling flip-flops “slippers” I felt SEEN. (If I had a dime for every time someone made fun of me about it when I went away to college…) I really enjoyed Faker. Smith's debut is a fun, light read that was just what I needed to pull me out of my reading slump. Certain parts of the book felt a bit rushed--Emmie and Tate’s relationship, in particular, felt like it went from zero to sixty--and I would’ve enjoyed more banter in the enemies phase of this enemies-to-lovers story, but overall, Faker was a wonderful debut that I found thoroughly enjoyable. I can’t wait to read what Sarah Smith writes next!

Wow! I really didn't think I'd love this so much! Faker was a hot and cute office romance with an enemies to lovers plot! Emmie is one of the few female employees at a power tool company, and fakes a tough attitude to survive in the male-dominated environment. In her real life, she's pretty bubbly and happy. She and her coworker Tate have hated each other since day one. Emmie's attempts at friendliness never worked, and now she and Tate's every interaction is painful and hateful. But then they get stuck working together on a major charity project their company is doing. Emmie soon starts to see the real Tate beneath the mean exterior, and a romance develops. I loved Emmie from the start. At times, she had me face palming when she missed things or messed up, but she was adorable the whole time. Tate was great too! At first, I wasn't sure about him. But I could tell there was something behind his angry or dismissive moments. And can I just say I need my own Tate please???? Where can I find one?? I'll keep some of the reasons to myself to avoid spoilers! This was a quick read that kept me hooked the whole time! I don't usually like contemporary romance as much as fantasy or historical, but this one was actually pretty great! There were some moments I didn't like- Tate does something really dumb and I think Emmie gave him a pass far too quickly. Also Tate came off as a bit overbearing at times, but he definitely got better. The book doesn't focus much on side characters, and really focuses on Tate and Emmie's growth as individuals and as a couple. Overall it's a fun, cute read with good characters and good romance! I think it's a good choice if you like enemies to lovers, office romances, or contemporaries!

I am beyond disappointed I couldn’t love this one. It has everything I love - enemies to lovers and office romance - but the execution fell way flat for me. I didn’t connect with the characters at all and the way the romance played out didn’t work for me 😭 Still, Sarah Smith is a great writer and I would love to read more from her. Faker just wasn’t my cup of tea!

(1.5 stars)Blog | Twitter | Instagram | Review also found here at Booked J. Hello mixed feelings, thy old nightmare. By all accounts, Faker should have been one of my favourite books of the year. Diverse! Enemies to lovers! Office romance! Count me in. With all the glowing reviews and comparisons to The Hating Game I had high, high hopes for it. We all know that I cannot say no to a good office romance. Especially if that office romance is rooted in enemies-to-lovers tropes. Give me all the chemistry fueled banter, thank you, please! Add a sprinkle of tension and I'm yours. While Faker had a lot of great going for it, including the use of some of my favourite tropes and a solid amount of chemistry, it still ended up not working for me 100%. At first, it was minor things like awkward dialogue, but then it kind of grew into something more. Something rooted in characters. Or, er, one in specific: my dislike one of the main characters, Tate. Which is likely more of a personal preference thing than anything else. (I'd even argue that it just means that Sarah Smith's writing is so good, because in my eyes she wrote a convincingly annoying character.) I'm not a fan of characters that come across like he does, and there's really no working around that. Not even a fantastic character like Emmie, and the obvious chemistry the two have, could make him more tolerable to me. There's just something about this type of characteristics that automatically put me off of various men in romance. That being said, I also felt like the development of the main relationship, going from 'enemies' to lovers, was lackluster and out of the blue. What could have been much more of a slow burn felt like changes in the blink of an eye. Which is a shame, because Faker had such a smooth flow to it that even though it wasn't my favourite I still read it in one siting. Regardless, this book wasn't my favourite of the year. I'm still glad to see more and more diversity popping up in the romance genre. There's a great importance in the fact that this book is out there. I can easily see other's connecting with it in a way that I couldn't. I'll definitely be giving Sarah Smith's future works a go!

2.5*