BOOKWORM REVIEW: Faking It with the Grump by Kate O'Keefe
SPICE: 🔥
Small town. Fake relationship. Grumpy sunshine. All lovely tropes that I enjoy, but in a saturated romance market, I like a read that either brings a unique take on those tropes or really tells an engaging story incorporating those tropes.
Unfortunately, this read did neither.
Harper just got dumped by her Hollywood actor boyfriend and is heading back home to Hunter's Creek to lick her proverbial wounds. Tired of everyone throwing her a pity party, she fibs about being in a relationship..with the new guy in town.
Christopher is trying to prove to his job that he's more than the office boring guy by heading to Hunter's Creek to purchase the lumber mill. What he did not anticipate for this road trip is to gain a fake girlfriend. Seeing it as an opportunity to make friends with the locals, he agrees to be Harper's fake boyfriend.
This had so much potential, and I felt like it just fell flat. The build-up felt too long for little return, and I thought the story itself did not have any unique takes that will help me remember the book in the future.
There were also cringey references to the Me Too movement and certain races that had me giving the book a side-eye.
** I am voluntarily reviewing an advance copy of this book. Thank you to Kate O'Keefe and Wildfire Marketing Solution for providing an ARC. **
Harper
It's one thing to be dumped by the huge Hollywood star you thought you were going to marry. It’s quite another to move back to the small town you're both from.
As a booby prize for being shown the door by Dex Ryder, everyone is trying to set me up with their son, their nephew, or their long-lost cousin’s gardener. Either that or they’re throwing me pitying looks that say, “You’re a big loser.”
I’m not going to put up with their patronizing sympathy anymore.
So, when I spot new-guy-in-town Christopher Young, I set out to make him mine. Or you know, pretend to make him mine. I’m still in a horrible funk over Dex, and Christopher is an uptight grump. Not exactly my type.
The fact that despite appearances, he’s gorgeous and doing weird things to my blood pressure doesn't mean a thing.
Really.
Not. A. Thing.
Christopher
Hunter’s Creek, population next to nothing, is the reason I work all the time. I’m solely focused on buying the town’s lumber mill so I can go back to NYC and get my big promotion. This small town is a means to an end. Nothing more.
That is until the prettiest girl I've ever seen superglues her lips to mine in an unexpected and very public way. She’s not the kind of woman I usually go for with her boho dress and ankle boots, but that kiss…
I’m disappointed when she comes up for air and tells me it’s all for show. But if Harper Cole wants me to be her fake boyfriend while I'm here in town, who am I to turn her down? Being attached to a local might ingratiate me to the townsfolk and make my job that much the easier.
After all, dating Harper can only be make believe. Not when my entire future is at stake.
Faking It With The Grump is a grumpy-sunshine, opposites attract, fake relationship romance set in the small town of Hunter's Creek, Washington. It's the first book in the new Second Chance Café series. Each book follows a different sister's love story and can be read as a standalone novel or as part of a series.
When she's not penning her latest story, Kate can be found hiking up hills (slowly), traveling to different countries around the globe (back when we used to be able to do that), and eating chocolate. A lot of it.
Right now, Kate is working on the fourth and final title in her hugely popular laugh-out-loud rom com series, It's Complicated. Never Fall for Your One that Got Away is out on July 30th. Find out more here.
Connect with Kate
ABOUT THE BOOK
He’s grumpy, boring, and thinks it’s okay to wear a suit and tie to a small town bar full of lumberjacks. But when I kiss him? Let’s just say I wasn’t expecting THAT.Harper
It's one thing to be dumped by the huge Hollywood star you thought you were going to marry. It’s quite another to move back to the small town you're both from.
As a booby prize for being shown the door by Dex Ryder, everyone is trying to set me up with their son, their nephew, or their long-lost cousin’s gardener. Either that or they’re throwing me pitying looks that say, “You’re a big loser.”
I’m not going to put up with their patronizing sympathy anymore.
So, when I spot new-guy-in-town Christopher Young, I set out to make him mine. Or you know, pretend to make him mine. I’m still in a horrible funk over Dex, and Christopher is an uptight grump. Not exactly my type.
The fact that despite appearances, he’s gorgeous and doing weird things to my blood pressure doesn't mean a thing.
Really.
Not. A. Thing.
Christopher
Hunter’s Creek, population next to nothing, is the reason I work all the time. I’m solely focused on buying the town’s lumber mill so I can go back to NYC and get my big promotion. This small town is a means to an end. Nothing more.
That is until the prettiest girl I've ever seen superglues her lips to mine in an unexpected and very public way. She’s not the kind of woman I usually go for with her boho dress and ankle boots, but that kiss…
I’m disappointed when she comes up for air and tells me it’s all for show. But if Harper Cole wants me to be her fake boyfriend while I'm here in town, who am I to turn her down? Being attached to a local might ingratiate me to the townsfolk and make my job that much the easier.
After all, dating Harper can only be make believe. Not when my entire future is at stake.
Faking It With The Grump is a grumpy-sunshine, opposites attract, fake relationship romance set in the small town of Hunter's Creek, Washington. It's the first book in the new Second Chance Café series. Each book follows a different sister's love story and can be read as a standalone novel or as part of a series.
Get Your Copy ➡️ https://amzn.to/3yRIqoZ
Add to Goodreads ➡️ https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/71872274-faking-it-with-the-grump
MEET KATE O'KEEFE
Kate O'Keeffe is a USA TODAY bestselling and award-winning author who writes exactly what she loves to read: laugh-out-loud romantic comedies with swoon-worthy heroes and gorgeous feel-good happily ever afters. She lives and loves in beautiful Hawke's Bay, New Zealand with her family and two scruffy but loveable dogs.When she's not penning her latest story, Kate can be found hiking up hills (slowly), traveling to different countries around the globe (back when we used to be able to do that), and eating chocolate. A lot of it.
Right now, Kate is working on the fourth and final title in her hugely popular laugh-out-loud rom com series, It's Complicated. Never Fall for Your One that Got Away is out on July 30th. Find out more here.
Connect with Kate
Facebook ➡️ https://www.facebook.com/kateokeeffeauthor/
Instagram ➡️ https://instagram.com/kateokeeffewriter
Website ➡️ https://kateokeeffe.com/