Synopsis:
Cara and Millsy have broken up… sort of.
After years of being everyone’s favourite couple, always up for a party and having fun wherever they go, things have fizzled out.
But when they realise they have a whole calendar of events and celebrations with friends and family coming up, Cara and Millsy can’t face letting them down.
So they decide to make a pact: just convince everyone they’re as madly in love as ever and get through the festivities without causing suspicion, and then deal with the break up in the new year. How hard can it be…?
Swept up in the festive spirit, will Cara and Millsy fake it til they make it? Or will they realise they are meant to be after all…?
Review:
This is only my second read of Portia MacIntosh’s books, but it’s safe to say, I love her writing style. She’s so effortlessly funny and both of her books have been super easy and quick to read. I quite literally devoured The Faking Game. It took me two evenings to finish and I actually could have done it in just one.
It wasn’t perfect though. My biggest issue, which is really a small issue, is the name Millsy. My god did I hate it. Just call him by his first name, please. I couldn’t imagine calling my boyfriend solely by his last name, what a cringe. Anyway, that’s a small issue that really can be overlooked and it was, I enjoyed the book.
My next issue with The Faking Game was how most of the events, which seemed like they’d have a huge impact on the story and character relationships were completely skirted over. The most annoying in particular was the trip to Aviemore. Cara and Millsy were just starting to get back on track again and you don’t get to see any of it happen. You hear small details about it in a future chapter, but honestly, I was a bit disappointed in the lazy approach the author took. How am I supposed to root for them if I don’t get to see anything happen?
Anyway, those were my biggest and pretty much only issues with this book. I loved the characters, especially Cara’s love of escape rooms and how it’s her job to design them. I don’t know if the app she’s creating to do an escape room-style treasure hunt around the city actually exists but it sounds very fun.
Both families had their quirks (and annoying characters) but that’s what made them fun. I really liked the scene when Cara’s uncle brings around “special wine”, the bottles get broken and Millsy replaces them with alcoholic wine not realising they were non-alcoholic. It’s very funny, I promise, I’ve just described it poorly.
We all know by now that I love the fake dating trope and while this technically isn’t a fake dating book, it also is. There’s even a fake date within the fake dating. It was refreshing to this trope from the perspective of a couple that has broken up after being together for three years. It’s such a will-they-won’t-they and I love it.
This is also very festive, which I didn’t realise – clearly I didn’t read the synopsis before picking this up. It’s the perfect read for this time of year.
The Faking Game is a very fun and funny read that is a perfect read for any season, despite its festive nature. It has an interesting cast of characters and was a very quick read. I’d definitely recommend it.
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