Faker

by Sarah Smith

One of Bustle's Most Anticipated Fall Releases

Debut author Sarah Smith nails this fun and sexy rom-com where two office foes hammer out their differences to build a love that will last....

Emmie Echavarre is a professional faker. She has to be to survive as one of the few female employees at Nuts & Bolts, a power tool company staffed predominantly by gruff, burly men. From nine to five, Monday through Friday, she's tough as nails--the complete opposite of her easy-going real self.

One thing she doesn't have to fake? Her disdain for coworker Tate Rasmussen. Tate has been hostile to her since the day they met. Emmie's friendly greetings and repeated attempts to get to know him failed to garner anything more than scowls and terse one-word answers. Too bad she can't stop staring at his Thor-like biceps...

When Emmie and Tate are forced to work together on a charity construction project, things get...heated. Emmie's beginning to see that beneath Tate's chiseled exterior lies a soft heart, but it will take more than a few kind words to erase the past and convince her that what they have is real.

• ISBN10: 1984805428
• ISBN13: 9781984805423
• Publish Date: 8 October 2019
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Pamela Dorman Books
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 336
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9781984805423

Reviews

[thebookdisciple]

Faker is an impressive debut about an office romance with an enemies to lovers vibe! Emmie is a Filipino living in the midwest and arguing daily with her whiter than white bread coworker, Tate. Their banter in the beginning is really biting. They do NOT like each other. However, Tate is strangely concerned about Emmie being hassled by a coworker. It isn't long before Emmie and Tate's relationship changes. Emmie is still a bit hesitant-Tate had really hurt her feelings in the past.

The focus of the plot of Faker is on their relationship and on each character's growth. Emmie shared her struggles with having to leave Hawaii as a teenager and being the only non-white girl in her midwest town. Tate shares his struggles with being supremely introverted. I felt a connection with Tate because I really understood his struggle-not wanting to be in certain situations, not enjoying social events, etc.

My only struggle with Faker was an event near the end involving Tate. He does something that I just found unbelieveable and while it isn't unforgiveable, I do think Emmie probably should have been a bit more questioning and unsure of his motives. Tate brings Emmie to his high school reunion. While there, Emmie sees a girl who looks EXACTLY like her, and it turns out its Tate's ex. He walks up and kisses the ex. He tells Emmie he thought it was her. However, I found Faker to be highly entertaining and think that readers will enjoy the low angst and unique characters!

Audio fans: Donnabella Martel is a new to me narrator and I thought the story was well performed! The entire story is told from Emmie's POV and Martel does a great job brings Emmie to life.

 

•   POV: 1st (Emmie)


•   Tears: no


•   Trope: office romance, enemies to lovers


•   Triggers: none


•   Series/Standalone: stand alone


•   Cliffhanger: no


•   HEA: yes-no epilogue

multicultural romance like The Kiss Quotient, Office romance like Big Shot by Katy Evans, Enemies to lovers like All It Takes by Kristen Proby ...then you will probably like Faker!

 

Faker

See full review on The Book Disciple

[Sam@WLABB]

Working at Nuts & Bolts was not walk in the park for Emmie. As one of the few females, she constantly had to employ her "girl boss" persona in order to maintain her sanity. One co-worker she loved to hate, was Tate. He may have been in charge of social media, but he lacked social skills, if you asked Emmie. However, all her feelings about Tate changed, when he came to her aid following a medical emergency. Emmie starting looking at him with hearts in her eyes, but would these two introverts be able to find their HEA?

I was so scared to read this, because of other reviews I had seen. It seemed the conflict Smith put in the latter part of the book turned some readers off, but I was ok with it. That very small portion of the story, which was explained away, could not erase all the wonderful things that proceeded and followed it.

This book was a lot of fun to read. I have enjoyed many office hate-to-love romances, and I think I liked this one more than some of the others, because the hate phase was short. Look, I like romance, and though all that push-and-pull can be entertaining, I actually liked it when these two were mooning over each other even more.

I was a big fan of both the hero and the heroine. Emmie and Tate actually shared a lot of the same great qualities. They were sarcastic, amusing, loyal friends, family orientated, hard working, and big hearted. Because they were both so introverted, it was difficult for people to get to know them, but once I saw what was beneath the surface, I was all in.

I am a very ardent romance reader, therefore, I adored all the wonderful romantic gestures and lovely things these two did in the name of love. Tate was especially good at the romantic stuff, believe it or not. He would do all these little things, which just made my heart flutter, and I began to look forward to what he would do next.

And, wow! I was really impressed with how much heat Smith generated before these two ever, ahem, consummated their relationship. There were hot, passionate kisses, steamed up windows, just for her pleasure, and cuddling, lots of cuddling, which just made me love this couple even more.

The story was told exclusively from Emmie's point of view, and it was a lot of fun being in her head. I did often wonder what Tate was thinking, though, and thankfully we got a little peek via his text messages. I was really grateful Smith gave that to us, because it helped me understand him a bit more.

I devoured this book, and wore a stupid grin across my face just about the whole time. It was a sweet and gooey romance, which left me utterly elated, and I look forward to seeing what Smith does in the future.

*ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

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