I had a GREAT time with this book! I think Nora and Charlie were both excellently written characters. The banter between these two was so much fun from start to finish, and both of them felt incredibly realistic. I was nervous reading the back of the book because the description for Nora gave off strong "not like other girls" vibes, but I think the truth of the matter is that she is SO much like other girls that she has trouble maintaining meaningful relationships. So, if that was a concern you had, I wouldn't worry about it!

The main reason I'm not giving this book 5 stars is simply because it didn't feel like a romance novel. Nora's primary focus was on her career and her relationship with her sister, Libby. Charlie was very present and there for and with her throughout, but it wasn't the focus of the book. It felt like it falls more under "contemporary fiction" than romance. That said, I was laughing from the prologue of the book and I was crying by the time I hit the epilogue. I haven't been a huge fan of Emily Henry in the past, so I planned on passing on this book but I'm really glad I ended up reading it.

Grey and Ethan are both actors who need a boost to help them get back into the spotlight. Obviously, the solution that their PR agent comes up with is that they have a fake relationship! Get some pictures taken of her going into his house at night and leaving in the morning, go on a couple dates, a red carpet visit, and then break up after six months or so and move on with life!

Of course, that's not exactly how things turn out. The two both end up developing feelings and neither of them are happy about it.

I absolutely LOVED this book! Grey and Ethan were both well thought out characters who had great supporting characters around them. Fake dating is so much fun to me, but usually kind of hard to believe, but these two getting set up makes perfect sense to me and watching the highs and lows of their relationship made me want to root for both of them (even when they were making some really dumb choices).

The book also spends time discussing important issues! Ethan struggles with grief over the death of his best friend, alcoholism, the impact of an abusive parent in his childhood, and trying to co-parent with his ex-wife (who, just to be clear, is incredible. It's possible Nora is my favorite character). Grey experiences sexism, invasion of privacy from paparazzi, was cheated on by a co-star boyfriend in the past, and has a fraught relationship with her mother due to her being the "breadwinner" of the family from such a young age. They've both dealt with their fair share of trauma, and watching the two try and communicate and do what they can to be good for one another is honestly beautiful.