A review for the small-town rom-com from author Kate O’Keeffe
Ah, the good ol’ small-town rom-com recipe: Small-Town Gal meets Big-City Boy. They’re polar opposites. They fall in love. They break up for a hot second because wait, what? We live on opposite sides of the country? Doesn’t matter, because STG and BCB get their Happily Ever After. Throw in some fake-dating and quirky side-characters and BAM. You’ve got yourself that hot cuppa filled with warm and sweet goodness.
Even with all of that, “Faking It With the Grump” is a 2.5 out of 5 stars for me.
Am I getting grumpy myself? No idea. Let’s dive in, shall we?
The story focuses on our two main characters, Harper and Christopher, who meet when Harper comes back to her hometown in Washington State after she breaks up with her high school sweetheart in a rather public way. Christopher shows up after he gets an assignment from his boss to buy the town’s local lumber mill and get that promotion he’s been working for for years. He’s only in town for a few months, but sparks fly when he meets Harper – and she proceeds to kiss him unexpectedly and begs him to be her fake boyfriend so the town will get off her back about her ex, Dex. Christopher, being the nice guy that he is, goes along with it.
Um, yeah. Okay, so I’m all for the Fake-Dating and then “Suddenly Falling In Love” trope, don’t get me wrong, but this particular one just felt… forced. I think it’s because a lot of the stories I read with this trope are of two characters who already know each other to an extent. Either they’re friends already, or maybe one of them has been desperately in love with the other for years, so of course they’ll say yes but pretend they’re just being nice. This one? Not so much.
First off, the way Christopher is portrayed, it doesn’t seem like the kind of thing he would go along with. “Oh, a random stranger needs me to be her fake boyfriend for a while, even though I’m only in town for a few months to get a job done? Oh, and I’m super Type-A and just want to focus on work and get back to NYC? Sure, I’ll help anyway, because the power of boners is strong.” (Thanks, CinemaSins.)
This goes into how the relationship between Harper and Christopher felt rushed and flat to me. When Christopher (I refuse to call him Topher) first sees Harper it seems very abrupt. Like he was already half in love with her. Which, okay, I know can happen (and has happened in other books/movies/stories), but I didn’t really believe this one. The Insta-Love wasn’t the best.
I’m going to leave my Handy-Dandy Spoilers Ahead! warning right here before I continue.
I think I need to vent about the situation that inevitably comes up when two people start dating and one of them is only in town for a little while: the dreaded “Will We Continue This Relationship When You Leave?” discussion. Always a crowd-pleaser.
I’m glad the topic of Harper no longer wanting to leave Hunter’s Creek for a man came up. It’s how she ended up in Los Angeles with her then-boyfriend Dex, and when he broke up with her she felt lost and alone. She realized she never truly liked LA, she just wanted to be wherever Dex was. Hence her moving back home. Good for you, Harper. I’m glad you’re putting your foot down and sticking with it. It’s obvious how much she missed Hunter’s Creek and how much she loves the town. I mean, her dream is to live there and be a teacher at the local elementary school. She finally got to do that when she moved back home. Brava, girl, you achieved your dream! Seemed rather easy, but you got it!
That’s why I need to vent about Christopher having his inner dialogue of “I’m leaving soon, and I’m realizing I love Harper. I know! I’ll ask her to move to NYC with me. She has to love me too, she’ll come. I mean, it’s not like I can move here to Hunter’s Creek, right??”
Whaaa? Harper has told this man – repeatedly – that she was unhappy in LA with Dex, she always wanted to move back home to Hunter’s Creek and be a teacher there, and that she’ll never move away from Hunter’s Creek for another man. Even Christopher. She was very adamant about it. Christopher not realizing this bothered me because his reasoning for not staying in Hunter’s Creek for Harper was because “there’s no jobs for an M&A lawyer in Hunter’s Creek.” Okay, fair. I get that. But again, that doesn’t mean you can assume then that the alternative is “Harper will just have to move with me to NYC.” Oy vey!
I was also confused when Dex came back in the picture. What was the point? He breaks up with Harper in the beginning, which is the catalyst for this whole story, and then just shows up out of the blue, claims he’s made a mistake, and declares his undying love for Harper again? Look, I know this is a trope. It’s one of the oldest tropes in the book. But this was yet another forced piece of drama that did nothing for the story. He shows up at Harper’s school, interrupting her class (which, by the way, rude), and wants her back. In front of the kids?? Come on, man. Then the other trope: kissing the ex while the current BF-not-BF has impeccable timing and sees the whole thing. Again, okay, it’s a trope for a reason. Christopher stalks off without letting her explain, only for her to show up at his work and tell him what happened. And what does Christopher do? He goes, “Okay, that makes sense,” and they kiss. I’m all for pointless drama not being dragged on, so him believing her and making up was a breath of fresh air. Which then brings me to my original question: What was the point?? Suddenly Dex goes from being the ex-boyfriend who broke Harper’s heart to just this random dude who’s back in town for a little while. Him showing up again just seemed weird. And when Harper was like “Yeah, um, no. We’re not getting back together.” He was like “Alright, cool. But I’ll be around.” Okaaay??
Bringing Dex in would make more sense if Harper had any residual feelings for him, or if she was conflicted between Dex and Christopher. But she’s not; she seems all in for Christopher. So there was no conflict, no drama, no stakes! I won’t ask the question again…
…
…Whyyyy?
Okay, let’s head to the ending. When the hero and heroine realize the other wasn’t going to cave and move all the way across the country for them. They’ve split up and are sad. It’s been about a week since Christopher’s left. Tears have been shed. Chocolate has been consumed. Scotch has been poured in a snifter and placed softly against foreheads in despair. However, there’s some good news: the mill that Christopher has been working to buy for the last few months has in fact been bought. He has a swanky new promotion and corner office to go with said promotion. He’s gotten everything he’s ever wanted in life. Well, except the girl. But that’s okay, because he’s in a rom-com!
Alas, there’s a *gasp* twist *gasp*. We find out the company Christopher works for has found out that it’s actually more cost-effective if they just strip the lumber mill for parts and lay everyone off. Yayyy! But Christopher is not having that at all. He decides to go against his bosses and find a way to save the mill. But that’s not all! He’s also found a way to be with Harper: by quitting his job that he’s been at for years and years to take on the position of lawyer to the wonderful people of Hunter’s Creek! Yayyy! I’m sure that pays well.
Anyhoo, here’s my thing about this ending. So if Christopher’s company wasn’t going to buy the mill and shut it down, would he still have gone back to Hunter’s Creek? The book claims that love is the endgame. Christopher and Harper love each other too much to be apart. They tried it for a week, it didn’t work. They got back together and everyone’s happy. Yet they both seemed to be fine with the breakup when they both believed the mill was bought and safe from being shut down. Suddenly the company’s like “lol jk we’re going to shut it down” and Christopher puts on his spandex and cape and heads to Hunter’s Creek like “not on my watch, buddy!” If the mill wasn’t going to be shut down, would Christopher and Harper have found a way to make it work? If the only lawyer in town didn’t decide to retire right then and there would these crazy kids have found true love? It seemed like there were too many circumstances that had to click into place like a Tetris game for the Happily Ever After to occur. I don’t know, maybe the author was trying for a full-circle thing? The mill was the reason Christopher went to Hunter’s Creek in the first place, and the mill was the reason he went back and got his happy ending? I was just hoping that Harper and Christopher would find a way to make it work on their own merit instead of just waiting for things to work out in order for them to be happy. Sure, Christopher found the other guy who works with rural companies to be more sustainable businesses so that they would buy the mill instead of Christopher’s company, but still. It did rely on the lawyer in town to retire to get Christopher to stay. If he didn’t retire, would Christopher have just saved the mill – thereby saving the town – and just go “okay, you’re welcome folks, peace out, ttyl.” I guess we’ll never know; it’s hard to tell when the ending is completely covered by a bright red shiny bow.
Honestly, this felt more like a rant than a review, but I was just frustrated with some parts. Maybe I’ll try the second book in this series, maybe not. I read this on an airplane; it was a decent airplane read. I just wish there was more meat to it.
Thank you to Wild Lime Books and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. “Faking It With the Grump” was released March 14, 2023.
How did you feel about “Faking It With the Grump”? Liked it? Loved it? Hated it? Too much sugar?? Let me know in the comments below, I’d love to hear from you!
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