Real Fake Love

By: Pippa Grant

Narrated by: Virginia Rose, Jason Clarke

Length: 9 hrs and 4 mins

Publisher's summary

If people have polar opposites, Luca Rossi is mine.

His butt is in the baseball hall of fame. Mine's comfortably seated in the hall of lame.

When he's not snagging fly balls out in center field, he's modeling in shampoo commercials. I once jammed my own finger while stirring cookie dough, and sometimes I forget shampoo is a thing.

He's a total cynic when it comes to love.

I make a living writing love stories.

But after my latest broken engagement (no, I don't want to talk about how many times that's happened), it's clear he's exactly the man I need.

If anyone can teach me to be the opposite of me, it's him.

The first thing I want him to teach me?

How to not fall in love.

And as luck would have it, he's in desperate need of a fake girlfriend to get a meddling grandmother off his back.

We couldn't be more perfect together, because the last thing Luca Rossi will ever be is the next man to leave me at the altar.

Or will he?

Real Fake Love is a line drive straight to the heart featuring a grumpy athlete, a jilted bride, a fake relationship, and the world's laziest cat. It stands alone and comes complete with sibling rivalry, the world's most awkward shower scene, and a sweetly satisfying happily ever after.

©2020 Pippa Gratn (P)2020 Pippa Grant

Jason Clarke and Virginia Rose nailed it!

There are not enough stars in the universe for me when it comes to this book .
I've read all of Pippa Grant's books and for me, this one will be my favorite.
I am so in love with these two characters.
Henrietta Leonora Bacon, is a writer with the worlds most affordable and laziest cat, who has been jilted at the alter five times and she's had enough. No more falling in love.
No more marriages.
She turns to Luca Rossi, a professed no commitment man who doesn't believe in love or marriage, to help her learn to stay unattached and not to fall in love with the next guy who comes along.
When Luca's, Nonna decides to put the curse on him, he decides that pretending that Henri is his girlfriend is the best answer. So they work up a deal. He'll help her not to fall in love and she'll be his pretend girlfriend until the end of the season.
This is a great story written all the feels, and we finally get an answer to the mascot situation.

Jason Clarke's, rich velvety voice, had me laughing until I was crying.
He really did justice to Luca's personality.
I could really feel how he got into character, every eyebrow lift and laugh made me picture Luca in my mind.

Virginia Rose, really has a gift.
I loved how she was really able to bring out the character that Pippa wanted us all to know. She made Hanri's character come to life for me.

I look forward to more from all three of them in the future.

never a dull moment

The story was amazing I laughed so hard. There is never a dull moment in these books. luca and henri so opposite but the same..
Find out who the mascot is was amazing. I swear Pippa stories are better on Audible. Jason and Virginia did an amazing job narrating they are 2 of my favorites.

So Much Fun!

A great light hearted, laugh out loud read with fun characters. Both narrators are amazing.

snort laughing hilarious

Omg! Pippa Grant hits it outta the park with laugh out loud read. Luca and Henri bring it home as they both learn the true meaning of love...without actually wanting to. I can't say enough about the spectacular talent of Jason Clark and Virginia Rose in bringing the story to life.

Great Read

Another laugh out loud hilarious yet sweet, romantic steamy romcom by Pippa Grant.
No one, and I mean NO ONE, writes hilarious shenanigans as masterfully as Pippa does. You can go from snort laughing to ugly emotional crying in a span of one page and it’s OH SO GOOD!!!
In Real Fake Love we meet Henrietta “Henri” Bacon, romance novelist, and Luca Rossi, Fireballs baseball player, on Henri’s wedding day where the wedding did not happen. Left at the altar, again, Henri turns to Luca to teach her how to NOT fall in love. Her request comes at a real opportune time for Luca as he is trying to escape “The Eye” of his Nonna. Nonna aka Grandma aka TikTok Nonna has decided it was time for Luca to get married and “The Eye” is Nonna’s sure way of making love matches and weddings happen in her family.

“Gone is TikTok Nonna with a sparkle in her eye and a groove in her step, and in her place is the formidable head of an Italian crime organization.”

So, while Luca “teaches” Henri how to not fall in love, she poses ad his girlfriend to protect him from Nonna’s Eye; and as they pretend together, some real feelings are beginning to surface.
We get to catch up with our beloved Pippaverse characters, follow the Fireballs during their redemption season of not staying the worst team in the league and check in with the four mascot candidates.
The narration by Virginia Rose and Jason Clark is absolute perfection. They bring the story alive in the best possible way!
I absolutely adored this book and couldn’t recommend it more to everyone looking to escape into the world of romantic comedy.

High praise!!!

Pippa has done it again. I loved the female lead, Henri! You can understand how anyone would fall in love with her, leading to her several failed engagements. Luca does not believe in love, but does believe in his Nonna’s “eye” which once it’s used on someone it leads to a marriage. Henri doesn’t want to fall in love, while Luca doesn’t believe in love, so they are put into a situation where they help each other out. Henri helps Luca by pretending to be his girlfriend so Nonna won’t use the “eye” and Luca will help Henri not to fall in love. But Henri is so lovable that it’s really difficult for her. And even though Luca is annoyed by her, her corky personality it getting to him. And if all that doesn’t convince you to read the book, try this - there is a cat named Dogzilla that dresses up!

Wonderfully Quirky

Pippa has done it again!!

Baseball hero, quirky PNR author Heroine, Dogzilla, and a cha cha line of baseball mascots in tow. This messy quirky story had me rooting for their little team from the beginning. All because of the Eye. Ahhh the evil Eye. It’ll get you every time folks!!!

Such A Waste

I don’t get it. It could be Virginia Rose’s narration, but I don’t think that was the only issue for me with this book. I love Jason Clark but even he couldn’t fix this one. It happens. This story was just..silly. Too much internal banter that just wasn’t funny. I usually love a fake to real romance but I think I really didn’t like “Henri” the female lead. Quirky has its place. Dumb doesn’t.

Horrible !!

This was such a stupid story I could barely get beyond chapter 10. It was a waste of money.

Buy this book it's absolutely hilarious

This funny book flew by. So funny I was lol and getting strange looks

A total shambles, fantastic!

Pippa, I wonder what goes on in your head and how do Jason and Virginia manage to read without cracking up.

I love this, I love the cat, his nona, their hair, her writing (will we get those stories next?), how all the other characters fit in together.

Wonderful, so good I just finished my second listen.

Now do I read again or go back and read the others first

Thank you Pippa

This is one of my all time favourites from pippa grant. Love the characters and how they are presented. Narrators were brilliant love Jason Clarke and like Virginia Nelson. Loved dogzilla glad they both have HEA

Love these characters

Omgoodness the characters in this book are amazing! Tiktok Nana is awesome and her relationship with Luca’s mom is crazy. She has “the eye” to watch out for. Henri is an author with an outrageous imagination. I loved this wild ride and will be re-listening soon. The narration is fabulous. I definitely recommend anything by Pippa Grant. 🎧 Audiobook Obsession

new favourite

oh my. where should i start??
this book grips you by your collar and wont let you go.

i actually cried at the mascot reveal 🤷‍♀️🤦‍♀️ that is how involved you'll get with the story.

Loved every bit of it !!!! will surely listen to this amazing book over and over again!

I am still laughing!

Need a laugh? How about a good romance? Look no further, Pippa Grant has it right here with Real Fake Love. I don't know even know where to start! This book had me laughing so much. Henri has a problem. She falls in love too easily, ends up close to the alter only to have it snagged from her not once, but five times! She enlists Luca Rossi, a man the complete opposite to teach her not to fall in love. He needs a girlfriend to prevent those attempts to set him up by his family and she is the perfect candidate. And our story begins. Moving in together wasn't enough to make the story go with their flirtatiously funny banter, but Luca's grandmother, TikTok Noni is in the wings. Known for her antics and her love charms she adds laugh out loud humor and all the sage advice anyone needs. Plus the team, their women and we can't forget the cat, the story flies by as you listen. This has to be one of my favorites so far!

Virginia Rose and Jason Clarke make magic with their narration. The comedic timing is spot on, the romance builds and their voices always on point. I love this team and can only imagine the outtakes from his recording! It is amazing!

Funny, Sweet and Sexy

Love, Love, Love this story! It is laugh out loud funny, sweet, sexy and all the feels. Great banter, quirky characters and a cat I won’t forget. Wonderful narration.
-5 Stars!-

Loved it!

Really enjoyable, funny story.
I listened to this while out walking and got some funny looks when I laughed out loud! The narrators are great and thoroughly enjoyed listening to this. I’ve read Pippa Grant’s books but this is my first Audible...and I shall get another!

A must listen

This was my first Pippa Grant book but it will not be my last, honestly, I’m side-eyeing you all for not telling me to read or listen sooner. I loved her style and most of her humour. When I saw the book was over 9 hours long, I was a little surprised, most romcoms I’ve listened too aren’t anywhere near that long, so I wasn’t sure how it was going to go, but it worked. I never felt like the story dragged or that any part of it was unnecessary.

Luca and Henri are hilarious together. I loved their dynamic and banter. Luca is a straight-laced baseball player who doesn’t have time for love and Henri is a love addict, just ask her previous five Fiancés. So who better to teach her about not falling in love than Luca? Spoiler alert: It doesn’t work. But it was so much fun seeing them try to fight their attraction and feelings. Henri is a romance author, and I loved the little bits that I think most writers and even readers of the genre can experience. The way Luca supported her was fabulous and melted my heart.

Jason Clarke was fantastic. It’s been a while since I’ve heard him in a Rom Com, and I forgot how good his comedic timing is. I loved his delivery as both Luca and Henri, he was really able to showcase his performance skills.
Virginia Rose has great comedic timing and it shows in this production. The way she performed Henri was hilarious and at times I was worried about her taking a breath—some amazing breath control skills were showcased. Together, they were brilliant and performed it in a way to make it believable. There transition between POV and voices was spot on. The production was wonderful with no issues.

Pippa's done it again with this hilarious romcom

What a unique rollercoaster story about Henrietta and Lucca. I loved all the characters especially the TikTok Granma and Dogzilla the cat! The narrator's did a fabulous job of bringing all the characters to life and I highly recommend this story ❤❤❤❤ I wish I could give it 10 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

cool original characters

overall 4/5
Henry's fantasy romance is weird af. we get that she is "not like every other girl" *eyeroll* that's one think that really annoying. feels like a lot of filler info