Books › Fiancee Farce
Fiancee Farce
416 pages
A delightfully tropey, bookish romp that wraps the marriage-of-convenience fantasy in a warm blanket of queer joy and witty banter.
What it feels like
Reading this book feels like stepping into your favorite indie bookstore on a sunny afternoon—it is comforting, delightfully familiar, and instantly welcoming. The narrative moves at a brisk, breezy pace, propelled by sharp banter and the delicious tension of a marriage-of-convenience gone wonderfully wrong. Bellefleur balances the inherent absurdity of the billionaire-heiress setup with a deeply earnest emotional core, ensuring the stakes feel grounded in the characters' vulnerabilities rather than just external melodrama. The prose is playful and swoony, wrapping the reader in a cozy, low-angst atmosphere where queer joy takes center stage. It is a perfect escape for anyone who devours high-concept romantic comedies but stays for the tender, slow-burn intimacy of two people realizing they are exactly what the other needs.
- Mood
- cozy
- romantic
- lighthearted
- breezy
- Tone
- playful
- swoony
- humorous
- earnest
- Pace
- brisk
- Themes
- found family · the courage to be vulnerable · overcoming imposter syndrome · the tension between duty and desire · queer joy
- The writing
- Witty, accessible, and dialogue-heavy, with a sharp ear for banter and a warm, inviting rhythm.
- The arc
- Moves from frantic, comedic desperation into a tender, slow-burn realization of genuine love and mutual support.
- Who it's for
- Readers who love high-stakes tropes executed with low-angst, deeply affectionate queer joy and plenty of bookish charm.
Content notes
- toxic family dynamics
- grief for a late parent
About the book
Tansy Adams’ greatest love is her family’s bookstore, passed down from her late father. But when it comes to actual romance... Tansy can’t get past the first chapter. Tired of her stepfamily’s questions about her love life, Tansy invents Gemma, a fake girlfriend inspired by the stunning cover model on a bestselling book. They’ll never actually meet, so what’s the harm in a little fib? Yet when real-life Gemma crosses Tansy’s path, her white lie nearly implodes.
Gemma van Dalen is a wild child, the outcast of her wealthy family, and now the latest heir to Van Dalen Publishing. But the title comes with one tiny condition: she must be married in order to inherit. When Gemma discovers a beautiful stranger has been pretending to date her for months, she decides to take the charade one step further—and announces their engagement.
Gemma needs a wife to meet the terms of her grandfather’s will and Tansy needs money to save her struggling bookstore. A marriage could be mutually beneficial, if they can fool everyone into thinking it’s a love match. Unexpected sparks fly as Tansy and Gemma play the role of affectionate fiancées, and suddenly the line between convenient arrangement and real feelings begins to blur. But the scheming Van Dalen family won’t give up the company without a fight, and Gemma and Tansy’s newfound happiness might get caught in the fallout...
Description from Open Library.
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