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Fake Out Make Out
A thrilling New Adult debut that combines high-stakes espionage with all-consuming attraction . . .
Charlie Ross is a women's running champion until she's struck down by chronic illness. Needing time to heal but wanting to stay in the sports world, she takes a job at FIRE, which specializes in logistics for international sporting events. But there's more to FIRE than meets the eye and when Charlie starts to question the purpose and inflated budget of the "Strategic Operations" unit, she locks horns with its grumpy and annoyingly sexy manager.
Declan Davidson has no room for love in his life. As the head of FIRE's clandestine espionage activities, it is his responsibility to keep his coworkers, and the world, safe from harm. He refuses to let anyone get too close - not after the disastrous mission that cost him his closest ally. With the World Games looming and a cache of stolen arms in the wrong hands, Declan has no choice but to recruit the too-curious Charlie into "Strategic Operations." They must put aside their differences to prevent disaster at a global sporting event.
As they encounter danger and double-crossing agents at every turn, Declan swears to keep her safe. And while Charlie might be able to hold her own during covert missions, holding onto her heart is proving much more of a challenge.
Charlie trusts everyone - except herself. Declan trusts no one - especially Charlie. As they jet between romantic European cities and super yachts, what could possibly go wrong?
A STEAMY ROMANCE BLENDING ENDURANCE SPORTS AND INTERNATIONAL ESPIONAGE.
Charlie Ross is a women's running champion until she's struck down by chronic illness. Needing time to heal but wanting to stay in the sports world, she takes a job at FIRE, which specializes in logistics for international sporting events. But there's more to FIRE than meets the eye and when Charlie starts to question the purpose and inflated budget of the "Strategic Operations" unit, she locks horns with its grumpy and annoyingly sexy manager.
Declan Davidson has no room for love in his life. As the head of FIRE's clandestine espionage activities, it is his responsibility to keep his coworkers, and the world, safe from harm. He refuses to let anyone get too close - not after the disastrous mission that cost him his closest ally. With the World Games looming and a cache of stolen arms in the wrong hands, Declan has no choice but to recruit the too-curious Charlie into "Strategic Operations." They must put aside their differences to prevent disaster at a global sporting event.
As they encounter danger and double-crossing agents at every turn, Declan swears to keep her safe. And while Charlie might be able to hold her own during covert missions, holding onto her heart is proving much more of a challenge.
Charlie trusts everyone - except herself. Declan trusts no one - especially Charlie. As they jet between romantic European cities and super yachts, what could possibly go wrong?
A STEAMY ROMANCE BLENDING ENDURANCE SPORTS AND INTERNATIONAL ESPIONAGE.
301 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 4, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 49 reviews
June 15, 2026
3.5
Honestly, I wasn't sure what to expect with this one but I had a good time. This was the perfect holiday read and I flew through it.
The reason it lost 2 stars was I found the language a little cringey at times. It felt like superheroes vs. villains but with normal people...
But if you like a little bit of silliness and need an easy holiday read, this is the perfect book!
I received an advanced copy for free through the publisher and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Honestly, I wasn't sure what to expect with this one but I had a good time. This was the perfect holiday read and I flew through it.
The reason it lost 2 stars was I found the language a little cringey at times. It felt like superheroes vs. villains but with normal people...
But if you like a little bit of silliness and need an easy holiday read, this is the perfect book!
I received an advanced copy for free through the publisher and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
July 18, 2026
The moment this one came across my radar, I knew I had to grab it. It felt like it had been ages since I’d read a great romantic suspense book, and this one delivered!
Charlie Ross just started a new job at FIRE, a company that coordinates international endurance sports events. It is a shift for her to be on this side of things, as she spent most of her life as a championship runner - until a chronic illness stopped her athletic career. Charlie gives her new job the same focus she gave her running career, but when she questions the “strategic operations” budget of manager Declan Davidson, she has a new foe. Declan’s budget looks high because he is one of a few select employees at FIRE that knows the truth - sports are only part of their mission. The other part? Espionage. And they use their international sporting events as cover to help stop some of the most dangerous global criminals. But as Charlie becomes more embroiled in the company, Declan might just find that his focus on work over love will become the biggest test of his life.
What a fun, fun, fun book! If you are looking for a book that is action-packed, flirty, and charming, here it is. It is simultaneously a workplace romance, a slow-burn attraction, and a fast-paced plot where lives are on the line. It does not, however, take itself too seriously. This is definitely a great one to add to your beach reads this summer - and it was a great genre shift for me as I work my way through the Dungeon Crawler Carl series. If this is the start of a series, and I hope it is, I’ll come back every time.
🎧 Audio Performance: (8h, 21m) Christian Leatherman and Nerissa Bradley perform this in dual narration. I grabbed it on Hoopla through my library, but it is also currently on a really good Audible sale (as of 7/14/2026).
Charlie Ross just started a new job at FIRE, a company that coordinates international endurance sports events. It is a shift for her to be on this side of things, as she spent most of her life as a championship runner - until a chronic illness stopped her athletic career. Charlie gives her new job the same focus she gave her running career, but when she questions the “strategic operations” budget of manager Declan Davidson, she has a new foe. Declan’s budget looks high because he is one of a few select employees at FIRE that knows the truth - sports are only part of their mission. The other part? Espionage. And they use their international sporting events as cover to help stop some of the most dangerous global criminals. But as Charlie becomes more embroiled in the company, Declan might just find that his focus on work over love will become the biggest test of his life.
What a fun, fun, fun book! If you are looking for a book that is action-packed, flirty, and charming, here it is. It is simultaneously a workplace romance, a slow-burn attraction, and a fast-paced plot where lives are on the line. It does not, however, take itself too seriously. This is definitely a great one to add to your beach reads this summer - and it was a great genre shift for me as I work my way through the Dungeon Crawler Carl series. If this is the start of a series, and I hope it is, I’ll come back every time.
🎧 Audio Performance: (8h, 21m) Christian Leatherman and Nerissa Bradley perform this in dual narration. I grabbed it on Hoopla through my library, but it is also currently on a really good Audible sale (as of 7/14/2026).
July 1, 2026
I've been on such a romance kick and have been reading a lot of similar books the last few months. As I look back, so many of the books I’ve been reading, even though I enjoyed them, have been starting to blend together. However, "Fake Out Make Out" was a refreshing departure from the cliché tropes and setups. I haven’t read too many thrillers or spy novels before but loved the juxtaposition of romance and high-risk missions in this one. I was reading so many chapters at once without being able to put it down. So much so, once I got to the end, I absolutely loved how things were left open for a possible follow up book. I hope there's a second book in the works, because there are so many fun paths it could go down.
Review of advance copy
⭐⭐⭐⭐🌟 4.52
🌶️🌶️
The Night Agent × The Hating Game × The Fastest Way to Fall — with endurance sports, European travel, and a secret-agent twist.
📙 Fake Out Make Out is an unusual hybrid romance: it puts the emotional machinery of a contemporary sports romance inside the framework of an international spy thriller. Williams’s own experience working for a major endurance-race company gives the sports side an especially grounded texture, while the novel deliberately keeps the espionage more fun, glossy, and romance-forward than rigorously procedural.
There is something inherently entertaining about the premise of Fake Out Make Out: take the highly organized, glamorous world of international endurance sports and reveal that beneath the race logistics is a clandestine intelligence operation. Williams understands that the fun comes from the collision of those two worlds—Charlie is trying to rebuild a life after a chronic illness diagnosis, while Declan is trying to keep an international crisis from exploding—and then making these two people work together despite neither having much reason to trust the other.
The result is more romantic suspense with a sports setting than a traditional sports romance, and that's important to expectations. The book's strengths are its unusual premise, likable central characters, banter, chemistry, and momentum; its weaker areas are the occasional rushed transitions, relatively lightweight espionage mechanics, and a romance that I found faster than the emotional setup warrants. I loved the mystery/spy pacing and suspense, but the romance progressed quicker and more suddenly than I prefer.
(I'm not sure why GoodReads is now saying the book isn't out yet, but I bought the ebook myself.)
📖 Plot: 4
The plot's greatest strength is the combination of seemingly incompatible genres. Williams doesn't simply put a spy into a sports romance; she makes the endurance-sports company itself the infrastructure through which the espionage operates. That creates a useful duality: what looks like corporate bureaucracy, race planning, travel, and event logistics can simultaneously function as intelligence gathering and covert operations.
Emotionally, the plot is designed primarily to be fun, suspenseful, and escapist rather than psychologically devastating. Charlie's personal storyline adds emotional weight beneath the thriller machinery, particularly her struggle with losing the athletic identity around which she had built her life.
I enjoyed the romance, but I was super into to mystery, espionage, thriller aspects.
Popular-book DNA:
The Night Agent + The Hating Game + The Fastest Way to Fall
➕
• unusual genre blend
• twists, suspense
• the mystery and reveal
• Charlie's strength, perseverance, and resilience
• the endurance sports company x corporate espionage setting
• the escalating danger
• • thouful eosinophilic fasciitis rep (chronic illness)
➖
• some transitions can feel rushed
• the romance's acceleration was less convincing than the buildup
🧵Themes & Deeper Meaning 5
The strongest thematic thread is identity after chronic illness diagnosis changes everything.
Charlie isn't merely recovering from an illness; she's recovering from the loss of a future she had assumed was hers. Running wasn't just something she did—it was a central component of how she understood herself. Her transition into a different life therefore becomes a question of whether losing one version of yourself means losing yourself altogether.
That gives the espionage plot an interesting thematic counterpoint. Spies live through constructed identities, while Charlie is trying to construct a new authentic identity after circumstances have taken her old one away.
There's also a recurring thematic tension between trust and self-protection:
Charlie trusts everyone except herself.
Declan trusts no one (but himself).
Those opposing approaches make their romance more than simple attraction: each has something the other needs to learn.
Real world parallel
Charlie's chronic illness storyline has particular resonance because chronic illness can force people—especially athletes whose identities are heavily tied to physical capability—to renegotiate their relationships with their bodies, careers, independence, and sense of purpose. Williams makes that loss part of the character rather than merely using illness as decorative representation.
➕
• chronic-illness representation
• Charlie's perseverance
• identity/reinvention themes
✍🏼 Prose 4.75
Williams writes in a commercial, accessible, highly readable style. The prose isn't trying to be ornate or literary; its job is to keep the reader moving between workplace scenes, flirtation, internal conflict, travel, danger, and action.
The dialogue is where the novel has some of its strongest personality. Charlie and Declan's conversations are built around friction, teasing, suspicion, and attraction, so their dialogue naturally creates romantic tension without requiring every interaction to become overtly romantic. They have some great banter that I thoroughly enjoyed. It is a bit cheesy at times, but in a way I personally found charming. Kind of like a Hallmark movie, if they showed explicit scenes.
The dual-POV structure is particularly useful because Charlie and Declan approach the world from almost opposite psychological positions. Dual POV is used well and effectively. It creates a rich inner world and allows us to see and understand their reasoning, their motivations.
There was some occasional repetition and either I missed something or one relatively minor plot inconsistency. I definitely could have missed the item(s) they were looking for being found. It didn't matter in the end if they found it or not, so I don't consider it big issue. Especially since it's so minor (but did make me slow down and go back to see if I'd missed it).
Author combinations it reminds me of
Ali Hazelwood + Ally Carter + a lighter Emily Henry
Ali Hazelwood: workplace romance, attraction expressed through friction, highly readable contemporary voice.
Ally Carter: accessible espionage, international intrigue, secret organizations, adventure.
Emily Henry: conversational romantic banter and emotionally accessible characterization.
Williams doesn't sound exactly like any one of these writers, but the intersection of their approaches is a useful approximation, to give you an idea.
➕
• banter
• chemistry
• accessibility
• dual POV
• occasionally cheesy, in an endearing way
• Declan's internal resistance
➖
• occasional repetition
• a relatively minor inconsistency
⏳ Pacing 4
This is fundamentally a plot-driven/character-driven hybrid, with the espionage plot supplying momentum and the romance supplying emotional investment.
The first portion spends substantial time establishing Charlie's new workplace, the unusual nature of FIRE, Declan's suspicions, and the mystery surrounding Strategic Operations. Once the espionage component becomes more active, the novel accelerates considerably.
Overall, I found the pacing to be excellent. It's fast paced without feeling rushed. There's always a sense of forward momentum, something that makes you want to keep reading. However, the romance specific pacing wasn't as excellent for my tastes. I enjoyed the slow burn pace of the romance for the first half, but once they progress... It just felt fast, more sudden and I prefer. I'm not sure it's possible for the burn to be too slow for me, for perspective.
➕
• quick readability, easy to binge
• suspense
• constant movement
• easy momentum
• fast paced without feeling rushed
➖
• romance can feel disproportionately accelerated compared with the slower burn setup
• switch from allies to lovers was too sharp, too sudden for my preference
🗺️ Worldbuilding 5
As it's contemporary, worldbuilding is primarily institutional and geographical. The cleverest worldbuilding choice is FIRE itself. The endurance sports organization provides a believable-ish public-facing explanation for international travel, high level meetings, huge events, multilingual employees, logistics, and access to important people—all of which conveniently become useful for espionage.
That creates two worlds occupying the same physical space: the public endurance sports world and the secret intelligence world. I thoroughly enjoyed this aspect.
➕
• international locations
• endurance-sports environment
• the dual public/secret structure
🕵🏼 Espionage/Mystery 5
This is where I'd temper expectations.
The espionage is credible enough to create the atmosphere and stakes of a spy romance, but the novel isn't attempting to function as a rigorously realistic intelligence thriller. FIRE's secret operations are deliberately heightened and entertaining.
The premise itself requires a significant suspension of disbelief: an international endurance-race organization doubling as a clandestine operation is wonderfully fun, but it's also fundamentally a romance-novel conceit.
It isn't intended to be procedural, with things like someone brand new to espionage being thrown into an international mission immediately. While things like that aren't necessarily realistic, they work in this story. Or things being a bit too convenient. For me, it was more about the characters as a whole than the fact that a woman with zero training already going on a mission or something feeling a bit convenient. I can see this not being the case for other readers, however. Is it silly? Yeah, it's occasionally silly, almost veering into melodrama at times. But that's what I enjoyed about it (this is a YMMV thing).
Where it works best is narrative espionage—moles, suspicion, covert missions, double-crosses, stolen weapons, surveillance, international movement—rather than technical espionage procedure.
➕
• twists
• mystery
• secret organization
• danger
• an unexpected company going after the bad guys
💥 Action Scenes 5
The action works because it doesn't overwhelm the romance. Williams uses action as punctuation: it raises the stakes, forces Charlie and Declan to depend on one another, and gives their attraction additional pressure. That makes the action sequences narratively useful rather than feeling like unrelated set pieces.
The choreography is generally designed for cinematic readability rather than exhaustive technical detail. The missions have varying levels of high stakes and the subterfuge is fun and kept me guessing.
➕
• tension
• missions
• danger
• momentum
• Charlie and Declan working together.
🎒 Series Set-Up?? 5
This feels very much like a book designed to leave the door open for potentially more FIRE stories. I haven't seen anything to indicate there will definitely be more, but I can definitely see it happening. And would read them if it does. I could see potential future books being connected or standalone but interconnected.
The organization has enough moving pieces—operatives, international missions, colleagues, unresolved threats, and a larger world beyond Charlie and Declan—to support future installments.
The tradeoff is that some readers may interpret that openness as unfinished business rather than satisfying series setup.
➕
• potential for future missions and characters
👥 Character Development 4
Charlie is arguably the book's most interesting literary element. Her central conflict isn't simply Can I solve this spy mission? It's Who am I if I can't be the person I was before?
That gives her athletic history genuine narrative purpose. Her chronic illness affects her relationship with her body, her career, and her self-confidence rather than existing solely as a character fact. Charlie mostly knows, but is still learning as the diagnosis was relatively recent-ish, when to push her body and when to pause. I love that. She's tough, resilient, and her persistent perseverance shines bright. I love that her chronic illness isn't romanticized nor is trivialized or demonized. It's more of a thoughtful, realistic portrayal of life with chronic illness.
Declan's arc is more conventional but effective: he's a character whose professional identity is built around distrust and control, while his emotional arc requires him to become vulnerable again. The novel's characterization is therefore strongest when flaws directly interfere with the characters' ability to live the lives they want.
I do wish some secondary characters had more development. I also think that the romance's speed limited how much room the characters have to evolve.
➕
• Charlie's resilience
• Declan's emotional guardedness
• contrasting personalities
• effective use of dual POV
➖
• some secondary characters receive less development than I wanted
• the romance's speed limits how much room the characters have to evolve onscreen
"I guess it goes to show you can never really judge someone by a terrible first impression. They reveal their character one action at a time."
There's a character and relationship that I was worried about for most of the book - I was sure this person was the culprit, but if not, I didn't love that their relationship to Charlie was the way it was. I was disappointed, especially about the relationship. However, I'm happy to say I was wrong on both accounts. Just goes to show how well done the mystery aspect was. I had 4 guesses, and 1 of them was kinda sorta in the ball park. My 4th guess came in the seconds leading up to the reveal and I was very unsure of them being the culprit. So that reveal hit pretty hard.
"What do you call a knight-in-shining armor who turns out to be a villain?
My new coworker, apparently."
💕 Romance 3
💫 For clarity, I consider 3 to be a good rating. To me, it means I didn't love it, but also didn't hate it.
The romance is built around one of the novel's most effective contrasts: Charlie trusts too easily. Declan trusts absolutely no one (other than himself). That makes their initial friction organic rather than manufactured.
The enemies-to-lovers progression benefits from the fact that Declan's suspicion of Charlie is actually connected to the espionage plot. Their professional conflict therefore gives their romantic conflict something substantive to push against.
I enjoyed the meet cute, enemy-ish coworkers to reluctant allies to lovers, and the first half of the push/pull romance. Past that point, the romance was good, but I was more invested in the mystery/espionage plot.
However, the final transition from prolonged tension into a more established relationship was too sharp, too sudden, for my tastes. I prefer it to be drawn out, preferably with multiple almost becoming/doing more.
I also feel that them falling in love in such a short period weakened the emotional impact and realism.
"Her lips are pursed. Mad looks good on her. It makes me want to cross the room to taste those lips..."
💫 This one is a personal ick, but I strongly dislike internal dialogue/comments about physical characteristics while they're enemies.
➕
• enemies-to-lovers tension
• reluctant allies push/pull
• banter
• grumpy hero
• chemistry
• pining
• forced proximity
➖
• the emotional progression feels faster than I prefer
• transition from allies to lovers was more sudden, too sharp
🌶️ Spice 5
We get a few well done open door explicit scenes. The spice doesn't dominate the narrative, rather it serves the characters and story. The romantic tension does considerably more work than the explicit scenes themselves.
➕
• sexual tension
• pining
• chemistry
• spice that doesn't overwhelm the thriller
🌶️🌶️
The Night Agent × The Hating Game × The Fastest Way to Fall — with endurance sports, European travel, and a secret-agent twist.
📙 Fake Out Make Out is an unusual hybrid romance: it puts the emotional machinery of a contemporary sports romance inside the framework of an international spy thriller. Williams’s own experience working for a major endurance-race company gives the sports side an especially grounded texture, while the novel deliberately keeps the espionage more fun, glossy, and romance-forward than rigorously procedural.
There is something inherently entertaining about the premise of Fake Out Make Out: take the highly organized, glamorous world of international endurance sports and reveal that beneath the race logistics is a clandestine intelligence operation. Williams understands that the fun comes from the collision of those two worlds—Charlie is trying to rebuild a life after a chronic illness diagnosis, while Declan is trying to keep an international crisis from exploding—and then making these two people work together despite neither having much reason to trust the other.
The result is more romantic suspense with a sports setting than a traditional sports romance, and that's important to expectations. The book's strengths are its unusual premise, likable central characters, banter, chemistry, and momentum; its weaker areas are the occasional rushed transitions, relatively lightweight espionage mechanics, and a romance that I found faster than the emotional setup warrants. I loved the mystery/spy pacing and suspense, but the romance progressed quicker and more suddenly than I prefer.
(I'm not sure why GoodReads is now saying the book isn't out yet, but I bought the ebook myself.)
📖 Plot: 4
The plot's greatest strength is the combination of seemingly incompatible genres. Williams doesn't simply put a spy into a sports romance; she makes the endurance-sports company itself the infrastructure through which the espionage operates. That creates a useful duality: what looks like corporate bureaucracy, race planning, travel, and event logistics can simultaneously function as intelligence gathering and covert operations.
Emotionally, the plot is designed primarily to be fun, suspenseful, and escapist rather than psychologically devastating. Charlie's personal storyline adds emotional weight beneath the thriller machinery, particularly her struggle with losing the athletic identity around which she had built her life.
I enjoyed the romance, but I was super into to mystery, espionage, thriller aspects.
Popular-book DNA:
The Night Agent + The Hating Game + The Fastest Way to Fall
➕
• unusual genre blend
• twists, suspense
• the mystery and reveal
• Charlie's strength, perseverance, and resilience
• the endurance sports company x corporate espionage setting
• the escalating danger
• • thouful eosinophilic fasciitis rep (chronic illness)
➖
• some transitions can feel rushed
• the romance's acceleration was less convincing than the buildup
🧵Themes & Deeper Meaning 5
The strongest thematic thread is identity after chronic illness diagnosis changes everything.
Charlie isn't merely recovering from an illness; she's recovering from the loss of a future she had assumed was hers. Running wasn't just something she did—it was a central component of how she understood herself. Her transition into a different life therefore becomes a question of whether losing one version of yourself means losing yourself altogether.
That gives the espionage plot an interesting thematic counterpoint. Spies live through constructed identities, while Charlie is trying to construct a new authentic identity after circumstances have taken her old one away.
There's also a recurring thematic tension between trust and self-protection:
Charlie trusts everyone except herself.
Declan trusts no one (but himself).
Those opposing approaches make their romance more than simple attraction: each has something the other needs to learn.
Real world parallel
Charlie's chronic illness storyline has particular resonance because chronic illness can force people—especially athletes whose identities are heavily tied to physical capability—to renegotiate their relationships with their bodies, careers, independence, and sense of purpose. Williams makes that loss part of the character rather than merely using illness as decorative representation.
➕
• chronic-illness representation
• Charlie's perseverance
• identity/reinvention themes
✍🏼 Prose 4.75
Williams writes in a commercial, accessible, highly readable style. The prose isn't trying to be ornate or literary; its job is to keep the reader moving between workplace scenes, flirtation, internal conflict, travel, danger, and action.
The dialogue is where the novel has some of its strongest personality. Charlie and Declan's conversations are built around friction, teasing, suspicion, and attraction, so their dialogue naturally creates romantic tension without requiring every interaction to become overtly romantic. They have some great banter that I thoroughly enjoyed. It is a bit cheesy at times, but in a way I personally found charming. Kind of like a Hallmark movie, if they showed explicit scenes.
The dual-POV structure is particularly useful because Charlie and Declan approach the world from almost opposite psychological positions. Dual POV is used well and effectively. It creates a rich inner world and allows us to see and understand their reasoning, their motivations.
There was some occasional repetition and either I missed something or one relatively minor plot inconsistency. I definitely could have missed the item(s) they were looking for being found. It didn't matter in the end if they found it or not, so I don't consider it big issue. Especially since it's so minor (but did make me slow down and go back to see if I'd missed it).
Author combinations it reminds me of
Ali Hazelwood + Ally Carter + a lighter Emily Henry
Ali Hazelwood: workplace romance, attraction expressed through friction, highly readable contemporary voice.
Ally Carter: accessible espionage, international intrigue, secret organizations, adventure.
Emily Henry: conversational romantic banter and emotionally accessible characterization.
Williams doesn't sound exactly like any one of these writers, but the intersection of their approaches is a useful approximation, to give you an idea.
➕
• banter
• chemistry
• accessibility
• dual POV
• occasionally cheesy, in an endearing way
• Declan's internal resistance
➖
• occasional repetition
• a relatively minor inconsistency
⏳ Pacing 4
This is fundamentally a plot-driven/character-driven hybrid, with the espionage plot supplying momentum and the romance supplying emotional investment.
The first portion spends substantial time establishing Charlie's new workplace, the unusual nature of FIRE, Declan's suspicions, and the mystery surrounding Strategic Operations. Once the espionage component becomes more active, the novel accelerates considerably.
Overall, I found the pacing to be excellent. It's fast paced without feeling rushed. There's always a sense of forward momentum, something that makes you want to keep reading. However, the romance specific pacing wasn't as excellent for my tastes. I enjoyed the slow burn pace of the romance for the first half, but once they progress... It just felt fast, more sudden and I prefer. I'm not sure it's possible for the burn to be too slow for me, for perspective.
➕
• quick readability, easy to binge
• suspense
• constant movement
• easy momentum
• fast paced without feeling rushed
➖
• romance can feel disproportionately accelerated compared with the slower burn setup
• switch from allies to lovers was too sharp, too sudden for my preference
🗺️ Worldbuilding 5
As it's contemporary, worldbuilding is primarily institutional and geographical. The cleverest worldbuilding choice is FIRE itself. The endurance sports organization provides a believable-ish public-facing explanation for international travel, high level meetings, huge events, multilingual employees, logistics, and access to important people—all of which conveniently become useful for espionage.
That creates two worlds occupying the same physical space: the public endurance sports world and the secret intelligence world. I thoroughly enjoyed this aspect.
➕
• international locations
• endurance-sports environment
• the dual public/secret structure
🕵🏼 Espionage/Mystery 5
This is where I'd temper expectations.
The espionage is credible enough to create the atmosphere and stakes of a spy romance, but the novel isn't attempting to function as a rigorously realistic intelligence thriller. FIRE's secret operations are deliberately heightened and entertaining.
The premise itself requires a significant suspension of disbelief: an international endurance-race organization doubling as a clandestine operation is wonderfully fun, but it's also fundamentally a romance-novel conceit.
It isn't intended to be procedural, with things like someone brand new to espionage being thrown into an international mission immediately. While things like that aren't necessarily realistic, they work in this story. Or things being a bit too convenient. For me, it was more about the characters as a whole than the fact that a woman with zero training already going on a mission or something feeling a bit convenient. I can see this not being the case for other readers, however. Is it silly? Yeah, it's occasionally silly, almost veering into melodrama at times. But that's what I enjoyed about it (this is a YMMV thing).
Where it works best is narrative espionage—moles, suspicion, covert missions, double-crosses, stolen weapons, surveillance, international movement—rather than technical espionage procedure.
➕
• twists
• mystery
• secret organization
• danger
• an unexpected company going after the bad guys
💥 Action Scenes 5
The action works because it doesn't overwhelm the romance. Williams uses action as punctuation: it raises the stakes, forces Charlie and Declan to depend on one another, and gives their attraction additional pressure. That makes the action sequences narratively useful rather than feeling like unrelated set pieces.
The choreography is generally designed for cinematic readability rather than exhaustive technical detail. The missions have varying levels of high stakes and the subterfuge is fun and kept me guessing.
➕
• tension
• missions
• danger
• momentum
• Charlie and Declan working together.
🎒 Series Set-Up?? 5
This feels very much like a book designed to leave the door open for potentially more FIRE stories. I haven't seen anything to indicate there will definitely be more, but I can definitely see it happening. And would read them if it does. I could see potential future books being connected or standalone but interconnected.
The organization has enough moving pieces—operatives, international missions, colleagues, unresolved threats, and a larger world beyond Charlie and Declan—to support future installments.
The tradeoff is that some readers may interpret that openness as unfinished business rather than satisfying series setup.
➕
• potential for future missions and characters
👥 Character Development 4
Charlie is arguably the book's most interesting literary element. Her central conflict isn't simply Can I solve this spy mission? It's Who am I if I can't be the person I was before?
That gives her athletic history genuine narrative purpose. Her chronic illness affects her relationship with her body, her career, and her self-confidence rather than existing solely as a character fact. Charlie mostly knows, but is still learning as the diagnosis was relatively recent-ish, when to push her body and when to pause. I love that. She's tough, resilient, and her persistent perseverance shines bright. I love that her chronic illness isn't romanticized nor is trivialized or demonized. It's more of a thoughtful, realistic portrayal of life with chronic illness.
Declan's arc is more conventional but effective: he's a character whose professional identity is built around distrust and control, while his emotional arc requires him to become vulnerable again. The novel's characterization is therefore strongest when flaws directly interfere with the characters' ability to live the lives they want.
I do wish some secondary characters had more development. I also think that the romance's speed limited how much room the characters have to evolve.
➕
• Charlie's resilience
• Declan's emotional guardedness
• contrasting personalities
• effective use of dual POV
➖
• some secondary characters receive less development than I wanted
• the romance's speed limits how much room the characters have to evolve onscreen
"I guess it goes to show you can never really judge someone by a terrible first impression. They reveal their character one action at a time."
There's a character and relationship that I was worried about for most of the book - I was sure this person was the culprit, but if not, I didn't love that their relationship to Charlie was the way it was. I was disappointed, especially about the relationship. However, I'm happy to say I was wrong on both accounts. Just goes to show how well done the mystery aspect was. I had 4 guesses, and 1 of them was kinda sorta in the ball park. My 4th guess came in the seconds leading up to the reveal and I was very unsure of them being the culprit. So that reveal hit pretty hard.
"What do you call a knight-in-shining armor who turns out to be a villain?
My new coworker, apparently."
💕 Romance 3
💫 For clarity, I consider 3 to be a good rating. To me, it means I didn't love it, but also didn't hate it.
The romance is built around one of the novel's most effective contrasts: Charlie trusts too easily. Declan trusts absolutely no one (other than himself). That makes their initial friction organic rather than manufactured.
The enemies-to-lovers progression benefits from the fact that Declan's suspicion of Charlie is actually connected to the espionage plot. Their professional conflict therefore gives their romantic conflict something substantive to push against.
I enjoyed the meet cute, enemy-ish coworkers to reluctant allies to lovers, and the first half of the push/pull romance. Past that point, the romance was good, but I was more invested in the mystery/espionage plot.
However, the final transition from prolonged tension into a more established relationship was too sharp, too sudden, for my tastes. I prefer it to be drawn out, preferably with multiple almost becoming/doing more.
I also feel that them falling in love in such a short period weakened the emotional impact and realism.
"Her lips are pursed. Mad looks good on her. It makes me want to cross the room to taste those lips..."
💫 This one is a personal ick, but I strongly dislike internal dialogue/comments about physical characteristics while they're enemies.
➕
• enemies-to-lovers tension
• reluctant allies push/pull
• banter
• grumpy hero
• chemistry
• pining
• forced proximity
➖
• the emotional progression feels faster than I prefer
• transition from allies to lovers was more sudden, too sharp
🌶️ Spice 5
We get a few well done open door explicit scenes. The spice doesn't dominate the narrative, rather it serves the characters and story. The romantic tension does considerably more work than the explicit scenes themselves.
➕
• sexual tension
• pining
• chemistry
• spice that doesn't overwhelm the thriller
June 5, 2026
I was excited to read this book as soon as I read its description but I never expected how fun and exciting it was going to be.
Charlie is such a badass babe, I loved that even after everything she’s been through in life she’s strong and wants to help others out. I loved how determined she was and the way she would stand up for herself, she was such a fun character.
Declan was also such a great characters. So handsome and broody but with major trust issues which isn’t all that surprising given what happened to him.
I loved their dynamic, their back and forth it was fun. From their first meet to that last chapter I was invested in them. Their chemistry was scorching even if they were both actively trying to deny it *insert eye roll emoji*
The storyline was so damn brilliant, I do enjoy me a spy book. The tasks set, the missions they go on, everything was so interesting and I LOVED how the author pulled it all together.
Now I’m desperately in need of book 2 after that ending because WTF??
This was a new to me author and I delighted this book was my first read.
Fake Out Make Out is an incredibly well written action packed book with sports, espionage and a whole lot of tension thrown in. It’s fun, it’s exciting and will have you questioning everybody and their motives.
Charlie is such a badass babe, I loved that even after everything she’s been through in life she’s strong and wants to help others out. I loved how determined she was and the way she would stand up for herself, she was such a fun character.
Declan was also such a great characters. So handsome and broody but with major trust issues which isn’t all that surprising given what happened to him.
I loved their dynamic, their back and forth it was fun. From their first meet to that last chapter I was invested in them. Their chemistry was scorching even if they were both actively trying to deny it *insert eye roll emoji*
The storyline was so damn brilliant, I do enjoy me a spy book. The tasks set, the missions they go on, everything was so interesting and I LOVED how the author pulled it all together.
Now I’m desperately in need of book 2 after that ending because WTF??
This was a new to me author and I delighted this book was my first read.
Fake Out Make Out is an incredibly well written action packed book with sports, espionage and a whole lot of tension thrown in. It’s fun, it’s exciting and will have you questioning everybody and their motives.
June 4, 2026
I thoroughly enjoyed Fake Out Make Out. It incorporates a fun and well written blend of espionage, sports, and romantic tension. It’s a thriller, fast-paced with characters you quickly fall in love with (or dislike at first!). It was a fun read and I highly recommend you check it out too. Hopefully they’ll be a book two 😊
July 23, 2026
This was such a fun one with such an interesting twist — I really enjoyed it!
August 9, 2026
*Fake Out Make Out* by Kate Williams
Spice Level: 🌶🌶
2 scenes that weren’t descriptive or long. Definitely cool Grandma-approved. Even your not-cool Grandma would probably be okay with this one.
Charlie was a very good runner until a chronic illness forces her to give it up. She ends up taking a job at her “Uncle’s” company that plans sporting events, like marathons and such. So it’s the perfect way for her to still be a part of the running community. But something is up at this place. She keeps picking up on random things that don’t make sense. Like, why would the company be working with presidents of other countries and such?
Which brings us to Declan. The grumpy man in charge of things who is often the one working with the heads of other countries. Oh, and he thinks Charlie is a mole.
Well, turns out the company is secretly involved in shady-ish things. But it’s like Robin Hood style.
Charlie ends up being dragged into the whole thing. So now she and Declan, who still doesn’t trust her, are working together. And homeboy ain’t happy about it. But mostly because he is also trying very hard to ignore his attraction to her.
This one is definitely more suspense/plot than romance. The first kiss isn’t until page 165, and they don’t actually hook up until 76%. It was fun and different and definitely kept me engaged. It’s just lighter on the spice than I typically read.
Want to know where all the spice takes place?
Find me on Instagram Whereisthespice
Or visit my website! Whereisthespice.com
Spice Level: 🌶🌶
2 scenes that weren’t descriptive or long. Definitely cool Grandma-approved. Even your not-cool Grandma would probably be okay with this one.
Charlie was a very good runner until a chronic illness forces her to give it up. She ends up taking a job at her “Uncle’s” company that plans sporting events, like marathons and such. So it’s the perfect way for her to still be a part of the running community. But something is up at this place. She keeps picking up on random things that don’t make sense. Like, why would the company be working with presidents of other countries and such?
Which brings us to Declan. The grumpy man in charge of things who is often the one working with the heads of other countries. Oh, and he thinks Charlie is a mole.
Well, turns out the company is secretly involved in shady-ish things. But it’s like Robin Hood style.
Charlie ends up being dragged into the whole thing. So now she and Declan, who still doesn’t trust her, are working together. And homeboy ain’t happy about it. But mostly because he is also trying very hard to ignore his attraction to her.
This one is definitely more suspense/plot than romance. The first kiss isn’t until page 165, and they don’t actually hook up until 76%. It was fun and different and definitely kept me engaged. It’s just lighter on the spice than I typically read.
Want to know where all the spice takes place?
Find me on Instagram Whereisthespice
Or visit my website! Whereisthespice.com
May 9, 2026
Fake Out Make Out
Thank you so much @netgalley and @bonnierbooksuk for my ARC read of this book in exchange for a review. Thank you @1mkwilliams for such a brilliant read.
A fresh and unique take on the sports romance genre!
I absolutely loved our main female character, Charlie. Her backstory was beautifully written, showing her journey of living with a chronic autoimmune condition and having to give up her dream of running in order to find a new path working for the sporting events organisation, FIRE. This aspect of the story really resonated with me personally, as autoimmune illnesses are something close to my heart due to my mum’s daily struggles with Lupus.
But FIRE isn’t quite what it seems on the surface… alongside organising sporting events, it also operates as a secret spy organisation. Such a fun and unexpected twist! A select group within FIRE has been recruited to uncover members of “The Order,” the group responsible for terrorist acts. Of course, there’s also a mole within the organisation, and it’s up to the team to figure out who can truly be trusted.
Declan, our male main character, is one of these recruits. He’s a complete workaholic, strict rules and trust issues, but Charlie slowly begins to challenge the walls he’s built around himself. Watching their relationship develop was one of my favourite parts of the book.
I really enjoyed the dual POV narration, as it gave depth to both Charlie and Declan. Charlie’s autoimmune condition added an extra emotional layer to the story, while the action-packed plot kept me hooked throughout.
The only reason this was a 4-star rather than a 5-star read for me was because I guessed a few of the twists quite early on.
Overall, this was an action-packed romance with plenty of tension, intrigue, and just the right amount of spice. I can’t wait to read more from this universe, as it feels like the perfect setup for an exciting series!
Thank you so much @netgalley and @bonnierbooksuk for my ARC read of this book in exchange for a review. Thank you @1mkwilliams for such a brilliant read.
A fresh and unique take on the sports romance genre!
I absolutely loved our main female character, Charlie. Her backstory was beautifully written, showing her journey of living with a chronic autoimmune condition and having to give up her dream of running in order to find a new path working for the sporting events organisation, FIRE. This aspect of the story really resonated with me personally, as autoimmune illnesses are something close to my heart due to my mum’s daily struggles with Lupus.
But FIRE isn’t quite what it seems on the surface… alongside organising sporting events, it also operates as a secret spy organisation. Such a fun and unexpected twist! A select group within FIRE has been recruited to uncover members of “The Order,” the group responsible for terrorist acts. Of course, there’s also a mole within the organisation, and it’s up to the team to figure out who can truly be trusted.
Declan, our male main character, is one of these recruits. He’s a complete workaholic, strict rules and trust issues, but Charlie slowly begins to challenge the walls he’s built around himself. Watching their relationship develop was one of my favourite parts of the book.
I really enjoyed the dual POV narration, as it gave depth to both Charlie and Declan. Charlie’s autoimmune condition added an extra emotional layer to the story, while the action-packed plot kept me hooked throughout.
The only reason this was a 4-star rather than a 5-star read for me was because I guessed a few of the twists quite early on.
Overall, this was an action-packed romance with plenty of tension, intrigue, and just the right amount of spice. I can’t wait to read more from this universe, as it feels like the perfect setup for an exciting series!
June 4, 2026
Fake Out, Make Out is an exciting, fast-paced read that had me hooked from the first chapter. This book is a classic romance, but with fresh takes on typical tropes that kept me engaged and excited about the book! The plot is unique: an endurance sport company as a front for a secret spy organization that fights to keep interests safe at home and abroad while running professional sporting events. And all the while you have your forced proximity trope and a soft enemies to lovers trope that were perfectly balanced so they honored the romance genre trope but were far from boring.
Absolutely LOVED reading about the chronic illness experience on the page for Charlie. The author wrote with an informative authority that never felt too heavy on the exposition yet painted a vivid picture of what it’s like for someone who struggles with an autoimmune disorder. As someone who doesn’t have a autoimmune condition myself, I’m very grateful to read the experience and gain more insight into what this experience is like.
Typically, I’m not a fan of Dual POV, but the author created such strong, unique voices for each character (Charlie and Declan) that I thoroughly enjoyed reading this style. The reader gets to know Charlie and Declan individually and together both their voices created a wholesome, well-rounded novel.
I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys typical romances as well as those (such as myself) who appreciate romance, but like a little more excitement with it too! It’s a perfect fast, fun, summer read for the beach or vacation :)
I got to be an ARC reader for this book (thanks MK and Perez Literary!) and my review is 100% honest. It would be the same if it was an ARC or not :)
It’s out June 4th so go get it in audiobook or ebook if you’re in the US! If you’re in the UK, you’re lucky and can get the hard copy
Absolutely LOVED reading about the chronic illness experience on the page for Charlie. The author wrote with an informative authority that never felt too heavy on the exposition yet painted a vivid picture of what it’s like for someone who struggles with an autoimmune disorder. As someone who doesn’t have a autoimmune condition myself, I’m very grateful to read the experience and gain more insight into what this experience is like.
Typically, I’m not a fan of Dual POV, but the author created such strong, unique voices for each character (Charlie and Declan) that I thoroughly enjoyed reading this style. The reader gets to know Charlie and Declan individually and together both their voices created a wholesome, well-rounded novel.
I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys typical romances as well as those (such as myself) who appreciate romance, but like a little more excitement with it too! It’s a perfect fast, fun, summer read for the beach or vacation :)
I got to be an ARC reader for this book (thanks MK and Perez Literary!) and my review is 100% honest. It would be the same if it was an ARC or not :)
It’s out June 4th so go get it in audiobook or ebook if you’re in the US! If you’re in the UK, you’re lucky and can get the hard copy
June 19, 2026
After being firmly in my thriller era, I thought it was time to get back in touch with those regular emotions romance books bring along(😂)... and Fake Out Make Out definitely did the job. It was an incredibly sexy and fun read, with a twist.
You follow the fiery sunshine that is Charlie Ross, an ex running champion forced to give up her dream due to a chronic illness, as she accepts a job at sporting events company FIRE working as her uncle's assistant. Then there is Declan, grumpy, hot and head of espionage activities doing everything in his power to protect the world from harm, and resisting Charlie.
I really enjoyed this read. It has such a unique concept mixing sport, rom-com and spy thriller suspence together. I did have some doubts at first but it had equal measures of fluff, tension and action that it was executed well. The characters are really lovable and strong. I found the incorporation of Charlie's chronic illness journey to be really interesting and Declan was ultimately a breath of fresh air. He made mistakes but was honest and not the typical jerk you find in enemy to lover tropes. A walking green flag, to put it accurately! And the romance building between the pair was both sweet and believable, there was no miscommunication either. I did also enjoy trying to figure out who the mole is.
You follow the fiery sunshine that is Charlie Ross, an ex running champion forced to give up her dream due to a chronic illness, as she accepts a job at sporting events company FIRE working as her uncle's assistant. Then there is Declan, grumpy, hot and head of espionage activities doing everything in his power to protect the world from harm, and resisting Charlie.
I really enjoyed this read. It has such a unique concept mixing sport, rom-com and spy thriller suspence together. I did have some doubts at first but it had equal measures of fluff, tension and action that it was executed well. The characters are really lovable and strong. I found the incorporation of Charlie's chronic illness journey to be really interesting and Declan was ultimately a breath of fresh air. He made mistakes but was honest and not the typical jerk you find in enemy to lover tropes. A walking green flag, to put it accurately! And the romance building between the pair was both sweet and believable, there was no miscommunication either. I did also enjoy trying to figure out who the mole is.
May 31, 2026
I received an ARC copy from NetGalley for this book.
Fake Out Make Out was a perfect start to my summer romance reading, especially as a Florida reader who grew up in Tampa! The setting was super fun as someone who knows the area, but still had facts and easter eggs I wasn't aware of! The story line follows a retired athlete as she starts a job with a big name endurance sport company called FIRE. She thinks she's taking on a relatively low-stress job as an executive assistant but quickly learns that there is more to the company than meets the eye - it has a whole secret department for espionage and saving the world! The pacing of the story is very good, though I think the dive into the romance part felt a little rushed after a very well-paced build up. Anytime people fall in love in under a month, it personally becomes a little less realistic and takes me a little bit out of the story. Charlie and Declan are a great match though, and the inner turmoil was super believable and the spy factor kept it from landing in the (over-used imo) miscommunication trope territory. Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It is an easy read, loads of fun, and perfectly quirky! Can't wait to read more by this author.
Fake Out Make Out was a perfect start to my summer romance reading, especially as a Florida reader who grew up in Tampa! The setting was super fun as someone who knows the area, but still had facts and easter eggs I wasn't aware of! The story line follows a retired athlete as she starts a job with a big name endurance sport company called FIRE. She thinks she's taking on a relatively low-stress job as an executive assistant but quickly learns that there is more to the company than meets the eye - it has a whole secret department for espionage and saving the world! The pacing of the story is very good, though I think the dive into the romance part felt a little rushed after a very well-paced build up. Anytime people fall in love in under a month, it personally becomes a little less realistic and takes me a little bit out of the story. Charlie and Declan are a great match though, and the inner turmoil was super believable and the spy factor kept it from landing in the (over-used imo) miscommunication trope territory. Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It is an easy read, loads of fun, and perfectly quirky! Can't wait to read more by this author.
June 10, 2026
This is a fun blend of sports, action, espionage and romance.
Charlie's first day at her new job at FIRE is memorable, she's locked out the office, treated like an intruder, then her boss tells her to be on the look out for a potential mole in their team.
Now she's tackling office politics, sports meetings and planning, and navigating corporate espionage.
Declan doesn't trust the new girl, and suspects she's a spy sent from the order - a rogue and dangerous corporation. Now he's made it his mission to investigate Charlie and uncover her secrets.
I loved Charlie's perseverance and how quickly she adapts to the secret intelligence world, and I liked how she describes her experiences with her chronic illness and feeling like her body is betraying her.
I enjoyed all the elements of suspense, high stakes and action, and seeing Charlie and Declan work together on missions. It has some good twists and betrayals, and leaves the story open for more to come.
Charlie's first day at her new job at FIRE is memorable, she's locked out the office, treated like an intruder, then her boss tells her to be on the look out for a potential mole in their team.
Now she's tackling office politics, sports meetings and planning, and navigating corporate espionage.
Declan doesn't trust the new girl, and suspects she's a spy sent from the order - a rogue and dangerous corporation. Now he's made it his mission to investigate Charlie and uncover her secrets.
I loved Charlie's perseverance and how quickly she adapts to the secret intelligence world, and I liked how she describes her experiences with her chronic illness and feeling like her body is betraying her.
I enjoyed all the elements of suspense, high stakes and action, and seeing Charlie and Declan work together on missions. It has some good twists and betrayals, and leaves the story open for more to come.
July 16, 2026
I really enjoyed the first romance by Kate Williams. It's a fun and fast-paced spy novel with believable main characters you want to root for. Charlie is a former elite endurance athlete who's had to pivot and make a new plan since chronic illness made competing unwise. Declan's high on the corporate ladder at an international sporting events company, but he's also a spy who's trying to heal and move on after his trusted partner didn't make it out of one of their campaigns.
This book is packed with intrigue and a slow-burning romance that pays off with serious chemistry amid heart-pounding experiences that make both Charlie and Declan unsure who they can trust. I also really enjoyed the spotlight on autoimmune disease and what to do when you lose what you thought was your purpose all along.
This book is packed with intrigue and a slow-burning romance that pays off with serious chemistry amid heart-pounding experiences that make both Charlie and Declan unsure who they can trust. I also really enjoyed the spotlight on autoimmune disease and what to do when you lose what you thought was your purpose all along.
June 8, 2026
I love romance novels but throw in espionage and hot looking spies and then we truly have a great read. Declan and Charlie are the definition of the grumpy and sunshine trope. I also love the build up until they have their first real romantic moment. The tensions are high and the spice is just right. I love that the plot of the story keeps a good pace and also keeps you guessing as to who is the bad guy. I love when there are elements of danger in a romance novels. It makes both main characters have depth.
June 12, 2026
This book was so incredibly sexy and fun! I loved how the main characters annoyed the snot out of each other before the fall. It was super cute!
If you are someone who loves spy movies and romcoms this book needs to be your next read.
If you are someone who loves spy movies and romcoms this book needs to be your next read.
July 29, 2026
Such a page turner!
Fake Out Make Out was a thrilling read. I loved by the creativity of the story. So many twists and turns. Definitely a must read.
Fake Out Make Out was a thrilling read. I loved by the creativity of the story. So many twists and turns. Definitely a must read.
Read
July 8, 2026I have been eagerly awaiting this story since I first heard the premise. Undercover spies working in sports? What a unique premise, sign me up! I was super excited to dive in.
FOMO delivers on the promise of the premise. I loved watching Charlie stumble her way into realizing who she's working for, and then seeing her in action once she finds out the truth. I didn't see the twist coming on who the villain was, which left me with a satisfied surprise at the end. While Williams does a good job wrapping up the plot of this novel as a standalone story, the story also leaves enough open ended for potentially (hopefully?!) a sequel in the future. I'd happily spend more time with Charlie, Declan, and the rest of the FIRE crew. (I also loved the name of the agency.)
And as someone who has struggled with an autoimmune condition, I appreciated seeing that reflected in Charlie. It made her feel more real to me, especially since it wasn't just a small, background detail added in, but something that drove her story and her arc in the story.
I've already recommended FOMO to friends and can't wait to read Kate's next story!
FOMO delivers on the promise of the premise. I loved watching Charlie stumble her way into realizing who she's working for, and then seeing her in action once she finds out the truth. I didn't see the twist coming on who the villain was, which left me with a satisfied surprise at the end. While Williams does a good job wrapping up the plot of this novel as a standalone story, the story also leaves enough open ended for potentially (hopefully?!) a sequel in the future. I'd happily spend more time with Charlie, Declan, and the rest of the FIRE crew. (I also loved the name of the agency.)
And as someone who has struggled with an autoimmune condition, I appreciated seeing that reflected in Charlie. It made her feel more real to me, especially since it wasn't just a small, background detail added in, but something that drove her story and her arc in the story.
I've already recommended FOMO to friends and can't wait to read Kate's next story!
July 21, 2026
🕵🏻♀️ 𝔽𝕒𝕜𝕖 𝕆𝕦𝕥 𝕄𝕒𝕜𝕖 𝕆𝕦𝕥
By Kate Williams
🔖 𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐞: Audible; Personal audiobook library
🎧 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰: 8 hrs 21 min; Great duet narration with Christian Leatherman and Nerissa Bradley.
✨ 𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲: Charlie’s running dreams may be dashed by chronic illness but a new career in espionage is just getting started.
📖 𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: Romance (some spice)
🕯️ 𝐀𝐭𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞: The corporate endurance sports world meets high stakes espionage. Based in Tampa, FL with excursions everywhere from Montana to Europe.
🖤 𝐓𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐬/𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐬: enemies to lovers, chronic illness rep, self discovery, international crime/espionage
⏳ 𝐏𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠: Fast paced; frequent hooks that keep you invested
💭 𝐄𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭: Lots of fun to read. There are some deeper introspective moments, especially around Charlie’s reflections on her chronic illness and its impact on her life, but overall the tone is light and adventurous with plenty of action and banter.
✨ 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐋𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐀𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠: I’ve read several books by this author, and they have all been fresh new takes on otherwise worn out genres/tropes. They’re consistently well-written and well-researched. This was her first step into romance but as usual, she created a fun, entertaining, swoony, and fresh new premise. Can’t wait to read more romance @mkwilliams. Fingers crossed for a book 2!
By Kate Williams
🔖 𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐞: Audible; Personal audiobook library
🎧 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰: 8 hrs 21 min; Great duet narration with Christian Leatherman and Nerissa Bradley.
✨ 𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲: Charlie’s running dreams may be dashed by chronic illness but a new career in espionage is just getting started.
📖 𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: Romance (some spice)
🕯️ 𝐀𝐭𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞: The corporate endurance sports world meets high stakes espionage. Based in Tampa, FL with excursions everywhere from Montana to Europe.
🖤 𝐓𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐬/𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐬: enemies to lovers, chronic illness rep, self discovery, international crime/espionage
⏳ 𝐏𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠: Fast paced; frequent hooks that keep you invested
💭 𝐄𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭: Lots of fun to read. There are some deeper introspective moments, especially around Charlie’s reflections on her chronic illness and its impact on her life, but overall the tone is light and adventurous with plenty of action and banter.
✨ 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐋𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐀𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠: I’ve read several books by this author, and they have all been fresh new takes on otherwise worn out genres/tropes. They’re consistently well-written and well-researched. This was her first step into romance but as usual, she created a fun, entertaining, swoony, and fresh new premise. Can’t wait to read more romance @mkwilliams. Fingers crossed for a book 2!
June 14, 2026
Sooo good!!
I really, really enjoyed this book. It’s funny and unique. Spies in the endurance sports world taking down arms dealers, drug cartels, and other horrible people? What a cool concept. The banter between our FMC, Charlie, and MMC, Declan, was giggle-worthy. The pace was perfect, the chemistry was delicious, and the spice was HAWT. There’s secrets, lies, betrayals, danger, European cities, super yachts, Florida heat, and an undeniable attraction. This one was fun and steamy! I listened to the audiobook which was narrated in duet by Christian Leatherman and Nerina Bradley. I also grabbed the ebook so I could do an immersive read. The audio was fantastic. Both narrators were amazing and the production was perfect. Doing an immersive read kept me glued to my seat for this action-packed read. I finished it in a day! Highly recommend if you enjoy espionage, sports, mystery, and a swoony romance!
I really, really enjoyed this book. It’s funny and unique. Spies in the endurance sports world taking down arms dealers, drug cartels, and other horrible people? What a cool concept. The banter between our FMC, Charlie, and MMC, Declan, was giggle-worthy. The pace was perfect, the chemistry was delicious, and the spice was HAWT. There’s secrets, lies, betrayals, danger, European cities, super yachts, Florida heat, and an undeniable attraction. This one was fun and steamy! I listened to the audiobook which was narrated in duet by Christian Leatherman and Nerina Bradley. I also grabbed the ebook so I could do an immersive read. The audio was fantastic. Both narrators were amazing and the production was perfect. Doing an immersive read kept me glued to my seat for this action-packed read. I finished it in a day! Highly recommend if you enjoy espionage, sports, mystery, and a swoony romance!
Review of advance copy
Charlie is a women's running champion who has had to retire from the sport due to a chronic illness. Looking for a fresh start, she accepts an Executive Assistant role at her uncle's international sporting events company, FIRE. Whilst she can no longer compete, she can still remain part of the sporting world.
But something about FIRE doesn't seem quite right, and Charlie is determined to find out what.
Enter Declan - the head of FIRE's espionage activities. Because what sporting events company isn't secretly a front for an undercover spy operation?
Declan is all work and no play. A strict rule-follower and complete workaholic, he has no time for romance. But with the World Games approaching and a mission to uncover a terrorist arms group underway, he has no choice but to bring in reinforcements - recruiting Charlie into the fold.
Can their differences - she trusts everyone except herself, and he trusts no one, especially her - be put aside long enough to prevent disaster? Or will their undeniable chemistry prove a little too explosive?
When I first read the premise, sports meets spy thriller, I thought, colour me intrigued.
And intrigued I was. However, the concept ultimately felt stronger than the execution.
Don't get me wrong, it was a refreshing take on sports romance. Although, in hindsight, I probably should have realised it might not have been entirely my cup of tea, as sports romance isn't usually a sub-genre I gravitate towards.
Charlie's story was particularly well written, and it's clear the author did her research. The portrayal of living with a chronic autoimmune condition and being forced to give up the career you've built your life around will undoubtedly resonate with readers, whether through personal experience or empathy
As for Declan, he's your classic emotionally unavailable workaholic, leaving Charlie to gradually chip away at the walls he's spent years building around himself.
The novel is written in dual POV, which is always something I enjoy, and it incorporates plenty of popular romance tropes, including enemies-to-lovers and forced proximity.
Unfortunately, the action side of the story fell a little flat for me. I picked up on several of the twists quite early on, and whilst romance can often be predictable, this wasn't the kind of predictability that had me eagerly turning the pages. I also found the chemistry between Charlie and Declan slightly forced. Rather than developing naturally, their relationship often felt more like something the narrative was telling me had happened rather than something I was actually experiencing alongside them.
The espionage plotline also felt somewhat drawn out. For much of the book, readers are kept in the dark, with explanations arriving quite late and often remaining fairly vague.
Overall, this was a unique read and certainly different from what I would usually pick up. The original premise had a lot of potential, but unfortunately it never fully came together for me.
That said, I can absolutely see why others would enjoy it.
It has romance, it has action, and at its core it's a sports romance mixed with espionage - a combination that's certainly not something you see every day.
Thank you to Insta Book Tours & Kate Williams for sending me a copy and having me on the tour, in exchange for an honest review.
But something about FIRE doesn't seem quite right, and Charlie is determined to find out what.
Enter Declan - the head of FIRE's espionage activities. Because what sporting events company isn't secretly a front for an undercover spy operation?
Declan is all work and no play. A strict rule-follower and complete workaholic, he has no time for romance. But with the World Games approaching and a mission to uncover a terrorist arms group underway, he has no choice but to bring in reinforcements - recruiting Charlie into the fold.
Can their differences - she trusts everyone except herself, and he trusts no one, especially her - be put aside long enough to prevent disaster? Or will their undeniable chemistry prove a little too explosive?
When I first read the premise, sports meets spy thriller, I thought, colour me intrigued.
And intrigued I was. However, the concept ultimately felt stronger than the execution.
Don't get me wrong, it was a refreshing take on sports romance. Although, in hindsight, I probably should have realised it might not have been entirely my cup of tea, as sports romance isn't usually a sub-genre I gravitate towards.
Charlie's story was particularly well written, and it's clear the author did her research. The portrayal of living with a chronic autoimmune condition and being forced to give up the career you've built your life around will undoubtedly resonate with readers, whether through personal experience or empathy
As for Declan, he's your classic emotionally unavailable workaholic, leaving Charlie to gradually chip away at the walls he's spent years building around himself.
The novel is written in dual POV, which is always something I enjoy, and it incorporates plenty of popular romance tropes, including enemies-to-lovers and forced proximity.
Unfortunately, the action side of the story fell a little flat for me. I picked up on several of the twists quite early on, and whilst romance can often be predictable, this wasn't the kind of predictability that had me eagerly turning the pages. I also found the chemistry between Charlie and Declan slightly forced. Rather than developing naturally, their relationship often felt more like something the narrative was telling me had happened rather than something I was actually experiencing alongside them.
The espionage plotline also felt somewhat drawn out. For much of the book, readers are kept in the dark, with explanations arriving quite late and often remaining fairly vague.
Overall, this was a unique read and certainly different from what I would usually pick up. The original premise had a lot of potential, but unfortunately it never fully came together for me.
That said, I can absolutely see why others would enjoy it.
It has romance, it has action, and at its core it's a sports romance mixed with espionage - a combination that's certainly not something you see every day.
Thank you to Insta Book Tours & Kate Williams for sending me a copy and having me on the tour, in exchange for an honest review.
May 22, 2026
Rep: FMC with autoimmune disease (eosinophilic fasciitis); SC with Lupus and psoriatic arthritis
Thanks @netgalley and @bonnierbooksuk for the ARC. For most of the book, I was torn between DNFing and speed-reading, but since I was already more than halfway through, I decided to persist. Around the 70–80% mark, it started to pick up and hold my attention more.
One accessibility issue I noticed: the chapter name tags (idk if that’s actually what they were) weren’t viewable at all in dark mode on my Kindle.
Also, I’m not really clear on why this book is classified as new adult instead of adult. Based on the characters’ ages, jobs, and the overall content, it didn’t feel especially NA to me. It felt more like an adult novel.
The gist is that both love interests work for a running company called FIRE, but it’s also secretly a front for an undercover espionage/spying operation. Declan, the MMC, keeps mentioning something called “The Order,” but that stays super vague for a long time — if not the whole book — so some of the plot felt unnecessarily ambiguous to me.
This is also an enemies-to-lovers, forced-proximity romance between Charlie and Declan. She’s the executive assistant; he’s the head of “clandestine activities.” A LOT is going on trope-wise. They go from enemies to insta-attraction because of life-threatening circumstances, but I wasn’t especially convinced by their chemistry, particularly at the beginning. A lot of it felt more explained to the reader vs being naturally developed.
There were also a few questionable moments regarding chronic illness/disability rep. I thought the depiction of living with autoimmune disease (eosinophilic fasciitis) was handled well overall, though I don’t personally live with these specific conditions. I was unsure about the plot point involving going off all medications in favor of only diet/lifestyle management — it initially felt a bit MAHA-coded to me, though later the book clarified that Charlie’s rare autoimmune disease doesn’t have official treatments (and I felt this could’ve been addressed earlier). Also, I wasn’t a fan of the inspiration-porn angle with the elderly runner “overcoming illness,” especially when the race had already been canceled due to dangerous weather conditions.
Overall, this was just an okay read for me. It often felt laborious, and ultimately didn’t feel especially fresh, inventive, riveting, or unputdownable.
CW: heart condition, death, murder, internalized ableism, sexual content
Thanks @netgalley and @bonnierbooksuk for the ARC. For most of the book, I was torn between DNFing and speed-reading, but since I was already more than halfway through, I decided to persist. Around the 70–80% mark, it started to pick up and hold my attention more.
One accessibility issue I noticed: the chapter name tags (idk if that’s actually what they were) weren’t viewable at all in dark mode on my Kindle.
Also, I’m not really clear on why this book is classified as new adult instead of adult. Based on the characters’ ages, jobs, and the overall content, it didn’t feel especially NA to me. It felt more like an adult novel.
The gist is that both love interests work for a running company called FIRE, but it’s also secretly a front for an undercover espionage/spying operation. Declan, the MMC, keeps mentioning something called “The Order,” but that stays super vague for a long time — if not the whole book — so some of the plot felt unnecessarily ambiguous to me.
This is also an enemies-to-lovers, forced-proximity romance between Charlie and Declan. She’s the executive assistant; he’s the head of “clandestine activities.” A LOT is going on trope-wise. They go from enemies to insta-attraction because of life-threatening circumstances, but I wasn’t especially convinced by their chemistry, particularly at the beginning. A lot of it felt more explained to the reader vs being naturally developed.
There were also a few questionable moments regarding chronic illness/disability rep. I thought the depiction of living with autoimmune disease (eosinophilic fasciitis) was handled well overall, though I don’t personally live with these specific conditions. I was unsure about the plot point involving going off all medications in favor of only diet/lifestyle management — it initially felt a bit MAHA-coded to me, though later the book clarified that Charlie’s rare autoimmune disease doesn’t have official treatments (and I felt this could’ve been addressed earlier). Also, I wasn’t a fan of the inspiration-porn angle with the elderly runner “overcoming illness,” especially when the race had already been canceled due to dangerous weather conditions.
Overall, this was just an okay read for me. It often felt laborious, and ultimately didn’t feel especially fresh, inventive, riveting, or unputdownable.
CW: heart condition, death, murder, internalized ableism, sexual content
June 12, 2026
★ ★ ★.5 / 5
Charlie is a former running champion that has been struck down by chronic illness that prevents her from continuing to be a running champion. We meet Charlie as she is starting a new job at FIRE as her uncles assistant. But FIRE isn't all that meets the eye, there’s an underbelly to this operation that’s headed by Declan and Charlie is too curious, so when disaster strikes and she’s in the middle of it, she learns all about “Strategic Operations” and what they do.
Declan is the head of FIRE’s espionage activities. He’s the one protecting the world from harm, but a cache of stolen weapons and the World Games around the corner, he’s not sure who he can trust after his last disastrous mission that cost him his friend, mentor and closest ally. Now that Charlie is in the know, can he trust her to help him prevent a disaster at a global sporting event or will their first meeting and differences get in the way?
This was an enjoyable read and the characters were fun to read about. The book is a good one if you like theorising, after Oliver (Charlie’s uncle) asks her to keep her eyes out for someone “sharing company secrets” you can’t help but look at everyone with suspicion. I thought Charlie’s chronic illness was written quite well (to someone who doesn’t have CI) and I liked that she found peace in herself. I would’ve loved more build up of their relationship and a little more action but it’s an enjoyable romance with a storyline that keeps you interested and writing that helps you sink into this world.
[thank you instabooktours + inkroadbooks for having me on the tour for this book ~ all opinions are my own]
SPOILERS:
-
-
-
-
I did guess the big plot twist and it’s because I watched Central Intelligence that I knew what was going to happen lmao, I was surprised by Ian though, I thought it was gonna be one of the women that was the mole
Charlie is a former running champion that has been struck down by chronic illness that prevents her from continuing to be a running champion. We meet Charlie as she is starting a new job at FIRE as her uncles assistant. But FIRE isn't all that meets the eye, there’s an underbelly to this operation that’s headed by Declan and Charlie is too curious, so when disaster strikes and she’s in the middle of it, she learns all about “Strategic Operations” and what they do.
Declan is the head of FIRE’s espionage activities. He’s the one protecting the world from harm, but a cache of stolen weapons and the World Games around the corner, he’s not sure who he can trust after his last disastrous mission that cost him his friend, mentor and closest ally. Now that Charlie is in the know, can he trust her to help him prevent a disaster at a global sporting event or will their first meeting and differences get in the way?
This was an enjoyable read and the characters were fun to read about. The book is a good one if you like theorising, after Oliver (Charlie’s uncle) asks her to keep her eyes out for someone “sharing company secrets” you can’t help but look at everyone with suspicion. I thought Charlie’s chronic illness was written quite well (to someone who doesn’t have CI) and I liked that she found peace in herself. I would’ve loved more build up of their relationship and a little more action but it’s an enjoyable romance with a storyline that keeps you interested and writing that helps you sink into this world.
[thank you instabooktours + inkroadbooks for having me on the tour for this book ~ all opinions are my own]
SPOILERS:
-
-
-
-
I did guess the big plot twist and it’s because I watched Central Intelligence that I knew what was going to happen lmao, I was surprised by Ian though, I thought it was gonna be one of the women that was the mole
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
"My mistakes on this mission haunt me.
And so does that kiss. It was the sweetest promise of what could be, sandwiched by such crippling rejection."
- Fake Out Make Out, by Kate Williams
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️||🌶.5
If James Bond and Charlie's Angels had a romcom baby, this would be it. Fake Out Make Out is a super fun, feet- kicking ride of a story, and whilst it does require some suspension of disbelief that our girl Charlie can go from being hired as an executive assistant one week, to becoming a covert agent the next - with absolutely no training whatsoever- it was a lot of fun and I had the best time reading it.
The plot is fast-paced and action-packed, with plenty of twists and turns along the way. I can't say I have really read an espionage story before but it worked so well with the romcom element and gave it a genuine edge over other romance books, as it was an original and fun concept. I also genuinely didn't see the big twist coming, which is always a win for me. The chemistry between Charlie and Declan was awesome as well. Their banter was great, and the romance was packed with little nods to tropes and micro-tropes we all know and love: sharing a hotel room, enemies to lovers, a well-timed "good girl"... all those tiny details that had me grinning every time they appeared on the page.
If you are looking for a super fun read, that is perfect for by the pool - get this on your summer TBR. Fake out Make out is out now!
Thank you to @instabooktours and @inkroadbooks for the #gifted copy of the book and the spot on the tour in exchange for an honest review.
And so does that kiss. It was the sweetest promise of what could be, sandwiched by such crippling rejection."
- Fake Out Make Out, by Kate Williams
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️||🌶.5
If James Bond and Charlie's Angels had a romcom baby, this would be it. Fake Out Make Out is a super fun, feet- kicking ride of a story, and whilst it does require some suspension of disbelief that our girl Charlie can go from being hired as an executive assistant one week, to becoming a covert agent the next - with absolutely no training whatsoever- it was a lot of fun and I had the best time reading it.
The plot is fast-paced and action-packed, with plenty of twists and turns along the way. I can't say I have really read an espionage story before but it worked so well with the romcom element and gave it a genuine edge over other romance books, as it was an original and fun concept. I also genuinely didn't see the big twist coming, which is always a win for me. The chemistry between Charlie and Declan was awesome as well. Their banter was great, and the romance was packed with little nods to tropes and micro-tropes we all know and love: sharing a hotel room, enemies to lovers, a well-timed "good girl"... all those tiny details that had me grinning every time they appeared on the page.
If you are looking for a super fun read, that is perfect for by the pool - get this on your summer TBR. Fake out Make out is out now!
Thank you to @instabooktours and @inkroadbooks for the #gifted copy of the book and the spot on the tour in exchange for an honest review.
Review of advance copy received from Author
ARC REVIEW:
Fake Out Make Out By Kate Williams
Release Date: 4th June 2026
Spice level: 🌶
🅃🅁🄾🄿🄴🅂
🧡 Sports/Spy Romance
✨️ Forced Proximity
🧡 Chronic Illness Rep
✨️ Ex-Navy
🧡 GrumpyXSunshine
"𝕃𝕒𝕤𝕥 𝕟𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥 𝕀 𝕨𝕠𝕣𝕤𝕙𝕚𝕡𝕡𝕖𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕘𝕠𝕕𝕕𝕖𝕤𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕒𝕣𝕖." 𝕊𝕙𝕖 𝕤𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕤 𝕒𝕥 𝕞𝕪 𝕨𝕠𝕣𝕕𝕤 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕞𝕖𝕝𝕥𝕤 𝕚𝕟 𝕞𝕪 𝕙𝕒𝕟𝕕𝕤. "𝕀 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕜 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕞𝕠𝕣𝕟𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕀 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕟𝕠 𝕔𝕙𝕠𝕚𝕔𝕖 𝕓𝕦𝕥 𝕥𝕠 𝕗𝕦𝕔𝕜 𝕪𝕠𝕦"
A sports romance with an espionage twist! Come and read this book! Kate Williams has written a book that was so addictive I devoured it in under 24hrs. Its enjoyable, laughable and spicy, what more can you want.
"𝕀 𝕨𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕥𝕖𝕒𝕣 𝕕𝕠𝕨𝕟 𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕪 𝕨𝕒𝕝𝕝, 𝕓𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕜 𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕪 𝕨𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕥𝕠 𝕘𝕖𝕥 𝕥𝕠 𝕙𝕠𝕝𝕕 𝕪𝕠𝕦. 𝕋𝕠 𝕓𝕖 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕪𝕠𝕦."
The mixture of a espionage and sports was so cleverly combined and thoughtout, it made this book even better. It showed the gruelling effects of what fighting your feelings can cause. You have an MMC that fights so hard not to like the MFC and when he finally decides to give in, oh boy were those chapters riveting. Not only that its filled with some action packed scenes that filtered so well this book is one that has blown my mind.
Would I recommend this book? 100% yes. Kate Williams has written something so unique and extraordinary others need to discover this!
Thank you to Inkroad and bonnierbooks UK for sending me a finished copy in exchange for my honest review.
Fake Out Make Out By Kate Williams
Release Date: 4th June 2026
Spice level: 🌶
🅃🅁🄾🄿🄴🅂
🧡 Sports/Spy Romance
✨️ Forced Proximity
🧡 Chronic Illness Rep
✨️ Ex-Navy
🧡 GrumpyXSunshine
"𝕃𝕒𝕤𝕥 𝕟𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥 𝕀 𝕨𝕠𝕣𝕤𝕙𝕚𝕡𝕡𝕖𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕘𝕠𝕕𝕕𝕖𝕤𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕒𝕣𝕖." 𝕊𝕙𝕖 𝕤𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕤 𝕒𝕥 𝕞𝕪 𝕨𝕠𝕣𝕕𝕤 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕞𝕖𝕝𝕥𝕤 𝕚𝕟 𝕞𝕪 𝕙𝕒𝕟𝕕𝕤. "𝕀 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕜 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕞𝕠𝕣𝕟𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕀 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕟𝕠 𝕔𝕙𝕠𝕚𝕔𝕖 𝕓𝕦𝕥 𝕥𝕠 𝕗𝕦𝕔𝕜 𝕪𝕠𝕦"
A sports romance with an espionage twist! Come and read this book! Kate Williams has written a book that was so addictive I devoured it in under 24hrs. Its enjoyable, laughable and spicy, what more can you want.
"𝕀 𝕨𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕥𝕖𝕒𝕣 𝕕𝕠𝕨𝕟 𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕪 𝕨𝕒𝕝𝕝, 𝕓𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕜 𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕪 𝕨𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕥𝕠 𝕘𝕖𝕥 𝕥𝕠 𝕙𝕠𝕝𝕕 𝕪𝕠𝕦. 𝕋𝕠 𝕓𝕖 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕪𝕠𝕦."
The mixture of a espionage and sports was so cleverly combined and thoughtout, it made this book even better. It showed the gruelling effects of what fighting your feelings can cause. You have an MMC that fights so hard not to like the MFC and when he finally decides to give in, oh boy were those chapters riveting. Not only that its filled with some action packed scenes that filtered so well this book is one that has blown my mind.
Would I recommend this book? 100% yes. Kate Williams has written something so unique and extraordinary others need to discover this!
Thank you to Inkroad and bonnierbooks UK for sending me a finished copy in exchange for my honest review.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
Now, I'm usually a pure romance reader and rarely branch out, but when I saw this, I was intrigued. I do love a good romantic suspense, and I love watching spy-flix, so this felt like it could be a fun combination of the two.
Charlie, our trusting yet fiery FMC, starts her new job at FIRE, and from the get go we see the grumpy x sunshine elements come into play, with Declan's past making it hard for him to trust and open up to new people. The author clearly did her research when it came to Charlie's autoimmune condition (eosinophilic fasciitis) and living with a chronic illness, and I loved the way she wrote Charlie's very real struggle with having to navigate giving up the life you expected because of it. This will resonate with so many readers, whether personally or not.
As a romance reader, I was very much focussed on, well, the romance, and it feels like the author was too. The action and espionage at times just felt like a way to bring Charlie and Declan together (hello forced proximity trope), rather than a plotline that could stand on it's own. I really liked the way FIRE was used as the back-drop rather than a standard spy agency, however, and the way the sports elements were weaved in to bring together their personal stories and growth, and their professional work.
Overall, this was a fun and unique mix of spy thriller and rom-com that I haven't seen before, and though maybe the twists weren't as surprising as I might hope, that didn't detract from my enjoyment of the book or the romance plot between the MMCs.
Thank you to InstaBook Tours, the author, and Ink Road for my finished copy!
Charlie, our trusting yet fiery FMC, starts her new job at FIRE, and from the get go we see the grumpy x sunshine elements come into play, with Declan's past making it hard for him to trust and open up to new people. The author clearly did her research when it came to Charlie's autoimmune condition (eosinophilic fasciitis) and living with a chronic illness, and I loved the way she wrote Charlie's very real struggle with having to navigate giving up the life you expected because of it. This will resonate with so many readers, whether personally or not.
As a romance reader, I was very much focussed on, well, the romance, and it feels like the author was too. The action and espionage at times just felt like a way to bring Charlie and Declan together (hello forced proximity trope), rather than a plotline that could stand on it's own. I really liked the way FIRE was used as the back-drop rather than a standard spy agency, however, and the way the sports elements were weaved in to bring together their personal stories and growth, and their professional work.
Overall, this was a fun and unique mix of spy thriller and rom-com that I haven't seen before, and though maybe the twists weren't as surprising as I might hope, that didn't detract from my enjoyment of the book or the romance plot between the MMCs.
Thank you to InstaBook Tours, the author, and Ink Road for my finished copy!
June 7, 2026
Fake Out Make Out was such a unique read. I've never read anything quite like it before, and I really enjoyed the blend of romance, espionage adventure, and spy thriller elements. It's not a combination I come across often, but Kate Williams made it work incredibly well.
The female main character was fun, interesting, and refreshing. She had a great personality and didn't feel like a typical portrayal of a character with an autoimmune condition, which I appreciated. The male main character was exactly the kind of grumpy hero I love to read about—broody, competent, and undeniably sexy.
As someone who enjoys a good forced-proximity romance, the relationship development was right up my street, and the steamy moments were well done. The mystery and espionage plot kept things moving, too. I managed to guess one of the twists and identify one of the villains fairly early on, but the other reveal caught me by surprise, which helped keep the suspense alive.
The ending was satisfying overall, although it felt a little unfinished in places. That said, it definitely seemed to be setting up future books, and I could easily see this becoming a series.
If you're looking for something a little different from your usual romance and enjoy action, intrigue, and forced proximity alongside your love story, I'd definitely recommend giving this one a try.
The female main character was fun, interesting, and refreshing. She had a great personality and didn't feel like a typical portrayal of a character with an autoimmune condition, which I appreciated. The male main character was exactly the kind of grumpy hero I love to read about—broody, competent, and undeniably sexy.
As someone who enjoys a good forced-proximity romance, the relationship development was right up my street, and the steamy moments were well done. The mystery and espionage plot kept things moving, too. I managed to guess one of the twists and identify one of the villains fairly early on, but the other reveal caught me by surprise, which helped keep the suspense alive.
The ending was satisfying overall, although it felt a little unfinished in places. That said, it definitely seemed to be setting up future books, and I could easily see this becoming a series.
If you're looking for something a little different from your usual romance and enjoy action, intrigue, and forced proximity alongside your love story, I'd definitely recommend giving this one a try.
June 18, 2026
This has got to be, hands down, the best romance I read in a while!!!
We had a strong FMC (Charlie) with a chronic illness and was such a likeable and interesting character who was written to perfection.
We also had our MMC who one: wasn’t a jerk, and two:
made honest mistakes and was just green flag central but not in a dull way 😂
I loved that we could have a love interest who had to either be too much or boring, Declan was written as a believable person and one who is equally as swoon worthy!
The romance was just chefs kiss. No miscommunication trope! And they just paired together beautifully I can’t really put it into words, I just love them sm 🤭
But also The. Book. Had. A. Plot. I was sat and invested!!! We need more romance x crime crossovers, I am totally here for it! I read the first 200 pages in one sitting and if I hadn’t of had chores to do, I wouldn’t have moved until the last page!
I will definitely be reading every book Kate published as I need more 😅
Thank you for the publishers for sending me a finished copy, this book has altered my brain chemistry 🧪
We had a strong FMC (Charlie) with a chronic illness and was such a likeable and interesting character who was written to perfection.
We also had our MMC who one: wasn’t a jerk, and two:
made honest mistakes and was just green flag central but not in a dull way 😂
I loved that we could have a love interest who had to either be too much or boring, Declan was written as a believable person and one who is equally as swoon worthy!
The romance was just chefs kiss. No miscommunication trope! And they just paired together beautifully I can’t really put it into words, I just love them sm 🤭
But also The. Book. Had. A. Plot. I was sat and invested!!! We need more romance x crime crossovers, I am totally here for it! I read the first 200 pages in one sitting and if I hadn’t of had chores to do, I wouldn’t have moved until the last page!
I will definitely be reading every book Kate published as I need more 😅
Thank you for the publishers for sending me a finished copy, this book has altered my brain chemistry 🧪
September 20, 2026
When Charlie starts working for a big sporting events company, she quickly discovers it is actually a front for an undercover espionage operation. And of course, that means she is now forced to work together with Declan, who is definitely not her biggest fan …
This was a quite unique combination of romance novel and spy story, which has been such a fun break from all my recent reads.
Charlie’s story explores living with chronic illness, and what it means to have to give up your big dream and career because of it - something I can’t say I read about often in books and I am sure will resonate with many readers.
And of course, the romance between Charlie and Declan features plenty of tropes, including two of my favorites: enemies-to-lovers and forced proximity!
The whole story does require quite a bit of suspension of disbelief, but as soon as you accept that, it’s a fun and entertaining ride! Perfect to read on your summer holiday!
Thank you so much to Insta Book Tours and the publisher for my review copy.
This was a quite unique combination of romance novel and spy story, which has been such a fun break from all my recent reads.
Charlie’s story explores living with chronic illness, and what it means to have to give up your big dream and career because of it - something I can’t say I read about often in books and I am sure will resonate with many readers.
And of course, the romance between Charlie and Declan features plenty of tropes, including two of my favorites: enemies-to-lovers and forced proximity!
The whole story does require quite a bit of suspension of disbelief, but as soon as you accept that, it’s a fun and entertaining ride! Perfect to read on your summer holiday!
Thank you so much to Insta Book Tours and the publisher for my review copy.
June 2, 2026
"It’s hard to beat the first impression of someone."
Picked up this book based on the book cover. Was intrigued by a book description. Lucky enough to have been given the opportunity to have the ARC and read it before the release.
Charlie Ross is a women's running champion until she gets struck by a chronic illness. Needing time to heal, she accepts a job in the sports industry. On her first day of the new job, she meets the grumpy and annoyingly sexy Declan Davidson, who is part of "Strategic Operations". They get off on the wrong foot. Charlie trusts everyone - except herself. Declan trusts no one.
The story was interesting; however, there were quite a few side characters and some loose ends that were left unanswered. The ending felt unfinished.
Regarding spice level, I'd say it's 1 out of 5.
There was more pining than spice. Some tension.
I would read this book again.
Picked up this book based on the book cover. Was intrigued by a book description. Lucky enough to have been given the opportunity to have the ARC and read it before the release.
Charlie Ross is a women's running champion until she gets struck by a chronic illness. Needing time to heal, she accepts a job in the sports industry. On her first day of the new job, she meets the grumpy and annoyingly sexy Declan Davidson, who is part of "Strategic Operations". They get off on the wrong foot. Charlie trusts everyone - except herself. Declan trusts no one.
The story was interesting; however, there were quite a few side characters and some loose ends that were left unanswered. The ending felt unfinished.
Regarding spice level, I'd say it's 1 out of 5.
There was more pining than spice. Some tension.
I would read this book again.
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