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Anyone But Her #1

Anyone But Her

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Reagan Cooper has been an out and proud lesbian since high school, but can't say no when her gay best friend, Jamie Miller, asks her to pretend to be his girlfriend for his family reunion. Jamie has been there for her through everything. Plus, she's interested in learning more about the family he never speaks of.
Living in California for eight years, Charlie Miller has been able to live authentically, but being back in her small Maryland hometown with her conservative family means going back into the closet. What she didn't expect was to be so attracted to her brother's girlfriend.
54,300 words

177 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 21, 2019

511 people are currently reading
2344 people want to read

About the author

Erica Lee

48 books920 followers
Erica Lee finished writing her first book, Dear Santa: I’m Gay, in December 2016. Erica currently lives in Pennsylvania with her wife, dog, chinchilla, and bunny. She spends her days working as an optometrist and her nights snuggled up on the couch with her furry family, binging on netflix or youtube.

Librarian note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

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5 stars
1,960 (40%)
4 stars
1,634 (34%)
3 stars
909 (19%)
2 stars
214 (4%)
1 star
66 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 380 reviews
Profile Image for Alexis.
510 reviews649 followers
September 12, 2019
Lots of potential, poor execution.

This book had some good things going for it in the beginning. The scenario of two siblings who don't know the other is gay had great comedic potential but wasn't exploited unfortunately. There were a few chuckle worthy moments between Jamie and Reagan but I was hoping to see more of the funny banter Kinsley and Grace had in Sunsets and Shades.

The thing about this book that didn't quite fit is that it reads like a YA/NA novel. That would be fine if the main characters weren't in their mid to late 20's yet acted like they were afraid their parents would ground them at any given moment.

There's one particular immature stunt that Jamie pulled towards the end that had me questioning whether he was dropped on the head as a baby. I mean my father dropped me as a baby and I turned out fin.. sort of.. we're not talking about me! Seriously dude, how could you do that? I meant Jamie not my dad fyi.

There is so much going on in this relatively short read. The plot felt rushed and the characters weren't given enough room to develop. The writing and transition between scenes felt a little choppy because of this and I really wish the book had several more chapters. An odd love/friendship triangle and a religious and homophobic family needs more than 54K words.

As for Reagan and Charlie's relationship, their story just felt rushed. There was a real insta-love feeling to it and even their sex scenes couldn't keep my interest.

Overall rating gets no further than 3*.
Profile Image for Corporate Slave.
358 reviews5 followers
October 11, 2025
Oh this is such a cute book :) the storyline is also very interesting because it’s a different kind of fauxmance but I thought the author pulled it off quite well !
The dialogue between the MCs was my favorite part! It was just fun reading this book very entertaining and the characters were all very likable :)

My rating is a 3.5 rounded up to 4.

So yeah if you want a fluffy and very entertaining read, this is your book :)
Profile Image for Silvia .
694 reviews1,688 followers
August 26, 2019
This was good! I immediately started it when I found out about it because of the trope excellence: fake dating between a lesbian girl and her gay BFF, and she falls in love with his twin sister.

I really liked it and it read really smooth and quick, although the premise was that of a bigoted family it wasn't too heavy on that, except on the last part. Speaking of which, I wish a few things had been handled a bit differently, but all in all I'm satisfied.

TW: accidental outing, general bigotry and homophobia
Profile Image for Loek Krancher.
1,042 reviews67 followers
August 25, 2019
Absolutely loved it!

They just have to keep playing the game and only for a few weeks. It shouldn't be that hard! Will Reagan be able to handle this? Falling for her was not part of the deal. The teasing touches, the sideway glances, the blushing and the banter, it made it all difficult to hold on to their lie. I Love how Reagan and Jamie had such a tight-knit bond and always had each others back. I love the family craziness, the humor, the unpredictable circumstances and the complicated situations that leads them to love. This book was beyond my expectations. It was fascinating and left me in awe. Highly recommend!
Profile Image for Jacob Proffitt.
3,316 reviews2,158 followers
March 19, 2021
How could I not be intrigued by a fake relationship story where you fall for the twin of your gay best friend? I mean seriously? And this story delivers on all its promises.

It doesn't hurt that Reagan and Charlie were so well-suited to one another. And I don't mean just chemistry—though the chemistry was off-the-charts. I loved seeing them connect and that they had the space (due to fake relationship) to get to know one another first. I was particularly drawn to Reagan and seeing how the support of her family had lead to such a strong sense of herself both as a person and as a lesbian. Plus, she didn't let that give herself permission to be dismissive or careless with the limitations that others experience, not having her advantages.

Which brings me to the main drawback to the story. The Millers are a careless collection of clichés that don't hold together very well except as a foil for Jamie and Charlie and the cause for them remaining closeted. The parents' treatment of their kids is pretty clueless and, well, what's the opposite of nurturing? They're not outright destructive . . . as long as their expectations are being met. Then they get mean. And their mother is kind of disgusting with her outright misogyny and trying to force her children into serving her own emotional needs. It was kind of like Lee figured out the shape her story needed and then pushed the parents into that shape without bothering to flesh them out beyond that scope even as it undermines why Charlie and Jamie would feel obliged to conform to their irrational prejudices.

So this is a solid four stars with me tolerating the sloppy characterization of the Miller background for the sake of the really awesome relationship dynamic between the twins and Reagan. I'm a bit torn on how that manifest in the dark moment when . Which may say more about me than about Reagan, though, so I'm giving that one a pass.

A note about Steamy: There are a handful of explicit sex scenes that very nearly tip this into the higher end of my steam tolerance. But not quite. They're extremely well-done and highlight the intimate arc going from discovery to excitement to comfort and love. I'll admit that the last scene is gratuitous, though, as by then we got the point already.
Profile Image for CLAR.
252 reviews118 followers
February 10, 2020
The dialogues were fun to read at first, but became cringey in some parts. While I did like the general idea of the plot, I can't say I'm a fan of the insta-love that happened. There were also a number of unnecessary dramas that occurred. I thought Jamie was a cool guy, but I hated the fact that he turned out to be a hypocrite when the secret was out. So, that part of him being a dick to his sister and his best friend was awfully uncharacteristic. I knew Mrs. Miller was gonna be an obnoxious woman, but surprisingly, her religious monologues and traditional heteronormative way of thinking were no match to her astounding insensitivity. Inviting over the ex of your son at a time he's introducing his current girlfriend to the family, asking the exes of your children for a triple date with the latter's current/potential partners... I mean, really? I thought Nana's character had a huge potential for some more humor, but sadly, she didn't make much of an appearance.

Anyway, if it weren't for the unnecessary dramas, I would've given this 3 stars.
Profile Image for ᗩᑎᗪᖇᗴᗯ.
522 reviews71 followers
May 5, 2021
All the feels in this one

Fluffy and hot and over too soon. I was happy with the ending but I wish we got to spend more time with Charlie and Reagan on their way there.

4.5 "If it feels right, it probably is" stars. Very recommended.
Profile Image for lov2laf.
714 reviews1,107 followers
June 3, 2021
I ended up liking this book a lot more than I thought I would.

The writing quality was higher than I expected and I enjoyed both of the leads, Reagan and Charlie, quite a bit. We basically get mains that seem to be supermodel beautiful but the author at least built real intimacy between the characters to give the romance a strong foundation after the insta-attraction. Ultimately, our leads had really good chemistry together and put me firmly in their camp to succeed.

The relationship between Reagan and Charlie's brother is also amusing. There's a twist on the fauxmance in the wlw fiction world since Reagan is posing to be the girlfriend to her best male friend. There's a lot of suspense that builds towards how these three get out of their tangle.

The story overall was cute and fun. Recommend.
Profile Image for Margaret.
353 reviews56 followers
September 21, 2019
Detailed score: 3.5 rounded up

Sweet. Fluffy. Predictable. But sometimes you need that, yanno?

If you have KU and feel like a feel good read you could do much worse.
Profile Image for Kexx.
2,338 reviews103 followers
December 5, 2025
A little angst-ridden, but the story carried me all the way through, could get all pretencious, but, nah, have to say I loved it.

Second time round really loved it.
Profile Image for Angie.
677 reviews80 followers
January 9, 2023
I'm starting to think Erica Lee books aren't for me. And I hate to say this because I'm not putting my work out there for people to read and criticize, but the writing quality just isn't there. That's not to say Lee doesn't have potential. I've been intrigued the premise of each and every book of hers I've read, but the execution just isn't good enough. If this were just about grammatical errors (which abound), I would be annoyed for sure, but what bothers me more is the lack of depth of story I'm getting here.

Jamie is 26 years old and hasn't come out to his parents, so he all but forces Reagan, his lesbian best friend, to join him for 5 weeks to stay with his parents for a family reunion because he's told them she's his girlfriend, putting her in the position of lying to people she doesn't even know and forcing her back in the closet. It doesn't help that Jamie's twin sister, Charlie, who Jamie never mentioned (in 6 years of best friendship--how?) is gorgeous and, once Reagan gets to spend more than 5 minutes with her, is pretty much Reagan's dream girl. And for Charlie, who's also in the closet, that feeling is pretty much mutual.

So here's why none of this worked:
1) Jamie is a horrible friend and you can't convince me otherwise. The obnoxious BFF is also a pattern in Erica Lee's writing, and I don't understand why she can't write a healthy best friend relationship, but this isn't it.
2) Jamie is a horrible brother, and I can't reveal why for reasons of spoilers, but he's not a good dude.
3) Charlie and Reagan fall for each other very quickly. Their relationship develops primarily through covert sexual encounters (these aren't explicit in the book), which I just don't love. I want to see romance build, but these two are pretty quickly heading into I Love You Land, when really there's just seemingly lust at play.
4) The whole Miller clan is way over the top homophobic. Look, I'm not suggesting there aren't really terrible homophobic parents who love their children on the condition of heterosexuality, but neither Jamie nor Charlie are teenagers. They are independent adults with good careers who live nowhere near home, so this whole thing felt contrived. And, trust me, as someone who didn't come out to her parents until she was nearly 30, I get how hard coming out is to parents you know won't be accepting of their kid's homosexuality, but this didn't make much sense to me.

I didn't hate this novel, but it honestly wasn't great. And I know this is self-published, so I do feel a little bad about some of the stuff I've written here, but since people are paying to read this, they deserve to know what they're getting into.
Profile Image for Heinerway.
767 reviews98 followers
February 17, 2020
Good story, but not great. I was expecting a lot of funny scenes at the faux-in-laws, but no, it seems the twins were terrified to coming out to their family. In any case, I found this book preferable to the similar K.L. Hughes' "The Wrong McElroy".
Profile Image for Sam.
839 reviews113 followers
June 21, 2022
I enjoyed this cute book.

From the start you can just feel the chemistry between Reagan and Charlie. Reagan agreed to accompany her gay best friend to his family reunion. Turns out Jamie has been telling his family they have been dating for the last six years. Well… what a best friend he is for springing thiamin Reagan a week before the reunion is there. And there is more, his parents are some of the biggest homophobes. So obviously he can’t come out. But what does come out when he is back home is this extreme douchebag, I really didn’t like him to be honest. A douchy, childish character just isn’t for me.
As much as this is a fauxmance, there is the forbidden love and a coming out story of both Charlie and Jamie. You’d think with these subject matters it could be a very angst book, but it isn’t. It’s fun and light, and you are just waiting to see when Charlie and Reagan finally give in and what the blowout would be from there.

What I figured to be the black moment at around 75% turned out to be just a little glitch, the real black moment happened at 88% and I just can’t with that. Also, this all has to do with douchy Jamie and I just can’t deal with him and just stupid things.
Profile Image for Kelly.
387 reviews25 followers
September 2, 2019
3.75 stars, I've read 2 other books by this author & wasn't really a fan. I read the blurb & decided to give her another try. This was a cute faux romance book. Jamie was a star quarterback type who hasn't come out to his conservative parents. He casually mentions his lesbian roommate Reagan is his girlfriend. His parents really want to meet her, he brings her home to the family reunion. His twin sister Charlie is just back having graduated college/med school. Neither sibling hasn't mentioned their proclivities to one another. Jamie believes Charlie is straight. Hijinks ensue, as does a romance.
523 reviews54 followers
February 11, 2020

3.7 stars.
I liked this book, though the beginning was too slow for me and made me put the book away the first time that I started reading it. After reading some new positive reviews on Goodreads I decided to try again and I am glad I did. Because in the end this was a cute story that made me feel good. The main characters were lovely. I also liked the friendship between Jamie and Reagan and how they stood behind each other. The relationship between the two mains was very quick to start and I felt that it lacked enough of a base. That and the apotheosis that could have been more fleshed out made the story a bit thin. All in all though this was a nice, light and sometimes funny read, so 3.7 stars.
Profile Image for Tierney Moore.
Author 14 books93 followers
December 2, 2023
This was a fun forced proximity that sizzled all the way!

Erica Miller is on fine form here, as she always is, I’m finding. She has a way of dealing with a serious subject in a fun and engaging way that keeps the story light-hearted while still underpinned with real-life issues. There is oodles of chemistry here and the sneaking behind the family’s back is neatly constructed. Fun, fun, and fun. I only found this book because I already had the third book in the series on my reading list, not knowing it was the third book in a series. So I was happy to rewind to this series opener. Highly recommended 😀.
Profile Image for Lexxi Kitty.
2,060 reviews478 followers
June 3, 2021

ETA: What I wrote above is probably spoiler-y, so I redid beginning. /ETA

Reagan's long time roommate, Jamie, asked Reagan to be his pretend girlfriend for a family reunion. Reagan loves Jamie like nothing else; and so Reagan agrees. They end up in rural conservative Maryland for Jamie's family reunion.

Reagan, an out and proud lesbian for most of her life, knows Jamie's two living parents would be there, and many aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. She did not know Charlie Miller would be there, though, because her best friend for life, the person she loves more than anyone . . . never told her he had a twin. Then doesn't tell her until they are in the car on the way to the parents house, and then doesn't tell her that Charlie is actually a woman.

There are a lot of things that happen in this book that cause me to kind of rather dislike Jamie. But, eh, whatever.

This book continues my attempt to read more lesbian fiction books (or, w-w books) book by authors I had not, to that point, read before. And, like a few others, I had seen this author's name for a while before I read this one.

Moving away from that . . .

This specific type of pretend relationship is one I've read before, though it is rarer. I mean - I've read a ton of fake pretend relationships of convenience that involve two people who end up finding out, oops, they actually love each other. I'm leaving genders out of this here paragraph. This is also not the first one wherein the love interest turns out to be either a family member of the person they are pretending to be involved with, or something like the best friend (there-upon creating a "cheating? is there cheating here?" vibe - and yes, that does come up in this book; namely in . . . um, can't say, spoiler-y

As noted, this is a rarer pretend relationship, though I've this vague feeling I've read a book that had a very similar plot line (completely different group of people, just very similar plot line).

Right, so, gave this high rating. So....

I'm currently reading a laugh out loud book at the moment, so I can't actually recall if this book here had much in the way of humor. I know I liked the two main characters well enough, and kind of began to dislike Jamie.

Um . . . I liked the book, it was super fast and easy to read. I'll probably read another book by this author. Eventually. I've looked at some of the other book descriptions, though, and there seems to be a communist theme [eta: OMG! COMMUNISM!!! hehehe stupid autocorrect; a common theme not a communist theme, bah], one that I do not particularly go out of my way to read (off hand I do not recall what that theme is now that I write this review, heh, I could look but . . . I lazy).

I was about 99% certain the below quote would be, more or less, uttered by the person who uttered it. For reasons.


Rating: 4.66

June 2 2021
Profile Image for pipsqueakreviews.
588 reviews505 followers
November 12, 2020
This is a romance story as much as it is a coming out story about a lesbian who fell in love with her gay best friend's lesbian twin sister while pretending to be her gay best friend's straight girlfriend.

This was a good read. I could feel the almost instant attraction between Reagan and Charlie and was waiting for them to take the next step with each other. At the same time, I was dreading the fall out with the family, which I knew from the beginning would somehow be explosive. So I was literally flipping the pages with anticipation and dread all at the same time.

Who I didn't like was really Jamie who was incredibly childish and such a coward.
Profile Image for a.
1,303 reviews
September 23, 2019
3.5 stars

Cute but not nearly as good or captivating as "Sunsets and Shades". I do like the premise of the story and how original it was but I got bored a lot which really sucked.
Profile Image for tappkalina.
722 reviews532 followers
December 13, 2020
I wanted to read this for so long. And I liked it.
As a character driven reader, the characters weren't developed enough for me, but it was a really cute romance story.
Profile Image for Starsandsun18.
258 reviews1 follower
August 28, 2019
A nice quick read. You already know what will happen but I can still stop reading. Both MCs are likable. Chemistry is there. Attraction at first sight.
Charlie (Charlotte) and Jamie are fraternal twins, raised in a very conservative family.
Jamie invited Reagan (her best friend) to come with him and pretend to be his long time girlfriend.
As you already guess, Jamie is gay and so is Reagan.


What I like about this book is I bought their reasons to their very decisions or attitude.
Like Jamie, somewhere is the book I was pissed at him but I do get where his coming from for acting like that.
I can also feel that both MCs are really in love.



Profile Image for F..
311 reviews15 followers
January 7, 2020
Closeted Jamie asks his best friend - very our lesbian - Reagan to accompany him as his fake girlfriend to his conservative family reunion. As soon as Reagan and Jamie’s straight *cough twin sister Charlie set eyes on each other lust is in the air.
This is a really fluffy puffy tale of ogling, lusting, comical farce, sex and love and dramatic coming outs.
Free on KU and a quick and entertaining read that is fun and sweet.
Profile Image for XR.
1,980 reviews106 followers
August 28, 2019
This was good and I liked the unexpected 'happy' ending, considering. Families are so weird to one another sometimes... why's it so easy to hurt the ones most closest to you?
Profile Image for John Gilbert.
1,389 reviews217 followers
May 14, 2021
Nice romance.
Two best friends, long time roommates, both gay. He convinces her to come home to meet his parents and pretend they are a couple. She meets his twin sister. All the drama proceeds from there.
Too drawn out for sure, but it had it's moments. Not when their lips 'collide' though, hardly romantic in any way, shape or form.
Ok
Profile Image for Lindsay.
1,406 reviews265 followers
March 2, 2020
Reagan Cooper is an out lesbian who lives with her gay best friend Jamie Miller. Jamie has invited Reagan to go to his weeks-long family reunion, but leaves it until the last minute to reveal that he's not out to his family and that his family thinks that she's his girlfriend. In fact, they've thought that for literally years. Not willing to leave him in the lurch, Reagan plays along, all of which becomes really hard when she starts sparking off of Jamie's twin sister Charlie. Who turns out to to also not be out to her parents.

Either a long novella or an extremely short novel, this one feels like teetering on the edge of disaster for the majority of it. Half the interest is in seeing just how the house of cards is going to come crashing down, and whether all the relationships at risk are going to survive the fallout.

617 reviews21 followers
September 8, 2019
This one is about a fake relationship between Reagan and her best male friend and roommate Jamie. He asks her to go to his home town for a month to attend his family reunion. He is not out to his family because they are very conservative and homophobic.

So I don’t want to give away anymore about the storyline. Just know this was a good read. I felt the writing was a little choppy. Despite that, I am glad I read this one. The chemistry between the two MCs was instant. The sex was good too. I am not sure about the background of the author but she has potential.

I give this one 3.5 stars
Profile Image for Joon.
93 reviews6 followers
November 27, 2021
Competing between siblings and coming out in conservative families are the crucial issues here. A potential reader might assume it is YA literature. However, the characters here are much more than 20, sensitive, caring, and respectful towards extended families. At the same time, they are struggling to achieve their happiness without hurting devoted people.

Absorbing story with much deeper thoughts that remain afterwards.
3,5
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