The Fiancée Farce: A Novel

Lambda Literary award winner and national bestselling author Alexandria Bellefleur returns with a steamy sapphic rom-com about a quiet bookseller and a romance novel cover model who agree to a modern-day marriage of convenience...
Tansy Adams’ greatest love is her family’s bookstore, passed down from her late father. But when it comes to actual romance... Tansy can’t get past the first chapter. Tired of her stepfamily’s questions about her love life, Tansy invents Gemma, a fake girlfriend inspired by the stunning cover model on a bestselling book. They’ll never actually meet, so what’s the harm in a little fib? Yet when real-life Gemma crosses Tansy’s path, her white lie nearly implodes.
Gemma van Dalen is a wild child, the outcast of her wealthy family, and now the latest heir to Van Dalen Publishing. But the title comes with one tiny condition: she must be married in order to inherit. When Gemma discovers a beautiful stranger has been pretending to date her for months, she decides to take the charade one step further—and announces their engagement.
Gemma needs a wife to meet the terms of her grandfather’s will and Tansy needs money to save her struggling bookstore. A marriage could be mutually beneficial, if they can fool everyone into thinking it’s a love match. Unexpected sparks fly under forced proximity as Tansy and Gemma play the role of affectionate fiancées, and suddenly the line between convenient arrangement and real feelings begins to blur. But the scheming Van Dalen family won’t give up the company without a fight, and Gemma and Tansy’s newfound happiness might get caught in the fallout...
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Community Reviews
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 1/2 out of ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
YALL, I can’t believe it took me a month to read this. I fell into a big reading slump for like 90% of June (I am #teachertired and was ready for summer break, both mentally and physically).
But! I am so stinking happy I have my kindle because being able to bring this book with me essentially wherever I go (including to the outer banks on vacation and to the many places I dogsat at) because I always have something to read. And yeah, I freakin’ loved this book. Shocker! (/sarcasm)
I hate that I’m such a sucker for a good queer rom com with LOVABLE characters. But, I expect nothing less from Alexandria Bellefleur, high key. Fake dating (engagement) trope? Check! But I loved the spin that this book took on that trope and I was rooting for Tansy and Gemma (our main characters) LITERALLY the whole time. What I loved about this book is that so many of the side characters had their moment to grow on top of watching Tansy and Gemma grow and change and develop. This is a great, fun summer read if youre a fan of queer-centered rom-coms!!
And on a side tangent, where on planet Earth can I find my own real life Gemma Van Dalen? Pls lmk.
YALL, I can’t believe it took me a month to read this. I fell into a big reading slump for like 90% of June (I am #teachertired and was ready for summer break, both mentally and physically).
But! I am so stinking happy I have my kindle because being able to bring this book with me essentially wherever I go (including to the outer banks on vacation and to the many places I dogsat at) because I always have something to read. And yeah, I freakin’ loved this book. Shocker! (/sarcasm)
I hate that I’m such a sucker for a good queer rom com with LOVABLE characters. But, I expect nothing less from Alexandria Bellefleur, high key. Fake dating (engagement) trope? Check! But I loved the spin that this book took on that trope and I was rooting for Tansy and Gemma (our main characters) LITERALLY the whole time. What I loved about this book is that so many of the side characters had their moment to grow on top of watching Tansy and Gemma grow and change and develop. This is a great, fun summer read if youre a fan of queer-centered rom-coms!!
And on a side tangent, where on planet Earth can I find my own real life Gemma Van Dalen? Pls lmk.
Tansy and Gemma’s characters are amazing. Their love story made me cry, but I do cry easy. I think I may just read everything that Alexandria Bellefleur puts out into the world because she is a breathtaking author who gives her characters such depth that I can’t help but connect with them.
Lovely book. Nice relationship building. I would re-read this