My Big Fat Fake Marriage

A Novel

By: Charlotte Stein

Narrated by: Imogen Wilde

Something has to give... Could it be her heart?

Connie has always distrusted nice guys. In her experience, they’re just waiting to reveal some horrible secret. And then she meets big, adorable, Henry Samuel Beckett—editor extraordinaire, lover of bow ties, sweet and so cheery she struggles to believe he’s real.

Until Henry Samuel Beckett—or Beck, as he’s known to most—tells her the secret underneath his sunny surface: He’s been single all his life. But in a moment of panic, he’s told everyone at his publishing house that he’s married. And when Connie, an aspiring writer herself, can’t help defending him, she ends up being the fake wife he doesn’t actually have.

When they head off on a writing retreat, surrounded by people convinced this must be a ruse, both of them can't help but agree. Until they share their first kiss, their first touch, their first time in only one bed. Side by side, every night, as the simmering tension builds…Connie starts to wonder if this might be real after all.

A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin’s Press.

©2025 Charlotte Stein (P)2025 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

"Excellent writing. Beck and Connie are wonderful, delightful characters, and their romance will keep readers turning the pages."—Library Journal, starred

“Spicy scenes scorch the page in this high-heat rom-com from Stein… there’s more than enough here to entertain.”—Publishers Weekly

Worth the Audible Credit

This is the second rom com I've read by this author, and just like the first it had me laughing and blushing in turns. Very steamy, but also a touching story with well developed characters and witty dialogue.

Narration was top-notch. This was just an overall enjoyable read. Thank you, Thank you!

Chatty as hell, but worth it

This book is a quirky, lolling, ride. It gives those chick litty vibes, only with more heart AND EXPLICIT SEX. ding ding ding, I was totally sold.

Setup: (in London) the heroine Connie/Hazel/Hazy is a wary, slightly neurotic copywriter who lives next-door to the hero Beck; a dorky, fashion challenged American, who is a book editor and a cinnamon roll. His sweet, nerdy, Ned Flanders-esque nature makes him an easy mark for vicious people, specifically one of his co-workers. One day the heroine witnesses it and steps in to rescue him, and yadda yadda yadda ends up his fake wife at a writer's retreat. Which leads to a forced proximity/single bed situation. Which leads to trust. Then sexcapades. Then love.

Ngl, this book is pretty plotless. It's more about a slooooooow sex-calation. I did occasionally wish the heroine would ZIP IT so we could just enjoy the budding intimacy, but all in all her incessant thoughts were amusing. Is it just me, or did everyone think of Rob Delaney when reading this hero?  He’s a 6’3 American expat, living in Britain, who often sports a large dark 70s moustache, is more than occasionally goofy, and loves Ishiguro 🤔. Don’t ask me how I know all that, I’ve only seen him in one show. 

So sweet 💗

Omg! This story is so sweet and cute I really enjoy it. Looking for someone to love and to love you back that way you are with all your broken pieces is something that a lot of us are looking for and is not easy to find. 😻