Fake Dating 5 | KU edition
Bezos can huff farts, but I do love Kindle Unlimited's offerings
If you like the fake dating trope, this is the newsletter for you, because this is our fifth (and by no means last) roundup of offerings. Now that we’re this deep into what’s become a really common trope, though, I gotta work a bit harder to find new dimensions of curating them, just to keep things fresh. So this week I’m specifically recommending books with fake dating at the center that are all available (at least at the time of writing) on Kindle Unlimited. Most of my eBook habit is split between Libby (shout out to the Burbank Public Library) and Kindle Unlimited, and I’ve yet to run out of books for more than a day! The following three books are also all just random browsing finds- I was just browsing through what KU had to offer and at different times these three popped up for me and I decided to give them a try. Then I read them, loved them, and read absolutely everything else these authors had written. So let’s explore!
Housekeeping: I’m taking next week off for Thanksgiving, so hopefully these three books (and the 100+ I’ve recommended previously) will keep you company as the days get shorter and cozier. I’ll see you in December, and as ever, I’m thankful for all of you!
Reluctantly Yours by Erin Hawkins. Fake dating that begins with blackmail? Yes please. In one corner of this enemies to lovers tale, we have Chloe, an aspiring editor and current editorial assistant to the queen of book publishing. She’s so close to getting a shot at the career she’s always dreamed of, in spite of her less-than-ideal, less-than-glamorous status quo, if she can just pay her dues a bit longer. But all that becomes endangered when she fails to confirm the reservation for her best friend’s bachelorette party and makes a last minute pivot… to her out of town boss’s penthouse apartment. No one will ever know!
Except… in the other corner, we have Barrett, Chloe’s boss’s son and the businessman trying to keep the whole media empire he inherited from his father afloat, who catches Chloe in the act. He makes her a deal- he’ll keep this indiscretion quiet from his mother so as not to blow her shot at a promotion, if she’ll pretend to be his girlfriend in order to woo a business deal into reality (classic Too Buttoned Up Boy whose old-fashioned potential business partner wants to see settle down, I’m such a sucker for this). She agrees, aaaaand, we’re off!
There’s also a weirdly cute (and eventually very spicy) Wordle-related running bit, a “you can’t live here, you’re coming home with me” scene, and a supposedly emotionally closed off man who is in fact the ideal caretaker when a manicure goes wrong. The writing/dialog in this book wasn’t always the best, but the overall story, as well as the chemistry between these characters, made it a super fun read.
Rating: 4/5
How hot? 🔥🔥🔥🔥
First Down by Grace Reilly. For many reasons, Bex, a college student resigned to her fate keeping her mother’s diner afloat despite loving photography, has no interest in athletes. No interest in dating much either. Not least of which because her cheating ex is on the football team and has not taken their breakup well. James, a college athlete with a straight shot to the NFL if he can survive his senior year drama-free, has his own reasons to be wary of relationships. What he needs is to keep his head down, and pass his classes.
He’s struggling in the class he shares with Bex, and when he finally convinces her that he’s got a real need for a tutor and no interest in taking no for an answer, she counters with a surprising offer of her own- he pretends to date her to keep her ex off her back. They both have a lot to lose on every side of this fake relationship, but, surprise surprise, they also have a lot to gain.
If you enjoy new adult romances, sports romances, and stories about the unique ways family pressure and the world’s expectations can try to force us into a box if we let them, this is the book (and the series) for you!
Rating: 4.25/5
How hot? 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Go Fake Yourself by Elle Maxwell. Holy meta, Batman! As soon as I saw the synopsis for this book, I ran not walked to make it my next read. Successful romance author Victoria Trulette is out of ideas, so she does what any eccentric rich romance author would do and starts a human experiment. She hires Audrey, a down-on-her-luck fan, and Walker, an aspiring entrepreneur, to fake date while she observes from a distance in the hopes it’ll spark some inspiration. There’s $20k in it if they can make it the full two months of the experiment, and no pressure to actually fall for one another (which is what Victoria is testing). There’s just, you know, an apartment wired to the gills with listening devices and cameras and a grueling schedule of outings they must participate in with the express purpose of getting them to fall in love.
Audrey and Walker both need the money and the time to prepare themselves for what comes next in both their lives, though, so they agree. And Victoria is relentless and won’t let them take the easy roads. There’s only one bed, and there will be no sleeping on the floor or on the couch. They have to lie to their friends and family. And they have to keep a journal of how it’s all going to be sent directly to Victoria every day.
It’s crazy. It’ll never work. And yet….
This book was extremely fun, a fresh, meta take on a trope I know some people are tired of but that I adore, with lots of shenanigans and heartbreak. Extremely excited for what Elle Maxwell puts out next! (also, having written this review several months after reading this book, I’ve just re-downloaded it because it’s that good)
Rating: 4.5/5
How hot? 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Next time (after Thanksgiving), I’ll be recommending some steamy opposites attract stories!
What should I be reading next? Let me know in the comments!