title: Can't Help Faking in Love
author: Swati Hedge
publisher: Dell
publication date: February 11, 2025
pages: 272
peppers: 2 (on this scale)
warnings: none
summary: Harsha's annoying, competitive cousin is getting married and when she sees Harsha talking with a man at a bar, she assumes the man is Harsha's boyfriend. Unfortunately, Harsha's family-approved-type boyfriend has just dumped her, and she's talking with her favorite barista, Veer. To avoid the embarrassment of explaining, Harsha pretends Veer is the boyfriend and ends up paying him to play along for the next six weeks. Veer needs money to pay for his brother's tuition, so he has incentive to make this lie believable.
tropes:
- fake dating
- competitive cousins
- rich girl trying to make it on her own
- poor boy helping his family
- mean relatives
- sweet auntie, best friend, work buddies
what I liked:
- both main characters
- believable timeline
- family event scenes
- clothes shopping
- sparks without flames (closed-door sweetness)
what I didn’t like: n/a
overall rating: 5 (of 5 stars)