CONVERSATION: Recommendations for Fake Relationship Romances
Book Reviews / Conversations / Need A Rec!fake relationship / recommendations / tropes14 Comments
On Monday we discussed the fake relationship and marriage of convenience tropes. In the same email conversation, I asked DA contributors for recommendations and/or dis-recommendations of romances involving fake relationships. Here is what came up.
Layla: Some of my favorite fake relationship romances are Kylie Scott’s Lick (I think it counts because the heroine doesn’t remember the marriage at all, but agrees to try and stay and sort it out, that’s for sure one creative way to get a regular girl and a rockstar together!) and her book Play, where there is a fake relationship that turns into a real one.
Kaetrin: A common reason in contemporaries for a fake relationship/fake date is because one (or both) protagonists do not wish to appear “desperate and dateless” and if there’s an ex present – maybe even getting married (for example, Best Man by Lily Morton) that’s an extra motivator. I’m not sure if it would ever happen in real life but it works for me just fine in fiction.
In The Deal by Elle Kennedy, Hannah and Garrett fake date so that Hannah can catch the eye of her crush. In Yours to Keep by Shannon Stacey and Fix Her Up by Tessa Bailey the reasons boiled down to family dynamics.
Sometimes the need is a professional one – such as in Strange Bedpersons or The Cinderella Deal both by Jennifer Crusie or, more recently, Act Like It by Lucy Parker.
I recently finished (and loved) Nalini Singh’s new book in the Hard Play series, Kiss Hard, and it has a fake relationship to start things off. The couple tell their families what they’re doing and why so there’s no significant deception there and the relationship turns real fairly quickly (which I also liked) but it begins as fake. (I’ve read so many fake relationship books where a significant conflict at the end was the deception the couple had been practicing and the fallout of it but I liked here that Catie and Danny were honest with their families from the start.) In the end the reason for the fake relationship in Kiss Hard was just a little thin I thought but most of the time I see it as a vehicle to get the characters together so I don’t fuss too much about the details if it gets me where I want to go.
Others in a similar vein which worked well for me were A Prince on Paper by Alyssa Cole and First Comes Like by Alisha Rai – both involved fake dating to calm social media gossip and appease the family.
I do have some qualms about the deception involved with a fake dating plot but there are plenty of times when an author makes it work or when the deception is on social media and the people being deceived have no “skin in the game” so it matters less to me. Of course, it all turns out to be real by the end so it works out!
Fake dating in romantic suspense works well for me because there’s often a more compelling reason for the lie. A Lot Like Love by Julie James is an example of this version of the trope.
In Boyfriend by Sarina Bowen, there is a problematic stepbrother and the female lead has reason to want to keep some distance between them. Taking up the offer of a “rent a boyfriend” for Thanksgiving is a safety measure.
And in historicals there are fake relationships too – a couple of my favourites are A Week to be Wicked by Tessa Dare and A Counterfeit Betrothal by Mary Balogh.
Janine: I really liked the fake relationship in A Counterfeit Betrothal but unfortunately, the main storyline (about the reunion of that secondary heroine’s parents) didn’t work for me at all.
Okay, some fake relationship books that come to mind and that I really liked:To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han — This is an #ownvoices YA with a central romance. Lara Jean is a shy sixteen-year-old who gives her whole heart when she gives it—from afar. She’s had five crushes over the years but never enough confidence to tell any boy that she liked him. But she does write unmailed letters to each one to help her move on. One of the boys is her best friend Josh, who her sister recently broke up with. When the letters mysteriously get mailed. Lara Jean can’t let her sister or Josh think she’s crushing on him. So when Peter, another of the five boys, suggests a fake relationship (to make his ex-girlfriend take him back), Lara Jean agrees.
I loved the book for multiple reasons—good writing and audiobook narration, wonderful heroine, sweet romance. But it helped that Lara Jean had a motive with high stakes. Fake dating was also about right for their age so I didn’t feel they were immature. And there were consequences to their deception.
What I Did for a Duke by Julie Anne Long is my favorite book by Long and one of my favorite historical romances. It’s exceptionally well-written, sexy and romantic. Moncrieffe, a duke, thinks he’ll seduce Genevieve to get revenge on her brother, but gets more than he bargained for when she sees through his scheme. Genevieve’s best friend, whom she loves, is days away from proposing to another friend. The proposal’s nearness and the palpability of Genevieve’s heartbreak raise the suspense and stakes. The book also shows that faking romantic feelings can have real fallout and cause real pain to others.
The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory — This light contemporary multicultural romance had a meet-cute when Alexa and Drew, two strangers, ride an elevator and it gets stuck. While they are waiting to be rescued, Drew tells Alexa he badly needs a date to the wedding of his ex (the bride’s sister is determined to seduce him). Alexa agrees.
This is a classic light contemporary take on the trope, the type that usually doesn’t work for me as well as some others, but it did in this case, possibly because it was the first multicultural romance I read with this premise (shame on me), and for me that added some freshness to the story. Opinions were mixed but I enjoyed it. Alexa was a wonderful character, warm, candid, dedicated and likable, and I thought she had a good rapport with Drew.
Jayne: Matzah Ball Surprise is a “need a date for a religious celebration with the family” story but with the twist that it’s Passover and the date is deaf. One I didn’t think of until TinaNoir mentioned it in the comments of the initial conversation post is The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren. So far the only book by that writing duo that has really worked for me.
Jennie: I just remembered a fake dating contemp I liked (I gave it a B+, albeit a low one) – The Dare by Elle Kennedy. The h/h are in college and start a fake relationship to keep the heroine’s bitchy sorority sisters off her back. It worked for me, I think because in New Adult books I expect the stakes to be lower because marriage isn’t the goal. Most of the NA books I’ve read end with an HFN but not marriage and I prefer it that way because the characters are so young.
Kaetrin: Yes, I enjoyed The Dare very much too.
Janine: I also want to mention a fake relationship book that didn’t work for me at all but that many readers love– A Summer to Remember by Mary Balogh. Kit and Lauren enter into a fake engagement so that he won’t be forced into a marriage with Freyja, whom his father wants him to marry in order to patch up tension with a powerful neighboring family. Lauren wants an adventurous, fun summer and Kit promises her that in exchange. I love Balogh’s MOC romances so I couldn’t help but compare A Summer to Remember to them, and because of its lower stakes, it paled in comparison.
It was also more a summer to forget for me. I read it a second time to try to figure out what I was missing because this book was so adored, but not only did the book’s appeal continue to elude me, despite having a good memory for books and reading this one twice, all I can remember is a meeting with the Bedwyns (including the imperious Freyja) and that there’s a swimming scene!
How about you all, readers? What are your favorite (or memorably non-favorite) romances that use the fake relationship trope? If you’ve read any of the books we’ve mentioned, what did you think of them? Share your recommendations with us!
(Come back next week for recommendations of marriage of convenience books.)
Thanks for the great recommendations! My favorite Harlequin Blaze, Ms. Match by Jo Leigh, includes a fake date to an anniversary party. It’s included in my “books to help me out of a reading slump” collection.
@Jenreads: I remember that book! I read it a long time ago. It was fun, and DA Robin loved it, if I remember right. I vaguely recall that the heroine thought she wasn’t attractive relative to the hero. Is that the one?
@Jenreads: Also, do you have any other fake dating recommendations?
I don’t generally like fake dating but there are exceptions. I liked Best Man by Lily Morton that Kaetrin mentioned. The characters the fake dating was aimed at were awful so I didn’t care if they were deceived, although I did wonder why he was bothering to attend the wedding at all.
I also liked Sailor Proof by Annabeth Albert. It’s sort of accidental fake dating. It starts as a single, hot kiss meant to spite a terrible ex and snowballs when family accidentally witnesses it. They keep putting of telling the family and end up in a real relationship.
I can’t really think of any others. I shy away if FD/FR is listed as a trope so unless I stumble across a review that convinces me to try the book or it’s by an author I like, I don’t usually read them.
Janine: Ms. Match has a heroine who doesn’t think she’s attractive enough for the hero (he wants her sister) but she also doesn’t think he’s smart enough for her. That’s a nice switch. I’m sure I discovered the book here. So, thanks for many excellent rereads.
I’d also recommend If I Never Met You” by Mhairi MacFarlane. Her books aren’t really romances until the last 80% but I love them all.
I mentioned in the original post that I am not a huge fan of this trope. I think — sorry blanking on who it was — someone mentioned that part of the issue is the underlying deception at the root of it and I have to agree, I think that is possibly why I am not a huge fan of it.
But… I do know to never say never in romance. Some authors can really work a trope I am not fond of and give me a great story, one that I genuinely love.
Right off the top of my head, I have to agree with @Jennreads that Mhari McFarlane’s IF I NEVER MET YOU is a good one. It is a movie rom-com in book form, definitely hits all the rom-communist beats (even includes a running in the rain scene!). This one involves a heroine who is horrifically dumped by her long time fiance and to make matters worse, they are co-workers so everybody they work with is all up in their business. And since the fiance was a jerk, I am on board with her fake dating a hottie to help save face. One thing I really liked about this was how very good the writing was… very dry British humor. Spiky supporting characters all chock full of some clever wit. Also some deeper themes esp. a subtle feminist message in how women tend to blame themselves for men’s behaviors.
Another recent one I liked is ROCK BOTTOM GIRL by Lucy Score. Now this one is one where, imo, the pretext for fake dating is suuuuuper thin. But the rest of the book is very charming and really quite funny. Great supporting characters and back history for the characters. The heroine is a HS soccer coach who doesn’t know anything about Soccer (think Ted Lasso but with a way more cynical outlook) but she got the job as a favor to her mother. The scenes with the soccer team are really fun.
TinaNoir: Have you read any other MacFarlane books? I think It’s Not You it’s Me has one of the best letters in romance. I love Who’s That Girl too. I guess I’m a fan girl. Waiting for her new book next month has put me in a slump.
I’m going to try the Lucy Score. The ones I’ve read by her have seemed overly long but I’m willing to try anything that gives off Ted Lasso vibes.
@MaryK: That is an interesting twist you describe—the characters that the protagonists are deceiving being so horrible that the reader doesn’t mind. It’s similar to what I said to DiscoDollyDeb about one of the reasons that MOCs don’t seem like fake relationships to me. Portraying their marriage to others as a happy one strikes me as more protective than deceptive, something they have every right to do.
Your description of Sailor Proof reminds me of the 1995 Sandra Bullock / Bill Pullman romantic comedy, “While You Were Sleeping.” This was a charming movie — Bullock’s character has a crush on a stranger and when he’s struck by a car and ends up in a coma, she goes to visit him in the hospital on the pretext that she’s his girlfriend. Pretty soon his whole family thinks she must be, and then he wakes up with amnesia and thinks so too. The lie just keeps mushrooming without her doing much but chickening out of confessing because the more people believe it the guiltier she feels. Meanwhile, she’s falling in love for the brother of her earlier crush. I recommend this movie! I haven’t seen it in years but I’ve heard it holds up.
@Jenreads: Oh yes! I had forgotten the part about how she underestimates his intelligence. That was fresh and different, I agree.
I tried If I Never Met You once but couldn’t get into it. I think her writing style isn’t for me.
@TinaNoir: That was me who said the underlying deception was an issue to me. Another issue I have is that the characters’ motivations for embarking on the fake dating are often not strong enough. Kaetrin said she likes those books where they date to improve bad social media publicity after some scandal—for me that premise is absurd. More often than not it’s not something they’d need to do in real life.
Maybe if they’re being boycotted but not many celebrities are on a large enough scale to make a difference (and when they are it’s usually because of their politics and not their personal life behavior). I boycott Woody Allen but it generally has to reach that level of awful for most people to care enough to withdraw their custom. Moreover, sometimes the characters are in a profession nobody really cares about, like in Act Like It by Lucy Parker. Literally nobody cares about theater actors’ rudeness. It does not affect ticket sales. I would like to see that premise play out in the late 1940s / early 1950s Hollywood studio system, though. When Ingrid Bergman left her husband for Roberto Rossellini, people cared.
I enjoyed today’s post and comments. I am also a fan of Julie James’ A Lot Like Love where the relationship is faked to try to catch a criminal.
@Jenreads: Yes. I really like McFarlane’s stuff. I do think readers who like a lot more immediate romantic spark may find her a bit frustrating. She isn’t exactly slow burn but maybe more delayed gratification if that makes sense? She can be a bit angsty which my angst-o-meter is set to zero these days. I need lighter fare these days. But I do like how she examines toxic relationships. I especially enjoyed HERE’S LOOKING AT YOU where I think she also works another well worn trope pretty well, one where the heroine was an ugly duckling bullied in HS and transforms into a beautiful unrecognizable swan as an adult and runs into her nemesis.
Also I have heard that about Lucy Score’s romances — the length. But, I can’t lie. I am such an old skool romance reader I miss those mass market romances that routinely clocked in at 400+ pages so the length is ok with me. LOL.
Back on topic… I just realized that my examples skewed mostly contemporary but there are some fake betrothal/ fake courting romances in historical that I enjoyed.
Freya and Hallmere’s romance in SLIGHTLY SCANDALOUS starts off that way. He doesn’t want to marry a cousin or something. I like all the Slightly books and I feel like there might even be a faux relationship in one more of them.
Another one that I am definitely planning to re-read soon as it came up in a group discussion recently in one of my Goodreads groups is THE DUKE by Gaelen Foley. The heroine is a courtesan and she and the hero team up to catch a bad guy. They pretend she is his mistress. I remember LOVING this book, but that is about all I remember of the plot. And I was further impressed because at the time it was the first time I’d read a book by Gaelen Foley and had been impressed by how much I enjoyed it and finding a new author to explore.
@TinaNoir: Maybe you’re thinking of Slightly Tempted (Morgan and Gervase’s story)? I think he woos her for revenge at first.
Amanda Quick had a historical with a premise somewhat like the one you describe in The Duke. It’s called Mistress.
@Janine – Yes, I feel like if the party being deceived is horrible then using a fake date as a shield can be justified. It’s one thing to say “I’m going alone, stop trying to set me up” to family but horrible people tend to like being horrible and if someone is gleefully trying to hurt you, by all means protect yourself.
The Wedding date sounds like one where I wouldn’t mind the deception.
@MaryK: Yes, I think you would be fine with the deception in The Wedding Date. Not only is it the wedding of Drew’s ex to one of his best friends, but the ex’s sister has been trying to come on to him since he was with the ex, and now that he’s not, he’s worried (justifiably, it turns out) that she’ll put the moves on him and put him in a position where it’s difficult to reject her.