LESSONS IN FAKING

Desperate for her twin brother’s attention, college student Athalia Pressley decides to fake date her new tutor—who happens to be her brother’s nemesis.

Since her parents’ deaths seven years ago, Athalia Pressley and her twin brother, Henry, have grown further apart than ever. Her brother represents everything their billionaire parents stood for: He has amazing grades like their statistician mother and is a soccer prodigy like their father, while Athalia is...not so much. Though both Henry and Athalia attend Hall Beck University, their parents’ alma mater, the only time Henry speaks to his sister is when he’s chiding her for doing something wrong. Athalia’s latest mistake is getting assigned Dylan McCarthy Williams, Henry’s archenemy, as her statistics tutor. Henry’s hatred for Dylan stems from three major offenses: McCarthy stole Henry’s soccer jersey number, his spot as captain of the soccer team, and, allegedly, his ex-girlfriend Paula. Working with Dylan isn’t Athalia’s idea of a good time, but Prof. Shaw threatened to fail her unless she receives weekly statistics tutoring from Hall Beck’s star athlete and straight-A student. She also can’t help but notice another positive about her proximity to Dylan—Henry’s new and undivided attention. Athalia wants to keep Henry observant, and what better way to do that than by dating his nemesis? Dylan agrees to fake-date Athalia for the semester (to enjoy watching Henry squirm) as long as they set a few ground rules, the main one being that they won’t fall in love. But as the lines between fake-dating and genuine interest start to blur, can Athalia and Dylan deny that there’s something real between them? This college romance follows the traditional fake-dating and enemies-to-lovers tropes, offering an appropriate amount of spice and heart. Readers can easily fall for Dylan’s well-mannered teasing and charm, but Athalia’s character leaves a lot to be desired; outside of inciting her brother’s jealousy, her moments of spark are rare.

A fake-dating romance with a bland female main character.