Love and Deception: 7 Fake Dating Book Recommendations for Teens

Liz Buxbaum’s mom died when Liz was in fifth grade, and it’s tough to face senior year rites of passage like shopping for a prom dress and choosing a college without her. Liz’s mom loved romantic comedies, so Liz watches them to connect with her mom even after her death. She’s developed her own quirky style from them, she assembles the perfect soundtrack for every event in her life, and she’s confident that her own happy ending is right around the corner when her childhood crush, Michael, moves back to the neighborhood.

Unfortunately, Liz doesn’t have any classes with Michael, so she works out an arrangement with her neighbor and nemesis, Wes: he’ll help her get connected to Michael, and she’ll give up her claim on the parking spot they’ve been fighting over for months. When a miscommunication leads to people thinking Liz and Wes are a couple, fake dating becomes part of her strategy to win Michael over.

And yet, much to Liz’s dismay, Wes may not be the annoying boy-next-door she thought he was, and the longer they date, the more she starts to realize he might be the romantic comedy suitor she’s been waiting for. In true rom-com fashion, plenty of disasters ensue, but in the end, this is a satisfying story that we’re sure many of your students will love.

Karina Ahmed’s parents are strict. And they’re much stricter on her than on her brother Samir, the perfect Bangladeshi son who wins all sorts of science awards they can brag about to their friends. They’ve decided Karina will be a doctor, even though she longs to study English instead.

When her parents go out of the country for 28 days, Karina is looking forward to a few pressure-free weeks. But when her English teacher assigns her to tutor Ace Clyde, infamous for not caring about anything or anyone, in preparation for the upcoming New York Regents Exams, Karina’s desire for a drama-free month goes right out the window.

Ace is not interested in tutoring, despite Karina’s best efforts, and when he tells his super-wealthy dad that Karina is his girlfriend (not his tutor), she gets caught up in a fake dating plot that makes her anxiety-filled life even more stressful. Of course, it turns out there’s more to Ace than she thought, and she finds herself falling for him, which is definitely not going to go over well with her parents when they return. But for 28 days . . .

We’re here for the romance between Ace and Karina, of course, but what really gave the book its depth and heart was its look at family dynamics and anxiety. Yes, Karina is counting down the days until her parents return, but she also counts down from ten to manage her anxiety, a challenge she grapples with throughout the book. We also watch her navigate the frustrations with her family dynamics and eventually build up the courage to be honest with her parents about what she wants for her future.

We loved Bethany Greene. She’s smart and funny, she’s her school’s star basketball player despite her secret hatred of the sport (she can’t admit that to her two NBA-loving moms, after all), and she’s convinced there’s something undateable about her after she gets rejected twice in the same day for Homecoming.

Jacob Yeun was perfectly content sticking to himself and working on his films, but when he got super hot over the summer, he suddenly became ultra dateable . . . until he got dumped twice in two months.

When Bethany’s friend pairs the two of them up as Homecoming dates, they get the idea to fake date as practice for the real thing. They’ll both get more comfortable with dating and coach each other to figure out what on earth they’re both doing wrong. Sounds like the perfect plan, right?

Well, sure. Until, you guessed it, they fall for each other, keep it to themselves, and ultimately crash and burn when the hottest basketball star on campus wants to date Bethany for real. 

The relationship between Bethany and Jacob is super sweet, and we think their awkwardness as supposed late bloomers is something many of our students can relate to. Popular culture paints teens as ultra good at dating when the reality is that they’re a lot more like Bethany and Jake, just trying to figure it out as they go.

Scottie Zajac is not over her ex, even though everyone seems to think she’s better off without Tally. When Tally switched schools and dumped her, Scottie was devastated, and when her basketball team loses embarrassingly to Tally’s, it’s a lot to handle.

Things only get worse when, upset by their encounter, Scottie gets into a fender bender on her way out of the school parking lot with Irene, her school’s head cheerleader and Scottie’s personal nemesis. When the girls’ moms decide Scottie and Irene can carpool while Irene’s car is in the shop, neither girl is happy.

The school’s fascination with the pairing, however, gives Scottie the idea to fake date Irene and make Tally jealous, an idea Irene (who hasn’t officially come out at school) goes along with when Scottie offers to pay for her car repairs. Naturally, drama ensues, but, of course, the extra time together leads the girls to understand each other in new ways.

But Tally is still out there, and when she causes trouble for the pair, Scottie has to finally deal with her heartbreak and grief to move on. The story is light and frothy, but we really appreciated the inclusion of Scottie’s relationship grieving process: it’s painful but realistic, and we appreciate the all-too-true acknowledgement that she has to do the hard work of grieving before she can move on to a healthy relationship. Gaining a stronger understanding of the messiness of emotions is something all of our students can benefit from, and we loved seeing Scottie’s family come alongside her in the process.

Jonah Collins and Dylan Ramirez hate each other. Yet because they’re in the same friend group, they’re forced to spend way too much time together, and their friends are obsessed with the idea that they’d make a perfect couple. When Jonah passes out in Dylan’s bed after a party and their friend group finds out, the boys decide to pretend to date for a few months before staging a breakup, in hopes that their friends will finally leave them alone. Jonah’s never been in a relationship before, so it will also give him some good practice for the real thing.

Alternating between the two boys’ perspectives, we learn quickly that, while the boys think they have nothing in common (Dylan is the “arrogant and spoiled golden boy” while Jonah always has to have the spotlight on him), they’re both wrestling with painful realities. Dylan’s isolated from his parents and older brother and plagued by panic attacks. Jonah’s alcoholic father has essentially left Jonah to provide for his two younger sisters, and Jonah is determined to keep anyone from finding out and calling Child Protective Services.

As the boys get hints of these deeper issues, we see them soften toward the other’s struggles, develop genuine empathy for one another, and learn to support each other through the challenges. When Jonah’s struggle becomes too big to ignore, however, Dylan has to decide whether to get help or follow Jonah’s wishes to keep things quiet, potentially risking the growing relationship between them.
Ultimately, it’s a story of healing and broken families, and it’s a powerful reminder that teenagers are still teenagers, not meant to carry the world on their shoulders. We loved watching the boys work through their messes and learn to accept help. We think many students will enjoy the story as well.

Do give the first chapter a scan before reading aloud as part of a First Chapter Friday since there’s quite a bit of profanity in the book, and be aware that one “open-door” sex scene at the end may make the novel more appropriate for older readers.

Eliza Lin has moved a lot, so she doesn’t quite know what “home” feels like, and most of her relationships fade away over time. Now she and her parents are living in Beijing, and she’s attending an international school.

When she’s assigned to write a personal essay, she has no interest in sharing her real life with her teacher and classmates, so she crafts a beautiful essay about how she fell in love with her boyfriend. Too bad she doesn’t actually have a boyfriend, which becomes a huge problem when her essay goes viral and the world is desperate to hear more about her relationship.

Since Eliza is determined to become a writer and going viral has landed her a dream internship, she convinces her classmate Caz Song, a famous Chinese actor, to fake a relationship with her in exchange for writing his college essays.

Despite the fact that Caz thinks Eliza’s overplanning is ridiculous, Eliza’s finally feeling noticed and connected at her new school. Can the two of them maintain their fake relationship until Eliza’s internship ends? And what do they do when things start to feel a lot more real between them?

We enjoyed Liang’s charming romance, and we think your students will enjoy it as well.

We’ve shared our love of Lara Jean and Peter Kavinsky before, but how could we compile a list of novels with a fake dating storyline without referencing the genre’s newest classic?

When Lara Jean’s secret letters to allll her crushes (written to get over her feelings) get mailed out, she’s mortified. Especially since one of her crushes also dated her older sister, and she is not ready to deal with that. So when the school’s most popular lacrosse star, Peter Kavinsky approaches her to discuss his letter, she finds out that he needs a plan to make his ex-girlfriend (school mean girl Genevieve) jealous. Fake dating ensues.

Lara Jean has always been more comfortable with the fantasy of romance than the real thing, but as she and Peter get to know each other, she starts to come out of her shell and realize, perhaps, letting her feelings be known isn’t the worst thing.