Best Fake Dating Books
By the Ember team · Updated August 2026
Fake dating books deliver the perfect romance setup: characters who agree to pretend for practical reasons, forced proximity that makes the charade convincing, and the slow realization that the feelings they are performing have become terrifyingly real. These 17 books span contemporary, sports, paranormal, and queer romance, all with emotional payoffs that justify the lie.
The best fake dating books do not rush the transition from pretend to real. They let the arrangement breathe, give both characters reasons to maintain the facade, and make every staged kiss and scripted touch land heavier than it should. When the walls finally break, the vulnerability feels earned.
Short answer
The best fake dating books include The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood, The Spanish Love Deception by Elena Armas, The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren, Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston, and The Deal by Elle Kennedy. Heat levels range from closed door to spicy, settings span PhD labs to hockey rinks to royal palaces, and every recommendation delivers the slow-burn payoff of a charade that becomes real.
Key takeaways
- Fake dating books work because the trope guarantees forced proximity and slow-burn tension
- The best examples give both characters real stakes in maintaining the charade, not flimsy excuses
- Heat levels vary widely, from sweet YA romances to explicit adult contemporary
- The emotional payoff comes when characters stop pretending and admit what was real all along
Love the tension of fake dating but want it written for you? Lana Ferguson, Elena Armas, and Ali Hazelwood prove the trope works when the stakes are personal. Ember writes full-length romance novels starring you, built from your real relationship dynamics. Pick fake dating as your trope, tell us about the person you are navigating this with, and we will write the slow burn where the performance becomes the most honest thing you have ever done.
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Contemporary fake dating romance
Office arrangements, wedding dates gone wrong, public image cleanup, and academic charades. Contemporary fake dating books ground the trope in relatable stakes like family pressure, career optics, or ex-boyfriend revenge.
The Love Hypothesis
Ali Hazelwood
A third-year PhD student fake-dates a notoriously cold professor to convince her best friend she has moved on. The lab scenes crackle with tension, the fake-relationship rules keep breaking, and what starts as a favor turns into something neither of them planned for.
Heat: Warm
The Spanish Love Deception
Elena Armas
Catalina needs a wedding date to prove to her ex she has moved on. Her office nemesis Aaron volunteers. Their fake-dating arrangement turns into weeks of forced proximity in Spain where every argument lands softer than it should and every touch lingers too long.
Heat: Warm
The Unhoneymooners
Christina Lauren
Olive and her nemesis Ethan are the only two people at a wedding who do not get food poisoning, so they inherit the honeymoon trip to Hawaii. They pretend to be newlyweds for the free resort perks, and the tropical proximity makes the charade dangerously convincing.
Heat: Warm
Happy Place
Emily Henry
Harriet and Wyn broke up months ago and told no one. At their friend group's annual cottage week, they agree to keep pretending they're together so they don't ruin the trip for everyone else. The act keeps slipping, and what's underneath it never stopped being real.
Heat: Warm
Boyfriend Material
Alexis Hall
Luc needs a respectable fake boyfriend to clean up his public image. Oliver, a stuffed-shirt lawyer, agrees to play the part. Their arrangement is strictly professional until the pretend hand-holding starts feeling less like acting and more like hope.
Heat: Warm
The Proposal
Jasmine Guillory
After a humiliating public proposal rejection, Nikole is rescued by a stranger named Carlos who pretends to be her boyfriend to get her out of the stadium. The fake relationship they concoct for the cameras turns into real dates, real feelings, and real complications.
Heat: Warm
You Deserve Each Other
Sarah Hogle
Naomi and Nicholas are engaged but secretly miserable. Instead of calling off the wedding, they compete to see who can make the other break up first. Their sabotage is petty, hilarious, and somehow reminds them why they fell in love in the first place.
Heat: Warm
Act Like It
Lucy Parker
A West End actress is paired with her arrogant co-star in a fake relationship to rehabilitate his reputation. The stage chemistry was already there, but pretending to date off-stage turns every performance into something neither of them can fake anymore.
Heat: Warm
Practice Makes Perfect
Sarah Adams
A small-town florist and a grumpy baseball star agree to fake-date so she can make her ex jealous and he can improve his public image. The arrangement is temporary, the feelings are not, and the small-town gossip makes backing out impossible.
Heat: Warm
The Soulmate Equation
Christina Lauren
A DNA-based dating app matches single mom Jess with the founder of the company at 98% compatibility. They agree to fake-date for publicity, but the science turns out to be right in ways neither of them expected.
Heat: Warm
Fake dating sports romance
Athletes need good PR, tutoring deals come with conditions, and marriage of convenience plots get competitive when both characters are used to winning. Sports romance amplifies fake dating by adding public scrutiny, locker room banter, and physical chemistry that neither character can ignore.
The Deal
Elle Kennedy
Garrett, a hockey captain, needs a tutor. Hannah agrees to help if he makes her crush jealous by fake-dating her. Their arrangement is transactional until the study sessions turn into real conversation and the fake hand-holding feels like the only honest thing in their lives.
Heat: Spicy
The Dating Plan
Sara Desai
Daisy needs a husband to access her trust fund. Her childhood friend Liam offers a marriage of convenience that comes with a strict contract and no feelings allowed. The plan works perfectly until it does not.
Heat: Warm
Fake dating in fantasy and paranormal romance
Fake fated-mate bonds, arranged political marriages, and magical contracts that require a performance. Fantasy and paranormal settings let fake dating carry supernatural stakes, where breaking the charade might mean losing magic, kingdoms, or immortal standing.
The Fake Mate
Lana Ferguson
Mackenzie is a nurse desperate to keep her job at a supernatural hospital, so she lies about having a fated mate. When her boss demands to meet him, ex-NHL player Noah agrees to fake the bond. Their chemistry is real even if the mate claim is not.
Heat: Spicy
Queer fake dating romance
Coming out to family, cleaning up political scandals, and small-town revenge plots. Queer fake dating books add layers of identity, visibility, and vulnerability that make the charade feel riskier and the payoff more tender. For readers who want rivalry to lovers alongside fake dating, see our best enemies to lovers books.
Red, White & Royal Blue
Casey McQuiston
The First Son of the United States and a British prince are forced into a fake friendship after a public feud. The photo ops turn into private texts, the staged appearances become stolen kisses, and the political performance becomes the most real thing in either of their lives.
Heat: Spicy
Delilah Green Doesn't Care
Ashley Herring Blake
Delilah returns to her hometown for a wedding and agrees to fake-date her childhood enemy's best friend to make an ex jealous. The small-town forced proximity and the fake PDA turn something that started as petty revenge into a second chance at belonging.
Heat: Warm
Written in the Stars
Alexandria Bellefleur
Darcy agrees to be her brother's fake girlfriend at a work event, but he sends his best friend Elle instead. The mix-up leads to a fake-dating arrangement where astrology-obsessed Elle and skeptical Darcy discover that chemistry does not care about star signs.
Heat: Warm
To All the Boys I've Loved Before
Jenny Han
When Lara Jean's secret love letters get mailed to her crushes, she panics and fake-dates one of them to cover her tracks. The arrangement is meant to deflect attention, but pretending to be in love with Peter Kavinsky turns out to be the easiest part.
Heat: Closed door
Frequently asked questions
What are the best fake dating books?
The best fake dating books include The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood, The Spanish Love Deception by Elena Armas, The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren, Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston, and The Deal by Elle Kennedy. These books deliver convincing fake relationships, forced proximity, and emotional payoffs when the pretend turns real.
What is the fake dating trope?
The fake dating trope is a romance storyline where two characters pretend to be in a relationship for external reasons such as convincing family, improving public image, making an ex jealous, or accessing inheritance. The charade forces proximity and intimacy until the fake relationship becomes real feelings neither of them planned for.
Why do readers love fake dating books?
Readers love fake dating books because the trope delivers guaranteed forced proximity, slow-burn tension, and the delicious irony of pretending not to have feelings while catching real ones. The external pressure of maintaining the charade creates intimacy that feels earned, and the moment the characters stop pretending is one of the best payoffs in romance.
What is the difference between fake dating and marriage of convenience?
Fake dating involves pretending to be in a romantic relationship, usually for short-term external reasons like family events or public image. Marriage of convenience involves an actual legal marriage, often for practical reasons like inheritance, green cards, or business arrangements. Both involve forced proximity and fake-to-real emotional arcs, but marriage of convenience carries higher legal and social stakes.
Are there fake dating books in fantasy or paranormal romance?
Yes. Fake dating works well in fantasy and paranormal settings. The Fake Mate by Lana Ferguson features a fake fated-mate bond in a werewolf world. Many fantasy romance series include political marriages or arranged courtships that function as elevated fake dating with magical stakes.
What are the best fake dating sports romance books?
The best fake dating sports romance books include The Deal by Elle Kennedy (hockey), Practice Makes Perfect by Sarah Adams (baseball), and The Dating Plan by Sara Desai (marriage of convenience). Sports settings amplify the public performance aspect of fake dating while the athlete's competitive drive translates into chemistry off the field.
The charade, the proximity, the truth.
Ember writes fake dating romance novels built from your real relationship. Tell us who you are navigating this with, pick fake dating as your trope, and we will write the slow burn where the performance becomes the most honest thing you have ever done. For opposites-attract tension, see grumpy sunshine books.
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