Fans of the fake relationship romance book trope will fall hard for this book list.
Discover my most favorite fake relationship romance books that you should add to your must read list. It might not have been love at first sight with these couples, but they are so good at faking love that it might just turn real.
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Would you ever agree to a fake relationship?
You know, take on a fake boyfriend or girlfriend or even a fake fiance just to put on the appearance of being in a relationship but in reality you’re anything but?
I LOVE this romance book trope because the love connection between couples often comes out of left field completing blindsiding them – it’s awesome!
Fake relationship romances come in all varieties.
There’s the fake relationship that is started to make someone jealous or to get someone’s attention. Or the fake relationship to improve someone’s imagine or to gain someone money or some sort of status.
Then there’s the fake relationship to appease family members or friends who won’t stop bugging you about finding a mate, or better yet the fake relationship to take to an event so you’ll no longer be the single one out.
Sometimes the fake relationship is necessary to keep one’s job or to keep someone safe. I love any and all reasons that bring two people together for what may be fake from the start but ultimately turns into something more.
If you like fake relationships that involve marriage, then you’ll love my book list of the best marriage of convenience romance books.
These romance books take the fake relationship to the next level, making it official with a real marriage ceremony. The relationship may be fake, but the marriage is real and the couples fall in love AFTER saying “I do.”
The fake relationship romance trope is so much fun to read so I know you’re going to love this book list.
I’ve highlighted a few of the best fake relationship books below that you should put on your must read list. Happy reading!
My Favorite Fake Relationship Romance Books
He’s the hottest player in Major League Baseball, the most notorious playboy in all of Manhattan…And my fake fiancé for the next three months.
Long story short, we got off to a bad start. But when the tabloids interpret our sparring as Drew Maddox “groveling” with a “mystery brunette,” his agent presents us both a proposal: Shacking up as a couple this summer.
It’s an alleged “win-win.” I need to prove to my ex that I’m fine. Drew needs to prove to his team that he’s stable. Hence this fiance thing.
Our fights are real, our kisses are fake, and thanks to the nonstop heat between us, I’m starting to mix up all my signs. But whether it’s real or fake, there’s one thing I do know: I’m already his.
Hothead is definitely one of my most favorite fake relationship romance books and I consider it one of the best romance novels of all time as well!
This is a classic set up for a fake relationship where the bad boy athlete needs to clean up his reputation or he’s at risk of being traded to a new team. She’s recovering from being dumped and isn’t opposed to making her ex jealous so she agrees to the plan.
The chemistry between Drew and Evie is off the charts even while they’re faking it. They are both confident characters who can really pull off a rouse in public but it’s the connection they start to forge in private that makes them so perfect for one another.
I don’t know which I liked more, their witty banter or Drew’s dirty talk. Such a toss up!
This is a must read romance where two people finally trust in love and find the one they are meant to be with forever.
Amazon | Goodreads | My Review
Hannah Wells has finally found someone who turns her on. But while she might be confident in every other area of her life, she’s carting around a full set of baggage when it comes to romance.
If she wants to get her crush’s attention, she’ll have to step out of her comfort zone and make him take notice… even if it means tutoring the annoying, childish, cocky captain of the hockey team in exchange for a pretend date…and it’s going to be oh so good.
All Garrett Graham has ever wanted is to play professional hockey after graduation, but his plummeting GPA is threatening everything he’s worked so hard for.
If helping a sarcastic brunette make another guy jealous will help him secure his position on the team, he’s all for it. But when one unexpected kiss leads to the wildest night of both their lives, it doesn’t take long for Garrett to realize that pretend isn’t going to cut it.
Now he just has to convince Hannah that the man she wants looks a lot like him.
The Deal is such a popular fake relationship romance book because it is one of Elle Kennedy’s best.
The set up of this fake relationship is a mutually beneficial arrangement: Hannah will tutor the failing hockey stud if he helps her get the attention of the football player she’s after.
I love this kind of fake relationship romance where both people realize the one they really want is right in front of them, not the person whose attention they had wanted from the start.
Since Hannah was initially after someone else, I love how she can just be herself and gain some confidence whenever she is with Garrett. Garrett was the playboy not looking for a relationship but neither could resist the other the more they hung out together.
Such a perfect romance book!
Amazon | Goodreads
Broke and desperate, Sugar Ryan has no use for arrogant, bad boy athletes . . . until she’s forced to bargain with one.
If only he knew she was alive. Her mission? Get on this hockey player’s radar any way possible.
Zack Morgan is the king of the ice and the bedroom—but nothing prepares him for the mystery girl who shows up everywhere he does—frat parties, his favorite bar, and finally his front door with an offer he can’t refuse. The only rule in her boyfriend bargain: no falling in love.
But after one (um, two) smoking-hot meetups, he’s done with pretending and vows to make their fake relationship real. Too bad she can’t trust a player with a reputation for breaking hearts.
Will this hockey star score his forever girl or will their boyfriend bargain end in heartbreak?
I seem to be on a roll with fake relationship romances with athletes and Boyfriend Bargain is definitely worth a read!
This time we get Zack, a college hockey player who’s tired of dealing with all the puck bunnies chasing him, so he’s game to take on Sugar’s proposal to pretend date so that she can benefit from his association and get into her favorite law school.
Rules were established for this fake relationship but of course rules are meant to be broken when it comes to love.
Madden-Mills knows how to write amazing new adult romances and create characters who you can’t help but fall for and love all their own. Zack and Sugar are two people deserving of a happily ever after and this book doesn’t disappoint.
Amazon | Goodreads
First Rule of Spite Club: Don’t fall for your fake boyfriend.
Here’s what happened: My boyfriend cheated on me with Nick Mason’s girlfriend.
We’re both angry. What better way to get revenge than to pretend to get together out of spite?
Nick is rude and rebellious and completely freaking gorgeous. He’s not my type, and I’m not his. There’s no way we would work outside of our little game of well kept secrets.
The more time I spend with him, the more I risk my good-girl image and my carefully built life.
I might want what’s bad for me. I might want Nick. And I might have to convince him – if I can survive him.
Spite Club was such a fun fake romance book!
Evie and Nick meet when their respective partners are screwing each other. They literally both walk in on that scene but Nick’s advice to Evie after the encounter – find someone else to get under.
Even though they are complete opposites – Evie is the good girl, the one with a plan while Nick is more of a fly by the seat of your pants, bad boy – they start up a fake relationship to spite their exes.
This was a shorter read that hit all the boxes in my book. I loved their connection despite their differences and seeing them fall for each other after all. A must read!
Amazon | Goodreads
Jackson “The Beast” Boudreaux is rich, gorgeous, and unbelievably rude to the staff at Chef Bianca Hardwick’s New Orleans restaurant.
Bianca would sooner douse herself in hot sauce than cook for Jackson again, but when he asks her to cater his fund-raiser, Bianca can’t refuse, knowing the cash will help pay her mother’s medical bills.
Then Jackson makes another outrageous request: Marry me. The unconventional offer includes an enormous sum—money Bianca desperately needs, even if it does come with a contract—and a stunning ring.
The heir to a family bourbon dynasty, Jackson knows the rumors swirling around him. The truth is even darker. Still, he needs a wife to secure his inheritance, and free-spirited, sassy Bianca would play the part beautifully.
Soon, though, their simple business deal evolves into an emotional intimacy he’s built walls to avoid.
As the passion heats up between them, Bianca and Jackson struggle to define which feelings are real and which are for show. Is falling for your fake fiancé the best happy ending…or a recipe for disaster?
Geissinger is one of my favorite authors whom I found when I started her Slow Burn series, which kicks off with Burn For You.
This is a fake relationship story where one partner agrees because she has no choice. Bianca agrees to Jackson’s proposal of a fake relationship and fake marriage because she needs the money he offers for the arrangement to help her ailing mother.
Jackson is desperate for a wife to secure his inheritance with his family’s whiskey business. Neither one likes their predicament or their arrangement but both need it.
I have a weakness for romance books with struggling heroes and Jackson, despite his hard exterior is a man desperate for love and acceptance.
I loved how Bianca and Jackson slowly become each other’s person. Such a well written story that I know you’ll love.
Amazon | Goodreads
Theo MacLeod wasn’t supposed to be the one.
Tall, dark and handsome suits me just fine, but the grin, know-it-all attitude, and mammoth ego? No thanks. I only hired him so I wouldn’t have to sit at the singles table again. It was just pretend.
He wasn’t supposed to kiss me. My heart wasn’t supposed to pound. We weren’t supposed to spend the night together—the hottest night of my life.
One night turns into a snowed-in weekend away, and even the blizzard of the century can’t cool the fire between us. I can’t get enough—of his smile, of his body, of the way he makes me feel.
I know he’s made mistakes. I know his wounds are deep, and he doesn’t trust easily. I know he doesn’t believe he could ever be enough to make me happy, but he could. All he has to do is stay.
If You Were Mine is a fake relationship romance that starts with a hired boyfriend. Claire is tired of defending her single status so she decides to hire a fake boyfriend to accompany her to a friend’s wedding.
I loved the different take on the start of this fake relationship but what I loved more is that we get a somewhat flawed character in Theo.
Even though their “relationship” was supposed to be just one night, the chemistry between them was undeniable and they continue to see each other. Another opposites attract, fake relationship romance that will not disappoint.
Amazon | Goodreads
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I do appreciate these lists very much. Please come out with a list about heroes who grovel. Thank you!
I’m so happy you’re enjoying my book lists! I love your list suggestion…will put it in my queue.