She’s on the fast track to valedictorian. He…may or may not have been napping in class.
They say opposites attract? Well nerdy Anna and rebel Zach are on a mission to prove them wrong. For science, of course.
As partners in a psychology class project, their job is to fool a dating app into thinking they’re a love match. A few fake dates, some online interaction, and everyone walks away with … everyone walks away with an A. Easy peasy, right?
Wrong. This lab experiment? It’s about to blow up in their faces.
The Love Fakers is the first installment in a three-book YA romance novella series. The books should be read in order to avoid confusion and spoilers.
Series order:
The Love Fakers
The Deal Breakers
The Match Makers
more
I love all of Maggie Dallen’s books, but especially those that star a high school nerd girl. It’s ‘cause this author gets into the thoughts and feelings of nerd girls so perfectly. How do I know this? Because I was one. At l sat as much as Anna in this book, so I can totally identify with her (though I did run so that’s one minor difference). How she finds true love with apparent slacker but in reality literature reading car crazy mechanic to be Zach? Perfection. Real feelings. Great story telling. Perfect plot. Fantastic lead and supporting characters. Can’t really ask for much more. Highly (very highly) recommended.
Yes it is a story about an nerd and bad boy. But what makes this story perfect is the way they fall in love. They spend time getting to know each other as they are. No faking. No make overs. Just as they are. That leaves them to their HEA.
Anna, the school nerd, and Zach, the school bad boy, are paired together for a school project – to prove that the “Love Quiz” app doesn’t work. Only the results are not what they expected! Great YA to find out the results of their research!
Adorable, opposites-attract, YA, G-rated, romantic comedy
Introverted, scholarly Anna has never dated because she is a very serious student who is on track to become valedictorian next year. She refuses to get less than an A in any of her classes, including psychology.
Her fellow junior, Zach, is someone Anna has seen around her school for years, but she knows nothing about him personally other than his reputation as a slacker. In reality, however, though Zach may not be college bound, he’s a hard-working guy with ambitious plans for his future, and he can’t afford to fail his psychology class.
The problem is, their psychology teacher has assigned the class with a ridiculous group project. And the embarrassing portion of responsibility relegated to Anna and Zach is to pretend to be dating each other convincingly enough that they can fool an enormously popular dating app into believing they are in love.
I hugely enjoy excellent romantic comedy, and this terrific YA romance is extremely well done. I’m a big fan of Maggie Dallen’s YA novels in general, and this is one of the very best that this very talented author has ever written.
Let me list some of the many things I loved about this book:
It has a fabulous opening that really pulls you into the story as we first encounter these two highly sympathetic romantic protagonists as they are pitchforked into their quirky, hilarious, fake-dating assignment
I very much liked the fact that, though they seem like extreme opposites on the surface, underneath, both Anna and Zach, each in their own way, is an alienated loner. This internal similarity leads to one of my all-time favorite romance tropes: You and me against the world–no one truly understood me until you.
It is a difficult feat for an author of romantic comedy to write a story that is both poignant and absolutely hilarious, but that is exactly what this wonderful book offers. Without violating the comedic tone of the book by getting dragged down into melodrama, the author skillfully reveals significant, sad issues in the backgrounds of both Anna and Zach, which greatly enriches their characterization. And the humor in this story is the most entertaining kind, for my personal taste. The author avoids slapstick entirely, which I call humiliation humor, and instead offers a great deal of witty repartee between Anna and Zach.
This story offers a sweetly innocent version of what is known as a “slow-burn” romance. Over the course of this novel, while they are fake dating, Anna and Zach progress from strangers with generally negative opinions about each other, to friendly acquaintances, to good friends, to romance.
Every character in this book is absolutely distinct, each with their own uniquely fascinating voice. Far more authors than one might imagine have a difficult time avoiding making all of their characters sound alike.
This book is a classic romance offering a guaranteed HEA and the dual point of view of both the heroine and the hero. The latter allows us to deeply get to know Zach, who is an admirable guy, well worth knowing.
There is no romantic triangle and no cheating!
The hero is not promiscuous!
This book is completely G-rated, and suitable for all ages. There is no underage drinking, no cussing, and no more than mild kissing. But even without the sex that occurs in so many YA novels these days, there is plenty of compelling chemistry between these two vibrant, attractive protagonists.
I very much look forward to the other two books in this trilogy. It looks as though there will be three different romance novels, the other two books starring two other couples from the same psychology class.
I rate this book as follows:
Heroine: 5 stars
Hero: 5 stars
Subcharacters: 5 stars
Romance plot: 5 stars
Writing: 5 stars
Overall: 5 stars (less)
Maggie Dallen is a great YA author and this is the first of three stories about a group of three couples using themselves to test an assignment by their teacher about whether love can be quantified. This book is full of teen angst about grades, family embarrassments, and peer pressure. But also induces giggles and snorts. You’ll love Dallen’s style and want to read the other stories which release one week apart.
-‘“Our date?” he said. I blinked. Um…what? Oh right.
“Yes, our date,” I said, saying the stupid word with all the maturity I could muster. Dates. No big whoop. People dated all the time. I’d never had a real date, but that didn’t make this a big deal or anything. Nope. Because this wasn’t real. It was only for a grade.’-
Anna is socially awkward, mature and intelligent beyond her years. Zach has tattoos, cares more about cars than school, and has a reputation as a “bad boy”. The two of them are polar opposites so they are ideal candidates for an assignment proving that dating apps can be manipulated and are unreliable. Aren’t they?
(4.5 stars) – Fun new series premise!
Six high school juniors have to do a psychology class project that proves or disproves whether or not love can be quantified. They decide to test a popular dating app (from Dallen’s “Tall Dark & Nerdy”, which is not necessary to read for this, but is a fun read in its own right!)
Each of the 3 couples gets their own novella to tell their story, with the final one pulling it all together & wrapping it up.
Anna & Zach are up first with a definite opposites attract set up. It sure seems like they couldn’t possibly be a match, but they each discover hidden facets to the other that they find increasingly intriguing.
There’s one conflict that comes up that I think is overused by authors, which kept me from giving a perfect score, but it’s a minor bump in an otherwise excellent story.
*Clean romance level: sweet kisses, nothing graphic
*Language: 1 d-mn, a couple of uses of h-ll & d–k
I really enjoyed reading this book. Reminded me of high school!! It was very good. Reading the second book now.
Short and Intense. This is a quick read at just over 100 pages, solid “fake dating” HS romance set in the world of Tall, Dark, and Nerdy and spinning off a new short trilogy where a group of kids try to prove the Love Quiz app is bogus. Here, we get the setup and the first couple – the couple that the app should never match, but that the experiment tries to force the app to match. Short and fun in a Hallmark Movie kind of way, this is an excellent quick distraction from the “real” world. Very much recommended.
Funny, adorkable, sweet, and swoon-worthy!
“Hey, Anna?”
She looked up. “Yes?”
“Did you study up before you came here today?”
She nodded. “I did.”
I stared at her for a long moment, not sure whether to laugh or hug her. I mean… She’d studied.
She’d studied cars.
For a fake date.
I adored Anna and all her insecurites and foibles, and the above exchange kind of illustrates the kind of person she is quite beautifully. Zach is a great guy hiding behind his slacker image, and while he may not be perfect, he’s perfect for Anna.
I enjoyed those two getting to know – and challenge – each other, but I especially appreciated their honesty towards each other and their willingness to meet the other halfway.
This new series of novellas is off to a great start, and I can’t wait to read the other two stories!
5/5 adorkable stars 🙂