How to Fake a Love Story

By Aashna Avachat

She wants to break his heart. He wants her to fall in love. Two former childhood best friends must navigate hidden agendas and tangled pasts in this irresistibly messy YA revenge rom-com for fans of Lynn Painter and Ann Liang.

Lakshmi Jadhav is nearing eighteen without even a fun fling to her name. Regardless, she's determined to live a little, as her new friend, Emily, suggests...all while studiously ignoring her former best friend and crush, Adil Chaddha.

Meanwhile, Adil isn't sure why Lakshmi moved away two years ago without so much as a goodbye, and he isn't about to ask her now that she's back. He'll stick to doing his usual thing, like doling out dating advice to his friends, Dhruv and Matthias. But after the boys call his romantic expertise into question, they issue him a challenge: Adil must get a girl of their choosing to fall in love with him. And they know one who never would--Lakshmi.

Little does Adil know, Lakshmi's set out on a plot of her own, seeking revenge on him after his careless meddling results in Em's heartbreak.

Now, Adil needs to win Lakshmi over, and Lakshmi needs to break his heart. They might know how to fake a love story, but will they want to build a real one?

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0GW73PMJ7
• ISBN13: 9798217049158
• Release Date: January 2027
• Publisher: Penguin Workshop
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 0.59 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.5" x 8.3"
• Age Range: 14 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 9 and higher