These couples don't go all the way...they just pretend to be dating.  A matchmaking mother, a date for a wedding, an undercover assignment, a jerk ex to make jealous are all good reasons to have a fake boyfriend or girlfriend. 

 

Enjoy these romances with the Pretending Dating theme that turns into real love. 

 

1. A Lot Like Love  by Julie James 

 

As the daughter of a billionaire and the owner of the city’s top wine store, Jordan Rhodes is invited to the most exclusive parties in Chicago. But there’s only one party the FBI wants to crash: the charity fund-raiser of a famous restaurateur, who also happens to launder money for the mob. In exchange for her brother’s release from prison, Jordan is going to be there—with a date supplied by the Bureau. 

As the top undercover agent in Chicago, Nick McCall has one rule: never get personal. This “date” with Jordan Rhodes is merely an assignment—one they’re both determined to pull off even if they can’t be together for five minutes before the sarcasm and sparks begin to fly. But when Nick’s investigation is compromised, he and Jordan have no choice but to pretend they’re a couple, and what starts out as a simple assignment begins to feel a lot like something more… 

 

2. Four Weddings and a Break Up  by Elyssa Patrick 

 

Ginny Michaels has always been a good girl and--ever since surviving a school shooting a little over a year ago--hailed a hero. Except she doesn't feel like a hero. She can't even have a one-night stand with sexy Wes Dalton properly. When her big city fling resurfaces in her hometown with an intriguing proposition, she's powerless to resist. A fake relationship is exactly what's needed to keep her small town's matchmakers at bay during the upcoming wedding season. If only her attraction to Wes were as easy to ignore.

Wes Dalton doesn't have many regrets, and that includes his night with Ginny. But he's always hoped to strengthen his relationship with his estranged family. When his father's health takes a bad turn, Wes puts his life on hold and moves to the meddling seaside town of Cape Hope. With his barriers in place--and a beautiful woman to help him hold them up--he's prepared for anything. Or so he thinks. Despite his determination to leave as soon as the summer is over, those fake kisses are starting to feel an awful lot like the real thing.

 

3. Play (Stage Dive Series Book 2) by Kylie Scott 

 

Mal Ericson, drummer for the world famous rock band Stage Dive, needs to clean up his image fast—at least for a little while. Having a good girl on his arm should do the job just fine. Mal doesn’t plan on this temporary fix becoming permanent, but he didn’t count on finding the one right girl.

 

Anne Rollins never thought she’d ever meet the rock god who plastered her teenage bedroom walls—especially not under these circumstances. Anne has money problems. Big ones. But being paid to play the pretend girlfriend to a wild life-of-the-party drummer couldn’t end well. No matter how hot he is. Or could it?

 

4. Plain Jane in the Spotlight by Lucy Gordon 

 

Travis Falcon, TV heartthrob, has given the press one too many salacious headlines and his management team wants him to clean up his reputation… So when plain-Jane Charlene Wilkins ends up on set, she's perfect "fake girlfriend" material!

Charlene suddenly finds herself on the arm of the star himself. She may not be a professional actress, but she's proving very adept at hiding the truth behind her visit to L.A.… And, with her feelings for Travis becoming all too real, her life is about to get complicated!

 

5. Let Me Be The One by Bella Andre 

 

When Vicki Bennett saved Ryan Sullivan’s life as a teenager, it was the beginning of a close friendship that never wavered despite her failed marriage to someone else and Ryan’s well-earned reputation as a ladies man. So when she suddenly needs a pretend boyfriend to protect herself and her career from a powerful man’s advances, he is the only person she can imagine asking. 

Ryan will do anything to protect Vicki from harm, but when their “fake” kisses and caresses lead to an incredibly sensual night that neither of them can resist, will he have made the biggest mistake of all by irreparably jeopardizing their friendship? Or is it possible that what they’ve both been looking for has been right there the whole time…and the perfect combination of wicked and sweet, friendship and love, is finally within reach? 

 

6. The Rebound Guy by Farrah Rochon 

 

Leave that to Dexter Bryant. The self-declared relationship advisor specializes in “counseling” women who have just ended long-term relationships. He wines them. He dines them. He treats them like queens, all with the purpose of rebuilding their self-confidence. Most importantly, he excels in the fine art of making ex-boyfriends jealous. But Dexter is trying to shake off the stud-for-hire persona in hopes of turning his service into a legitimate consulting business. 

However, a stud-for-hire is exactly what Asia Carpenter is looking for. The career-minded PR Crisis Manager is completely blindsided when her ideal man dumps her for another woman, leaving her with a broken heart...and the bill for her engagement ring. Humiliated and dreading the looks of pity from her friends and co-workers, Asia hires Dexter as her pretend love interest, to show her ex-fiancé that she can land a sexy man—and keep him. What Asia doesn’t anticipate is how quickly their pretend love turns into the real thing. 

 

7. Temporarily Yours (A Shillings Agency Novel) by Diane Alberts 

 

Stats whiz Kayla Moriarity knows her way around numbers and algorithms. Men, on the other hand, are unsolvable equations. Now Kayla's en route to her sister's wedding--without the fictional boyfriend she invented for her family. Fortunately, her plane comes complete with complimentary cocktails and a ridiculously hot ex-marine in the seat beside her. And that's all it takes for Kayla's inhibitions to go sailing out the airlock... 

Cooper Shillings has soft spot for people in trouble, but he certainly wasn't expecting to land in it himself--and definitely not while getting naughty mid-air with a sexy southern belle. When he hears Kayla's predicament, however, he offers his services as a stand-in boyfriend. After all, he's heading overseas soon...and how could he refuse a little no-strings wickedness? 

It's the perfect plan. And all Kayla has to do is ensure her family falls for the ultimate bluff, without falling for it--and Cooper--in the process...

 

8. Faking It (Losing It) by Cora Carmack 

 

Mackenzie "Max" Miller has a problem. Her parents have arrived in town for a surprise visit, and if they see her dyed hair, tattoos, and piercings, they just might disown her. Even worse, they’re expecting to meet a nice wholesome boyfriend, not a guy named Mace who has a neck tattoo and plays in a band. All her lies are about to come crashing down around her, but then she meets Cade.

 

Cade moved to Philadelphia to act and to leave his problems behind in Texas. So far though, he’s kept the problems and had very little opportunity to take the stage. When Max approaches him in a coffee shop with a crazy request to pretend to be her boyfriend, he agrees to play the part. But when Cade plays the role a little too well, they’re forced to keep the ruse going. And the more they fake the relationship, the more real it begins to feel.

 

9. Always on My Mind (Lucky Harbor Book 8) by Jill Shalvis 

 

After dropping out of pastry school and messing up her big break on a reality cooking show, Leah Sullivan needs to accomplish something in her life. But when she returns home to Lucky Harbor, she finds herself distracted by her best friend, Jack Harper. In an effort to cheer up Jack's ailing mother, Dee, Leah tells a little fib - that she and Jack are more than just friends. Soon pretending to be hot-and-heavy with this hunky firefighter feels too real to handle . . . 

No-strings attachments suit Jack just fine - perfect for keeping the risk of heartbreak away. But as Jack and Leah break every one of their "just friends" rules, he longs to turn their pretend relationship into something permanent. Do best friends know too much about each other to risk falling in love? Or will Jack and Leah discover something new about each other in a little town called Lucky Harbor?

 

 

10. Her Fake Romance by Donna Fasano 

 

Her teenage daughter's words are daunting. True, struggling single mom Julia Jones hasn't had a date in over a decade, but she could still catch a man--if she needed to! So Julia, who claims not to want a husband, finds herself entangled in a fake romance.

Ryan Shane is tall, dark, and devastatingly handsome. And he just so happens to need a no-strings date himself. Their plan is perfectly thought out. Until a conveniently staged good-night kiss turns into very inconvenient passion...

 

 

Do you love pretend relationships, check out last week's blog post in the series: Fake Fiancee in Contempory Romance 

 

Coming up in the Series: Fake Engagements in Historical Romance. 

 

Did I not name your favorite Pretending Dating Romance? Let me know!

 

To get more Pretend Relationship  Romance Recommendations, check out my Pinterest Board. Pretend.

 

To vote for the best of the best in Pretend Dating Romance, visit the Goodreads list: Best Pretend Boyfriend/Girlfriend Romance Plot.

Opening line: “Guido Calvani took another turn along the hospital corridor, trying not to think of his uncle, lying behind the closed door, desperately ill.”

 

 Ah Venice, what a beautiful character you portrayed in this book. Actually you may have been my favourite part of this book. The romance and mystic of Venice is captured perfectly here, bringing to life the maze of streets and canals, the language, food and music. Throw in a handsome gondolier, a parody of secrets, a jilted P.I and you’ve got yourselves a great escape, all without leaving your house.

 

3 1/2 stars. Attorney Diana Waldman is a shark in the courtroom, and a complete softie out of it. When she sees a scruffy, defiant looking man being tried without counsel, she immediately volunteers to represent him. But Lee, who is actually an undercover cop, tries to scare her off with a passionate kiss -- which backfires on both of them.From its opening, I was expecting this to be a romantic suspense story, but it's pure romance and after the beginning, very sweet. Lee and Diana are both delightful people, well matched in their warm hearts and senses of humor, and they quickly fall in love. The primary conflict is Diana's painful past, which has made it hard for her to open up to others; she collects "strays" so she is always the one giving, never the one receiving. I loved the ending in which Diana is forced to cross-examine Lee -- she expects him to feel betrayed by this, but instead he is proud of her professionalism.

I didn't read this that closely. It was nice enough, but I don't enjoy parenting mixed with romance much.

3.5 stars. Celia has never loved anyone like she loves Francesco, but in the five months they’ve lived together, he’s stifled her with care and concern, insisting on treating her as fragile and helpless because of her blindness. In a moment of anger she throws him out and the devastated Francesco returns to his family home.Hoping they can still make things work, Celia follows him to Italy. But she finds that not only do the old issues persist, but that Francesco has changed, haunted by demons her actions awoke.With its fiercely independent heroine, and vulnerable hero, this was an intriguingly atypical category romance. Francesco is very sweet; in-your-face Celia is not as likable, but she does learn and grow.This is the last in a long family saga and there’s a few complicated subplots. It stands alone okay, but I would probably have appreciated it more if I’d read the previous books first.