The Bibliophile's Bookshelf

This month’s theme of Saturday Spotlight is romance! I’m very excited for this theme. Admittedly, I don’t love regular romance books. I enjoy romance with fantasy, sci-fi, or dystopian, but regular romances I typically find boring.

This Time It’s Real by Ann Liang is an exception. I love this contemporary romance!

Ann Liang does a wonderful job of writing realistic, funny, and quirky main characters. It also doesn’t hurt that this is a fake dating book, which is one of my favorite tropes.

This book takes place in Beijing, with the main character attending an international school. The love interest is also a famous actor, which adds an interesting depth and challenges to the story.

This book is fun and quirky, with a wonderful protagonist and fantastic love interest. I highly recommend it and it the perfect book to read to celebrate Lunar New Years! This is also a perfect book for a clean romance Valentine’s Day read!

Summary:

When seventeen-year-old Eliza Lin’s essay about meeting the love of her life unexpectedly goes viral, her entire life changes overnight. Now she has the approval of her classmates at her new international school in Beijing, a career-launching internship opportunity at her favorite magazine…and a massive secret to keep. Eliza made her essay up. She’s never been in a relationship before, let alone in love. All good writing is lying, right? Desperate to hide the truth, Eliza strikes a deal with the famous actor in her class, the charming but aloof Caz Song. She’ll help him write his college applications if he poses as her boyfriend. Caz is a dream boyfriend — he passes handwritten notes to her in class, makes her little sister laugh, and takes her out on motorcycle rides to the best snack stalls around the city. But when her relationship with Caz starts feeling a little too convincing, all of Eliza’s carefully laid plans are threatened. Can she still follow her dreams if it means breaking her own heart?