The Love Con by Seressia Glass

Kaylea Martin, Staff Writer

Published: 12/14/2021

Genre: rom com

Page number: 320

I loved this book so much and I could give a list of reasons why. It reminded me of The Cheat Sheet by Sarah Adams because the tropes were so similar; best friends for most of their lives turn lovers and fake dating, except the CS main charactesr were passionate about sports and ballet, these ones were all about cosplay. The main female character, Kenya, is sassy, sweet, and determined. She has grown up loving anime, gaming, and cosplay and tried to transform her love of cosplaying from a hobby to a career.

She entered a reality show competition Cosplay or No Way, and now that she has made it to the final round, iconic duos, it comes with a huge catch: The judges want her to partner with her significant other. The catch: she has no significant other.

Enter Cameron, her best friend, and the main male character. He shares some of the same passions as Kenya and is super caring and protective. He’s surprised, yet relieved, when Kenya declared that he was her partner on national television.

They both agree to begin a fake relationship in order to win the competition, however, there’s a T.V. crew that will be following them around to document their work and their “very real” relationship. What happens when the truth comes out? And what happens if the lines between real and cosplay start to blur?

I loved how Kenya and Cameron respected one another, always gave each other a safe space, and continuously fought for one another. The development from friendship to relationship didn’t seem too slow or fast. A quote I really adored was, “He’d pretend to pretend he was her boyfriend. He’d help Kenya win the competition, and then he’d win her heart.”

This is a perfect V-Day read if you’re looking for a cute read with the basic “I’ve always loved you” trope and minimal drama between the main characters.

TW: racism, body shaming, sexual content, death of a parent, child neglect recounted, and bullying.