Four words: Adorable, adorable, adorable, adorable. I loved Kenya so much. Her experiences were so true to my own life experiences that I found myself relating to her almost immediately. Her interactions with Cam were SO cute. Overall this was just a really heart-warming story that I ended up enjoying quite a bit.

Fun and effervescent, The Love Con sparkles as a modern spin on the "friends fall in love" romance story trope. I count it as good sign that the obstacles in the way are sufficiently infuriating (so the reader can cheer when they are *finally* overcome) but I will say that the female protagonist's parents are some of the most exasperating familial units I have come across in a WHILE. Still, the love the main characters have for each other shines in a way that makes us root for them from the start, and the ending is satisfying without being too pat. A fun read and recommended purchase for library romance collections.

Thank you to Berkley Publishing Group for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

The Love Con was a cute read, but overall wasn’t that enjoyable for me. I was really excited to pick this up after reading the premise of the story: a woman makes it to the final round of a cosplaying competition and is forced to pretend to be in a relationship with her best friend and roommate, who she slowly starts falling for. I was especially excited for the friends to lovers with fake dating aspect of the book, which are two elite tropes merged together. However, I didn’t really feel the connection between Cam and Kenya. It was clear that they were close friends, but because the book starts right at the final round of the cosplaying contest, we were kind of thrust into their friendship and relationship in general without really seeing any backstory or context.

Additionally, as much as I loved the cosplaying/fandom of the novel, there were a bit too many pop culture references for my taste (for the first fourth of the book, Cam kept being compared to Thor due to his physique and appearance and it was a lot lol). I understand though, that the entire nature of this story is to show Kenya’s love for cosplaying, for the MCU, and other fandoms so I understand that the pop culture references are warranted to an extent. I did love that this novel highlighted a Black woman killing it in the cosplay world, which I think definitely has been typically taken up by white cosplayers. The microaggressions that Kenya faced as a Black woman and Black cosplayer and the way that Cam dealt with them as white man in an interracial relationship was also thoughtfully handled.

I think the second half of the novel was definitely stronger than the first, as it went deeper into Kenya and Cam’s relationship compared to in the first half of the novel. Overall, if you’re a fan of any friends-to-lovers romance with fake dating combined with cosplaying & fandom themes, this book is likely for you.

I really enjoyed the creating and cosplaying aspects of this. I love that the main character is a Black, highly intelligent, and plus size woman. Kenya is a fantastically real character, she's a terrific friend, she knows her worth, she puts up with microaggressions galore from the (seriously annoying) people involved with the show, and her friction with her parents is just as frustrating as the real thing.

My one issue was with the friends-to-lovers plotline - there was no real buildup of tension, everything was just kind of instant and that fell a little flat for me. But the obvious bond between Kenya and Cam is wonderful.

Ms. Glass writes an easy to like story and I am planning on reading more of her work.

Fun, funny, and sweet. I loved how sweet Kenya and Cam were to each other as friends and as partners.

As a nerd who one day hopes to go to ComiCon, I wanted to love this book, but unfortunately, it was only like for me. I enjoyed the characters, but I felt everything was a little too one-note and repetitive. I loved the aspects that talked about the competition and how Kenya and Cam created their cosplays, but personality-wise, they both fell flat for me. We hear Cam constantly rave about how Kenya is fierce, wild, amazing, etc, but I felt she was fairly bland. Sure, she's stressed because of her situation, but none of her personality overrode that. Cam was nice, and sounds hot, but again, there wasn't much more than that.

Too many aspects of this felt unbelievable, and I just wasn't that engaged.

A sweet modern romance, blooming improbably under to glaring lights of reality television. Will appeal to fans of fantasy conventions, anime, and Bridgerton.

A fun exploration of friendship, romance, and reality television, Seressia Glass navigates a whirl-wind story on a deadline--the final challenge in a cosplaying competition. I found Kenya and Cam's relationship to be believable and comfortable, and there was never too much focus on either the romance or the TV show, creating a really organic balance and movement to the storyline.

I loved this story - It's a classic Friends to love but in the best way because both parties have feelings for each other - the other person just doesn't know it yet. Cam's devotion and clear love for Kenya were inspiring. Kenya is a great human who is very patient with the world and its stereotyping. She is in a field in which she is told she is too black and too large to participate but she doesn't it anyways and she is killing it
I will for sure re-read this book over and over again. I just adored Cam and Kenya together and apart.
They had to overcome may barriers and they did it together and with such great attitudes.

I am not a fan of the cover - I am a cover buyer had I not thought to read the description I would have passed this Gem up.

I think the drawing on the cover could be better or even if it was real people. Loved!

This was so fun! I love seeing more plus size MCs in romance, and I'm always down for a good fandom book! I had lots of laughs and swoons along the way!

This book caught my eye because of the very colorful cover and the synopsis about two cosplayers falling in love! I’ve never read a book about cosplayers before so this is a first for me and it was delightful!

I like Kenya a lot because she’s beautiful, fierce, unique, creative, plus size and confident! She has her insecurities, especially when her parents are grilling her about her future, but for the most part Kenya is mentally strong and she has to be because she is in a high stakes television competition and in the final round.

Her love interest is her best friend and fellow cosplayer, Cameron. She doesn’t know he’s been into her for a long while now, but he’s hoping the fake dating will help her imagine him as a something more and a potential real boyfriend. This boy is crazy about her and I love how he helps her make her dreams come true. Cam is there to defend her, help her, calm her down, protect her and he even lets her grow. He is a keeper!

If the best friend vibes is the sweetest, then let me tell you that the physical attraction between them is the hottest. Problems arise when Kenya’s parents get involved, Cam’s ex and the show trying to cause drama but they navigate it with an awesome communication session.

As for the cosplay stuff, I thought it was a cool competition and different! There is so much work that goes into cosplay so I’m glad it got a spotlight in this book.

Random Notes:
Content Warnings: microaggressions

Kenya is black and plus sized and she deals with a lot of microaggressions from one of the judges on the show, a producer from the show and Cam’s ex. Kenya has to rise above it all or else they paint her as the angry black female on the competition. She is strong and I can see why Cam is deeply in love with her. Kenya really is a queen.

This is a quick read and the fake dating starts almost right away, there is no build up at all – so I had to get my bearings a little but we get lots of information later about Cam and Kenya’s relationship and get a good feel for their friendship.

FINAL THOUGHTS~~
Why you should read it:
*diverse
*cosplay
*friends to lovers, fake dating romance
*Kenya is fabulous

Why you might not want to read it:
* needs more build up to their attraction, it’s instant

My Thoughts:

I like that this was something different for me, in that the two main characters are into cosplay. It was fun to see them in the process of building the costumes and seeing their friendship turn into physical attraction and love. I enjoyed Kenya’s character a lot! She is amazing and I can see why Cam is in love with her, and vice versa. This one is a light read and left me feeling happy for the couple at the end.

4.5 stars -- The vibes on this one are so ✨wholesome✨which is just what I've needed recently. That is not to say that this is a "closed door" type book, but just that this is a book filled with well meaning people who you understand why they are doing what they are doing and the majority of them are incredibly well meaning. So the resulting tension isn't from "oh is this person is being a jerk;" it is more that they are collaboratively working together to transition from a platonic friendship relationship to a romantic one. There were a few moments of stiffness in the writing that kept it from being a full 5 stars, but other than that- this just made me smile. Recommended for fans of SPOILER ALERT last year!

CW: racial microagressions; fatphobia

This book has a promising premise but unfortunately it wasn't executed super well. I liked the cosplay elements and thought the author did a great job portraying Kenya dealing with microaggressions because of her race and size but I thought the relationship she had with Cam went from friends fake dating to real lovers with hardly any of that delicious tension you'd expect to see in that situation and the stakes of her deal with her parents didn't feel realistic. Why is she bound to do what they want if she loses the show if she's a grown woman living and paying rent on her own? I also wished we spent more time on the reality show rather than just having them film at home for so long (what was the audience even watching for these weeks between live episodes?) - it could have been fun to be more in the spirit of the competition between Kenya and the other finalist.

I was super excited about this book, but unfortunately couldn't finish it. I felt like the very obvious 'they both like each other, but won't communicate' trope ruined my interest fairly early and I couldn't compel myself to keep going.

Actual rating: 4.5 stars. I loved this book! I loved the two main characters, Kenya and Cam. I loved how strong Kenya was as a person, but still had breaking points. Cam was just a sweet 'lil cinnamon roll. My only complaint was the spicy scene(s). There was really only one love scene, but there was a lot of insinuated sexy time. After so much build up to the initial love scene, when it finally happened it felt rushed and not nearly long enough for my liking. After that, there wasn't really any others. Maybe I've just been reading too much smut (yes, yes I have), but this had so much sexy potential!

The Love Con is my first book by this author, but after reading it I look forward to more from her!

The characters in this book were both fun and full of heart (my favorite kind of character) and I adored their friendship and the way they work to support each other through thick and thin. My only major frustration with this book was Kenya’s family. It felt a little like whiplash. I wasn’t prepared for the way they treated her and their lack of support for her goals or how they tried to direct her life.

This was a fun contemporary interpretation of the “fake relationship” trope!

I didn't feel a connection between the characters, no chemistry. It was just an ok read. Others might feel differently and really connect with the characters. I did not.

You didn't know you needed this book, but now you do! This book hits a sweet spot with geek culture, romance, reality TV and gives a Black woman the chance to shine in all of those genres. Our hero and heroine are a sweet couple who already loved each other, even before they had to pretend to be a couple. Honestly? The hero is almost too good to be true, but sometimes we want to read about a completely Good Man. So while there are some issues with parental approval and following your dreams, it is a very sweet love story and a story about being brave about who you are and what you want out of your own life.

Loved the characters, their chemistry and the cosplay competition as a setting/conflict here. What a unique a pleasant read.

What a fun contemporary interpretation of the “fake relationship” trope! The existing friendship and attraction offered a fun short-cut for the trope to play out and the backdrop of the cosplay competition was a great foil for the plot progression. I really enjoyed how the author handled expressing what it is like to exist in a “socially unacceptable” body and all the microaggressions that come with it. While I am not in a position to comment on how the book represented this in terms of race, as a fat woman who is also partnered with someone conventionally attractive and successful, Glass 100% nailed the utter meltdown this seems to create in thin, conventionally pretty people. Add in the fandom references and this was a funny, engaging, intelligent, emotionally compelling, and sometimes steamy, read.