I am addicted to singer x actor romances but the thing I appreciate most from I'll Pretend You're Mine isn't the romance; it's Summer's emotional journey. As a teen popstar with anxiety and trauma from her parents, Summer really needs a hug and to cut her emotionally abusive parents off. Ultimately, this book is about breaking off toxic relationships and healing, for both Summer and Jules, and how to deal with suffocating media attention. That devastating scene with the paps literally made me cry. Summer is just a kid.
On the other hand, Summer and Jules' fake-dating PR stunt is starting to feel more real than it's supposed to. With Jules' comforting hugs and her friends' unwavering support, Summer now has to deal with *feelings*. Their romance was the cutest thing ever. From walks in the park to showing up to award shows on Jules' arm, Summer finds herself falling from platonic to romantic. I loved their scenes so much. I have so many highlights in my ARC showing just how many lines I loved.
Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC! All opinions are my own.

I loved the first 25% but then something just stopped clicking for me unfortunately. The depiction of anxiety bugged me in this book and I guess I would’ve liked the MC to learn better tools to help her cope with those feelings rather than relying on reassurance from others which tends to validate your fears and keeps the cycle going.

I also just didn’t love how quickly the romance ramped up without them becoming official yet but still saying the big L word.

With that being said, I think the epilogue was very clever and cute! I usually hate epilogues in romances and this was very sweet!

I will always be sat for a Tashie Bhuiyan book. I'll Pretend You're Mine didn't disappoint (I will have to say, comparison is the thief of joy and I did not enjoy this one as much as I did her others, but that doesn't mean this still wasn't good).

I loved the characters, the friendships and the support system that Summer has was so well done, and needed for a character with That much familial issues. I loved that Summer and June were a slow romance, like they were faking it, but eventually the lines blurred. It was a slow fall, like all of a sudden you realize that you do care for that person you see and talk to 24/7 more than just as a friend. All in all, loved this with my whole heart.

Thank you to Netgalley for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

I'll Pretend You're Mine is a showstopping romance and Tashie Bhuiyan's best work. Reminiscent of her dazzling debut, Counting Down With You, both are filled with a fake-dating, swoon-worthy romance that will leave readers full of love for Bhuiyan and her characters.

Summer Ali and Jules Moradi are by far my favorite characters to date within the Tashie Bhuiyan literary universe. Their stories were tangible and intentional, with every detail meticulously placed to develop their relationship AND individual character arcs from beginning to end. To best promote this excellent book, I will keep this review spoiler-free. However, let me tell you... the romance is romancing. I'll Pretend You're Mine may have been the best application of the fake-dating trope I have ever read, and believe me, I am no stranger to the storyline. I quite literally could fill this entire review with giggling and kicking-my-feet-level quotes from both characters!!!

However, the romance is a mere fraction of what makes this book so outstanding. Tashie Bhuiyan lovingly intertwined Summer and Jules' romance with friendship and sisterhood, adding richness to the story. Instead of creating plot points disguised as a quirky best friend, Bhuiyan gave us younger sisters and best friends you grow to love equal to her main characters. I'll Pretend You're Mine tackles the hard-hitting topics of early adulthood, too. Bhuiyan handled imposter syndrome, sexuality, emotional abuse, whitewashing, anxiety, and more with the grace and dignity they deserve in a Young Adult novel.

The last tangent I'll go on comes from the little details I LOVED in the book! Like me, if you are a long-time fan of Tashie Bhuiyan, you will be ecstatic to see cameos from some of your favorite characters within the Tashieverse. I will not get into the specifics, but it was like a mini-epilogue for their stories. There may or may not be a little teaser for Right as Rain hidden in there too. I'll Pretend You're Mine has FOUR, count them, FOUR baller playlists built into the novel that set the tone so well for the different sections. Every chapter title is a magazine headline that follows Summer and Jules's relationship as it grows throughout the novel. I love the attention to detail added to every book Tashie Bhuiyan writes!

Thank you so much to Netgalley and Harper Collins Children's Books for the ARC. I'll Pretend You're Mine is available wherever books are sold on June 3rd, 2025. Do yourself a favor and pick up this fantastic romance!!! <3

I love Tashie Bhuiyan's books, but this one let me down a little. Fake dating is one of my favorite tropes, and a big reason why I loved Counting Down With You so much, but this story just didn't fully sell me on it. I really liked that this story dealt with issues like extricating yourself from toxic relationships and struggling with self-doubt. However, I just had a really hard time with the relationship between Summer and Jules. Don't get me wrong, it is really sweet and supportive and I love watching their friendship/relationship develop, but I wish there had been more time with them after they acknowledge what they really meant to each other. Not a bad book by any means, but just didn't really do it for me the way some of Tashie's other books have.

I’ll Pretend You’re Mine offers a refreshing take on the fake-dating trope, avoiding clichés and delivering a unique, captivating story. Summer, despite my usual aversion to celebrity protagonists, was an excellent lead. Her strained relationship with her strict parents was explored in depth, and I loved seeing her gain independence throughout the book.

Jules, a former child actor trying to make it in Hollywood, also has his own struggles. As a Persian man, he often faces whitewashing and yearns for more diverse roles. The novel tackles important issues like racism, sexism, and the challenges of the entertainment industry. The slow-burning romance between Summer and Jules is heartfelt, evolving from a deep friendship rather than love at first sight.

Having loved Tashie Bhuiyan’s previous work, I was even more impressed with this one.

I’ll Pretend You’re Mine by Tashie Bhuiyan is such a cute young adult book. I loved reading about the two main characters, the progression from friends to something more was done so well. Summer the fmc was adorable and I found myself relating to her a lot. Jules was also a fun character to read about. The development of each character over time was super cool to read about. I also loved the dynamic the Jules and summer had with other side characters and each other. This book was such a gorgeous story, one that was entertaining as well as representative to themes that most books do not cover.

Thank you to Netgally and HarperCollins Publishers for the opportunity to eARC I'll Pretend You're Mine.

I just finished binging this over the corse of 4 hours and cannot sing enough praises. This felt so special in a sea of romance novels directed at young adults that I have rewritten this review a few times trying to find the right words. This is fake dating done right. It's slow burn executed perfectly. It has the right mix of flirting, yearning, and pining. The writing style was very well done.

Summer and Jules felt so natural as thing began spilling and falling into place. Their chemistry from the first meeting is clearly there and it feels magnetic for the reader. I could not help but find myself drawn in more and more as the story progressed and their true romance began to blossom. I really appreciated how that romance was also hinted to us as readers through Summer randomly thinking of song lyrics and how progressed. It was just an added layer to the beauty of this.

I feel like I'll Pretend You're Mine also tackled some very large issues regarding mental health, discrimination, and toxic families. It was so interesting to me how Summer and Jules seem to have very opposite family types and seeing how that played a role in both of them with their security within themselves. Their friendships were also so refreshing. I always worry with books featuring the celebrity type of characters that the toxic friend group is always going to turn up, but it didn't here.

The 3rd act conflict really is the star of the show for me, though, because of how real it felt. It was an argument any of us could have with our significant other. It was not some out of left field thing. It felt so natural with two very human characters handling it in a mature and realistic way. The resolution to it also felt so real.

I truly enjoyed this book a lot. Thank you so much for giving me the chance to read it early

This was a delightful new installment from Bhuiyan—a return to fake-dating with a celebrity angle this time, explorations of family boundaries, sexuality, and anxiety, an extremely heartwarming romance, and cameos from previous characters that fans will love!

this story follows summer, a very loveable singer/songwriter who just turned 18 and is trying to cut ties with her controlling parents. she had moved in with one of her best friends, Barbie who is just the sweetest human being but on her way to a meeting with her new manager she literally runs into this famous actor Jules Moradi who has a very well known reputation of being a playboy/heartthrob type. there were tons of paparazzi around during this little meet cute so obviously social media is going crazy with rumors which leads to a PR stunt that forces the two to fake date, And on top of her parents and PR she’s trying to deal with her writers block and anxiety.

it kind of reminded me of the disney channel movie, starstruck if you’ve seen that, mixed with to all the boys i’ve loved before. the main trope in this one was fake dating and i guess forced proximity which i feel like is pretty overused and not in a good way, but i feel like this book was able to use it well.

i gave this book 4 stars because it took me a little while to get into it, but once i got about half way through the book and got to know all the characters i couldn’t put it down. it’s pretty predictable, but it definitely had me giggling and kicking my feet the last few chapters.

i thought all the characters were written really well, and they’re all so easy to fall in love with. they all felt like real people with depth and realistic responses to all these situations they were thrown into. They each had their own personalities and seeing all the relationships develop was definitely one of my favorite parts because they felt REAL. this spread from her roommate, best friends, to her younger sisters, to the love interest. the whole book took place over about a year so the timing was realistic and nothing was too rushed or thrown together.

overall, i’m not going to lie this book wasn’t life changing in any way, but it had a lot of cute moments and was a pretty quick read with a lot of good insights on creating your own path through all the challenges you might be facing.

I loved this book. I've been a fan of Tashie Bhuiyan for her last few books, and I fully believe this one is her best work. I absolutely fell in love with the characters at the heart of the story, and I love how she balanced Summer's pain over the situation with her strength, seeing both sides made her feel so real. Her relationship with Jules felt incredible natural and I loved to read them fall for each other. The side characters felt like the best of loyal friends, and I wish we got more of them, but I can't complain too much about a book I loved so much.

Tashie has this thing in her books where they feel like reading a long birthday text from a friend: familiar but so many feelings. I also relate to them a little extra because I understand the south Asian complex family dynamics and it makes me cry everytime her FMCs choose their own path and excel at artistic careers.

This was actually pretty sweet. It was a lot better than “A Show For Two” and I liked seeing all of the references to the authors other works. The romance felt underdeveloped, a lot of things felt underdeveloped actually, so many things felt missing from this book. The only thing I actually liked about this was seeing the main character grow. Even if I didn’t agree with all of her actions, her arc was pretty well done. I don’t think I’ll be reading any of the authors other works, but this one might be recommended to a few people.

Summer & Jules have a problem and the only way to solve it is to be in a PR relationship.

Such a TROPE. But it works so well in this story. Tashie did an amazing job at making the story feel beleiveable. It's. not they start fake dating and by fake date 3 they're in love, like so many of the stories in this vein. Instead because the timeline is so extended (about a year) by the time they start to have feelings it really makes sense and you can see so much change in Summer & Jules they truly grow together which makes it all feel so much more natural.

Overall I very rarely rate romances highly, but this one is up there for me.

I didn’t necessarily dislike it but I couldn’t get into it. I didn’t realize the main characters were so young and it was honestly giving a more young adult feeling, which there is nothing wrong with that but it’s not my usual vibe. if it is for you, I will say that the support and love that jules gave to summer throughout the book was so sweet, and the book covers a lot of serious topics like racism and sexism. there are a lot deeper themes that get touched in the story. all around, I would recommend this to my audience.

𝗜'𝗹𝗹 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝗬𝗼𝘂'𝗿𝗲 𝗠𝗶𝗻𝗲 follows Summer Ali - an eighteen year old highly acclaimed artist in a fake relationship with Playboy Jules Moradi in a PR stunt to improve Jules's image in the tabloids.

~

I know this book is YA and I might've liked it at 12, tolerated it at 16 but now? Let's say mediocrity is a compliment.

I'm sorta sick of reading this author's characters' complex relationship with her parents. It started off as controlling to abusive to now being a mockery (I get that not all people are blessed with good parents but there are limits).

The romances are also copy paste of what works as a trend without much specific input or breathing life into the characters.

This was my last shot with this her book. Sadly, no more.

It's your good ol' fake dating romance, they're both rising stars, she's a popular singer and he's cinema’s newest young male promise. This was a nice story, there are multiple things happening in the lives of these teenagers, and I think it has an amazing message.

[3.5/4] Now, this would've been the perfect read for 18-19 year old me. Sadly, I'm not that age any more, so these kinds of books don't quite fascinate me nowadays. But that was my bad, I didn't realize the target audience for this book. (+) It did lack a bit of romance, felt a bit rushed towards the end.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for letting me read this book in exchange for an honest review!! 💘

ᯓ★ˎˊ˗ net galley review
Thank you so much to HarperCollins Children's Books for providing me with the ARC of this book.

I was a bit skeptical about this book due to the premise and the fact I tend to not read contemporary romance, but this book was not bad at all. I think the plot was a bit more convoluted than I would have liked and took away from the relationship between the characters, but the writing was very good and it was easy to read in between my fantasy books. It reminded me of Elsie Silver's Wild Eyes so I think that if you like that book but want it set in the city then reading this book would be a great idea!

As a fake-dating lover of this book ‘Pretend You’re Mine’ is about to be your next obsession. A broody ex-child stars, and a pop princess trying to reclaim her own voice? This was absolutely everything and took fake dating to the next level👏

Summer Ali is gets put into a PR stunt pairing with Jules Moradi, Hollywood’s favorite bad boy. Jules is supposed to keep things strictly professional (LOL of course he does😉) Spoiler: not very good at it.

The CHEMISTRY? Off the charts. The ANGST? Chef’s kiss 🤌. Let’s just say I was screaming into a pillow, giggling so hard, and kicking my feet. Five stars for a romance so compelling, even their publicists probably started shipping them.

This was a cute young adult romance. This book follows singer, Summer and actor, Jules as the fake date for a PR stunt. Summer deals with so much in this romance story as she struggles with anxiety, abusive parents and her sexuality. I loved the complexity of the characters and how it added so much more to this coming of age romance.

Read this if you like:

📖 Fake dating
📖 Celebrity fmc & mmc
📖 Mental health reps
📖 Lgbt reps

Thank you to Harper Collins for the gifted arc.