Fake It Like You Mean It

Elle’s grandmother Lovie has always cared for her — but now Lovie’s Alzheimer’s is worsening, and Elle must step up. 

Leaving Chicago to return home, Elle expects life to revolve around caring for Lovie. Instead, she walks into her childhood home and finds Adam Wheeler — a live-in nurse — sleeping in her bed. Tasked with caring for Lovie together, Elle and Adam find themselves stuck in a “fake dating” arrangement when Lovie becomes convinced they’re deeply in love. What begins as a charade — meant to comfort Lovie — soon becomes complicated. 

Elle never forgets their pretend relationship… and as real feelings develop, the boundaries between pretense and reality blur.

“The fake dating trope takes on unexpected emotional depth in Murphy’s utterly endearing debut … [With] perfect pacing and chemistry that leaps off the page.” — Publishers Weekly 

“Elle and Adam have so much chemistry … A moving romance that balances the heartbreak of slowly losing a relative to Alzheimer’s with the thrill of falling in love.” — Kirkus Reviews

“A memorably crafted story of romance, comedy, and heartbreaking beautiful moments … The stuff of which Hallmark Channel Rom-Com Movies are made.” — Midwest Book Review