The (Fake) Dating Game & Once Upon You and Me

The (Fake) Dating Game “Game show antics, idiots in love, and a healthy dose of steam…this book is everything I want in a romance novel!” —Alison Cochrun, author of The Charm Offensive and Kiss Her Once for Me

Ready. Set. Faux.

Holden James picked the worst time to have a meltdown. His chance to audition for his favorite game show, Madcap Market, should have been a moment of triumph—a glorious, loving homage to his adored mom, who died six years ago. Instead, he’s destroying the minibar in a grim Los Angeles hotel room…recently dumped, partnerless and sliding into misery.

But at least the hotel service is sublime. It even comes with an unfairly fit and sexy (smart-ass) concierge who arrives at the door with pizza, Monopoly and deliciously distracting forearms.

All Holden knows about Leo Min is that he’s beautiful, unexpectedly sympathetic, and the chemistry between them is beyond. Maybe it’s even enough to convince everyone, including the show’s casting directors, that they’re a real couple. All they’d have to do is crush the competition and win the huge cash prize, and all of Holden’s problems—his broken heart, his buried grief, his complete lack of money and direction—will be fixed.

Of course, reality doesn’t quite work out that way. But love is an entirely different game… Once Upon You and Me Charming fairy tale meets spicy bedtime story in this deliciously enchanting age-gap LGBTQIA+ romance

When Taylor Frost’s boss, Amy, flies him across the country to prep for her daughter’s sweet sixteen at the Storybook Endings Resort in the Catskills, the solo mission is well within his wheelhouse. Taylor is excellent at his job—except, he’s probably not supposed to flirt with the resort’s mountain man of a manager, Ethan Golding. Because the rugged older man is also the birthday girl’s father, aka Amy’s ex-husband. Oops.

For Ethan, his divorce seemed like the bad ending to his romantic story. And now, making his daughter’s sweet sixteen dreams come true is the closest he’ll get to the kind of magic happiness in fairy tales. Until adorable Taylor has him wondering if maybe this is just the beginning of a more erotic kind of bedtime story…

The only problem is Amy. And how very not okay she’d be with the chemistry between her assistant and her ex.

If only forbidden flings ever led to happily-ever-afters…

From showing up to glowing up, these characters are on the path to leading their best lives and finding sizzling romance along the way.

Don’t miss these other fun titles from Afterglow Books:

The Bookbinder’s Guide to Love by Katherine Garbera The Devil in Blue Jeans by Stacey Kennedy Frenemy Fix-Up by Yahrah St. John The Boyfriend Subscription by Steven Salvatore Manila Takes Manhattan by Carla de Guzman Fake Flame by Adele Buck Out of Office by A.H. Cunningham

© 2025 Harlequin Audio (Lydbog): 9781488234224

Release date

Lydbog: 29. april 2025