LEMONS AND LIES

A teen proposes a mutually beneficial fake-dating relationship to persuade her reluctant classmate to tutor her.

Valeria Morales’ senior year isn’t going well: Her popular twin brother, Adrian, isn’t speaking to her, their mutual friends have abandoned her, and she’s about to fail Algebra II, which threatens her graduation. To get her grade up, Cuban American Valeria needs a student tutor—and the only one available is Gage Magnussen, a white-presenting boy who’s battling Adrian for valedictorian. But Gage has his own issues—he’s supposed to be planning a charity auction with his cheating ex-girlfriend, Ginger, who wants to get back together, even though their breakup led a miserable Gage to neglect his studies and allow his GPA to drop. Valeria proposes a deal: She’ll help Gage with the auction and pretend to be his girlfriend—keeping Ginger at bay and allowing him to focus on school—if he helps her with math. But as they spend more time together, and Valeria’s family drama increases with the return of her estranged mother, the lines between real and pretend blur. Filled to the brim with beloved romance tropes and delicious treats (the Moraleses run a popular bakery), this cute stand-alone work set in the world of Guavas and Grudges (2024) returns readers to the small-town Olympic Peninsula setting of Port Murphy and centers on secondary characters from that earlier outing.

A sweetly affirming story about family, food, and finding your own path.