The Love Con by Seressia Glass (Review by Shay Tibbs)

Rating: 4.75 Stars

What stuck out to me immediately from this book was how much I loved the pacing of the story and the tone of voice used for the store. Kenya was fiercely female and so easy to read, and how this cosplay reality show setting was written from a different angle than what I’d read before in books focused on reality shows like If The Shoe Fits & The Charm Offensive made it such a fun book. If you enjoyed either of those books (both five-star reads and among my favorites of the year so far) then THE LOVE CON is a must-read!

For me, a book is amazing if it has me tearing up at the end, and this book did that with such feelings of hope, and an incredible journey – I was all in for team KenCam!

Kenya and Cameron meet back in high school, and quickly become best friends and when Cam urges Kenya to audition for a contest to show off her skills, it is obvious she has to pick him to help her finish up the finals, even if it means asking him to fake a relationship with her. Pressured by her parents to give up her silly dreams and start a real job, Kenya would do just about anything to show the world that she can do this.

This may have been my first book by Glass, but it won’t be my last, I was blown away by this contemporary romance. Full of steam that goes just far enough, and an incredible friendship that shows both characters grow as people and as a result together I was so happy to have picked up this book to read. From the start, we get a great point of view of being a cosplay designer, and it created such a unique setting for a romance novel. As someone who is constantly in awe of the talent this hobby/career takes to do well, I loved hearing all about everything from the design pieces to the film crew that keeps trying to egg on our protagonists.

While it could have been just a light-hearted friends to lovers fake dating romance, with these characters, their personalities and the way Kenya especially handles the microaggressions tossed her way as she competes Glass manages to handle tough topics in a relatable way that I adored. Not only were we cheering her to win it all, but I found Kenya such an inspiration as she stuck by what she loved, and who she is. I found the message behind the story such an important one, while giving all the warm fuzzy feelings that make books the best for me.