Fake Flame

In this fun, fast-paced romantic comedy, a bookish firefighter who knows his Jane Austen suggests a little fake dating to fend off an ex. What’s a feminist English professor to do—except say yes…

You can’t fake heat like this…

To an observer, hauling a baby grand piano onto a college quad to publicly serenade an ex might seem like a romantic gesture. To literature professor Eva Campbell, it’s the latest manipulative move by a cheating jerk who won’t take a hint. Plus, she never liked that song anyway.

Setting the piano on fire might be an overreaction, but Eva’s at the end of her rope, at least until hot young firefighter Sean Hannigan talks her down. And that’s not all Sean does. Soon he’s offering to be Eva’s fake boyfriend to get her creepy ex off her back. Unexpected, maybe, but there’s something about Sean—beyond the angelic face and take-me-now body—that makes Eva say yes.

Sean battles infernos for a living, reads romance on the side and is a straight-up, family-loving good guy. Eva’s not sure she’s ready for the danger he poses to her jaded heart. Given their differences, a relationship can’t last, right? But the line between fake and real keeps blurring, daring her to take the biggest risk of all…

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 (Fake) Dating Game by Timothy Janovsky 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 Out of Office by A.H. Cunningham

© 2026 Harlequin (Audiobook): 9781488237614

Release date

Audiobook: March 3, 2026