This Time It's Real

Written by Ann Liang

Narrated by Mimi Chang

Get ready to fall in love in this hilarious romcom about a girl who begins a fake relationship with the famous actor in her class, perfect for fans of Meg Cabot and Jenny Han.

When seventeen-year-old Eliza Lin's essay about meeting the love of her life unexpectedly goes viral, her entire life changes overnight. Now she has the approval of her classmates at her new international school in Beijing, a career-launching internship opportunity at her favorite magazine...and a massive secret to keep.

Eliza made her essay up. She's never been in a relationship before, let alone in love. All good writing is lying, right?

Desperate to hide the truth, Eliza strikes a deal with the famous actor in her class, the charming but aloof Caz Song. She'll help him write his college applications if he poses as her boyfriend. Caz is a dream boyfriend -- he passes handwritten notes to her in class, makes her little sister laugh, and takes her out on motorcycle rides to the best snack stalls around the city.

But when her relationship with Caz starts feeling a little too convincing, all of Eliza's carefully laid plans are threatened. Can she still follow her dreams if it means breaking her own heart?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Scholastic Audio Books
• Release date: Feb 7, 2023
• ISBN: 9781338889505

Ann Liang

Ann Liang is an undergraduate at the University of Melbourne. Born in Beijing, she grew up travelling back and forth between China and Australia, but somehow ended up with an American accent. When she isn’t stressing out over her college assignments or writing, she can be found making over-ambitious to-do lists, binge-watching dramas, and having profound conversations with her pet labradoodle about who’s a good dog. Ann is the author of If You Could See the Sun, This Time It''s Real, and I Hope This Doesn’t Find You.Ann Liang resides in Australia

Reviews for This Time It's Real

[Becki · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Fake dating turns to love exactly what it says on the tin. Eliza is a wonderful flawed rich character and this a delightful story

[Ines Dupon-Lahitte · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Eliza writes about her love story in a personal essay assignment for school. The essay is so great it blow up on the internet. Problem is: she invented it all. She turns to her classmate and famous actor Caz to fake the relationship.
Not the best fake dating story I've ever read. I feel like Eliza could have had a deeper understanding of her issues during the book, and as such it felt a bit too superficial.

[Jane Marshall · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

3.5 stars for me. I thought the story was cute! I would have liked to have enjoyed more time in the development portion of their relationship as opposed to the reservations stage. More insight to Caz's life through their interactions would have helped me root a little harder for both characters. I loved the audio version.

[Donna Dziekan · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It was such a cute read! I loved it so much!

[myra · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

oh boy this was a rollercoaster eliza lin i will protect u with my life

[Isabella Vergara · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Once again Ann liang doesn’t disappoint with this second book ❤️I really feel for Eliza and I get the feeling of loneliness and how she can’t outright express her own feelings straight to all the people she loves regarding also her fears of being hurt I can’t blame her for that. Man this book has got me to pieces and reformed me again in the end

[RUE · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I really liked how they handled the growth of the characters, how brave they were to face their fears and especially to share them, the faith and hope they have to know that something better will come and that change is not always bad (even though it can sometimes be difficult), you will experience several comedic moments, I recommend it to relax a bit between readings. (Translated from Spanish)

[MizferCergar · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A teenage love story with the cliché of a fake relationship. A very well-handled plot; when I read the synopsis, I thought it would be the typical teenage love story, but no, it is very entertaining, and the relationship between the characters is very mature. I recommend it if you want to read something quickly over a weekend. (Translated from Spanish)