This Time It's Real by Ann Liang is about two young adults who agree to fake date each other to bolster their careers. Seventeen year old Eliza Lin spent her entire life traveling the world due to her mother’s job. At her new international school in Beijing, she is given an assignment to write about her personal life. However, she isn’t comfortable sharing her personal life with complete strangers. Instead of writing a true story based on her life, she decides to write a fictionalized version of her non – existent love life, taking snippets from her parents' love story.
Eliza didn’t expect much attention to her essay since she is a new student with no friends. However, her story goes viral overnight and Eliza is now famous and her classmates all want to know more about her secret boyfriend. Eliza loves the attention her article has garnered her but she is afraid of her lie being exposed.
Eliza is desperate to keep her secret, so she enlists the help of a famous actor in her class. Caz Song is a charming and charismatic actor who has fans following his every move. She proposes a mutually beneficial agreement between the two of them. Caz pretends to be her boyfriend so she can keep her journalism internship opportunity and in return she will help him write his college applications.
While Caz is pretending to be her boyfriend, Eliza realizes how great he is. Caz is sweet to her little sister, he passes her notes in class, he is thoughtful towards her requests, and he takes her out on motorcycle rides all over the city to try new snacks. Eliza finds herself falling for Caz but she isn’t sure if he feels the same way. Is Eliza willing to give up her dream internship for her chance at real love, seeing as the reason for her internship was to give readers an exclusive look into her relationship?
The book was a clean romance with minimal hand holding or touching involved. The novel had funny moments sprinkled throughout. There weren't any twists or surprising events. The characters were fun and relatable as they navigate their lives. Eliza tries to work through her feelings of always being the new girl and not having anywhere she can call home. She rarely tries to make any new friends because in her mind they will just end up leaving her. Caz’s parents are never home and he spends most of his time being an actor and proving himself. They both had challenges of not belonging and not having someone in their corner. I do feel that fans of K-dramas or romcoms might really enjoy the book.
