She wants to break his heart. He wants her to fall in love. A messy revenge romcom for fans of Lynn Painter and Sandhya Menon.

HOW TO FAKE A LOVE STORY
by Aashna Avachat
Penguin Workshop, January 2027
(via KT Literary)

Now that Lakshmi has returned to her hometown for her senior year of high school, she’s determined to “live a little”—as her new friend Emily would say. That means searching for love, chasing an adrenaline rush, and of course, studiously ignoring her former best friend and crush, Adil.

But after Adil carelessly meddles in Em’s relationship, her heartbreak leaves the girls wanting to give him a taste of his own medicine. What if Lakshmi broke his heart? She has her own reasons for wanting to get revenge, after all.

Meanwhile, Adil isn’t sure why Lakshmi left without so much as a goodbye. He’s been doing his usual thing. But when his romantic expertise is called into question, his friends issue him a challenge: to prove himself, Adil will have to get a girl of their choosing to fall in love with him. And they know one who never would—Lakshmi.

Adil needs to win Lakshmi over and Lakshmi needs to break his heart. They might know how to fake a love story, but as ulterior motives give way to genuine feelings, will they be able to build a real one?

Aashna Avachat is the author of Love Craves Cardamom (Penguin Random House/Joy Revolution, Spring 2025) and the editor of the anthology Study Break (Feiwel & Friends/Macmillan, 2023). She is a graduate of Harvard Law and lives in Chicago.

Aashna Avachat is a writer, reader, and lawyer from California. She studied English and Philosophy at the University of California, Berkeley and law at Harvard Law School. She is also the author of Love Craves Cardamom (Penguin Random House/Joy Revolution, Spring 2025) and Mischief Girls (Delacorte, September 2026). When she’s not working, she’s probably reading on a sunny patch of grass, going on long walks to grocery stores, or being cozy with one of her many foster cats. Visit her online at aashnaavachat.com.