It's All in Your Head

A GOODREADS AND BOOK RIOT MOST ANTICIPATED ROMANCE OF 2026

A “sexy, swoon-worthy” romance about a woman with a rare neurological condition who agrees to fake-date the hot guy in her chronic pain support group—only to discover he’s an Olympic snowboarder whose career-ending injury is as infamous as his dating history.

Your fake relationship shouldn’t come with chronic feelings.

Skylar is done with offline relationships—especially romantic ones. Living with chronic illness means she’s heard it all before: unreliable, high-maintenance, too much. She’d rather spend her free time in her online chronic pain support group, and lately, she can’t help but notice Pike, the hot new guy with a penchant for broody poetry.

When a chaotic night in the group forces her to pose as his girlfriend, she reluctantly agrees to keep up the charade in real life. Surprisingly, he’s thoughtful, sweet, and—most importantly—doesn’t flinch at the things that have scared others away.

Fake dating gets a lot more complicated when she discovers Pike isn’t just some guy. He’s a professional snowboarder whose career-ending injury is as infamous as his playboy past. He won’t talk about that, though. He’s fine. Really. But pretending to be in love with Skylar turns out to be the least depressing thing he’s done in months.

As they spend more time together, she starts to notice the cracks in his carefully crafted image, and for once, he doesn’t mind being seen. After all the bed-sharing and late-night talks, it becomes harder for both of them to pretend. But just as things start turning real, the paparazzi catch on, wanting the scoop on how everyone’s favorite Olympic medalist is doing post-accident.

Dating while disabled comes with challenges of its own, but public speculation and invasive questions are something else entirely. If their newfound feelings can’t survive the spotlight, their not-so-fake relationship may be over before it ever truly begins.