When Akari Sayo discovers her boyfriend is married, her feelings are flipped upside down. Not only is her boyfriend cheating, but he’s made her the other woman! Before she can sort out her feelings on the matter, she’s thrown into a crazy situation. Not Akari about to manage her first documentary on her own, but the musician she’s meant to record and interview wants to fake being lovers. Chizuru Kobuchi needs to write music for a romance story, but he’s never been in love, and Akari seems perfect for the job.

The fake dating trope claps, but this version of it feels pretty iffy. We follow Akari from the moment she learns her boyfriend is actually a married man. She’s upset by the turn of events, but it’s not like they were in love even though she was hoping marriage would eventually be on the table. Then we have Chizuru, the pushy and strange musician who wants to be fake lovers… or his version of fake lovers anyway.

The artwork is amazing, and I really wanted to like this book, but Chizuru is creepy and totally taking advantage of Akari. He knows he and his manager never accepted the documentary, and if Akari wants this documentary to happen, she has to accept his proposition. It’s already totally out of balance, especially since his idea of fake lovers isn’t in appearance only. He wants to get physical right from the start even though Akari is clearly uncomfortable with it. Plus, there was no discussion. He just went from zero to 100!

The power imbalance is already beyond skewed from the start. The voice of reason in this story is brief, and Akari seems to think she actually has a say in how this fake relationship is supposed to go. Fake lovers? They’re real lovers with a huge power imbalance. The only fake part is that they’re pretending to be in love at some point, I’m assuming in the next issue, before actually falling in love. I would feel a lot differently about the story if there wasn’t a huge power imbalance, if there was a legitimate discussion about what being fake lovers entails, and if the physical parts were organic with mutual interest rather than flying out of the blue and one sided.

The art of the manga is beautiful; I have no complaints. The characters' characteristics were very pretty, especially their eyes and small details.

However, I felt as though the story was a bit too fast-paced for my liking, and I felt as though there was not enough time to enjoy each scene and get to know the character properly.

Certain scenes struck me as a bit peculiar and, at times, felt somewhat unnatural in their execution.

On a positive note, I did love the fake-dating trope, and I think it worked well in the story.

While I remain intrigued and would consider delving into more volumes in the series, I can't say it would be my initial go-to, unfortunately.

However, it was an enjoyable read, the cover was beautiful, and I had fun reading it.

Recently I feel I've read a string of stories that would have been greatly improved if the two people knew each other first. This one ranks highly on that list - the premise is good- "I don't understand romance, so need help to create X piece of romantic work"; in fact, it's the premise of a book I'm also reading right now, but as with that one, It just feels too sudden. She's known this man for 10 minutes and is agreeing to engage in physical intimacy, WITH CAMERAS ROLLING, all for the sake of a TV series and his career. The lack of stranger danger amazes me. If they'd have just known each other before hand, been childhood friends that drifted apart, anything - I would have potentially loved this story

This is one of the worst manga I read this year! This is supposed to be both romantic and comedic and it was neither. A grown ass woman gets sexually harrassed by a shut-in musician and decides that that is okay because he is a bit hot. This is a no from me! A hell naw!

it was an alright book, but nothing that i would read twice. i might give the second volume a try in the future but there wasn't really anything there that would make me rush to see what happens next.

Whoever said they don't like a good fake-dating trope is a liar. This one hit the mark. I was obsessed with how this story plays out and I want more.

Thank you so much netgalley for the arc of this book.

A cute fake dating Manga!
A women who alwasy has bad luck in love and a man who doesn't know how being in love feels.
I think the concept is really interesting but the physical relationship developes too fast and the emotional part is too slow.

Admittedly it’s not a unique premise because even before you start reading you know how this fake relationship will turn out. I did like the art style and Akari, but there wasn’t anything that sets this story apart from all the others. If you like this trope, I think you’ll enjoy it.

I fell in love with this manga within its first chapter. The story is so sweet. The characters are lovely. And I love the drawing style. Perfect manga read.

I really enjoyed this manga- it's nice to read something for adults. Kodansha is doing a great job bringing shojosei titles into English.

As soon as I saw the cover and the title of this manga, I knew I needed to read it. It looked so cute and I found it something that was like a strangers to lovers trope off just the cover alone.

I am glad that I was correct in this, but even more alluring was the fact that it is fully a pretend to romance that will most defintely turn into a full romance and I love those just as well. The characters are a little blah right now but I am sure that the author will give the readers a more in depth feeling to the characters as the manga progresses.

The one thing I had an issue with was how quickly we jumped into the plot of the story and the relationship. I was not ready for it and had to reread a few of the pages becuasae of how fast it was. Or maybe the manga is just a fast page turner because I am a huge sucker for romance of this type.

Other than than, I would not change anything about this manga. I cannot wait to read the next manga. I hope it shows on Netgalley, but if not I am recommending that our library obtains it for other readers.

I went into reading this knowing nothing about it and came away with a series I'll absolutely be finishing. A Serenade for Pretend Lovers follows Akari, who finds out her boyfriend is married when she sees him with his wife at work, but freshly after the breakup her coworker appoints her in charge of a documentary feature with an eccentric composer who proposes they fake date after he hears her name.

I really loved the growing tension between the two mains, and the fake lovers trope was used really well here. I must have had my shoujo glasses on because I wasn't expecting the sexual aspects, but I really loved them! It's refreshing to see an adult relationship with adult humor and content. While it didn't end on a cliffhanger, which is usually what draws me into vol 2, the sneak peek had me setting a reminder to make sure I don't miss the next volume!

I really liked the art style in this manga—it was very pretty and flowed and not at all distracting! That being said, this particular manga was not for me.

This particular story was not for me—I think it might have been more my speed if the relationship developed a bit more slowly (pun intended) and the pacing was more consistent.

Going to read volume 2!

Thank you to Kodansha and NetGalley for giving me a copy of this volume.

This was a solid read-through and through. The premise sounds ridiculously fun, and fun it is. I guess it also doubles as an alternative way to tell a romance, so what more can you ask for? Our main character is relatable in her struggles and decision-making, and the musician she stumbles upon is so weirdly unique that you can't help but want to know more about him. Or how his mind works, in any way. A great recommendation for reader looking for something new in the romance genre, and want a nice new manga series

I think the premise of the story is cute but also weird. Just randomly accepting a person into your home plus pretending to be in love with someone your interviewing... ... Naruse is the only person who is thinking straight in this story.
Outside of that, the art is really cute and the story is fast-paced and flows well. I do like the main character Akari, though she seems very naive and inexperienced with life.

I didn't really care for the characters or plotline. The main character, Chizuru, was creepy and unappealing. I wanted to love this book, the art is gorgeous and the cover is stunning, but unfortunately it just fell very flat.

Is it insta-love that he just doesn't understand or just lust? If you think that's a deep philosophical question, <i>A Serenade for Pretend Lovers</i> may be the book for you. Taking the "fake couple" romance trope and combining it with "really, this is for work," the story follows documentary director Sayo and composer Chizuru as they stumble into...something. Chizuru, a brilliant composer, has the emotional intelligence of a hedgehog, and he somewhat sadly takes it to mean that he doesn't know what love is. Sayo, who's just found out that she's the other woman her boyfriend's been cheating with (and how she thought "allergic to metal" was a viable explanation for why he didn't get them rings, I don't know), was just stuck with a project about Chizuru and isn't quite sure what to do with it. When he reveals that he's stuck composing a love song and needs her help as his fake lover, she feels a bit backed into a corner by the whole thing and ends up agreeing.

All told, it's not a terrible book, it just doesn't do much to distinguish itself from any others. If "serviceable" is what you want in your romance manga, give this a try.

Not really a fan of this one. Usually I'm all about a fake relationship, and I'm okay with a friends with benefits oops we developed feelings plotline, but for whatever reason this just felt a little... creepy. Chizuru is kinda... sketch.

Is this storyline a little predictable? Yes. Absolutely. Will I still continue to read it, just like I continue to watch every single Hallmark movie? You betcha.

Chizuru is a little oblivious but also kind of charming? I don't know, he reminds me of Daoming Si (but, you know, a little less violent.) and with the little next volume preview at the end of this book, I can't wait to see him realize that he might actually have feelings for Akari.

I'm hoping Akari works on standing up for herself in the next few volumes, because I hate seeing her get pushed around by people and getting taken advantage of.

Thank you to Kodansha and Netgalley for allowing me to read an ARC

This was an unexpected surprise! I went into this knowing nothing so to get a fake dating story full of sexual tension, soft moments and a “we aren’t going to fall in love but its definitely gonna happen by accident” was great!

I really liked the art style too. It really captured the personalities of the two main characters. I really enjoyed them both! I can’t wait to see these two absolutely fall for each other in future volumes after this great set up volume!

4.5/5