Cover Story: A Hilarious Romantic Comedy of Fake Dating, Workplace Rivalries, and Unlikely Partnerships in the Cutthroat World of Journalism

Bel and Connor get off to a rough start in their Manchester newspaper office. She’s well-known for her award-winning podcast, and he’s the new office intern, fleeing from the life he’s left collapsing behind him in London. The two dislike each other immediately, wildly misunderstanding one another. When Bel becomes immersed in a salacious undercover story, Connor finds himself swept up in the investigation. He poses as Bel’s boyfriend, and the pair fake their way to getting the story with their wild infatuation with one another. Yet this enemies-to-lovers romance wouldn’t be complete without both characters catching feelings for real.

For the enemies-to-lovers trope, Cover Story by Mhairi McFarlane is a surprisingly satisfying. This isn’t usually a category I enjoy, but the relationship was extremely well-done and felt authentic. Even Bel’s sordid dating history makes her sympathetic to the reader. The pacing moves quickly, but there’s quite a bit of jargon that can be hard to decipher. (I had to look up what it meant to give someone a Saltburning, for example.) But on the whole, this book was incredibly fun and very enjoyable.