Sometimes, my TBR game gives me a prompt that conveniently works with the reading list I have for an event. February 2026’s game gave me ‘fake dating’ as a prompt, and I had Stranger Things Have Happened by Kasie West in my Love Y’all Book Festival pile. It says, “Fake it ’till you make it or fall in love trying” on the cover, so it was a perfect pick.
I didn’t read any further into what the book was about since I tend to figure out plot points too early when I do. When I started reading, I was delighted by this fun twist on a popular trope.
Stranger Things Have Happened [Buy Bookshop Amazon LibroFM] is a single POV story about Sutton, and we find her in a less-than-steller moment. She’s returned to her hometown temporarily to care for her mother following a car crash, but they don’t have a great relationship. She gets dressed up to go on a date with her boyfriend of two years, only for him to call and break up with her by phone while she’s outside the restaurant.
Instead, she pops into a bar to down a few drinks since she’s already paid for someone to watch her mom. While there, she overhears a couple guys talking about one’s fiancee wanting to go to couple’s therapy before the wedding, but he doesn’t think he needs it. She makes a face and gets sucked into the conversation, defending the merits of therapy, only for her high school bestie to walk up and be said fiancee.
A bet is hatched where two strangers would go to four sessions and see if the therapist notices they don’t know each other. Sutton is selected to go with the brother of the soon-to-be groom, Elijah. Seems simple enough, but their homework and situations have them spending more time with each other than expected.
The premise of Stranger Things Have Happened felt so fresh and fun that it sucked me in immediately. I flew through this book, even though Sutton’s mom is so irritating. Their relationship is complicated, and give the story an extra layer of emotional turmoil for Sutton to deal with.
Even though Sutton is an only child, this feels like it’s for the oldest daughters. Sutton has a hard time letting anyone help her and constantly controlling everything, which are common tendencies of firstborn daughters.
This was such a fun, steamy book and I enjoyed it immensely. I’m definitely interested in picking up more books from this author.
Literary Hypewoman 
Leave a comment