He Loves You Not

Deception and subterfuge abound in this entertaining second installment in Brown’s Serendipity series (after Fling Club). When NYU student Lacey’s middle-class parents put her tuition money toward her younger brother’s unexpected medical bills, Lacey looks for a second job to help with expenses. She decides to launch the Test Dummy service: for a fee, she’ll flirt with a woman’s boyfriend to test his fidelity. Though she’s attracted to “spoiled, trust fund brat” Jordan, Lacey assumes he shares his brother Stephen’s reputation for sleaziness. Meanwhile, Jordan complies with his father’s demand that he date a colleague’s daughter, Amy, to facilitate a business deal between their families—but he’s stung by Lacey’s mockery of the strange antics of “you rich folk” and intrigued by her bravado. He hires Test Dummy (not knowing who runs it), figuring he’ll pretend to cheat so Amy has an excuse to drop him and he can freely pursue Lacey. The treatment of class differences feels a bit simplistic—Lacey seems to want to become what she theoretically despises—but Jordan is a worthy hero, capable of hot limo sex and dramatic protective gestures when Lacey gets into trouble. Plenty of glitz, intrigue, and appealing supportive players make this a shallow but fun contemporary. Agent: Natalie Lakosil, Bradford Literary. (Nov.)