# Fake Skating

By Lynn Painter

Profile: https://hahafiction.com/books/fake-skating-5a9471a1/

Back in Minnesota, Dani reunites with Alec, a childhood friend she has lost touch with. Pretending to date could help repair his image with hockey scouts and strengthen her bid for a team-manager position that might impress Harvard. The arrangement asks them to perform a relationship while they are still finding their way back to each other.

## What makes it funny?

A fast-food stop on moving day prompts Dani to treat the Minnesota cold as a threat to her survival. When her mother corrects her table manners, Dani answers with a literal objection. She keeps finding reasons to argue with the ordinary inconveniences of the move.

### The comedy at work

Dani enlarges small discomforts into occasions for protest, then uses cheeky logic to defend herself. With Alec, pretending to be a couple gives an old friendship a public role that may not match what either privately feels.

### Try this if…

The romance gives readers an old friendship to revisit alongside the fake-dating arrangement. School ambitions, hockey prospects and family pressure make the decisions matter to the teenagers beyond their attraction.

### Good to know

The setup includes parental divorce and family conflict. Alec’s image problems involve a social-media photograph with a bong.

## What to expect

- Genre: Romance
- On the shelf: Contemporary romance · Romantic comedy
- Kind of humor: Banter
- The atmosphere: Warmhearted
- Audience: Young adult
- Format: Novel
- Length: 448 pages
- Audiobook: 10 hr 21 min
- Published: 2025

## A few distinguishing details

- Childhood friends reunite through fake dating
- Hockey prospects and Harvard ambitions shape the arrangement
- Dani’s sarcastic response to a cold Minnesota return

## Sources & further reading

- Publisher: [Simon & Schuster identifies Fake Skating by Lynn Painter, ISBN 9781665921268, as a hardcover of 448 pages and lists an Unabridged Audio Download format.](https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Fake-Skating/Lynn-Painter/9781665921268)
- Book information: [Apple Books lists Fake Skating (Unabridged) by Lynn Painter, narrated by Aidan Bissett, with a 10 hour 21 minute length.](https://books.apple.com/us/audiobook/fake-skating-unabridged/id1792774956)
- Review: [Kirkus review](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/lynn-painter/fake-skating)
- Publisher: [Publisher and opening chapter](https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Fake-Skating/Lynn-Painter/9781665921268)