Fake Dating A Human 101 by Jennifer Kropf
Riddle me this: If you fake-date a human as a
Fae assassin, what happens? If you go on a fake vacation to
Florida as a diversion from your friends while dealing with dangerous family ties, will you return? If you’re
Shayne Lyro, you have a solid answer to both riddles: you have no idea, just like how you have no idea why
Lily Baker has decided to make weapons at a technology company meant to kill Fae.
Lily thinks Shayne has lost his mind for good this time. He hasn’t been picking up his phone, and the last time she checked, he was supposed to be in Florida. This means only one thing: he must be in the
Evercorners. At least, that’s the deduction Shayne’s best friend,
Dranian, comes up with. The only natural course of action, then, is to go into the fearsome Evercorners, where even the Fae dread to tread, and try to get Shayne out of trouble with his family.
The last book of
The High Court of the Coffee Bean unfolds in a place where the most impossible things are not the magical Fae or the lands they come from, but rather the choices and decisions each character will be forced to make as the final chapter of this series closes.
Artistry and Craft
Some of the major question marks from Wanted: A Roommate Who Isn’t Evil are addressed further in this book, particularly regarding the main characters Shayne and Lily, but also the main characters whom the previous book in the series focused on, Luc and Dranian.
This book was very good for the final installment in the series. The author does a great job stringing events together to create a story that feels full and purposeful. By the end, it feels like, as the reader, we have travelled a long journey together, making this entry feel especially weighty and special within the series.
I’d also like to mention how the author wrote a tough female character like Lily and explored her background more deeply, showing why she is the way she is. I think that was a really neat detail. I also felt that Lily’s character worked very well alongside the other female characters in this book and the previous two books, Sincerely, Secretary of Doom and Welcome to the Fae Cafe. Both main female characters in those books are soft in certain ways, at least physically, but emotionally extremely strong. Lily is almost the opposite in some respects. Physically, she is very strong, and she is a survivor, often holding herself together even during deeply vulnerable moments. This can also be her weakness.
I found the author’s writing to be quite strong in this book; even though it wasn’t much longer than the rest of the series, the book felt long, but in a good way. The author stacked many events back-to-back without it ever feeling like a "whiplash" experience. Somehow, Jennifer Kropf was able to compact events in a way that still allowed for breathing room between them. I liked that the story focused not just on one storyline, but multiple storylines, and used the advantage of a later series entry to develop them meaningfully.
In this book, we also get to see more of the Fae world that Cres, Shayne, Dranian, and others come from. I found it extremely interesting and unlike anything I’ve read before, which kept me engaged throughout.
Sometimes I wasn’t a huge fan of the flirtation between two particular characters, but that comes down to personal preference. Most of the time, though, the banter is hilarious and adds instead of takes away from the novel as a whole.★★★★
Themes and Messages
All four books in this series place a strong emphasis on personal growth and healing, and this theme fits especially well here, particularly through characters like Shayne, with his complicated family history, Luc with his complex family history and personal history, and Lily Baker with her personal struggles and conflicting needs and values.
One theme stood out to me among the development of the characters’ stories, specifically in Lily, a character who appeared in previous books. That theme is vulnerability and honesty in the way she processes her emotions.
Lily has her mind set on a single purpose: a promise she made to a loved one years ago. She centers her life around this promise by being independent, strong, and in control, all to protect Kate, her sister, from the new world of Fae that they’ve both entered. She goes through experiences that challenge her perception of control, pushing her to confront uncomfortable truths about trust and reliance on others, and ultimately coming to the realization that she may not have as much control as she thought would grant safety to her loved ones and herself. This is most explored in her relationship with her past.
The overall highlight of this series for me has to be Luc’s character and his development. I personally connected with him the most in certain ways, even though in other ways, we are very different, and while his storyline feels well-explored, I would be interested in seeing more from his perspective in the future.★★★★.5
Final Thoughts
Overall, I am crushed knowing that this is the last book of the series, but I look forward to rereading it sometime in the future. I’d rate this book four and a half stars. Wanted: A Roommate Who Isn’t Evil is still my favourite book in the series, but this one comes close in terms of emotional payoff and narrative weight. I would recommend this book and the entire series, The High Court of the Coffee Bean, to anyone who likes romantic comedies that have a healing element to them and is also interested in the urban fantasy genre that has an "autumn" feeling in it.
Content Discretions:
Violence, Nightmares, Internal conflict, Fantasy violence, Guns, Bullying, Abuse, Parental abuse.
Want to Learn More?
You can explore Jennifer Kropf’s work and updates on her official pages:
Author Website
Goodreads Author Page
Amazon Author Page
That's all folks! If you’ve read Fake Dating A Human 101, I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below! ❤❤❤
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