Book excerpt: He hates durian, but for her, he’ll do anything. A fake dating and opposites attract romance. Durian is my nemesis. We have a long, painful history. In my opinion, the spiky fruit smells like natural gas and rotten onions with eau de vomit. Bleh. So when Valerie Chow spills her durian ice cream all over me, I shouldn’t fall in love. But despite her fondness for durian, Valerie is beautiful and delightfully prickly and stares at me when I take off my soiled shirt. And somehow, this chance encounter leads to me agreeing to be her fake boyfriend to get her mom off her back about her dating life. Her supposed boyfriend is a pediatric resident, but no big deal, right? My job’s in landscaping, but I can pretend to be a doctor. I’ll charm Valerie and her family, and I’ll figure out why she’s scared of relationships and gave up her career in software development. I’ll even take her to a durian dessert shop. And if I do a great job at being her fake boyfriend, maybe she’ll want me to be her real one… * * * Jackie Lau writes soft and steamy romances with Asian characters and lots of food. The Baldwin Village series is set in a Toronto neighborhood, and each book may be read as a standalone. Book 0.5: One Bed for Christmas Book 1: The Ultimate Pi Day Party Book 2: Ice Cream Lover Book 3: Man vs. Durian KEYWORDS: fake dating, fake relationship, foodie romance, Asian hero, Asian heroine, grumpy heroine, grumpy sunshine, opposites attract, rom-com, romantic comedy, contemporary romance, steamy romance, big city romance, Toronto, Canadian romance, happy ending