I’ve loved reading the spate of recent rom-coms set in the world of reality television. Most of them follow a certain formula: the contestant (sometimes reluctantly) enters the competition, falls for a fellow contestant, and --- after innumerable complications and misunderstandings --- finds happily-ever-after, if not first place in the competition.

However, Seressia Glass’ THE LOVE CON subverts this expectation more than a little bit. When we first meet Kenya Davenport, she’s already been competing for weeks on the reality show “Cosplay or No Way.” And despite numerous setbacks and close calls, she’s just been named a finalist!

Although this might normally be a plot point for near the end of a romance novel, Glass uses it as the jumping-off point for Kenya’s story. For being a finalist on this cosplay-themed reality show entails heading back home (in Kenya’s case, to Atlanta) to spend a solid four weeks constructing a show-stopping cosplay creation. Her brief is to design and build a cosplay costume for two, focusing on an iconic duo. As befits the theme, Kenya and the other finalist, Ben, are encouraged to enlist a partner from back home to share in the construction duties, and to serve as models for the final creations.

"[THE LOVE CON is] a thoroughly entertaining romantic comedy that will both play with readers’ expectations and entirely satisfy them."

For Ben, it’s a no-brainer --- he’ll work on his project with his husband, a set designer for theater productions. When Kenya is put on the spot in front of the cameras, she blurts out that she’ll be working with her longtime best friend, Cameron Lassiter, owner of the fabrication shop where she works when she’s not fulfilling costume commissions. But Kenya also kind-of sort-of hints that they are romantic partners, as well as business and creative partners. She’s not entirely sure how this news will be received by anyone back home, least of all Cam himself.

Little does Kenya know that Cam is more than on board with this fake-dating proposal. He’s been secretly in love with her for most of the time they’ve known each other, and he thinks it’s high time he declared his true feelings. And as the next four weeks unfold, the two of them have a lot of challenges --- not to mention a lot of fun --- navigating this new wrinkle in their relationship. But do they keep “pretending” even when the cameras aren’t rolling?

The stakes are high for Kenya, who’s promised her parents that if she fails to win “Cosplay or No Way,” she’ll go back to school and finally use that engineering degree they helped pay for. But it’s clear that her true passion is to combine her engineering know-how with her creativity, so readers will be rooting for her to find a way to pursue her dreams --- both professionally and romantically. Those who are already immersed in fandoms and the cosplay community will enjoy this deep dive into the culture; others will be fascinated to see the level of research and craftsmanship that goes into pulling together one of these elaborate costume designs.

Along the way, Glass explores how Kenya’s identity as a Black woman, and as a fat woman, bumps up against expectations for cosplay, and how she has learned to navigate relationships with people --- including fellow contestants, a show judge and Cam’s ex --- who are intent on pigeonholing or second-guessing her.

Kenya and Cam are clearly meant to be together, and if THE LOVE CON has a fault, it’s that the manufactured roadblocks to their relationship don’t seem all that insurmountable. But that’s a minor quibble with this thoroughly entertaining romantic comedy that will both play with readers’ expectations and entirely satisfy them.