Genre 📚: YA/NA Contemporary, Romance
Tropes 💁♀️: Reality TV romance, Showrunner x Contestant, Enemies to lovers
Rep ✔️: Korean/Korean American main characters, Bisexual main character, BIPOC and queer side characters
CW ⚠️: Brief mention of homophobic parent
Rating ⭐️: 3.5/5
The best way to get rid of a crush you don’t want to have? For FMC Mia, that would be creating an entire dating show about fellow students confronting their crushes in a romantic, snowy lodge. Unfortunately, Mia finds herself in an odd situation, where the boy she likes/hates is brought onto her show and is set up with someone else. And now she has to watch them go on cutesy dates and even kiss. Yikes.
However, MMC Noah isn’t all that interested in the girl he’s been paired with — he’d much rather sit by the fire and chat with the prickly showrunner. While all kinds of dating shenanigans are happening onscreen, Mia and Noah fall into their own romance offscreen. I love reality TV, I love getting aaaall the tea, and there was plenty of tea here. There were full-blown confessions, unexpected fights, the whole shebang.
Though I enjoyed the drama, a lot of The Cuffing Game leaned to the juvenile side. I think this is just author Lyla Lee’s style, and it makes sense since she’s written many kids’ and middle grade books. It hasn’t bothered me too much with her previous YA titles, but it is pretty distracting here, when the characters are supposed to be 18-21 years old. I think the main romance also needed more time to simmer. But, all in all, this is a solid, entertaining read, with lots of couples to root for.
**Much thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review. The Cuffing Game will be released on November 18, 2025.
Sara Bechtol 