Brought to you by Penguin.

With a fun and steamy twist on the only-one-bed trope, this debut contemporary romance will delight fans of THE PARADISE PROBLEM and THE LOVE HYPOTHESIS

Chemistry teacher Ashleigh Hutchinson knows better than anyone that love and lust don’t mix. The feelings come from different hormones, they trigger different responses, and they demand different reactions. Which is why she doesn’t date. She hooks up. No catching feelings required.

When Ashleigh is fired from her job without notice, she signs up to participate in a month-long sleep study, which will pay her enough to cover rent while she job hunts. It seems easy enough—until she walks into the clinic and finds herself staring right into the gorgeous eyes of Xander Miller, the only man to have ever tempted her to abandon her no-relationships rule.

When Xander and Ashleigh realize the study is only looking for couples, they agree to pretend to be together—which means sleeping in the same bed every night for the next few weeks. How hard can it be to keep their cool under the covers?

You can expect...
- Fake dating (for science)
- Only one bed (every night)
- No feelings (allegedly)
- Second chance romance
- Golden retriever MMC
- Hot mess FMC
- Banter as a love language
- Undeniable chemistry!

© Elizabeth McKenzie 2026 (P) Penguin Audio 2026