Sayo is a reporter who wants to do a story on composer Chizuru Kobuchi. At first he is resistant but after he learns her name means “serenade” he not only agrees but proposes that Sayo be his pretend lover and muse for the film score he is composing. All this happens in the first chapter. They start having intimate moments pretty fast and for me there was not enough romantic tension or build up. The art was very good and by the end of the story I was starting to become invested and root for the couple. This is something I would continue to read if it was on Kindle Unlimited or available at my library, but I wouldn’t add it to my collection.Recommended for people looking for a quick, fun romance manga with very little tension or conflict.

Thank you so much to the author, Kodansha Comics, and NetGalley for the complimentary ARC!
This review contains my honest and unbiased thoughts and opinions. 🌸

This definitely surprised me a bit, I wasn't quite expecting the storyline but found it enjoyable and one that I can't wait to continue. The art is truly stunning, the characters relatable and interesting. I did feel the beginning was a tiny bit rushed, happening super quick but not too distracting as it got us into the true story and things just smoothly carried for the rest of the book... ending much too quickly!

I love storylines based around the arts and this one features a musician who has never experienced love yet is trying to compose music for a love story. Enter the female MC who just witnessed her bf cheating... while out filming for her job! Yep, all caught on camera! Afterwards, she visits the musician to film a documentary of him only to be met with the surprise request of fake dating so he can experience a relationship.

Definitely a fun, enjoyable story and I can't wait for volume 2!

This was a cute, slightly steamy read! I'm curious how long they'll stay "pretend" for, and if the ex in the beginning comes back in any way, but if you're looking for a romance featuring adults, being adults, this is a nice title to try!

Okay I really enjoyed this one and I’m so curious to see where this story goes. I really loved the dynamic the characters had and how it was “fake dating for the sake of a story” which is so fun!

I enjoyed it, it was a cute little read just a bit too fast for me. I am still going to pick up the volume 2 though because I did find them pretty cute together and I want to read more about them and how the fake relationship will progress. I really liked the art style as well, it was soo pretty.

About the book :
Akari Sayo works at a TV station, and was on the job when she just happened to see her boyfriend~who just happened to be cheating on her. Before she can resolve anything, she's asked to manage a documentary about a musician, Chizuru Kobuchi...but when he tries to shut her out, she barges in, determined to do her job right! But moments later, when he learns her name…he asks her to be his lover? Akari's having a long day, and it looks like it isn't over yet!

Thank you so much to the publishing company, Kodansha Comics and Netgalley for providing me with a copy!!!

This was a very solid first volume.
The fake dating tropes are one of my favourite tropes...they can be cliche...but they are a guilty pleasure of mine when done right! And boy oh boy was this one good. You can’t help but know how it will go.
One of the solid points of this manga was the character development. I loved seeing both main characters discovering themselves and standing up for what they believed in. The chemistry was so well thought out and I cannot wait to see how that spans out in future volumes.
And may I add the art to this is very well done! Will definitely be checking out the second volume.

In A Serenade for Pretend Lovers, a struggling composer who's tasked with writing a track for a romance movie and strikes a deal to fake date with the main character, an interviewer who was recently cheated on and looking to move on, all in order to create a composition that fits the theme of love. Personally, I think the resolution to date the composer happened so quickly and I couldn't bring myself to be that invested in their relationship. I'm also not sure what the best friend/manager has to do with anything. I'm unsure as to whether I'm supposed to be feeling uneasy about their involvement. It was a relatively quick read so I would imagine it's easy to binge read the series. If you're looking for a light adult romance manga with the fake-dating trope, you could give this a shot.

I received an e-galley of A Serenade for Pretend Lovers, Volume 1 by Tochika Nekome from Kodansha in exchange for an honest review.

This first volume is a new manga series has got me already intrigued. I liked that it didn't waste too much time in diving right into the characters and their meeting with one another. I think it's an interesting premise with the fake dating trope - though definitely more risque as it is a fake lovers trope in which Chizuru Kobuchi, the musician, wants to be fake lovers with Akari Sayo - except that there's nothing quite fake about the physical aspects of the relationship. I'm curious as to how the story unwinds from there - if it is going to be as predictable as I can only imagine this trope plays out.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kodansha publishing for providing me an advance reader copy, all opinions are my own.
“A Serenade for Pretend Lovers” vol. 1 by Tochika Nekome I found to be a quick and fun read. What drew me initially to this manga was that the male MC was a musical composer, as well as the fake dating trope. I love the main character, News reporter Akari Sayo, and the humor she brings to the story.

Akari is staffed on a new assignment, a documentary style story where she is to shadow the young and famous composer Chizuru Kobuchi as he finishes his work composing the score for an upcoming romance movie. Upon meeting each other, Chizuru confesses that he hasn’t made any progress in composing any music for the film, due to his lack of knowledge of love. He decides to use Akari as his muse and proposes to fake date each other to help him find inspiration and in return allow her to film him for her story.

It seemed to be very quick moving and at times Chizuro seems too intense, especially in their "romance". I enjoyed the artwork and the interactions between Akari and Chizuro overall look adorable. The promo for volume 2 looks interesting and I will be following this series. I am excited to see how this romance and story in general unfolds.

Okay, I'm going to be honest and say that I requested this one to read because I was here for the drama and I thought it was gonna be juicy, but other than that I wasn't too sure what the volume would have in store for me. I have to say...I was very pleasantly surprised.

First of all, the art is really pretty with cute characters which is probably to be expected from this kind of genre, but I really enjoyed the art style!

Second, this was a lot funnier than I had anticipated it being. I thought it might be quite dramatic and cheesy which I was fine with because sometimes you just need a little bit of that, but I was pleasantly taken aback by how entertaining this volume was. Not to mention that it was a lot more adult than I'd been expecting. Don't get me wrong, this isn't ecchi or anything, but there's a couple of steamy moments alongside the cuter, fluffy, heart-fluttering ones!

The volume also moved along really quickly at a nice pace from the cheating to meeting the love interest and the fake dating suggestion being made etc there was also a surprising amount of romance (and steamy scenes like I said!) just in this volume and so early into the deal.

I have to say, the thing that I really enjoyed the most abut this volume though was the love interest. Love interests in these kind of things are usually actors or idols etc so I was so pleasantly surprised to find out that the love interest for this one is a composer! I really enjoyed getting a glimpse into the life of a composer and I'm looking forward to seeing more, to be honest!

All in all, this was an interesting volume and was a really good mix of humour, romance and spice with a cracking pace. I had a lot of fun reading this one and I'm really looking forward to seeing where it goes next!

(Tank You NetGalley and Kodansha for providing this ARC in exchange of a honest review)

rated:3.5 ⭐️
I really liked this!
Reading this i thought the pace was a little too fast, I know romance manga tend to be very fast paced but I think this was a little too much.
The art style is also on point to me, is very simple but very cute.
I’m really looking forward to read the next volumes and see the characters develop, I feel like the characters didn’t have much room for growing in this volume.
Overall a very cute manga, would definitely recommend this if someone is looking for a cute, fast romance story!

This story was a bit weird. Fake dating is one of my favourite tropes but there is no build-up, it feels like the two main characters too quickly develop feelings for each other. I liked that the story had a more mature voice and it doesn’t shy away from the characters getting into more spicy scenes, but there was no pretend. At the end of the first volume, she was already having feelings for him. The reasons behind their fake dating were not so justifiable. Chizuru wants to pretend he dates Sayo to write the soundtrack of a romance movie and he claims he doesn’t have much experience but he doesn’t act that way.
The art is beautiful, there is no denying it, but the story didn’t make me crazy enough that I want to read the second volume.

Akari Sayo is a TV journalist who spots her boyfriend cheating on her while she’s on the job. That same day, she is sent to do an interview with Chizuru Kobuchi, an up and coming young musician. But, in order to get the interview/documentary, Kobuchi demands that Sayo pretend to date him.

The premise is interesting but even just from the summary, you can tell the execution is a bit clunky. There is a good dose of humor in this story that saves it from being too cringe, like Sayo deadpanning that she is turned off whenever Kobuchi does something stupid. There are other characters who address the absurdity of the story but it doesn’t quite make it to satire and ends up falling flat.

My biggest issue was with Kobuchi who is very inconsistent - he’s oblivious and withdrawn and aggressive in some situations but then at the drop of a hat will switch to asking for consent and caring about Sayo’s well being.

Overall, the art is gorgeous and the humor is one of its strong points, but I don’t think I have much interest in continuing this series.

*I received an eARC from NetGalley & Kodansha in exchange for my honest review*

I with the best friend of the MC and manager of the other MC, this is crazy unhealthy and hurtful. Fake dating is one thing, pushing someone like this abusing power and then having "sexual interest" is another completely different. this manga is not my jam this is a big NO NO with a lot of red flags why would a composer famous need to be in relationship to compose about love?? did he never been in love? did he never write a song about love? all these concepts are so weird

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for giving me this eArc to review.

This manga was hard to rate because on one hand, I think this was quite generic and needs a lot of fleshing out for the characters but on the other hand, it was a quick read and I would be up for reading more.

The art is quite cute and the story is for more mature readers. I feel like there needs to be more communication/boundaries between the main characters and I wish the main guy wasn't as pushy but this may all be sorted in the second volume.

A Serenade for Pretend Lovers
-Volume 1 releases June 21
Akira is put in charge of a special documentary on Kobuchi. However, she soon discovers that they had turned down the offer but Kobuchi agrees to do it if Akira becomes his pretend lover in order to learn what love is for a song he needs to compose for a movie. Kobuchi also had to convince his manager/friend to allow Akira to be around him, since normally he can't get work done with others around. Will this pretend love turn into something real for both of them?

It does seem to move pretty quick so far, especially Kobuchi's actions. His manager/friend makes it seem like Kobuchi doesn't usually have relationships, which makes sense since he really doesn't know what you do in a relationship, but he does get protrayed as a playboy.

I love this one! The whole concept of a musician trying something new, and entering a fake dating relationship to help inspire his music is amazing! He is truly such a recluse. He doesn't understand dating, and it's going to be a wild ride as he gets it figured out.
The art in this series is stunning, and I really love both of the main characters. I'm very excited about the second volume.

“A Serenade for Pretend Lovers” vol. 1 by Tochika Nekome

Thank you to NetGalley and Kodansha publishing for providing an ARC, here is my honest review:

3 ½ ⭐/5⭐
1🌶️/5🌶️

“What’s the difference between pretending to be in love and actually being in love?”...

News reporter Akari Sayo discovers her boyfriend cheating on her while on assignment. Immediately her attraction for him dies, and she begins to question her ability to jump into another relationship. At work, a new assignment begins: shadow the ultra popular composer Chizuru Kobuchi as he finishes his work for an upcoming movie. When they meet, Kobuchi confesses that he hasn’t even started composing. The movie genre is romance, which Kobuchi knows nothing about. How can he compose a beautiful soundtrack for a romantic movie if he’s never been in love? He proposes a scenario for Sayo: pretend to be in love with him so he can figure out the soundtrack. Can Sayo remain emotionally distanced as she ‘fake dates’ Kobuchi? And will Kobuchi truly learn what it means to be in love?

-I was a little confused as to whether this manga could be described as josei or shoujo, even after finishing. There is kissing, and one scene that is ambiguous (is there physical intimacy happening? The art style makes it hard to tell).

-Speaking of the art style, while I would describe the style as more simplistic than detailed, I did enjoy how the characters were drawn. Sayo and Kobuchi are super cute, especially together.

-The story moves really fast, which isn’t surprising for a romantic manga series. I had no qualms with the pacing, I just wish there was more included in the first volume; it felt especially short.

-I was going to rate this as three stars, but after reading the preview for volume two I bumped it up to three and a half stars. I’m intrigued enough that I will probably continue reading the series, especially since it looks like the second volume deals more with Kobuchi’s burgeoning feelings.

Thank you NetGalley and Kodansha for providing me with this E-ARC in exchange for a honest review!

Akari Sayo works for a TV Station, and she caught her boyfriend cheating on her right in front of her eyes. She ends up breaking up with her boyfriend, and gets tasked out of the blue to interview a musician for a documentary, Chizuru Kobuchi. Sayo ends up going to Kobuchi’s house to start the interview process, but she gets shut out. The only way she can do this interview is if she agrees to have a pseudo-lovers relationship with Kobuchi. She ends up agreeing with this pseudo-lovers relationship, but does she end up having actual feelings for Kobuchi?

I enjoyed reading this manga. I love the fake dating trope! The art style is very nice! I look forward to reading Volume 2 :)

This was such a cute romance with one of my favorite trope; fake dating. But the fake dating was done in a different way, the two MC's started fake dating because the MMC needs to know what love feels like in order to finish his music composition. Unfortunately, the FMC starts to have feelings for real, but she firmly believes that the MMC does not feel the same. And we won’t know how the MMC feels until the next issue comes out!!
I cannot wait to continue this series, thanks Netgalley for the eARC.