"Sweet like plantain, hot like pepper. They taste the best when together."
That line hit me somewhere around hour two, while I was sitting in the school pickup line fifteen minutes early (the only scenario where being early is actually a reward). And I just... smiled. Like a weirdo. In my minivan. With goldfish cracker crumbs on my lap.
Look, I know fake dating is not a new trope. I've read approximately 400 fake dating books. I could write a thesis on fake dating books if I ever had time to write anything longer than a grocery list. Tempt Me is another one I picked up expecting the same familiar beats — it delivered some of them, though nowhere near the same depth. But Bolu Babalola does something with this setup that made me forget I was listening to a formula I already knew by heart.
Kiki Banjo Is the Friend I Wish I Had at 20
Kiki hosts a campus radio show called Brown Sugar where she basically tells the women of the African-Caribbean Society at Whitewell University to protect their hearts from fuckboys. (Sorry, "wastemen." I learned new vocabulary from this book.) She's sharp, she's funny, she's built an entire brand around being unbothered — and then she kisses the exact guy she just dragged on air. In front of everyone.
The thing that got me about Kiki is that her armor isn't played as cute or quirky. Babalola actually digs into WHY she's so guarded, and those layers unfold slowly enough that you feel like you're earning her trust alongside Malakai. There's a vulnerability underneath all that bravado that reminded me of, honestly, myself at that age. Pretending I had it all figured out while absolutely not having it figured out.
And Malakai — he's not just a charming love interest. He's an actual person with his own stuff going on, his own creative ambitions, his own reasons for putting up walls. Their late-night diner conversations felt real in a way that made me nostalgic for a time when I could stay out past 9 PM without needing three days to recover.
Weruche Opia Turned This Into a Full Experience
Here's where the audiobook earns its keep. Weruche Opia's British accent gives everything this warmth and rhythm that I genuinely don't think I would've gotten from reading the print version. The Brown Sugar radio segments? They LAND in audio. Like, you feel like you're actually tuning into a campus radio show. It's the kind of thing that makes you think "oh, this book was meant to be listened to."
Opia captures Kiki's wit without making her sound mean, which is a tightrope. Kiki says some cutting things, and in the wrong hands she could come across as just harsh. But Opia finds this balance where you hear the humor AND the hurt underneath. I don't have detailed notes on how she differentiates every side character — honestly, Sophie woke up from her nap during a crucial scene and I had to pause mid-conversation and come back twenty minutes later — but I never lost track of who was talking. Survived 47 pauses and still made sense.
At 12 hours, this is longer than my usual picks. I typically cap out around 8-10 hours because anything longer feels like a commitment I'm not ready to make (I already have three commitments who need snacks constantly). But I finished this in about nine days, which for me is practically speedreading.
The Culture Is the Point, Not the Backdrop
What I really want to talk about is how Babalola writes Black British university culture. It's not set dressing. The ACS — the African-Caribbean Society — isn't just where Kiki and Malakai happen to meet. It's the ecosystem. The politics of it, the social dynamics, the way everyone knows everyone's business, the specific pressure of navigating identity in a predominantly white university space. I learned things. I felt things I hadn't considered before. And none of it felt like a lecture — it was just... life. Their life.
The writing is genuinely funny, too. Not "oh that's clever" funny but "I snorted in the car" funny. Babalola has this way of dropping observations that feel like texts from your most unfiltered friend. My book club would love this (if I ever have time for book club again).
Is This Your Next Listen?
If you love a fake-dating romance with actual depth, real cultural specificity, and dialogue that crackles — yes. Absolutely yes. If you need something under 8 hours or you're not in the mood for a campus setting, maybe save it for when you have a stretch of good nap days.
The ending gave me exactly what I needed. Not groundbreaking, but sometimes you don't need groundbreaking. You need to sit in your car in the garage for an extra ten minutes because you want to hear these two idiots figure it out. Satisfying ending — exactly what I needed.
Car time approved. Multiple times over.
