Yearning Difficulties: Fall in love in this cosy autumnal fake-dating romance

Lake Pristine #3

by Elle McNicoll

It's autumn in Lake Pristine! Get ready to fall in love Yearning Difficulties, the fake-dating romance from Elle McNicoll, award-winning author of Wish You Were Her.

"I honestly loved this book so much . . . I swear this series gets better with every book!" - 5* reader review

"Always love a good romantic YA book especially one that has a cute fake dating scheme . . . Highly recommend!" - 5* reader review

"A fabulous romance" - 5* reader review

Zella is co-hosting the student radio show – which would be great if she didn’t have to share it with her horrible ex, Dave.

Her classmate Killian is brash, opinionated – and his mother happens to run the writing seminar of Zella’s dreams.

When Zella suggests he help her out by fake dating her, Killian sees an opportunity. He has his own reasons for getting close to Zella . . .

But when he starts to trip up on his own lies and their friendship begins to fracture, Zella might have to open her heart to the possibility that what she’s looking for has been there the whole time.

Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Audible Audio

Expected publication October 8, 2026

About the author

Hey, I'm Elle. I'm Scottish, autistic and an author/screenwriter who is really bad at logging her reading choices.

I write about autistic girls finding out who they are and what makes them happy, because I'm an autistic girl trying to find out who she is and what makes her happy.

I don't read reviews, as they are for readers, but I'm grateful to any and everyone who engages with my work, on the page or on the screen. My Young Adult Romance debut is called Some Like It Cold in it will be published on the 3rd of October. Official professional shiz below:

Elle McNicoll is a bestselling and award-winning novelist and screenwriter. Her debut, A Kind of Spark, won the Blue Peter Book Award and the Overall Waterstones Children’s Book Prize, as well as Blackwell’s Book of 2020. She is a four time Carnegie nominated author, and was shortlisted for the Books Are My Bag Awards 2020, 2021 and 2022, the Branford Boase Award 2020 and The Little Rebels Award 2020 and 2021. She was also honoured in the US with the Schneider Award, 2022.

Her second Middle Grade novel, Show Us Who You Are, was Blackwell’s Book of the Month and one of The Bookseller’s Best Books of 2021. Her first fantasy middle grade, Like a Charm, was nominated for Best Children’s Book for Older Readers in the first ever Week Junior Book Awards, and was highly praised in the New York Times.

Her debut novel, A Kind of Spark, has also been adapted for television, which debuted on UK and US screens on the 2nd of April, 2023. It is Emmy nominated and won Best Children’s Programme at the Broadcast Awards and the Royal Television Society Awards in London, 2024 and is now streaming in many territories around the globe. A second season is currently airing on CBBC.

Her debut Middle Grade was named as one of the greatest children’s books of all time, coming in at number 75, and she is twice nominated for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award.

Her YA debut, Some Like It Cold, will be published on October 1st (US) and October 3rd (UK). She is an advocate for better representation of neurodiversity in publishing, as an autistic and dyspraxic novelist, and currently lives in North London.

Reviews

[Hayley]

With Elle McNicoll’s latest novel, the autumnal YA romance Yearning Difficulties, she does something that may surprise readers of her previous books. That’s because McNicoll — a proudly autistic author known for putting neurodivergent characters at the heart of her stories — turns the narrative inward, this time writing from the perspective of a teenage girl who has yet to discover this fundamental truth about herself. When we meet Zella Blass, we learn that she is highly involved with school activities and has always felt different to her peers for reasons she can’t quite explain. She co-hosts the school radio show with her ex-boyfriend, and her big dream is to get into a prestigious writing seminar led by the esteemed Dr Bergery, whose twin sons Chris and Killian attend classes with Zella. After Zella reveals this to Killian, he offers to help her in exchange for a favour of his own. However, when Killian brings her home to meet his mother, Dr Bergery mistakenly assumes the two are dating. But after Zella decides to go along with the ruse, she and Killian unexpectedly bond, finding themselves connecting in a way that surprises them both.

It was a treat to return to Lake Pristine for yet another season, as I recognized quite a few familiar faces and places from both Some Like it Cold and Wish You Were Her. While several characters featured in the previous instalments of McNicoll’s trio (soon to be quartet!) of standalone YA novels set in the seemingly idyllic fictional town make an appearance, readers new to this world are quickly brought up to speed so they don’t feel like they’re left behind. It’s also worth mentioning that Yearning Difficulties is a contemporary retelling of Edmond Rostand’s Cyrano de Bergerac, so if you’re at all familiar with that story it’s safe to say there will be some plot elements you’ll probably see coming! I wouldn’t call that a detriment though because the predictability of this felt comforting in a sense, and there is still an element of surprise when it comes to exactly how things play out.

Now, onto the characters! Zella and Killian are both well-developed with their own complexities, feeling like foils to one another yet two sides of the same coin, and the constantly shifting dynamic between them had me invested from the start. While both characters are written as neurodivergent, with Killian being diagnosed autistic, it is interesting to see how Zella’s perception of him changes as her self-awareness grows. As someone who has been on a journey of exploring my own neurodivergence, I found many aspects of Zella’s character quite relatable. Her academic giftedness as well as her desire to understand who she is and be truly seen definitely resonates with me, and for that reason I felt both frustrated for and empathetic towards her. I also liked Cherry, Killian and Chris’s autistic and unapologetically bold cousin, who makes a memorable impression after she shows up in town!

Overall I really enjoyed Yearning Difficulties and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys YA romance retellings, as well as anyone who may be interested in exploring neurodivergence through fictional stories that aren’t your stereotypical representation. And if you read and enjoy this one, I’d also recommend checking out McNicoll’s other books!

Thank you to Macmillan Children’s Books for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley, all opinions are my own.

[Books By Your Bedside]

Thanks to NetGalley and First Ink for the advanced copy of this title in return for an honest review.

This is book three of the Lake Pristine series. I didn't read the first but I did read the second and felt at no disadvantage. And this is the same. I'm sure reading them all in order will give you something a bit more, familiar characters and locations etc. but they're perfectly fine as standalones.

I think I've read four of her books - Unapologetic Love Story; Role Model; Wish You Were Her; A Kind of Spark - and own two others, and throughout them all, what I love is her depiction of neurodiversity. I believe Elle herself is neurodivergent and you can really tell that's where her passion and lies. She's not doing it just to tick a box to say she's got diverse characters; she really loves and believe in these characters and it's beautiful to see neurodiverse characters given this much care and attention, particularly in high-profile mainstream YA fiction.

My nephew is autistic, and whilst he's still a bit young for Elle's books, they will definitely be ones I recommend to him when he gets older.

I'm not the biggest fan of the "fake dating" trope. I almost feel a bit too old for it (this is in no way an opinion on what other people like to read; you read and enjoy what you want to, I celebrate all readers regardless of what they choose to read), but on a solely personal note, I feel like I can't relate to it anymore. So I was a bit apprehensive about whether Elle could win me over.

We mainly follow Zella who feels different but she isn't quite sure why, which I found interesting because the reader knows, or at least assumes, why that is but it was fun to see her journey. I also liked how one of male characters (no spoilers here) is autistic and that's rare, in my experience anyway, to read a fictional YA novel with a neurodiverse male, front and centre.

Also, and this goes for all her books I've read, she has multiple people with autism and other neurodiverse traits, and so shows that whilst there are some elements they may share, there is not "one autism", and neurodiverse people are just as individuals as neurotypical people and I found that wonderful.

There are elements that perhaps were a little predictable but that's not a negative, in fact it's almost comforting in a way, but there's still enough fresh sections to make the whole thing feel new and exciting.

I'm still not sure I'm on board with the "fake dating" trope but Elle has handled it well.

This is in the first person, whereas the previous books, if I remember correctly, were in third. I admit I only really like first person in thrillers, so that part jarred with me but that is obviously just a personal preference.

It wasn't my favourite of her books - that still lies with Wish You Were Her - but I still think it's a very well accomplished book. It's powerful and inspirational without trying too hard and I think young adults are going to absolutely love it.

[Cara xx]

Thank you to Pan Macmillan for giving me an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review
I honestly loved this book so much! I really enjoyed Some Like It Cold and Wish You Were Her, so I was very excited to return to Lake Pristine for Autumn and I think Yearning Difficulties was my favourite out of the three. I swear this series gets better with every book!
I felt that this book was quite different from the first two, largely due to the fact that it was in first person instead of third, but I think this really worked in the books favour and gives readers an insight into Zella's mind.
I loved Zella and thought she was such an interesting, smart, well rounded character. It was so interesting to see the story through her eyes and witness how she changes throughout the book. I also felt her story of discovering her autism was very authentic and well done.
Killian was also a great character in my opinion, and was a perfect match for Zella. Their story was honestly so sweet and kept me hooked and rooting for them throughout.
I also thought the cast of side characters were very vibrant and interesting, especially Cherry, who I thought was such an icon! I loved her dynamic with Zella, and I also felt awful for her though considering how some treated her, especially her stepsister.
I thought it was great that whilst Zella, Killian and Cherry were all autistic and had some similar experiences and traits due to this, they were all vastly different characters with unique personalities, which I think showed the diversity within the autism spectrum and that all autistic people are different.
I was very pleased that there was cameos from characters who were in the previous books. I felt their appearances were well handled so that those who had read the previous books could see how they were doing years later, without alienating new fans, and drawing them in to reading their stories.
Overall, I really enjoyed Yearning Difficulties and would highly recommend. Can't wait for book 4 to come out!

[Book Dragon]

I love Elle McNicoll's books, and her Lake Pristine YAs have been delightful, so returning for autumn was something I was very much looking forward to.

What I really liked about this book is the mix of diagnosed and the 'not year realised' autistic characters. There were also lovely callbacks to previous characters from other books (I forgot how much I liked Jonah!) There was also a lot of literary references in this, which I thoroughly enjoyed.

What I didn't like as much was the teen drama, and admittedly that's maybe because I'm
1) really avoidant of all sorts of drama
2) a nearly 40yr old woman and all done with l secondary school shenanigans
3) slightly triggered by Zella trying her best (socially) and it just not quite working.

I'm a late realised autistic, and only got there when I realised my daughter was autistic (and a bit after our first encounter with A Kind of Spark - so the Allegra article/meet in the book was special!) so there was a lot of 'I see that' moments, which Elle writes very well. But also... Just ... so much high school drama.

There was also a bit of language and inference of intimacy that would make me hold this back from my 13yo (she'll be gutted!) as the characters are 18, they swear, and sex is referenced casually at points - something that some may be ok with, but something for the older YA audiences.

Overall, a good read, and a lovely addition to Lake Pristine!

[Moon Ann]

ARC REVIEW

I don’t think I’ve ever rated a book by Elle McNicoll less than 5 stars, and Yearning Difficulties keeps that trend going!

The writing is so quintessentially Elle McNicoll, blending seamlessly into the previous two novels in the quartet, but there is something so different about this one. McNicoll is a proud autistic author who writes autistic characters perfectly, but for once we begin the story with a female main character who hasn’t get come to realise — or maybe better yet, accept — that she is autistic, and, as a late diagnosed autistic, I think McNicoll has written this beautifully.

The story itself is sweet and familiar, but the added aspect of realising or coming to terms with being autistic, as well as well-written meltdowns really makes this for me and I think it might be one of my favourites of her works.

I also felt so connected to the underlying theme of grief, as someone who has navigated loss, especially of a friend, as an autistic person, this hit so close to home.

Thank you Elle for yet another wonderful and insightful portrayal of autism.

Thank you to Macmillan Children’s, First Ink and Netgalley for this ARC!

[L]

A welcome return to Lake Pristine. Bonus points for it being set at autumn and a fake dating romance.

Once again we have autistic main characters, one of whom is unaware of her neurodivergence, slowly discovering herself. In addition, there is another autistic side character and the real strength of this book is in how different all of these characters are. We can see autistic traits in them all, but they are very different to each other, which I think really helps readers understand the wide range of autistic presentation.

I was a bit disappointed that Cherry’s story wasn’t really wrapped up, but I wonder if she will be the main character in the fourth book.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC

[Siobhan Watkins]

ANOTHER absolute banger of a book from Elle. This was an ARC of a book of hers that doesn’t come out till October but was lucky enough to receive a copy earlier. It was all my favourite things wrapped in to one for example autumn and autistic characters. And honestly they were so relatable but in a way that alongside real life. So well done Elle you’ve done it again xx I’m so proud 🩷🥹🫶🏻