We're a Bad Idea, Right? by K.L. Walther
Published by Delacourte Romance on March 31, 2026
ISBN: 0593904796
Genres: Humor, Realistic Fiction, Romance
Format: Young Adult
Source: MSL Book Review
Goodreads

In the opening to her acknowledgements, Walther writes: “Every time I read this book, I laugh. Not because it’s funny (it is), but because it’s fun. These characters and their shenanigans are so much fun!” …and that’s a great way to describe this realistic (sort of) but always effervescent novel.

It’s the summer after senior year, and Audrey has been accepted into a great college program, but she’s also been accepted into a prestigious glass blowing fellowship that she has her heart set on. Her parents, however, have refused the tuition for the one-year fellowship, insisting she enroll in college right away. When they leave for the summer, her best friend has an idea: renting out the small guest apartment above the carriage house on her parent’s estate as a high-end vacation rental to earn the money for tuition.

Audrey and a small group of friends work together to pull off the scheme without her parents finding out, renting to a steady stream of odd and often demanding guests. Hijinks ensue – one couple accidentally gifts Audrey pot brownies, another appear to have checked out and taken some family heirlooms with them. As her parents’ return date looms and she still hasn’t earned all the money she needs to, Audrey takes the ultimate gamble: renting out her family’s mansion to a group of friends attending their 10-year college reunion and requesting to use her home for an after-hours party – the night before her parents are due to arrive home.

While all this is going on, Audrey has also agreed to help her best friend, Henry, win back his former girlfriend by embarking on a fake dating scheme. This storyline sticks a little more to the friends-to-fake-dating-to-lovers trope, but despite the lack of surprises rounds out this entirely fun read in a satisfying way.

There is not a lot of diversity in this story about teenagers set in a wealthy suburb of New York City, but most of them hold summer jobs at a local catering outfit; Henry is half Asian and lives with his mother and stepmother.

A thoroughly enjoyable summer read, attractively packaged, that will be popular in YA sections of libraries.

5 stars

-Jenny Martinez, Maine State Library