GRUMPY FAKE BOYFRIEND
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Author: Jackie Lau
Release Date: May 22nd 2018
I’m a pretty simple guy. When I’m not writing a science fiction novel, I’m watching a good movie or reading a book.
Alone. I like my reclusive life.
That is, until my only friend asks for a favor—pretend to be his baby sister’s boyfriend on a couples’ getaway. Her ex is going to be there and she needs me as a buffer.
I should have said no, but Naomi is bubbly, energetic, and beautiful.
She also means everything to her brother.
But now, our fake romance is starting to feel all too real, and I find myself stuck between the promise I made to my friend and risking my heart to the one woman who might actually get me…
Grumpy Fake Boyfriend is exactly what I expected—a sweet, low-angst romance with cute banter, and fun, relatable characters.
Will Stafford is the aforementioned grumpy, fake boyfriend who was asked by a dear friend of his to pretend to be his sister’s fake boyfriend for the weekend. Will is many things but he is not a social person at all.
A weekend—a long weekend—with several people I don’t know in a freaking beach house while pretending to be someone’s boyfriend is pretty much the worst thing I could imagine.
But he owes Jeremy big time. So despite his reservations, he agreed to spend time with strangers and pretend to be someone’s boyfriend.
Enter Naomi Kwan. The bubbly, fun, beautiful sister in need of a fake boyfriend. She’s social, and she’s not afraid to put herself out there. A total opposite of Will. But the moment they met, the chemistry between them was undeniable.
We need to figure out our story. How did we meet? How long have we been dating?”
“A month,” I say. “We met through your brother.”
“You’re a writer. I thought you had better imagination than that.”
This was a fun book to read. Mainly because Will’s and Naomi’s inner monologue were a riot. They’re both hilarious. Their banter was cute and despite some personal issues I have with the writing style—first person present tense is not my favorite AT ALL—I was engaged and smiling all the way through. The characters were just so dang fun to read.
Jackie Lau was able to highlight the differences in their personality without feeling like it’s too much of a difference for them to be realistically together. That’s also an issue for me with the opposite attracts trope. Sometimes the two main characters are too much of an opposite that the HEA doesn’t feel believable. That wasn’t a problem here. The author was able to craft Naomi and Will’s personalities and still was able to convince me that they can work together as a couple.
Overall, this was a sweet and fun read. I finished this book with a smile on my face. So if you’re looking for some light, low-angst read, I would recommend this book.
