Blurb
A secret crush leads to not-so-secret romance in this delightful romantic comedy from Kris Ripper
There are three things you need to know about Preston “PK” Kingsley:
1) He’s a writer, toiling in obscurity as an editorial assistant at a New York City publishing house.
2) He is not a cliché. No, really.
3) He’s been secretly in love with his best friend, Art, since they once drunkenly kissed in college.
When Art moves in with PK following a bad breakup, PK hopes this will be the moment when Art finally sees him as more than a friend. But Art seems to laugh off the very idea of them in a relationship, so PK returns to his writing roots—in fiction, he can say all the things he can’t say out loud.
In his book, PK can be the perfect boyfriend.
Before long, it seems like the whole world has a crush on the fictionalized version of him, including Art, who has no idea that the hot new book everyone’s talking about is PK’s story. But when his brilliant plan to win Art over backfires, PK might lose not just his fantasy book boyfriend, but his best friend.
Review
This is my first Kris Ripper novel, and now I’m a new fan!
Book Boyfriend follows PK, who has been in love with Art, his best friend, for five years but has never told him about his feelings. So when Art moves in with PK following a nasty breakup, PK hopes that this might be the first step in them getting together. But PK can find the words to let Art know how he feels, so he writes a thinly veiled romance novel about his love for Art in what PK feels is a “Grand Gesture.” Unfortunately, nothing goes as planned, and his gesture has the opposite effect — leaving PK has to scramble and pick up the pieces. Apparently, those super grand romantic gestures you see in rom-coms rarely work that well in real life.
This was such a fun novel! And by fun, I mean laugh-out-loud funny in places. Book Boyfriend had amazing banter and incredible chemistry between the two main characters. The story is told entirely through PK’s POV, and it was fun following his often convoluted and chaotic inner monologue. His humorous inner monologue had me chuckling on more than a few occasions. That being said, I loved the writing style, and it worked perfectly for me.
What I also loved about the story was the peek into the world of writing and publishing. In fact, the entire novel is about books and is heaven for the book-lover: Art works in an indie bookstore, PK works for a publishing house, and then PK writes a romance novel. I also enjoyed PK’s insecurities about writing — his fear of both failure and success, feelings that many writers will relate to.
The romance is an extremely slow burn with a lot of pining going on. It ended up being so sweet, heartwarming, and oozing with romance. I really cared about PK and Art making it to a happy ending and felt that the journey that takes them there is utterly satisfying. Though the plot was a tad quirky and over-the-top at times, the realism of their romance and the well-written narrative held it steady.
Both characters are engaging and likable, rendering the story all that much more enjoyable. Oh, and just to let you know, there is no sex in this story, so if you’re looking for steam and spice, you won’t find it here. But what you will find is a charming and compelling romance that I loved from beginning to end. Recommended!
A huge thank you to Netgalley for providing a review copy of this book.
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