Back of the book
Luc O'donnell is tangentially – and reluctantly – famous. His rock star parents split when he was young, and the father he's never met spent the next twenty years cruising in and out of rehab. Now that his dad's making a comeback, Luc's back in the public eye, and one compromising photo is enough to ruin everything.
TO clean up his image, Luc has to find a nice, normal relationship...and Oliver Blackwood is as nice and normal as they come. He's a barrister and an ethical vegetarian, and he's never inspired a moment of scandal in his life. In other words: perfect boyfriend material. Unfortunately, apart from being gay, single, and really, really in need of a date for a big event, Luc and Oliver have nothing in common. SO they strike a deal to be publicity-friendly (fake) boyfriends until the dust has settled. Then they can go their separate ways and pretend it never happened.
But the thing about fake dating is that it can feel a lot like real dating. And that's when you get used to someone. Start falling for them. Don't ever want to let them go.
My thoughts
This book was a lot of fun.
From my recent romance reads I have deducted that I only like romance that doesn't take itself too seriously. Is there a specific genre title for that?
The tone at first sounds a bit young adult or just unrefined writing, but I read it as a tonal choice to better portray the character, his quirks and self loathing. The main character had a lot of self-loathing going on. Two POV is common in romance but this was only one which is a feature I liked. This book reminded me of Red, White and Royal Blue, similar vibes and silliness, but I liked this better. A gay love story always makes my day.
The ending was awesome. It showed that this story was really about Luc's personal growth and not that love fixes everything. I know this sounds like an oxymoron, but I love it when a character is not totally destroyed by the breakup of a relationship. Luc is of course upset, but he is still a better and healthier version of himself than the start of the book. Oliver definitely helped motivate him in that direction, but he didn't need that relationship to continue with his good habits. Luc's growth irrespective of his relationship with Oliver was beautiful (and they do get back together).
When a character wants to kill themselves because they've been broken up with (*cough* Twilight), it just shows an unhealthy relationship, possible mental health issues etc. When a person can be broken up with and get through it okay, that means they are a well-functioning, healthy, person. IT DOES NOT MEAN THE LOVE MEANS LESS IF THEY DON'T WANT TO KILL THEMSELVES it just means they have a healthier mindset and coping mechanisms. Phew, stumbled upon something I'm passionate about oops.
This book was entirely silly. There was a scene with Oliver meeting Luc's Mum who proceeds to have a conversation about Luc having a large penis. That was just one of the many unrealistic yet tragically funny things. The characters were funny caricatures, to balance out the strong self-loathing Luc brought to the table. This is not a phenomenal read. But it is phenomenally fun to read. Perhaps I grew up reading too much fanfiction and that has shaped my reading enjoyment scale. This reads like a polished fanfiction where everyone is silly beyond belief and only the main character has enough qualities to make them almost believable. Worth a read if you're looking for something fun.
TL:DR
Reads like a polished gay fanfic. Incredibly fun to read, hilariously unbelievable characters only on the page to make you laugh (or snort at the stupidity).
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Spoilery Book Reviews
Non-FictionBook reviews written by me. All reviews will contain spoilers. Some books are ones I have read millions of times and are my well known favourites. Some books are really random and bizarre picks for me that were complete surprises.
