Thank you to Sarina Bowen, Jenn Gaffney and the rest of the team for the advance reader copy of Boyfriend, a new story in the Moo U universe.
I was mourning the end of the World of True North, but then Sarina decided to gift us all with this phenomenal story.
“A new hockey player to steal your heart this fall…
The dreamiest player on the Moo U hockey team hangs a flyer on the bulletin board, and I am spellbound:
Rent a boyfriend for the holiday. For $25, I will be your Thanksgiving date. I will talk hockey with your dad. I will bring your mother flowers. I will be polite, and wear a nicely ironed shirt…
Everyone knows it’s a bad idea to introduce your long-time crush to your messed-up family. But I really do need a date for Thanksgiving, even if I’m not willing to say why. So I tear his phone number off of that flyer… and accidentally entangle our star defenseman in a ruse that neither of us can easily unwind.
Who knew that Weston’s family was even nuttier than mine? He needs a date, too, for the most uncomfortable holiday engagement party ever thrown.
There will be hors d’oeuvre. There will be faked PDA. And there will be pro-level awkwardness…
Boyfriend is a full-length book for Weston and Abbi!“
Check out my more detailed thoughts below…
- Characters: Abbi is our heroine. She is incredibly hardworking, very independent and incredibly stubborn. She comes from a complicated family situation and quite remarkably made the best of it. She is graduating early with a business degree, so naturally, between school and work, she has had no time to date. I loved Abbi, I loved how despite how her head was in the books but she had enough time to develop a bit of a crush on Weston. Weston is our hero and I loved him too. He is a college hockey player but only plays for fun. It was nice to have a male protagonist in the Moo U series who never saw themselves as destined for the NHL. It felt way more realistic that Weston played for fun and was able to use it for a scholarship. Weston was pre-med and he also has a complicated family situation. His parents’ divorce is messy and he navigates it the best he can. I found him quite relatable because I would be just as nervous to have my parents in the same room post-divorce.
- Setting: The story is set at Burlington University. Which is affectionately called Moo U! We spent a lot of time at the Biscuit, the bar the hockey players frequent. It also happens to be where Abi works. Reading scenes at the Biscuit feels like coming home. Could not have been happier with all the time we got to spend here.
- Pacing: I almost read the whole book in one sitting. I had to put the book down so I could sleep after reading to almost 1 am. The pacing was riveting, I was hooked from the very beginning and I never wanted Abbi and Weston’s story to end.
- Romance: I loved that this relationship started with fake dating. They helped each other out, but after their respective favours, they could not stop thinking about each other. I loved how as their relationship got more serious they really began to re-evaluate their life, their decisions and where they wanted to go. I really relate to that because that is how my relationship progressed, that we began to start making life choices together and diverting plans for each other. This book was pretty steamy too and I loved their chemistry.
Boyfriend receives five out of five stars.
You can pick up the story here.
Thank you again to Sarina and her team for the review opportunity. Thank you for reading and supporting my blog!
