Tabs’ review of Grumpy Fake Boyfriend (Kwan Sisters, Book 1) by Jackie Lau
Contemporary Romantic Comedy published by Jackie Lau Books 22 May 18
I can’t lie, I enjoy it when the book title tells you exactly what’s inside. In this case, we indeed have a grumpy fake boyfriend. Will is an introverted writer with exactly two friends. When one of them asks him to help out his younger sister by pretending to be her boyfriend for an awkward long weekend, he reluctantly agrees, because he may be a grumpy recluse but he’s also a good friend.
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. I would never subject the characters in my books to something that cruel. And I can be cruel, though I’m not George R. R. Martin.
Naomi is in a definite funk after a breakup she didn’t see coming. When she’s invited to an annual Canada Day weekend with mutual friends of hers and her ex, she’s put in an awkward position. She doesn’t want to lose the friends, but she also doesn’t want to be the sad, lonely single, especially when her ex has quickly rebounded. Manipulating her brother just a tad to get his best friend, and her longtime crush, to accompany her isn’t the world’s best plan. But it is a plan.
Naomi and Will are so fun together. He’s grumpy. She’s bubbly. They sometimes annoy the shit out of each other and even that’s amusing. They’re also superbly compatible where it counts. Naomi has an introvert sister, so Will’s need for alone time is perfectly normal to her. Will has a lot of baggage about people close to him not understanding him and trying to fix him. Naomi has baggage about unconsciously shaping herself to be what the men she’s in relationships with want her to be.
This book is light and fluffy and fun. It’s also quietly subversive. Want a heroine who is confident in her sexuality and a hero who appreciates that? This book’s got your back. Hate the trope where the big brother warns his friend off from sleeping with his sister? Pretty much everyone close to him is prepared to tell him to stuff his bullshit where it belongs. Jackie Lau is a new-to-me author, but I’m definitely excited to read more.
Grade: B
Summary:
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…
