Friday 5 June 2020

The Boyfriend Project by Farrah Rochon

Samiah Brooks never thought she would be "that" girl. But a live tweet of a horrific date just revealed the painful truth: she's been catfished by a three-timing jerk of a boyfriend. Suddenly Samiah-along with his two other "girlfriends," London and Taylor-have gone viral online. Now the three new besties are making a pact to spend the next six months investing in themselves. No men, no dating, and no worrying about their relationship status . . .

For once Samiah is putting herself first, and that includes finally developing the app she's always dreamed of creating. Which is the exact moment she meets the deliciously sexy, honey-eyed Daniel Collins at work. What are the chances? When it comes to love, there's no such thing as a coincidence. But is Daniel really boyfriend material or is he maybe just a little too good to be true?

This is a very mixed read for me. I really enjoyed the friendships between the three ladies and the way they supported and helped each other. I was pleased when the other two weren't upset that Samiah was seeing someone; they really just wanted to uplift and help and be a shoulder to cry on.

I like it a lot better than the relationship, which seemed to me to be mostly based on attraction pretending it was something deeper. I have nothing against relationships built on attraction; go for it! But because the story skipped a lot of the building of the relationship, I never really felt it happening. And, of course, we knew right from the start what 'The Issue' was going to be; it was clear that Samiah would find out about Daniel and they'd run into trouble over it.

Considering that the point of the novel was for the women to find joy and fulfillment without men, it's surprising to me that half the book is from a man's point of view. How amazing would this book have been if it was all about the women? If we could see London and Taylor's troubles instead of hearing about them second- and off-handedly over wine once a week?

It's a funny, light hearted book, but it just didn't *quite* hit the spot for me.


Samiah knew better than to play the if only game. Engaging in hypotheticals was the equivalent of buying a first-class ticket to Disappointmentville. But she couldn’t help thinking how different things would be if only she’d met him a few weeks earlier.

She’d heard the terms bandied about before—work spouse, office hubby, wusband. But she’d never found anyone at Trendsetters who fit the bill.

Until Daniel.

Although she wasn’t sure that label still applied. A typical work spouse shouldn’t trigger the chemical reaction she experienced whenever she was around him.

She’d all but given up on there being any guys like Daniel still out there—genuinely sweet, empathetic, and the kind of sexy that made you want to apologize to his mama for thinking such naughty thoughts about her son. Guys like that were all happily married and living lives that seemed to come directly out of a Subaru commercial. What were the chances she’d actually stumbled upon her ideal man just as she’d promised to give up men for a while?

Her timing was for shit.

2 comments:

  1. Great review, even if it didn't quite work for you. Lovely blog!

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