My Fake Bad Boyfriend: A bite-sized, laugh-out-loud delight
I love romance novellas. I read plenty of full-length books (and I write full-length books because every time I start out to write something short, I end up adding to the plot until it blows past novella length), but novellas are delightful. If I have time — if I’m on an airplane or it’s a really slow weekend — I can read one in a day. (Yes, I can read a full-length book in a day, and I’ve done it, but I lose a lot of sleep and refuse to speak to anyone. It’s not pretty.)
Also, I’m all about the happily ever after, and you get to that faster in a novella, so yay!
The only thing that makes me happier than a novella is a rom-com novella with appealing characters and a hysterical premise that turns a favorite trope on its head. That’s what I got with Sara Whitney’s My Fake Bad Boyfriend.
A love affair with holiday romances
I came across My Fake Bad Boyfriend when I went on a jag of holiday romance reading during my winter vacation. But it’s not Christmas now, so why am I recommending this book now, when the nearest holiday is Valentine’s Day? Because the holiday cheer is simply the backdrop for a delightful, bite-sized romance, and I don’t want to wait until the end of the year to recommend it. Really, you should read it now. You won’t regret it.
Holiday rom-com movies led me back into romance novels after I moved on to other genres. I was a little down during the Thanksgiving to Christmas stretch, so I started a project to watch every single holiday romance I could find during those weeks. For the first couple of years, I was watching during every spare moment, streaming movies while I brushed my teeth to try to see them all. Watching the movies led to reading the books and, now, writing them. So, thank you, Hallmark channel.
With the avalanche of new rom-coms, I’ve given up on watching every one. I watch as many of the new releases as I can — no Christmas movie too smarmy for me to waste my time on! — and repeat some of my faves each year. Love Hard, Holidate, and 12 Dates of Christmas are among the greats. I would watch any of those movies any time of year because they always cheer me up. So why not read a Christmas rom-com in February?
A hilarious twist on fake dating
Fake dating is one of the least believable romance tropes but so what because it’s just the best. Two people thrown together, pretending until it gets real — what’s not to like? But My Fake Bad Boyfriend, as the title suggests, takes this trope to new heights.
Darby is sick of her family bugging her about not having a boyfriend, so she comes up with a plan to shut them up once and for all. She’ll go home for the holidays with the worst boyfriend ever. They’ll be relieved when she shows up alone the following year.
Gabe steps in to play the part as a favor to one of Darby’s friends and because he’s at loose ends over the holidays. And, because he’s fundamentally a good guy, he commits to helping Darby by being the worst guy in front of her family. He’s rude, demanding, and ungrateful — and the scenarios the two of them come up with to horrify her family are so. Damn. Funny. This is one of those books where I can’t stop playing choice scenes over in my mind because they are fun, fun, fun.
Beneath the act, of course, there’s a growing connection between Darby and Gabe, which will make it hecka awkward if (when) their relationship becomes real. No spoilers. Read the book. Buy it on Apple or Kobo.
Bonus: Whitney has another holiday novella about Darby’s brother. Very sweet and worth reading, but not as funny, and I’m all about the funny.
