This is a male-male romance novel about two men pushed together in a fateful collision of ‘oh no I can’t be single so let’s pretend to be dating’ situationship. I realise, now that I read that back, that it sounds awfully sarcastic… but that is the main plot of this book. Lucien is an e-list child celebrity who has had a rough go of it from the tabloids. He is trying to pretty-up his public image, so he starts project ‘Get a Fake Boyfriend so I Don’t Look Bad’. Hence he meets Oliver, barrister, health nut, and overall, very papparatziable.

You can see where this is going, right? I feel like I’m coming across as quite negative in my tone but it isn’t an overall bad book. Laying in bed and feeling sorry for myself (currently sick) meant that this was a great read for me. It was a romance I felt familiar in as the plot and tropes were super familiar. Lots of cliches and you could see everything happening a mile away, but still a good read.

There were times where you could see the author, critiquing some stereotypes and ideas. Subtle (and brief) mentions of sexualising gay relationships, the idea that just because two gay men stand next to each other the assumption is that they’re dating, and discussions of how referring to friends as ‘the straight one’ isn;t great are some examples of lil soundbites that come up. I appreciate these notes and also appreciate how the author didn’t go into it too much and pretend this novel was something more than it is; a good ole love story.

I don’t think I will continue in this series and I don’t think I will strongly recommend it as there are other MM romance novels I would rank higher than this, but I also don’t think it is a waste of your time if this is what you’re in the mood for. Triggers include casual and blatant homophobia, cancer, bigotry, alcoholism, eating disorder, crappy parents and betrayal. Sexual content includes kissing scenes, behind closed doors intercourse, mention of masturbation, and retelling of previous sexual experiences.