Book Boyfriend

By: Kris Ripper

Narrated by: Pete Cross

There are three things you need to know about Preston “PK” Kingsley: He’s a writer, toiling in obscurity as an editorial assistant at a New York City publishing house. He is not a cliché. No, really. He’s been secretly in love with his best friend, Art, since they once drunkenly kissed in college.

When Art moves in with PK following a bad breakup, PK hopes this will be the moment when Art finally sees him as more than a friend. But Art seems to laugh off the very idea of them in a relationship, so PK returns to his writing roots—in fiction, he can say all the things he can’t say out loud.

In his book, PK can be the perfect boyfriend. Before long, it seems like the whole world has a crush on the fictionalized version of him, including Art, who has no idea that the hot new book everyone's talking about is PK’s story. But when his brilliant plan to win Art over backfires, PK might lose not just his fantasy book boyfriend but also his best friend.

Carina Adores is home to modern romantic love stories where LGBTQ+ characters find their happily-ever-afters. Discover a new Carina Adores book every month!

©2022 Kris Ripper (P)2022 Dreamscape Media, LLC

SLOW burn

Talk about a slow burn! Very cute story, although rather annoying a lot of the times. It didn't seem to pick up until the last third of the book. Wasn't horrible, but I'm not sure I would have made it through without listening to it.

Good Book. I HIGHLY empathized with the main character.

I loved the writing and the performance but it made me feel absolutely crazy and inconsiderate in the end.





***SPOILER***
PK kissed Art and was so transparent about his feelings that everyone knew. Art kissed PK but they vehemently denied them being together was even a possibility. PK was dense but Art’s reaction to the book made me feel like I was in the wrong for agreeing with PK not seeing what he did wrong outside of not telling Art earlier. I felt just as clueless as PK and patiently waited to find out how what he did was enough to warrant being ignored for months.

But good books make you feel things and I felt a lot listening to this book.

Absolutely Delightful

I honestly loved this book. It started a little slowly, but unfolded in a charming, insightful, and creative way. The characters were genuine, even the quirky ones. They were kind to each other even in conflict, relatably fallible, and frequently wise. The story arc was uncontrived even though the dispute originated in thoughtlessness, and it resolved beautifully. I liked the freshness and humor in the portrayal of several of the friend/family relationships. Maybe we could have heard a little less about nail polish, but the universe free of homo- and transphobia was refreshing

Pete Cross did a stunning job of conveying emotion - wistful, whimsical, wretched, loving - and the characters were easily distinguished. I especially liked that he did not pair gender with tone in a stereotypical manner, but the thing that really stood out was the utter sincerity in his voice during the conflict and resolution scenes.

I will certainly look for more by this author and narrator.

Relatable Story

The narrator is fantastic and does a great job of bringing the characters to life. Both of the main characters feel well developed and it is easy to find something relatable about them as well as their story. Overall, it's a nice story that kept me engaged from start to finish.

Pleasantly surprised

I was trying to find something distracting to listen to, and although at first I was a bit unimpressed, I’m glad I gave it a chance to unfold. The narration is excellent, and the characters enjoyable and relatable; especially Wade.
If I had on complaint, too many times the main character goes off on long tangents. I realize he’s supposed to be insecure with himself, but they can get to be a bit much

Enjoyable

I did enjoy this book, but the last several chapters dragged on.

*Possible Spoiler*

This book was good, and did have a valid point about grand gestures. However, in an attempt to not fall into the "if this happened in real life I'd be terrified not flattered" camp, it started to read like a lecture. I agree with the point, but it ended up taking over the whole book, and started reading more like an OpEd than a book.

Cute

Loved the story and narration! The main character was a little annoying but relatable. You will enjoy it

Realistic yet emotionally detached

I felt like this was a realistic yet unrealistic at the same time. The main character, Preston, is seen by others as this emotionally detached person, yet we, the readers, are supposed to be in on the fact that he does, in fact, have feelings. Yet I'm not feeling it. At all. Things that I felt should have merited an emotional reaction (even inside the guy's own head), were not commented on at all until they were brought up later when the main character pointed that moment out as having bothered him. The entire book felt detached. SPOILER: Towards the end when Wade tells Preston that Wade knows that Preston THINKS he's in love, I felt that, yeah. I'm not really certain if this guy is actually in love or not.

On the other hand, Art's reaction towards the end of the book is something I can completely relate to. Because if that had happened to me, I would have reacted the exact same way. I would not have seen that happening to me as romantic at all.

Good plot idea bad writing

This book was a battle to go through. I found the MC unbearable and I found him very annoying and the narrators voice didn’t help with that. I got this book because the plot sounded amazing but the writing ruined that for me not even 1 minute into the book. It seems like the author is being quirky but it just ended up being cringey in a bad way. The ending wasn’t satisfying enough to make me like it. I want to see queer people have a happy ending just as much as the next person but you need to put more effort in making a good story than trying to make as many internet references you can to make it “relatable.” I’m surprised this book has 4 stars with how bad the book was in my opinion.