Title: The 21-Day Boyfriend

Author: A.S. Kelly

Genre: MM Romance / Romantic Comedy with Christmas vibes

Release Date: October 25, 2023

Eric O’Shea needs to make a decision. The annual event his family forces him to attend is just around the corner, and he doesn’t have a date.

Eric never needs help when it comes to finding men. But this time is different – his ex and his new boyfriend will be there, and Eric can’t just bring along one of his usual flings.

His only hope seems to be him: the best friend of his best friend, who he never wanted to meet.

Sean Quinn is a calm, collected, and cultured man; someone who would rather stay at home and read a book than waste his time chasing a date with no future.

Sean isn’t in a rush to find the perfect man, and he certainly doesn’t intend to go out with Eric: his best friend’s other best friend, who he’s avoided meeting for years.

But Sean has a flaw: he can’t say no to anyone, especially not when it comes to his friend Jake, who has a habit of worming his way into other people’s lives.

But it’s just one date, after all: pure fiction. It’s a shame, then, that when Eric needs Sean for another favour, he can’t turn his back. It’s a shame that just when Sean is beginning to understand that Eric isn’t what he seems, he can’t seem to stop before he gets hurt.

Twenty-one days: that’s the agreement.

Twenty-one days of grazing hands, furtive glances, and unexpected kisses.

Twenty-one days where anything goes; except falling in love.

**~ * ~ Annie‘s Review ~ * ~**

3.5 Stars

The 21-Day Boyfriend is my first book by this author, so I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect in terms of writing style. However, I enjoy a good fake-relationship romance and the blurb caught my attention. Overall, I enjoyed this story, though I did have a bit of a rough go getting into it initially.

At the start of The 21-Day Boyfriend, Eric’s caustic attitude caught me off guard. While I am fairly comfortable with the grumpy-sunshine trope, or those characters who have a hidden charming side, Eric started off on the wrong foot with me. This wasn’t entirely helped by Sean’s easygoing personality, which ultimately made Eric’s personality shine in all the wrong ways. Even so, I found myself immersed in the plot and interested to see how it would unravel. I also couldn’t deny that Sean and Eric shared a palpable underlying chemistry, even when Eric was proving to be a bit of a brat.

As the story progressed, the author does a good job of unraveling Eric’s prickly personality and I was better able to appreciate Eric and his relationship with Sean. Occasionally, there are stories that just capture your attention, even when there are elements that don’t necessarily work for you. This is precisely how I felt reading The 21-Day Boyfriend. While I didn’t love every moment, I did find I joined the book, increasingly so as the story and characters developed. By the end, I was definitely caught up in the romance completely. I’d recommend this novel to fans of opposites-attract, fake relationship stories, especially if you like characters with a bit of bite and edge to them.

*** Copy provided to Bayou Book Junkie for my reading pleasure, a review wasn’t a requirement. ***