NetGalley ARC | BOTM put The Boyfriend Project on my radar, and I could not resist a multicultural rom-com in a progressive tech workforce mixed with feminist vibes.

If you are looking for a diverse summer read, The Boyfriend Project is perfect. Sexy and hilarious, you'll find more than just fluff and office makeout sessions. Rochon discusses stereotypes, racism, sexism, and so much more in this captivating romance.

Find the full review on The Uncorked Librarian: https://theuncorkedlibrarian.com/june-2020-book-releases/

Thank you so much to the publisher for providing me with a free advanced copy in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Sometimes unlikely events lead to friendship and in the case of Taylor, London, and Samiah that unlikely event is discovering that the guy they were dating was also dating the other two. This book starts with a bang and I absolutely adored the first chapter. It really propelled me forward through the story in a way that I appreciated all the more because of *gestures vaguely at the world*. We're introduced to Daniel not long after, who is Samiah's new coworker and also the only one that seems concerned about the fact that going viral for finding out you're dating a two timing (three timing?) jerk is not fun. Unfortunately for Samiah, Daniel's got some secrets.

As a person who despises deception plots, I think the fact that I still really enjoyed this book is a testament to how really fun it is. There are times where I got confused with the timeline or I thought we missed some scenes that actually felt like they would have been important, but those seem nitpicky. The main thing that cost this book a star is my current most repeated phrase, which is some variant of, they got back together and the book ended immediately. This book sets up a situation where there are a LOT of logistical issues for a relationship and so I really appreciated that we got an epilogue addressing that, but it still didn't feel 100% satisfying because of that rushed ending. Will I keep reading the series though? 100% and let me tell you why.

This book had me laughing out loud with the windows cracked sitting outside the laundromat. The laundromat is one of my least favorite places in the world and I was getting rather hot sitting outside in my car waiting for my clothes. So to still be laughing and legitimately upset when the timer went off to let me know I had to go collect my clothes? A miracle. I also really liked the friendship between the women and the characters themselves. I even liked Daniel, although trying to decide if he could be selfish was kind of annoying at some point. Like, commit or get out, sweetheart, you know? Anyway, this was really enjoyable!

There are a couple of content warnings I want to flag though. There's one off-hand suicide joke(?), someone got hit by a bus, microaggressions relating to sexism and racism are discussed and seen... I'm sure there are more, but those are the ones I remember right now.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book early!

I really liked this! Maybe what stood out to me the most is how much the workplace reminded me of my own IT department. All the collaboration! So real.

I liked the romance a lot. I thought all of internal struggles were really done and made me believe in their relationship, despite the obstacles. I do think the pacing at the end was a little off.

And definitely into the other two women's books. Bring them on!

25 Escapist Reads for a Break From Real Life

This eagerly anticipated rom com is all about three women who band together in fierce, funny, female friendship after they find out one jerk of a guy tried to catfish them all.

I really wanted to love this story but unfortunately I feel it was an ok read and not a wao romance.

I love the beginning of the story. It really hooked me. The relationship between Samiah and her girlfriends was definitely the best part. The fact that included diversity was also a tumps up. The girl power vibe you feel with this group of friends after their unconventional start was so good. I love seen incredible friendships in books. It even made me miss more my girlfriends and ladies night out.

Who does this story starts? Samiah, London and Taylor becomes besties after discovering that all of them were dating the same guy. They took the best of that bad experience and form a strong bond. They decided to stay off men for 6 months and dedicated that time to focus on themselves.

Is during this 6 months that Samiah gets trow in a ball with the new guy at work, Daniel. I love office romance but I had a huge problem with this leading couple. I couldn’t connect with them. A lot of the relationship developed off page and I felt like I was told what they share together instead of been witnessed of the romance. I couldn’t feel the romance and that’s very important to me.

***Thanks to Read Forever Pub and Netgalley for my advanced copy.

This book has solid characters, a really intriguing romance, and female friendships that make you smile at every scene. I loved Samiah, the main character. She is a powerful businesswoman working behind the scenes on her dream project. Daniel is her new coworker with a secret role at the company. They shouldn’t fall for each other but they can’t help their feelings. There were many strong points in this story. I did struggle with the level of detail included about work matters. I’m sure this is just me and my complete disconnect with corporate careers but I had trouble staying invested in that aspect of the book. Without spoiling anything, Daniel’s real job was the part of the workplace drama that I enjoyed most. I am excited to see what Farrah Rochon writes next. It seems like it might be something else about the same friend circle and I will be here for that.

Thank you to Farrah Rochon, Forever (Grand Central Publishing), and NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

After a live tweet of a bad date goes viral and reveals the truth that she was cat-fished along with two other women, London and Taylor, Samiah Brooks now has to deal with being an overnight internet celebrity!! This is just the first chapter of The Boyfriend Project.
After reading just a few chapters, I fell in love with Samiah and her attitude. i really liked the feminist side of the plot, focusing on what’s important and not living for the society’s thoughts. Samiah who’s already finding it hard to deal with her overnight popularity, finds comfort in Daniel Collins, a new employee in TrendSetters, when he is courteous and respectful towards her. The romance buds between Samiah and Daniel and the heat between them really reminded me of The Hating Game. If you have read that, remember how swoon worthy Joshua Templeman was? Daniel Collins is just like him, but he also harbours a secret to why he started working at TrendSetters... This was a buddy read for me and I thoroughly enjoyed this atypical office romance from start to finish!!
Thank you Netgalley, Farah Rochon and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for the ARC.

I got a copy of this book to read on Netgalley. It was cute. I enjoyed the story and the characters. I liked the sisterhood bond that grew amongst the ladies. The love story was nice.

DNF after four chapters. I think its my own struggle with many of the contemporary romances out now. I am 47, and I have a hard time connecting with the millennial experience so these modern romances just don't hit the mark for me. Well written with inclusive and strong female characters.

Liked this one! It covered multiple things like female friendships, racism, male v female work promotions, viral sensations, uncover work. Almost too much at times. But the relationships were believable. I think this author is only going to get better & better!

THE BOYFRIEND PROJECT by Farrah Rochon is a feel good adult contemporary romance novel about a woman, Samiah, who makes a pact to work on the “Boyfriend Project” which means no men but then she meets her new coworker Daniel and that’s when things get interesting. I really liked the slow build up to the relationship between Samiah and Daniel. I love the coworkers to lovers trope. I also especially liked the character Samiah since she’s smart, direct and confident. If you’re a fan of Christina Lauren romcoms then you’ll enjoy this one too. I can’t wait to read Rochon’s next book!

I was definitely surprised by The Boyfriend Project! I’m not sure what I was expecting, maybe just your typical rom com, and in some ways it was, but it had some lovely, unique tales on the rom com genre. I really enjoyed Samiah as a character. She was driven, but like able, which I find is rare in these types of books.

Thanks to Grand Central Publishing through Netgalley for the ARC for an honest review.

I was immediately won over at the beginning of this book when Samiah found out that her boyfriend was cheating on her with not one, but two other women, and instead of throwing the women under the bus, they bonded over their shared experiences of meeting a scumbag. They become fast friends and a huge support system for each other. This is such a major shift in how a lot of romance novelists always villainize "the other woman", and it was so refreshing to see three amazing ladies own their amazingness and become friends. As soon as I read that, my attention was captured and I would have given this book 5 stars for that alone.

I'm a white woman, and I recognize that I have a lot of privileges that black women or any woman of color do not. I appreciated the discussion between Daniel and Samiah regarding Samiah's struggle to have to be the best because she cannot afford to be anything less. This isn't just about her, but her her predecessors that follow her in a usually male driven occupation. And Daniel understood this and didn't try to mansplain to her how her feelings were not justified or she was making a bigger deal out of nothing.

That was one of my minor gripes was that Daniel was written almost too perfectly. If you skip the lying about why he was at Trendsetters and what he actually was, he was just this very actualized, nearly perfect dude. I was really expecting him to push her into letting him help her with her app, but he didn't. He was all, "I got that you need this to be your thing, and I support you in this 100%." It would have added a little bit more tension between them than just the climax when she found out who he really was.

Also, she forgave him entirely too quickly. In fact, she became way too okay with what he did entirely too quickly. She was far too rational to be believable, and even though one of my biggest gripes about romance novels is the lack of communication for the sake of drama, there was just way too many issues resolved in a such a short period of time. I really loved that when he asked to speak with her, she said no and walked away. Only for her to regret that the very next day. He LIED, repeatedly, and she was like, "Wellllll...maybe I should listen to him." Yeah, okay, you should, but at least don't be so understanding.

I felt the ending was wrapped up entirely too quickly as if the author didn't know what else to do so she just went ahead had Samiah forgive him and all was well. We got a little bit of "after" in the epilogue that was mainly to set up a possible sequel featuring Taylor. If she does, I'm so there because I really loved Taylor and London, and I can't wait for them to kick ass and find men who recognize how bad ass they are.

This was a great book and is definitely going to be a great summer read. Buy it when it comes out. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Oh how I wanted to love The Boyfriend Project but somewhere along reading, this story lost mainly…. its romance. I’ll start by telling you what I enjoyed about this story and then we will dip on into what didn’t work for me. So, let’s get into this.

Let us start with what this story is about (because ya’ll know I never give ya’ll the blurb…lols). Three women form an unlikely friendship after a man whom they all thought was their “boyfriend” tried to play them. After becoming close, these women decide to keep each other accountable in achieving their planned goals. We start off with Samiah Brooks. Samiah works in the tech field and is damn good at what she does, her goal? To develop her own app. While at work, she meets new employee Daniel Collins. Samiah likes what she sees but can’t get distracted… or will she?

Okay, what I liked:
I enjoyed the unexpected friendship of Samiah and the other ladies formed. Especially given the fact that a dude tried to play them all. I loved the fact that this author didn’t go the route of cattiness and women fighting. I loved the fact that she gave us three mature women who knew their worth and knew they were being played by an ol selfish muthatrucka. Three women singing Beyonce’ “Middle finger up, throw them hands high! Put em in his face, tell him “Boy bye!”
Women need friendships and not to dismiss any other ethnicity of women but Black women NEED their sisters so I was especially happy that Ms. Rochon took care in how it was important for Samiah and the other ladies decided to cultivate a relationship….even though they just met. I love seeing books where care is taken with Black women and their friends.
I also enjoyed the women in tech covered in The Boyfriend Project, mainly the conversation around Black women in the tech field. Samiah was smart…she was good at her job but she still encountered micro-aggressions and obstacles. It’s a good thing to see covered.

Now, what I didn’t like:
Even with all that good mentioned up above, this is a romance…correct? Well, ya’ll the romance in The Boyfriend Project didn’t not move me, it wasn’t interesting…at all. What started off as cute little meet ups for coffee between Samiah and Daniel soon grew cold, imo. If I’m being honest, I feel like there was no chemistry between them. The development of their relationship fell so flat, they would have been better off as friends. I couldn’t even be frustrated with them as individuals. Unfortunately, they just did not work together. I liked them well enough separately, but together? Not so much.

Also, Daniel is biracial (Korean/Black) but it is barely touched upon here outsides the mentions of remembering his Grandmothers cooking. And this man barely knew anything about Black people and their issues and I just….didn’t understand that. And I say this because the author does focus on some racial themes here but I feel like she didn’t or couldn’t “go in” like she could have. It was disappointing to say the least.

All and All:
If I’m being honest, The Boyfriend Project didn’t fill my romantic sweet spot. I thinks it is an alright read...more on the level of “little yang yang yang to read around the house”. This would have imo worked better under women’s fiction. Hopefully this series will get better as the is moves further along with the other ladies stories.

Thank you to NetGalley, Farrah Rochon and Grand Central Publishing for the free e-book in exchange for an honest review.

I’m finding that I am really enjoying reading all sorts of romance novels at this point because of the weird place we find ourselves in right now. This was such an enjoyable and fun read and I couldn’t help but fall in love with both characters. I really enjoyed that these were both really intelligent and multicultural characters. I also really liked that there is a huge friendship aspect to it and that these two characters had real life issues. I also loved the idea behind Samiah’s app and what she was trying to do and how forgiving she was. I would definitely recommend if you enjoy romance!

Out June 9th!

I had a lot of hope for this one and was very excited to read it when it arrived (unexpectedly) on my doorstep. While there were a handful of things I enjoyed about the story, in the end, it just missed the mark for me.

Things I liked:
- The interesting background of it being set in the tech world
- The representation of female friendship and the strong bonds between the friends
- The supportive hero
- The driven and independent heroine

Things that missed the mark for me:
- The romance plotline wasn’t strong enough. This story felt much more like fiction/women’s fiction and I felt the romance was a minor player in the overall story.
- The plot as a whole was a little thin. It didn’t feel like very much happened and I was just kind of bored at certain points and found myself skimming.
- The catalyst at the beginning felt a little like a means to an end. Since it didn’t thread through the entire story, it ended up feeling unnecessary to the story as a whole.

In the end, I think I was just expecting something different than what the book ended up being. If you go into it not knowing much about the story or if you know that the romance plays more of a minor role, it might work out better for you.

Thank you so much for the chance of reading this book, I was so excited when I received your email granting me your permission to read it. However, it wasn't for me. I had to force myself to read it. The first 36percent, there is too much repetition of she/he that I lost track of who the author was talking about. In the dialogs I got confused about who was "talking." There wasn't a relationship at all between main characters. How am I going to know they're falling for each other if the romance plotline is weak. I love romance, and this relationship is just flirt but I don't see love at all.

Things I loved and enjoyed about this book are: The STEM world (as a math major, thank you for this), female friendship, i love this 3 women bond. And even though, I like to read stories that with heroines that are shy, submissive or damaged, it's a pleasure when she is a strong and independent main female character. I wish this book gets more stars from what I'm giving it. For me, this book rating is ⭐⭐⭐.

I was pleasantly surprised by THE BOYFRIEND PROJECT. I went in blind, not knowing anything about the book's premise or the author, but just trusting that the Book of the Month gods knew what they were doing when they selected it.

The story starts with Samiah Brooks, a successful, driven, woman who finds herself catfished by her boyfriend. She forms a bond with her ex's two other women -- London, and Taylor -- and the three make a pact to spend the next six months focusing on themselves instead of on men.

Samiah is focused on developing an app she's always wanted to create. However, suddenly she finds herself enthralled by a new employee: Daniel Collins. He is smart, sexy, confident, and witty. She's supposed to be focusing on herself -- but is Daniel actually boyfriend material?

What I liked about this book was the strong foundation of female friendships. I really enjoyed the start of the book -- it pulled me right in. I also loved the way the book portrayed black and Asian characters in a non-stereotypical and incredibly empowering way. I loved the book's supporting characters and hope Rochon comes out with spin-offs telling their life stories, too!

I have never read anything by Rochon before, but she was whip-smart and the dialogue was hilarious. I enjoyed her writing style, and I felt like I learned...so much...from Googling all of her character's incredibly impressive job descriptions.

This book is powerful, thought-provoking, and adorably cute, while carrying important messages about racial and gender equity and empowerment. I recommend it to romance lovers!

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book. I honestly didnt know much about it going into it, so I was expecting your basic rom com but this book has a fun little mystery flair as well!
Loved the chemistry between Samiah and Daniel! Would recommend this book to others!

I enjoyed this book so much. There’s something so soothing about a circle of girlfriends, old or new, gathering together to to help and support each other. So, I’m 34 and I’ve been married for ten years at the end of this month. I completely missed the dating nonsense of the social media age and reading about the crap singles of today deal with is always a crash course in BS. But this heroine, Samiah handles with it with it like a rock star. The revenge scene that happens early in the story is PERFECTION. So satisfying.

I don’t always love it when a romance involves one live interest being less than truthful with the other but it works in this book. I loved Daniel and Samiah together.

Thank you Netgalley and Forever for the chance to read an advanced copy. I voluntarily read and reviewed this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.