The Boyfriend Project started off as a simple contemporary romance but with an unpredictable twist and engaging plot, it became a really enjoyable and entertaining book.

Samiah is a brilliant protagonist. She is straight-talking, ambitious, honest and intelligent without compromising her kindness and humility. I liked that she was a successful woman striving for even more, rather than just getting to a good point and accepting she was at the top. Going against the odds as a black woman working in the tech industry, she continued to break barriers and stereotypes. Even during the chaos of being part of a viral video, Samiah is still able to preserve her heroine status.

Daniel is an appealing love interest for the main character. He is very sweet, charming and thoughtful, even though he exists under this cloud of mystery. The reader learns about his past and agenda in the book, but the characters are left in the dark. And without spoiling the entire book, it was intriguing to see how Daniel’s involvement in the story played out.

The romance was sweet in this book. I was expecting more, but there were cute moments dotted throughout. I definitely rooted for the love story between Samiah and Daniel, and their mutual attraction and chemistry was obvious from the beginning. Their open conversation was well-balanced, and I like how Daniel became a cheerleader for Samiah, especially when discussing the more serious topics like race and sexism in the workplace.

If there’s one thing the author masters it is celebration of female friendship in the book, especially because it rose from mutual betrayal and misfortune. Three women dating one man could easily result in the unhealthy competition society likes to breed. But instead the ladies walked out on Craig in total triumph – it was glorious.

I love that even after the event, the woman make an effort to maintain a friendship. It’s not easy to build platonic relationships in a new place, and the author touched in this through the storylines in the book. Samiah’s new friends are awesome too: Taylor has a quirky sense of humour while London has more of a wry wit. The women aren’t carbon copies of each other, they have different personalities, backgrounds and circumstances, but this doesn’t become a stumbling block in their budding friendship.

One of the most accurate aspects of this book is that the hard-working characters actually spend time at work. Samiah, Daniel and many of the secondary characters have demanding full-time jobs and work to earn the praise they receive. The author did a great job at developing an authentic but humorous workplace environment, and I really enjoyed the events that took place at the Trendsetters office.

For me, the highlight of the book is Samiah’s exciting ambition and her experiences. The twist from Daniel’s side of things definitely kept me reading, but I related to Samiah as a black woman and found her to be really inspiring.

It’s safe to say The Boyfriend Project read a lot like a film. It’s well-paced, easy to follow and filled with likable characters. Even the ones you don’t like are a great addition to the story. This book is perfect for fans of an office romance with a great twist. The only reason it wasn’t a five-star read is because the resolution fell a little flat and wasn’t as satisfying as I would have hoped.

"Samiah Brooks never thought she would be "that" girl. But a live tweet of a horrific date just revealed the painful truth: she's been catfished by a three-timing jerk of a boyfriend. Suddenly Samiah-along with his two other "girlfriends," London and Taylor -- have gone viral online. Now the three new besties are making a pact to spend the next six months investing in themselves. No men, no dating, and no worrying about their relationship status" This was a quick read, and the basic storyline to be good, But I did find the characters to be a bit flat, and I was wanting more of the friendship between the girls. I found the character of Samiah a bit confusing. She just seemed whiney, on the one hand, she kept saying how no one knew how hard she had to work to get where she was and how her success would pave the way for other minority women. But then she let her co-workers and friends just walk over her without so much as an excuse me.
Overall I would give it 3.5 stars.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⁣
“Alexa, play Drake.”⁣
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So many reasons to love this book!⁣
1. Samiah is a bad ass, feisty, brilliant boss babe and she’s nothing short of an inspiration and role model from the first page. ⁣
2. Daniel is also a brilliant, sexy, kind man who appreciates a strong woman, and isn’t intimated by a brilliant woman in the least. ⁣
3. The strong female friendship between Samiah, London and Taylor is so amazing for so many reasons. They are all successful women, who continue to uplift each other throughout this story, and the way they became friends just made me so happy, because typically that scenario would’ve gone a completely different way.⁣
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This book made be laugh out loud at times, it was steamy, witty, and of course I enjoyed all of the flirty banter between Samiah and Daniel. Taylor was hilarious. I love rational characters and characters who understand and push each other to be their best selves and this book was filled with that. ⁣
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The first scene in this book was AMAZING! Samiah and her sister also have a great relationship, but Samiah slays from the first chapter and it made this book unputdownable. I’m so hoping for a second book.⁣
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Thank you to @netgalley @readforeverpub and @grandcentralpub for an ARC for my honest review. 💕⁣
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#bookstagram #books #romance #romcom #booksharks #SRC2020 #TheBoyfriendProject #booklover #BOTM #netgalley #booksparks

This was a nice surprise, I enjoyed it a lot!I find it fun,smart and fast paced.It has a great premise from the beginning and I find it addictive!Samiah and Daniel had a strong chemistry, I could feel it!

The story follows Samiah as she finds out that her boyfriend Craig has other girls too.She and the other girls decide to focus in theirshelves for a long time!However she didn't expect to meet Daniel in her job!Daniel is so hot and sweet!He was a swoon worthy hero!

There are so many things I love in this story, a great romance , friendships and smart converations!

*Given an advanced reading copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

<i>The Boyfriend Project</i> by Farrah Rochon is a delightful romance novel that delves into the workplace relationship.

Samiah is a talented software engineer working at one of the hottest cybersecurity startups in Austin, Texas. When another woman live tweets her horrible date with Samiah’s boyfriend, Samiah finds herself at a restaurant telling him off along with a third woman. As their confrontation goes viral, Samiah and her two new friends, London and Taylor, become internet celebrities. It’s embarrassing to Samiah until a new colleague Daniel shows concern for her well-being. Nobody else has been doing that, so this catches Samiah’s attention. With superstar pediatric surgeon London and rising fitness guru Taylor, Samiah embarks on the boyfriend project, where the three women promise to stay committed to their goals for six months in order to be prepared to have a real boyfriend. Samiah decides to focus on a mobile app that she had abandoned years before. But the attraction to Daniel is too strong. They eventually fall for each other until Daniel’s undercover mission threatens their budding relationship.

Though the beginning comes off goofy with the date going viral and the girls showing up right on time to catch a player in motion, the story develops with Samiah and Daniel fighting their urges to stay focused on their ambitious careers in tech and Samiah, London, and Taylor cementing a solid friendship.

Overall, it’s a digestible romance that delivers on the promise of a fun read. It shows successful black women and men trying to find love in a millennial-attracting metropolis. The mystery part of what Daniel is trying to dig up on Samiah's company adds another element as does Samiah’s dedication to increasing the company’s community service reputation. The descriptive career elements add more oomph to this story.

Well rounded, engaging plot with excellent characters. I love to see an example of female friendship that lifts each other up. Samiah is a wonderful, strong, smart female lead. And Daniel may be one of my favorite heroes. I admit a secret isn’t my favorite plot point, but given the nature of Daniel’s job it makes sense and it is what it is. This is one of those books where I want to live in this world. :)

Thank you NetGalley and Forever for the ARC!

The Boyfriend Project follows tech mogul Samiah after finding out that her boyfriend has been cheating on her with multiple other women through a Twitter thread. Scorned, these women develop an unlikely friendship and decide to spend six months focusing on themselves instead of on relationships. It just so happens that right after this is when Daniel enters the picture, a man who intrigues Samiah and their pairing develops from there.

I thought that this book was interesting from the beginning. The synopsis reminded me of The Right Swipe by Alisha Rai which also follows a strong female lead who works in the tech industry so I was quite excited to read The Boyfriend Project seeing as The Right Swipe was one of my favorite books of 2019.

Overall I was pleasantly surprised by this novel and enjoyed my time reading it. It was an easy read and I finished it quickly once I started. The one qualm I had with the writing was how unbalanced the switches were from narration between Samiah and Daniel. Sometimes it would switch from chapter to chapter, other times Samiah would get a few chapters to herself, other times they switched in the middle of the chapter. It was a bit confusing and sometimes jolted me out of the story as I tried to figure out who was narrating what.

The characters in this, while each unique, I didn't feel like they all got the time they deserved. This makes me look forward to the other books that are to be published in the series following Taylor and London, the other two girls that Samiah befriends. The trio of girls was such an unexpected group but I enjoyed seeing how they got along and interacted as the book progressed. Samiah was a strong lead character with clear ambition and I thought this was a really good example of how hard women (especially women of color) have to work to make a name for themselves in tech.

The story itself was pretty by the book romance. I thought that there was chemistry between Daniel and Samiah but the situation that brought Daniel into the story gave cause for concern from the beginning. I felt like the way the book ended didn't make a ton of sense considering how scorned Samiah was at the very beginning due to lies told by her cheating boyfriend. Daniel spent the entire book lying to her and she ended up forgiving him so quickly. Considering how strong Samiah was in her feelings and actions throughout the rest of the book, this just felt unrealistic for who she was.

Unfortunately, something that I've noticed happening with a lot of these newer romance books is that they focus so heavily on the sexual nature of the couples in them. This might not be a big issue for some people and others might enjoy it but I personally like romance that is not centered around sex. There were so many moments throughout this book that mentioned something sexual when I felt that it really wasn't central to that scene. I tried not to let it get to me too much but it did leave me feeling more than annoyed more than once.

In the end, I did enjoy The Boyfriend Project a fair amount and I do intend on picking up the next book in the series when it eventually is published.

A viral story starts a trio of women on a new path… When Samiah, London, and Taylor find out through twitter that they’ve all been seeing the same man they come together in an attempt to figure out what’s been going on with their lives. Each is at a crossroads with dreams that haven’t quite worked out yet—though each is successful in their way. And they decide to make a pact to spend six months investing in themselves—no relationships. For Samiah, a gifted programmer, the meeting pushes her to reconsider developing her dream app. But the plan is complicated by a new, gorgeous man at work. This is funny, thoughtful, and I’m intrigued by the possible stories of the side characters. I’m definitely looking forward to Rochon’s next book!

The Boyfriend Project starts of with something that has become very common in our society--the viral video. Samiah finds out the guy she is dating has also been dating other women and confronts him about it. Samiah's biggest humiliation is filmed for public consumption, and as I was reading, I realized that if this was real life, I'd definitely have watched that video. I'd have probably cheered her on.

But our entertainment is Samiah's agony, and Rochon does a great job of setting the stakes by showing how angry & vulnerable Samiah is. She is not going to trust easily again--and after reading the first bit, who can blame her? Enter... Daniel!

Pheeew Daniel. Even reading about him gave me hot-flashes, and the chemistry between them leaps through the pages. The realistic high-stakes plus off-the-charts chemistry makes for a promising story and Rochon delivers. Watching Samiah and Daniel interact were arguably the best parts of the book, maaaaybe tied with Samiah's interactions with her new friends.

There were some issues that I didn't love. Daniel's part of the plot, and his subsequent wishy-washiness about being with Samiah was not my favorite. It dragged on for too long. I could understand it because Rochon did an excellent job of setting up her character's motivations, but I didn't enjoy it. But in the end he more than made up for it and I loved watching these two work towards their HEA.

I also really appreciated the discussions around race & gender in the tech industry/STEM. Samiah as a Black woman has a completely different experience than Daniel, who is half-Black, half-Asian, and I appreciated that reality & those conversations being part of their relationship.

Read The Boyfriend Project for great female friendships, a strong MC who is not afraid to be vulnerable, and fantastic chemistry. I am looking forward to the next books in this series.

**Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an advanced ecopy in exchange for an honest review.**

I really liked Samiah, the main character in this book, she is a smart, hard-working and successful woman working in a tech company, which is a very white and male environment. This book did a good job of showing all the hardships that she, as a black woman, faces in STEM and how those hardships are different than the ones faced by other people of color like the love interest, Daniel, who is part-Korean and part-Black.

Samiah’s relationship with the two women that she meets at the start of the book when they all find out they were dating the same guy without knowing it, was the highlight of the book. Their support for one another and their unconditional friendship were things I really enjoyed reading about. And the first 10% of this book when they all find out the truth was hilarious and maybe my favorite part of this book.

My main problem with this book was that so many moments between the main characters when they are getting to know each other and start flirting and liking each other happened off page and I was so frustrated! I’m reading a romance book, I obviously want to see them fall in love, I don’t want to be told that they fell in love in all this little moments that I didn’t get to read about. Also, the fact that he lied to her for almost 90% of this book didn’t sit well with me.

Despite not loving the romance in this book, I loved the female friendship so much that I will read the rest of the series to get the other two women’s love stories.

There are a few authors who are able to grab my attention from the first page. Farrah Rochon accomplished this for me in The Boyfriend Project. How have I lived my entire reading life and not experienced a Farrah Rochon novel? This injustice will be corrected immediately.

I absolutely loved Samiah Brooks character. It is refreshing to read stories about black women in non-traditional fictional roles as in the tech industry. Samiah was strong and assertive and she was aware of the cultural biases she faced in this world and made a conscious effort to always look and be her best. I especially liked how her character lifted as she climbed.

Samiah was dating a guy and she had some misgivings but they were solidified when her sister, Denise found this joker on a date that was being shared in real-time via Twitter. Samiah shows up to the restaurant and gives this fool a piece of her mind, along with the two other ladies. Samiah, Taylor, and London have an instant connection and become fast friends. It was refreshing to read a book where the women recognized that the man was the REAL issue and they created a friendship from the embarrassing situation. To their horror, the whole exchange is recorded and goes VIRAL.

When Samiah gets to work the next day she meets a handsome new employee, Daniel Collins. They have an immediate attraction to one another. We all know that workplace romances are a no go but these two couldn't fight their attraction to one another. Daniel was a dream but was hiding a major secret. I am excited to know that there are future books in this series. I just hope the wait is not too long.

I am so grateful to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was such a fun and lovely book! Hilarious and tons of chemistry, too. Would recommend it for those looking for a lovely romance book to get them through these uncertain times we live in.

I LOVE THIS BOOK SO MUCH!

What a treat to watch a woman of color work her way up in a tech firm and to be respected. Love the financial crime plot which I learned so much from it. The friendships where everything. I really loved this book so much.

I will be sharing this book in the Summer Reading Guide.

I particularly enjoyed how important the main characters' careers were to them in THE BOYFRIEND PROJECT. I also liked that the main couple never denied their attraction for each other, as often happens in romance. There was no "Oh no, s/he'll never like me" wailing; the attraction was obvious and both characters admitted it! How refreshing. Of course there were still stumbles (there has to be a plot after all), but that particular tired roadblock wasn't one of them. Overall: This was a fun, fast read featuring a woman of color in STEM. I originally accepted this novel from the publisher because I thought it sounded like a grown-up version of John Tucker Must Die haha. Sadly, I was wrong about that, but I still enjoyed the book!

What do you do when someone live tweets their date with YOUR boyfriend? Do you go ghost or do you show up at the restaurant to call him out? When Samiah Brooks finds out that her man is not only two-timing, but THREE timing her and two other women, the moment - and the women - go viral. Bonding instantly in this tragicomedy of an experience, the three women vow to spend the next six months working on themselves and not worrying about men, relationships, or dating...

Samiah takes this time to work toward launching the app she's always dreamed of creating. As she bosses up at work, she meets the new guy at work - the delectable Daniel Collins. He's smart, funny, supportive, and fine as hell. How is a woman supposed to resist?

This book is a sweet, smart read about a woman who chases her dreams in all aspects of her life, with a little help from her friends. In addition to the slow burn romance between Samiah and Daniel, who may just be too good to be true, you have a wonderful story about the building of a lifelong friendship between three fantastic strong women who just need a little support to go after what they really want.

You can't go wrong with this book and I'm looking forward to the future stories of the other women in this series.

This is my first Farrah Rochon book and will not be my last. Vivid characters, strong emotions, and a solid plot lead to a fantastic debut in this new series!

A great, unique romance novel! I loved the development of the characters, especially Samiah, throughout the story. The storyline/concept is completely original which is a tough feat. It seemed like a slow build in the beginning, but the build was worth it! Overall, this was a cute and bubbly read and one I’d definitely recommend.

First book by this author and I enjoyed it! Great characters, fun story. I loved that the women in the book had no time for men’s foolishness!

I had no idea what to expect from The Boyfriend Project because I went into it completely blind. I knew it was on several highly anticipated release lists for this year and it one hundred percent deserves to be on them! Farrah Rochon created a thought-provoking, charming, and heart melting tale of struggle, empowerment, friendship and love that was utterly wonderful to read. She made falling in love with the characters, particularly Samiah and Daniel, feel absolutely effortless. The Boyfriend Project draws you in, captures your heart, and brings out all of your emotions. It touched my heart, gave me that giddy/breathless feeling and I just wholeheartedly adored it — I can’t wait to see what Farrah Rochon comes up with next!

As soon as I read the synopsis of this book, I knew I had to read it and it did not disappoint! I love how strong female friendships was at the forefront of this book, along with the romance of course.

As the only female attorney in my office, I enjoyed reading about women working in male dominated fields. I think the author did a great job of bringing this out and showing strong female characters.

Overall, highly recommend, very witty and cute!