I laughed so hard listening to Gray and Kai’s thoughts. Their inner dialogue makes The Happy List the funniest male/male romance I have read this year.

Briar Prescott not only had me in stitches, but by the time Gray and Kai got out of their own way…the steam (it’s got hot in here!). Whew! Prescott definitely made up for the close calls and the “I can’t do this” moments. Humor abounded everywhere. It was awesome.

The characters also went through a growth period as they figured out what they really wanted out of their lives and how they wanted to go about achieving these new ideas. I love growth journeys. It enhanced the already strong friendship foundation between Gray and Kai.

I have seen this book tagged in different ways but Gray really comes across to me as demisexual and pan. He talks about how he got involved with Cecilia and he says they became friends first and after a while he then sort of became interested in her. Then we see how his relationship with Kai progresses and it’s not about being gay. It’s about Kai. This is basically the definition of pansexuality and demisexuality. I checked the author’s website, but they have nothing on the book other than how to buy it (their website could really use some work).

I am not usually a fan of jealousy, BUT Gray’s completely clueless internal and sometimes external dialogue regarding Kai’s dating was freaking hilarious. For this alone, I would recommend The Happy List. Luckily for us Prescott gives us a great romance between friends to go along with it.

I think maybe I just don’t share the same sense of humor as this author. The dialogue was real cheesy but I read a lot of cheesy books that I still enjoy. What bothered me more was that instead of the banter being fun and humorous, I found it awkward and not in a cute way. DNF but since I think the writing style is not for me and I don’t necessarily have an issue with the story, I’m going to give her the benefit of the doubt and give it 3 stars.

This book was a warm hug, and it was amazing to see such a solid representation of demisexuality on the page.

This was an amazing book, Gray and Kai ara adorable and I really liked their dinamic, from friends to much more. The list wasn't something really important on the book but helps in the best ways to their relationship.
I'm going to be reading more books from the author for sure, it made me smile and laugh out loud sometimes, something so important nowadays.

I absolutely adore this book. We love a good friends-to-lovers trope and excuse me, we're talking clothes sharing friends, here. How about that for a mental image?
It is funny, it is witty, it is swoony and I couldn't get enough of Gray and Kai.
If there is one thing I live for, then it's good pining and this book? Was absolutely freaking delicious.
The slow burn was so frustrating and so amazing at the same time and I really loved how Gray was able to discover himself.
I enjoyed every single sentence of this story and if there was one thing for me to complain about then it's that I never wanted to leave these two. Absolute lovely love story I can heartely recommend.

"The Happy List" by Briar Prescott was a wonderful read; exactly what we need in challenging times like this.
It is Gray's story of finding happiness when he realizes his life is routine, an overly intense workload, an unfulfilling relationship and boredom. His best friend Kai is carefree and adventurous and the only thing in Gray's life that makes him feel alive.
I really like the dynamic of both of them together; how they both challenged each other in different situations and really just clicked. Both MCs are very likable and credible characters, so different in their habits, thoughts, feelings and attitudes and yet the are not oppositional stereotypes. They ARE characters; deep and well-written and so amazing to see their development.
The story was lovely even if it felt a little rushed at times. I liked the everydayness of their being together. Nothing incredibly special was told here, but nevertheless I couldn't put the book down.

This is your typical bestfriends to lovers trope. We have Gray and Kai, long time bestfriends who knew each other since they were teens.

This is a dual POV kind of book. We both have Kai and Gray's perspective which is a plus for me. Sometimes I feel like they have almost the same way of thinking and I needed to double check which perspective I'm currently in. Also, a bit too sassy for my taste? Lol.

I love that the characters are fleshed out and I relate on Gray and Kai's dilemma on life. I prefer that part of the book, the life struggles, more than the romance part.

It was a slow burn romance with family dynamics on the mix. It was a good read.👍

***Thanks to the publisher and author for making this book available for review via Netgalley.***

4.5 stars-

I heard a lot of praise for this author over the past year. As a big fan of friends to lovers romances, I was excited to give The Happy List a try. I really enjoyed the writing, characters, story, slow burn romance, and humor, and will definitely looking forward to more from this author.

Gray and Kai were fantastic. They had an easy banter and obvious connection from the start. I loved how fun and adorable these two were just as friends and it got better as their story unfolded. Their personalities were different in many ways, but they came together and supported each other perfectly. I really liked the slow, steady burn of Gray and Kai’s romance. The move from best friends to lovers felt natural- with tentative moves forward, tension at times, and the undeniable, palpable bond that comes with knowing someone for years.

Gay-for-you is always a tricky trope for me because I crave more believability vs lust-fueled steam. I thought Gray’s bi-awakening/ attraction to Kai was handled well throughout the story. Though there was a lot of initial discussion of labels at first, especially as Kai attempted to deal with re-emerging romantic attraction to Gray, Gray’s thoughts felt more organic- focusing on how Kai made him feel rather than his gender or what others would think. Additionally, the fact that it was Gray’s first time with a man wasn’t dismissed, which is always a bonus for me.

Offering heat, humor, chemistry, and a sweet love story, The Happy List was a solid win. I was completely enamored with Kai and Gray and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this title to any reader who likes friends to lovers romance or appreciates palpable chemistry.

I was given a eBook copy of the book for my honest review.

The Happy List is Such a Heart Warming Story. Discovering your true self is always hard for everyone, and this story takes you on an adventure of gray coming into his real feelings and realizing that the life he has might not be the life he wants.

Gray soon starts to question himself once he see's his best friend kai with someone and the butterflies start to land on the branches of Sexuality and realization.

The Dynamic between gray and kai just as friends is wonderful and refreshing, The Wonderful character growth between characters that had a Narrative written for their lives and what it should be by other people and over coming these expectations so they can live the life they want and deserve.

I Enjoyed Having Multiple POVs as it gave us a perspective on the way each character and their feelings about their friendship and each other. It goes well with the "Happy List" Adventure that Kai is Helping Gray complete.

It is a wonderful light hearted read for any one to pick up and not want to put down.

I will Be giving this Book a 5/5


Description:
Gray

There are some things I excel at:

- Exercising rigid control over every aspect of my life

- Making sensible decisions at every turn

- Being organized, predictable and responsible to an abnormal degree

In short, I’m boring as hell and in desperate need of a change.

Luckily I have my best friend by my side and a newly written to-do list to guide my way through the murky waters of finding happiness.

It’s all very promising at first, but as weeks pass, I start to realize that the best part of my day has always been Kai.

And when I see him out on a date with some guy?

Let’s just say I’m definitely not happy about it.

Kai

I’m back in Boston after ten years of traveling, and I’ve fulfilled all my goals:

- See the world

- Figure out what to do with my life

- Get over my impossible crush on Gray

Check, check and check.

Life’s good until I accidentally find Gray’s happy list, which contains some very interesting things that friends never ever do with each other.

And as weeks pass, it becomes clear those not-so-innocent parts are the ones Gray is determined to explore with me.

In short, I’m screwed because no matter how hard I try, I can’t resist him, and pretty soon I'm forced to admit that I’m not as done with my crush as I thought I was...

Somehow this book was off. It started promising, but it became weird pretty fast. I usually love the best-friends-to-lovers-trope, but this was just... weird. I have the feeling they had better chemistry as friends than partners. And the sex felt just out of place for me. But to be honest, it was too much as well.
Since this was my first try with the author, I am probably going to give it another shot. But this book honestly wasn't for me...

I received a free ARC by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Attending the funeral of a dear friend and colleague can make a person seek out a book like this. One that offers a slice of life full of happy struggles and uplifting messages that does not set out to preach or teach lessons, but one that offers a space for readers to contemplate their own happiness through a fun, light read.

I did love this a lot.

Thanks to netgalley and publisher. I will look out for more books by this author.

Came out October 25.

This is a slowburn friends-to-lovers gay romance with demisexual rep... so basically it's everything I could wish for in a book. Friends to lovers is one of my favorite tropes and it was done so well! The characters were two lovable idiots and I enjoyed reading about Gray and Kai so much.
And reading about aspec characters is always extra special for me, so I really loved that this representation was included here.
The only thing I didn't liked about this book were some scenes in the middle were Gray was extremely jealous and such an ass and I hate when characters do that. But this was nonetheless a great read; I loved the relationship between Kai and Gray but also between Kai and his sister, these characters were so much fun to read about!
I guess all I have to say about this book is that I had a really good time with it and if you are looking for a queer romance, I would totally recommend. 👌🏻

This was such a nice read! The overall tone of the book is funny and the writing style is so nice and easy to read.
Grays journey and his way to a happy life were truly inspiring. The transformation was never strange or forced it just flowed within the story. Thanks to Kai I would say. I would have loved, if his story would have been recounted more. What about his parents? How was the relationship? What happend after? Did his sister raise him. We know that about Gray but not Kai. But nevertheless I also loved Kai. His personality is a treat for everyone ;)
The story was really good and well build.

All in all I can say, that i devoured this book in one afternoon and loved it! The characters, the story, the writing and humor made this a 5 star read.

Had great hopes, but was unconvinced by the story. The alternating PoVs were distracting because both protagonists sounded exactly the same, and the plot was thin.

(Review copy from NetGalley)

[Thanks Netgalley for the ebook. This review is my honest opinion but just another opinion, you should read this book and judge it by yourself]
A sweet friends-to-lovers story.
Our two MC, Kai and Gray, are best friends since forever. Kai has always been secretly in love with Gray, but Gray never had those kind of feelings toward his friend, although his life is always better when Kai is around. Now Gray has split up with his girlfriend and feels his entire life is plain and boring. So he writes a list full of things to make him happy and following that list Gray starts to feel that his life is so much better when he has his best friend by his side... and in his bed.
It has been a light and sweet reading, full of friendship, hotness and laughing, but a little rushed and unbalaced. Although I can completely understand them both, Kai seemed more real to me. I found a little difficult to believe the way Gray accepts his new feelings toward his best friend. Besides, there are parts of the plot that seemed important at a time that finally becamed almost nothing.
But overall it is a sweet and easy love story that I really enjoyed.
------
3-3'5 estrellitas, por ahí va la cosa.
No ha estado mal, ha sido una historia entretenida aunque un pelín superficial, no me parece que se profundice lo necesario en la relación entre Kai y Gray como para que me la crea. Por parte de Kai sí me creo el amor que siempre ha sentido por su mejor amigo, pero que Gray de repente se meta en una relación con su mejor amigo sin que le dé por pensar lo más mínimo se me ha hecho menos creíble (más que nada porque eso de que te empieces a sentir atraído por tu mejor amigo y en ningún momento te dé por pensar me ha parecido raro). Por parte de Kai lo he visto todo mucho menos forzado, con el miedo que le da tener su sueño al alcance de la mano y que se pueda ir a tomar viento tanto el sueño como su amistad con Gray.
También toda la parte del trabajo de Gray me ha resultado menos creíble, no por lo que le ocurre sino por cómo lo resuelve.
En fin, que el libro se lee bastante bien y ellos son muy cuquis, pero me ha parecido que se pasa muy de puntillas sobre casi todo y eso hace que el libro haya sido un poco flojo para mi gusto.

The writing - ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The story - ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Overall - ⭐⭐⭐⭐

This was a slow burn friends to lovers romance that had it's moments of frustration, but otherwise was a joy to read. So if you're looking for lighthearted MM romance with great banter, this is the one for you.

I loved that Gray's discovery of his feelings for Kai develop over time but once he understands them he commits to them entirely, and with no hesitance at all. The fact that it's his best friend who's a man doesn't phase him at all.

The writing in this is great, the banter, which can especially be hard to write, was done really well, I had a fair few laugh out loud moments and I loved the two main characters and their developing relationship. If you need an uplifting LGBTQ+ read, give this a go.

This was one of the sweetest friends to lovers books I've ever read. We have two point of views, two dumb men, one questioning, one gay and with a crush as big as the Atlantic ocean for his best friend. It was painful to see how innocent things Gray said, made Kai and his mind in love interpret it different.
There was a tiny bit on miscommunication, tons of pining and angst. They do talk, but not immediately instead leaving things unsaid. I was in pain because those two were clearly madly in love and so very compatible.
Their conversations, and the conversations with their family, were hilarious. A fun narration that guarantees a nonstop reading session. In fact, I started it and didn't stop reading it until it was over and it was 3am.
Swoon moments galore, slap some sense moments as well, this was certainly one of the sweetest books I've read this read. The author is on my radar from now on!

If you are in the mood for a cute friends-to-lovers romance, this one might do the trick.

Project Hero is still my favorite, but this book has some of the same plusses. Both Kai and Gray are likeable guys, and their bumbling attempts to figure out how to go from being friends to being a couple made for an amusing read. There’s a fair amount of humor, especially when Gray and Kai are messing with each other like friends do.

The main issue I had with the story is that it seemed a little flat to me at times. Maybe it’s because they’re such good friends, which cuts down on the tension of the romance. After all, they already know and like each other, and Kai’s fretting that Gray was just having fun with him wasn’t enough to make me feel like was a high chance of their relationship not working out.

I did enjoy the book, though, and the author is firmly on my auto-read list.

A copy of this book was provided through NetGalley for review; all opinions expressed are my own.

Damn I loved this!!!!!!
I’ve never even heard of this author before and I honestly didn’t expect to love it this much.
I was in a mental state where I only wanted to read a cute romance when I decided to download it.

I totally fell in love with the characters, the banter between them and the humour in general are amazing and I peed my pants reading some of the dialogue and thoughts of the protagonists! So so funny!!!

Also seeing a character in their late 20s questioning their sexuality?! And a male character on the ace spectrum?!
Folks, I am SO here for it! So much yes to this!!!!

If you know my reading habits I am not a fan of unnecessary drama. And there is always a little drama in romance books.
But here it was all very understandable and I could relate so much to both of the guys.
They’ve been friends for years, one of them is gay and under the impression that his best friend is straight. Also he’s been in love with him since years and doesn’t wanna get hurt.
The other one has a kind of sexual epiphany and is questioning his sexuality after almost 30 years. And is finally starting to realise something about himself.
Both of them don’t want to ruin the friendship. Both of them don’t know what the other one is really thinking and talking about feelings always makes you vulnerable.
I loved that it was all so super realistic and how Kais sister helped both of them. And talking is hard, I get that so much. I avoid talking at all costs.

Talking about Kais sister: I loved the side characters. I loved both their families and also Jamie. Since I saw that it’s actually going to be a series I HOPE the next book is about Con and/or Jamie. (I felt some vibes there....?!)
I loved the dynamic between all of them and also: the banter. Yes!

Can’t wait for the next book and will definitely put the other books by this author on my wishlist.

Original Rating: 3.9/5

‘The Happy List’ is a light romance with a generous dash of humour and plenty of emotions.

When Kai enters Gray’s life again (in an outstanding scene), Grayson realizes the boring reality of his life and determines to be happy and live a normal, yet crazy life. And so, “The Happy List” is made.

You can call the list cupid for these two. They have been best friends for years, but there was always the hope of more, however deep it was. Slowly, the hope becomes a reality.

The best friends to lovers tropes is quite basic but executed well and carried lovingly.

Kai had been crushing on Gray for years, but when on one hand, he is suppressing his feelings, Gray, on the other, is realising something deep and beautiful.

Great writing style, and the narrative speaks to the writer.
I loved the characters, even the side characters are amazing.
Romance flows organically.

Overall, it is a Happy Book and an adorable. light-hearted read.