This was such a good book! I read it in a day and I’m so mad it took me so long to get to! I will definitely buy a physical copy for my shelf

This was a really cute read but I would have loved for depth, more anything. I don‘t like the overly controlling parents trope but I‘m also not in my ya era anymore.
I can absolutely see why people love love love this book but it wasn’t for me

'Picture-Perfect Boyfriend" was a fun beachy YA read. It follows Kenzie - the Black Sheep of her family - and Jacob - her unexpected fake boyfriend - as she vacations with her family in Hawaii for Spring Break. To avoid her family's scrutiny and expectations, Kenzie makes up a fake, boring boyfriend named Jacob. However, as she and her family lands in Hawaii, Kenzie is shocked when her fake "boyfriend" shows up. Since she can't tell her parents the truth, she ends up playing along, continuing her lie, all whilst spending more time and getting to know this "Jacob."

I was really excited to read "Picture-Perfect Boyfriend" because, first of all: what a cute cover! and second, this book promised the "Fake Boyfriend" and "Fake Dating" and I'm a massive fan of these romance tropes. While the novel did deliver on the trope front, the romance and chemistry between Kenzie and Jacob fell a little flat for me. It was a fairly easy read and since it was a set in Hawaii, I thought it was a fun read for the summer (even though it's set during Spring Break).

While it's not my favourite YA contemporary romance, I'd definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a cute and easy beachy summer read with a bit of fake dating!

I didnt really like this book. I found it to be lacking and the writing wasnt my favorite. I will. read more from becky though

This was just what I was looking for. A fun, sweet, and very easy breeze. This has everything, a fun seaside setting, a crazy plot, and a group of fun characters. The lying trope is strong in this book and it would have been annoying if it hadn't completely hooked me. So fun all around.

I’m not sure how I feel about this one still. I liked it while I was reading it but I found it very forgettable. I did really like the characters and the story line.

A great easy summer YA read. The parents were quite a bit overbearing. It was a little on the cheesy side but I think a younger YA audience would enjoy this one.

This book was so fun and cute! I absolutely loved the setting, the characters and all the mayhem that was scattered throughout.
.
As fun as this book was there were parts that had me stressing, the fake dating was definitely strong in this one. I loved Kenzie an dJake together and thought they brought out the best in each other and encouraged character growth fr each other. I loved kenzies family so much, especially her fun and spunky grandma.
.
overall this book was so much fun and the perfect summer read.

IM SORRY BUT I HATED IT, THE CHARACTERS THE WRITING IT WAS LIKE READING THE DIARY OF A THIRTEEN YEAR OLD WHO A LOT OF POTENTIAL “BOYFRIENDS ” WHAT THE HECK DID I READ

"Two strangers, one tropical island, and lots of lies."

Let's be real, the cover art on this one was a FAIL. Despite that, I thought the premise was cute, if not a little far-fetched. It turned out to be a cute read, despite the characters reading a little young. I would definitely recommend this one.

I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

The fake boyfriend trope is one of my favorite ones in romance, just behind enemies-to-lovers, and I love that this book pulled in a bit of "enemies to lovers" with the fake boyfriend aspect of it since the main character wasn't expecting this fake boyfriend and had no idea what he was up to. The romance was well-paced as a slow burn, and I appreciated the attention paid to family dynamics and the way family doesn't always really "see" us as we are or as we want to be seen and appreciated. Very satisfying read with a sweet ending.

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to receive this book for an honest review.

What a cute YA Rom Com.
Kenzie Reed is the main character on spring break with her family on the beautiful island of Maui. Kenzie tells her family she wants to pursue a career in photography but her family has other plans They want her to work at the familys optometry business. Kenzie decides to work at the family business because she doesn't not want to disappoint her parents. She also makes up a boyfriend but then he actually shows up in Hawaii.

Who is this man? Where did he come from?

We all want to know more.

Fun summer romp in paradise. Interesting take on the lying trope, although there were a lot of characters lying to protect themselves and what they wanted to to most in life. The setting of Hawaii was written beautifully, making me want to travel there some day! Lesson to be learned; lying doesn't get you anywhere except trouble, where everything blows up in your face. Sweet building of a love story built on a few fibs. Follow your dream, not what your parents want You'll be happier in the end.

While I didn't enjoy this one as much as the author's first book. I did enjoy following Kenzie to Hawaii and watching her grow and change. As well as finding who she is and having the courage to tell her parents who she really wants to be.

Kenzie Reed loves nature photography; some might even say she is obsessed. Her parents don’t see this as an option for a career and want her to join the family business. Kenzie really wants to please her parents and have their approval like her older sister does, so she makes up a fake boyfriend, Jacob. The problems start when fake Jacob arrives in Hawaii to join the family on their vacation. Kenzie is left wondering who he really is and how he knows all the information she made up about him! As she tries to unravel the mystery, she learns a lot about herself and that as much as she wants to please her parents, she needs to be true to her dreams for the future. I really enjoyed this book by Becky Dean and highly recommend it for middle school and high school. I appreciate that Dean provides entertaining and clean (no bad language and no sexual content) books that I am comfortable adding to my middle school library.

This has a fun fake-dating romance. Kenzie has been talking about Jacob since she attended a conference for young adults interested in medicine. When Jacob shows up as a surprise for her family's Hawaii vacation, she is truly surprised as Jacob doesn't exist. She made up a fake boyfriend. As the vacation goes on, what started as fake becomes real and causes more chaos than expected. It was a fun read.

This was an adorable YA beach read. I typically don’t read YA, but I found this to be very sweet and fun. Who doesn’t love a fake dating scenario! The scene setting in Hawaii made me want to book a flight immediately. Thank you for the ARC!

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with this book.

This is such an adorable story! I will eat up and YA fake dating because it never fails!

Becky Dean’s sophomore novel, Picture-Perfect Boyfriend, is packed with intrigue from start to finish. From the ending of the first chapter, it hooked me.

Faking it for the Fam
All Kenzie Reed wants to do is immerse herself in nature with a camera around her neck. She’s put in the work—she’s done her research about photography and the nature she wants to capture. And yet, her steady, dependable family of optometrists still believe that she’s wasting her time. Finally worn down by the pressure, Kenzie agrees to become what her parents want: a responsible future optimist. To complete the picture, she invents a fake boyfriend, Jacob.

At least, she thought she invented him… until her family arrives in Hawaii for spring break, and who should greet them at the airport but Jacob himself! After this point, I couldn’t put the book down. A mystery man who knows everything about fake Jacob, but whom Kenzie really knows nothing about? Who could resist?!

As Kenzie and Jacob spend more time together, he refuses to share his secrets. However, he is nothing like the fake Jacob she created. He’s funny, clever, and he encourages her to pursue her passion with reckless abandon. If they really knew him, her parents would NOT approve. Which is totally fine, because they can’t be together for real. At the end of the trip, they’ll “pretend” to break-up and go their separate ways… right?

A Real Romance?
Except that Kenzie doesn’t want to break up with him anymore. In fact, she’s struggling to imagine life without him. How can she just say goodbye? But if they want to start dating for real, then she needs to tell her family the truth—and risk their inevitable, devastating judgment.

Kenzie’s story is deeply relatable for anyone who’s ever struggled with meeting parental expectations. Kenzie deeply loves her parents, so she hates to disappoint them. And yet… the more she leans in to her lies, the more she feels like she’s losing herself. Does she really want to pretend that she is something she’s not just to make her parents happy? I’ve asked myself the same question. Why can’t her parents just love her for who she is? I’ve asked myself that too! As someone with similar experiences, Kenzie’s emotions felt authentic. The story took a feeling that many of us struggle with and took it to the extreme–seeing a live, breathing manifestation of your lies right in front of you–with hilarious results.

As for Kenzie and Jack, I loved watching their relationship deepen as they got to know each other over the course of the story. It’s the fake dating trope at its best!

If you love Hawaiian destinations, dysfunctional families, and the fake dating trope, allow yourself to be sucked into Picture-Perfect Boyfriend. I recommend you read it on the beach, or poolside, at the very least.

a cute and beachy romcom that was delightful.

thank you to netgalley and to the publisher for this review copy.