The blurb had me requesting this one on NG and it was quite unique - imagine making up a fake boyfriend in a scheme to reassure your parents that you've changed for the 'better' and he shows up to meet you on your family vacation 😂 and no it's not a fantasy book, it's a YA romcom and there's a reason lol.

Kenzie has always loved photography and unlike her siblings who are well-organized, she's more impulsive, easily distracted and can wander away for hours at a time while trying to capture the perfect pic. And her parents think that this isn't a viable career option and would rather she work in their family-run optometry business. After a few bad experiences and a failed competition, Kenzie decides to reinvent herself by becoming the 'perfect' daughter who loves optometry and has a 'boyfriend' - Jake(one that her parents approve of). When she and her family go on a vacation to Hawaii, she's shocked when her fake(/imaginary) bf shows up at the airport to greet them and he seems to know many of the details that she'd made up about their relationship. As she plays along in a bid to find out his agenda while trying not to disappoint her family, she's surprised to find herself falling for him especially when he's the one who sees the real her and encourages her to follow her passion!

It took me a while to get into this one, but once I did it was so enjoyable - and I loved the second half more! Though it was easy to dislike Kenzie's family at first, I found them to be well developed characters by the end and I could see why they behaved the way they did. I loved her Gran the most! And her brother - Tyler was pretty smart and hilarious! Kenzie's sister - Alana was the opposite of her, but she's actually supportive and protective of her in the end. And it was cute to see Kenzie's relationship development with Jake too! I loved how he pushed her to be herself and helped her get past her fears, while she also helped him navigate his family struggles!

I'd have loved to see more about his family and their interactions too, but the book's focus is on Kenzie and her character development - so I was pretty satisfied with that! At first, I didn't understand why Kenzie was so set on being a completely different person when it was making her so unhappy, but as we get to know more about her, we can see how her family dynamics and the fear of failure, made her think this way. So I loved watching her grow and face her fears. There were many hilarious moments throughout the story and the conclusion was pretty satisfactory too!
In the end, this was a cute YA romcom with an interesting spin on fake dating(one of my fave tropes if you must know😆) that I enjoyed reading and I'm looking forward to reading more from this author soon!❣️✨

Such a fun and goofy read! But at the same time so romantic and swoon worthy!! The characters are utterly adorable, how can you not fall in love with them as they fall in love! I coincidentally read this over my spring break and it was filled with good times all around!
@rachelbookclub

Picture-Perfect Boyfriend by Becky Dean is a sweet rom-com with fake boyfriends and warm summer breezes.

This book was such a cute story. A fun and sunny YA romance with laughable moments and salty sea air.
What a delightful read! It was fun, full of adventure and had great banter.
I thought it was a sweet and fun YA romance with delightful characters and a charming plot.
The characters are enjoyable and I loved following Kenzie and Jacob’s journey that set in beautiful atmosphere. Hawaii.

"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."

Thank You NetGalley and Delacorte Press for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

This was such an adorable YA romcom. Fast paced, feel good story with fake dating, humor and summertime vibes.

Kenzie loves photography, but her family of optometrists don't take her love seriously. They are always pointing out the ways Kenzie is different from them...always daydreaming, always late because she's looking at nature, always taking pictures and would rather be exploring instead of working for the family business. So, she puts her dreams aside and pretends to be just like them ...totally into optometry and she even makes up a fake boring boyfriend, Jacob.

Everything goes great for months, until the family takes a trip to Hawaii and as the plane lands, who should appear but 'Jacob'. Not only does Kenzie have to deal with fake dating and all her lies while with her family, but she also has to find out who this Jacob is, who invited him and how he knows about every lie shes told. Oh and not fall for him in the process.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Review in progress and to come.

I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review

This cover is SO beautiful and summer-y and I was so excited to read it! The Hawaiian landscape was great to read and had me wishing I was on a tropical island. I did find the main character, Kenzie a bit difficult at times but I think that lead to her growth which was very apparent throughout the story!

Sigh. This book is really so comfortable. It is sweet and clean, no language or questionable content (besides lying to your family, which as an adult I don't condone but as a reader of a romance where it felt necessary, I'm a little more forgiving) It takes place in Hawaii and I love that. My husband grew up on Oahu, not Maui like this book, but I still love all the HI mentions. Also! It's about a photographer with a surprise fake boyfriend! Sign me up!

If you like Kasie West books, destination reads, romance, YA, Hawaii, water, sticky family dynamics and sweet books that make you smile, look forward to May 23. It'll be a good day for you!

Thank-you @netgalley for the ARC. All opinions are my own. Also, thank you to Becky Dean for writing something lovely!

Kenzie is a senior in high school who loves photography and is a bit scatterbrained, and very opposite from her type A optometrist parents and sister. To try and fit in with her family she makes up a fake boyfriend and on a trip to Hawaii ends up meeting this said fake boyfriend. What ensues is a sweet story about being content with who you are and how others can help you do so.

Kenzie as a character really did grow through the story, but for about half the book she felt whiny and kept complaining about choices she made without trying to do anything to fix her feelings. Her resignation to her fate was frustrating. There were also several elements of this story that seemed a bit far fetched to me especially with Kenzie's family.

The last 25% of the book really had me turning the pages and I thoroughly enjoyed the ending and seeing Kenzie grow!

YA romance isn't my typical genre. However, after having friends who greatly enjoyed Dean's debut novel--Love and Other Great Expectations--I requested an ARC of Picture Perfect Boyfriend.

This novel was fun. Were there a few parts of it that were a little unrealistic? Yes. But that's honestly just part of the YA rom-com territory. And it didn't weaken the novel as a whole.

Dean did a great job with Kenzie's character voice. It sparkled from the very beginning; she was a super fun character to read. Jake, Tyler, and Gran were also well-developed. I would have liked to see a little more dimension to Alanna and Kenzie's parents, partly because I think it would have made Kenzie's parents more understandable.

The plot was predictable, but this is a romance story. You know how it's going to end--you're reading to discover what's going to happen before the guy and girl get together. Dean kept the story fun. I mean, there are plenty of possibilities for something to happen when your pretend boyfriend suddenly shows up. :)

I also loved the Hawaii setting, and now want to go visit.

Picture Perfect Boyfriend is a fun, summer beach read.

Cautions: moderate romance; seven kisses

Kenzie feels desperate for her parents approval and makes up the perfect fake boyfriend that matches her new fake persona to make her family happy. Her plan goes a bit off track when her very fake boyfriend shows up as a very real person on a family vacation.

Anyone saying they don’t understand why you would lie about everything about yourself to your parents. Or that they were frustrated and didn’t understand why her parents weren’t more supportive…. I’m glad you grew up with understand and supportive parents. But I totally understand why Kenzie was feeling pressured by her family to fit their perfect ideal for her.

This was a very cute YA romance and I’m excited to read more by this author.

This was a cute YA romantic read. Trapped in a situation where her family doesn't support her dreams, Kenzie has changed herself in many ways to make her parents happy. The main character has created a fake boyfriend, Jacob, who suddenly appears at the airport when she arrives inHawaii on a family vacation..There is a lot of discussion about honesty and being her true self in the story. But I didn't love the complete lack of Support from her parents and the way that her parents tended to make her feel about being true to herself Though that did help to drive the plot of the book, it did make me very frustrated. Overall, this was a cute read and I'm glad to read another book by this author. Thank you netgalley for this arc in l exchange for my honest opinion.

Pretending to be something you're not in order to make those around you happy is not a strange phenomenon, but when your fake reality appears in front of you at an airport, things can get a bit dicey. That is what happens for the MC in this book.

Kenzie has been doing her best to fit into the mold that her parents want for her, including creating a fake boyfriend who shares her "interests" and conveniently goes to college far enough away that he is never seen. This makes is very surprising when her fake boyfriend shows up at a family trip to Hawaii as a surprise guest.

Becky Dean created an interesting narrative, especially when you weave in family dynamics and the fear of not living up to expectations, but I really struggled with many of the family decisions and actions. That being said, I'm sure that there is some other person reading this book who completely grasps how people can be so narrow-minded and uncaring.

This is basically a teenage fever dream. I could easily imagine myself DEVOURING this as a 16 year old. What's not to love - a beautiful Hawaiian setting! a smart girl going against the expectations of her family! a fabulous grandma who *gets* her! and a hot fake boyfriend who looks like a sun kissed Thor! Sign us up!

Thanks to NetGalley, Delacorte, and the author for eARC in exchange for my review.

Thank you to the publisher for allowing me to read this eARC.

While it was a cute story it was a bit far fetched and predictable and just okay. The romance was sweet, loved the beautiful Hawaii setting, and it was a fun time.

Cute YA romcom that I read in one night. Just couldn’t wait to see how it all played out! Was it a bit far-fetched… maybe haha But it’s a romcom so that totally works 😉

Great main characters. Quirky family dynamics. Beautiful setting. Overall, just a great book.

Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review. Watch for Picture-Perfect Boyfriend to come out May 23, 2023.

This was such a cute Rom-Com I highly enjoyed it and was hooked from the beginning and didn't wanna put it down.
I just reviewed Picture-Perfect Boyfriend by Becky Dean. #PicturePerfectBoyfriend #NetGalley
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This book was the perfect romantic getaway! The book was written in a way that really captured the perspective of a photographer seeing the beauties of Hawaii for the first time. The romance was so adorable and I thought the pacing of the relationship was really well done!

Coming from a family of optical nerds, I was excited to dive into this story!

It’s a perfect beach read, you’re hooked right away and the story moves quickly to keep you interested.

Kenzie and Jake are a great match and it was really lovely that the story focused more on discovering who we are and where our passions lie and not just your traditional fake boyfriend to real boyfriend trope.

I love that Kenzie had a solid group of unexpected support in her corner and thought it was really unexpected how it all played out.

Thank you to Random House for this ARC!

4 stars out of 5!

This was such a great beach read! I couldn't put the book down and read it in 1 day.

Kenzie and her family (of optometrists) go on a vacation to Maui. Before heading out to vacation, Kenzie makes up a boyfriend named Jacob to impress her family and show that she really has been changing. After landing in Hawaii, Kenzie is greeted by a surprise. "Jacob" is standing there waiting for her. Who is this stranger?! You'll have to read to find out!

I really loved both Kenzie and Jacob (Jake) but I think my favorite character in the book is Gran. She reminds me of my own Gran with her spunk and personality. This is my first book by the author and I was really impressed with her writing style. Maui is one of my favorite places and this book really brought me back there. Looking forward to reading future books by Becky Dean.

Thank you Net Galley and Random House Children's for the ARC and my honest review.