REVIEW: My Book Boyfriend by Kathy Strobos

Lily is a librarian in New York who also heads the community garden. Rupert is working to become a co-CEO with his cousin in their grandfather's architecture and construction company. Lily and Rupert meet over a book they both want, and sparks fly instantly. The only problem is that Rubert plans to destroy the community garden to become CEO, while Lily fights to protect it with lawsuits against them.

My Book Boyfriend is a quick but heartfelt rom-com that is very sweet and gives lots of laughs. It is a great enemy to lovers with a unique twist: they don't want to be enemies; they simply are on opposite sides of a cause. I love that this conflict is authentic and not another miscommunication trope. It is interesting to see how they both focus on their causes even as they fall for one another.

I enjoyed Rupert and Lily as characters. Of course, I am a sucker for librarians and book lovers, so I was drawn in. I especially like that Rupert was also a book fan because you rarely see the male lead as a reader. Both characters are strong and put their heart and soul into their work. Rupert and Lily also had adorable chemistry together. You couldn't help but root for them. It is on the very tame side as far as spice, with only a few kisses and a fade to black walking to the bedroom. I suggest listening to this as an audiobook, as the narrators were great! With a dual POV, hearing the characters' voices for each chapter was fun.

Because of the shorter length, My Book Boyfriend lacks some depth in the characters. A little more about them would have gone a long way.

Overall, I enjoyed My Book Boyfriend. It was short and sweet while filling my rom-com needs.

Thank you, Netgalley and Strawbundle Publishing, for the free advanced copy for my honest review!

A book about books by an author with my first name. I definitely had to read it. I loved it. Community working together, a romance.. This was so much fine. I would read this writer again.

In My Book Boyfriend, Lily the librarian finds herself pitted against a dreamy real estate developer named Rupert who is set on demolishing her beloved neighborhood garden. This cute, quick (closed door) romcom about book loving enemies who will (obviously) become lovers was a charming read.

This book was kinda a breath of fresh air for me.

It was super cute and sweet. And the romance wasn't super in your face and spicy. Don't get me wrong. I definitely like that sort of thing too.

But I enjoy my light and airy reads too. The good wholesome romance that makes my heart get the warm and fuzzies.

And the story itself was so cute. I loved the characters too. They made me smile and giggle so many times. And the chemistry and interactions between not just the main couple but everyone in the story was perfect.

I needed this book in my life

A cute, light-hearted romcom that proves to be a quick read. There were a few things I found on the cheesy side, but these elements could work better for other readers.

This was such a cute cozy quick read, I really enjoyed it, especially the fact both main characters are book lovers and Lily is a Librarian with cats, I liked Lily and Rupert’s cute enemies to lovers story, and the setting in New York. I’m looking forward to reading the next book.

Thank you for the ARC!

This was a super fun and quick read, Rupert and Lily are a sweet couple that I definitely routed for their HEA. So glad they got one!!!

My Book Boyfriend- arc review
☆☆.5
This was a sweet, fast and cozy read.
I was hoping for more relationship development between the main characters.
Lily wants to save her garden, and she finds out her crush is the person trying to demolish it. The banter was good but it just wasn't the book for me
Why say #TBR instead of to be read pile/tbr pile? I don't know it made me cringe sometimes lol
Thank you to NetGalley and Kathy Strobos for a e-copy of this book in exchange for my opinion. All opinions are my own.

very sweet, fun, quick read (only 220 pages)! it just wasn't really for me as i found it a bit too fluffy (i enjoy some angst and conflict) and i don't often read closed-door romances, but that's a me thing. i also felt like the relationship between lily and rupert could have been more developed. even on their own, i felt like the two main characters lacked a bit of depth. there was just something, a spark, missing for me. but if you're looking for a clean, cute and easy summer read, you will like this book for sure! plus both characters are books lovers!

This was such a delightful and fun romantic comedy. I enjoyed every bit of it. The story was fast paced and I truly fell in love with the characters.

I was really interested in this book based on the title and blurb, and while it was still good, I will say it fell short of my expectations. I don’t know if it’s just because I’ve read so many romance books, but this one was a little boring and I wasn’t a huge fan of the conflict between the main characters. However, if you are looking for a quick, clean romance set in NYC, then I would recommend that you at least give this book a shot.

I really liked this book, it was different than anything else I've read which was a breath of fresh air. I will be recommending this to my friends, and auto buy this author!

3.75
a very cute, lighthearted quick read romcom that you can get comfy on the couch and finish it one sitting!

I feel like this will likely be a Hallmark movie some day, and I will definitely watch it! A cute, light-hearted rom-com that you can finish in an afternoon.

Thank you to Strawbundle Publishing and Kathy Strobos for letting me have an ARC copy of My Book Boyfriend to review!

Who doesn’t love a person who reads and you can curl up on the sofa with on an afternoon to read together? It’s the perfect book partner (boyfriend or girlfriend) all book lovers dream of. My Book Boyfriend caplets this cosy, chilled-out vibe with tender moments, sizzling chemistry, and a conflict of interests pulling at the two hearts struggling with attraction to one another and fighting for their passions and dreams.

The plot behind My Book Boyfriend is a straight-forward girl meets a guy over a book, but getting to know him opens a can of worms as battle lines are drawn to save something the girl loves. In this case, a community garden, which has been lovingly nurtured on an abandoned plot of land now in the hands of the big bag developers. The story is well-written, with steady pacing and a balance of highs and lows to keep momentum and the pages turning with a few surprises tucked for comical effect (a few you might see coming and some jump out at you).

Kathy Strobos writes her characters with a down-to-earth realism and maturity, which makes them instantly likable and relatable. The crafting of a wonderful sense of community is captured which brings the colourful cast of characters to life, not just the two main love interests Lily and Rupert, but Lily’s girlfriends and the community of volunteers around the community garden.
Lily’s got an amazing energy in her character – she is sassy, creative, determined, and willing to fight for what she loves. It’s hard not to be charmed by her and want to have a book bestie like her in your life. Her superpower is bringing people together around the community garden and bringing people together to fight for the garden or at her book club.

Rupert’s an honourable soul, trying to live up to family expectations and also do good in the world. I love his honesty with Lily from the get-go over the community gardens after his identity is outed. He can’t promise her he will save the gardens, as it would not be fair to lead her on and he balancing a lot on his shoulders for the future of his family’s company, proving himself for CEO and trying to save the garden. It’s easy to develop a bit of a book crush on him.

There is an element of enemies to lovers in this story, the vibes of tension in the start after Lily discovers Rupert is leading the project threatening her beloved garden. Truth is this conflict doesn’t drive a wedge between them for long – Rupert and Lily accept and acknowledge the elephant in the room of their budding relationship, but decide to pursue the attraction between them and get to know each other despite the risk they could sink faster than the Titanic. They stare down the barrels of the gun of their problems, stand their ground, and work through their problems in a relatable way, even when they haven’t got their stuff together.

A sweet, quick romance read with an engaging plot with plenty of sizzle and cracking banter between Lily and Rupert. I hope to see more stories focusing on Lily’s girlies in the future.

This was a perfect cosy romantic read and enjoyed every second of it.

The characters were all written beautifully and realistic which is a big thing for me and if I will connect with a romance book as I don’t want anything too forced or fake. There is also the enemies to lovers trope which is my kryptonite. It felt like a 90’s rom com which was comforting in itself and before I knew it I had finished the book!

I look forward to seeing what else is coming in the future from this author.

A very cute romance. The fmc was a librarian, and the mmc was an aspiring CEO. Each of them had an interesting backstory.
I loved how the author developed the different issues in the story; it felt more realistic compared to other stories, which was refreshing to read.

This was such a cute little book! Here are some tropes/facts:
🏙new york based
❤️straight romance
😬conflict of interest
📚 they are both readers and connect over it omg thats important for my heart
🤌amazing communication
👭👭friend group!!
🗣banter

I really enjoyed this quick read. it was a good, unique story, i loved the community garden and library setting. I also really liked the mmc, he really was an ideal book boyfriend, such a nice, good guy (they are scarce). A good friend group always makes me happy to read about as well so it is exciting to see that the rest of the series will go on about other girlies from the group. Absolute recommend!

Thank you to netgalley and the author for sending me the book in exchange for an honest review (:

thank you to netgalley for the advanced reading copy. I really enjoyed this and will be getting copies for my shop.

I absolutely could not get enough of this!!! I am so going to have to read the other books in this series. I loved loved loved this. I absolutely adore lovers to enemies and this book was done right. Perfect.
I just reviewed My Book Boyfriend by Kathy Strobos. #MyBookBoyfriend #NetGalley
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