I really wanted to like this book. A cute and spicy gay romance? Sign me up. But it really lacked character development, and didn't wrap up story lines. Cole and Teddy's best friends were vile and everything just annoyed me. Would have loved better characters and stronger story.

I was really looking forward to this book-a queer retelling of Pretty Women? Sign me up! However, this book was only ok to me. I liked the characters, but the relationship and plot felt very forced to me. It was very disjointed storytelling, in my opinion. It was a little too instalove/instalust for me to take the relationship and the emotional arcs seriously. And some of the storylines felt very rushed and were not resolved by the end of the book. I did enjoy some aspects of this book-the sex work and body positivity present throughout the book was definitely nice to read in a romance novel. Overall, I gave this book 3 stars and I would be interested to read from this author again in the future.

It is so rare that I DNF a book, and I was so looking forward to Steven Salvatore's first adult queer book, but I just could not get through The Boyfriend Subscription. The premise bothered me (although why I'm not sure -- maybe because it was presented in such a cringy way?), the writing was not grabbing me, and I felt nothing for these characters. Disappointed.

4.5 stars

Not only is this a new-to-me author, but this is also his first adult contemporary romance. He did a bang-up job. I felt all of the emotions of the characters; their lust, confusion, insecurities, and love. Although Teddy and Cole fall fast, it was believable to me because of how the story unfolds and how the characters are written.

At first, I wasn’t sure if I would do okay with the format. The chapters are long and few. But it’s dual POV and the POV switches within the chapters, sometimes multiple times, and that helps to keep things from bogging down.

Somehow the mix of a horticulturist who lost his booming plant business to his ex-husband’s family and is now broke and broken and a high-profile owner of a sex-positive app who is also the app’s top-earning worker is the perfect formula. Teddy grew up poor and built his business through years of hard work and his love of plants. Cole grew up rich, he was expected to step into his father’s shoes to take over the family business. Instead, he went his own way and became a success in his own right. Yet these two understand each other on a deep level. Their first meeting and the ensuing night together are sweet and build a firm intimacy between them that carries through the rest of the story.

Even when things got rough, I felt the reactions were understandable on both parts. Again with those insecurities. They sometimes keep people from thinking things through before acting. But they weren’t irrational and immature, they didn’t always react before thinking. I appreciated the realistic human emotions.

There were times when the peripheral characters got to be too much. It wasn’t that they took away from the story because many of them are integral to how things ultimately play out. I think for some reason some of their name didn’t stick for me and I had to remember who was being talked about when big things were happening. I believe that may be an issue with me and not with the writing though.

I don’t read tons of YA, but I may have to go back and read some of this author’s earlier work which is all YA. I hope he continues to delve into the adult contemporary romance genre though. I loved this book.

One last thing…I’m not usually a fan of the illustrated covers but I like to acknowledge when they work. This one definitely works. Not only do they have facial features, they are in focus and are a fantastic representation of the characters. It also doesn’t give the illusion that this is a YA book like many of the illustrated covers tend to do.

The Boyfriend subscription
This was a cute queer retelling of pretty woman. I loved how they used some of the same plot points and characters but threw in some pretty great GOT references too. The book is super sex-work positive too and discusses piece of the darker side of it as well. All in all, I really enjoyed this one. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you so much to Harlequin and NetGalley for the free eARC for my honest opinions.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Boyfriend Subscription, and I recommend it to romance readers who:

✦ enjoy a good fake relationship trope
✦ have a soft spot for underdogs
✦ value the normalization of sex work
✦ want something light with just a touch of depth
✦ appreciate some steaminess

In a nutshell, this novel is a perfect piece of escapism, quick and fun with just enough substance to allay any guilty pleasure vibes.

This was a sexy and fun Pretty Woman retelling with two heroes who are full of angst and issues to work through. It has the magic of New York City rather than LA as a setting and some of the roles are mashed up. Cole is our Richard Gere and Julia Roberts all combined while Teddy a cinnamon roll plant daddy gay who is down on his luck but still keeps his heart open. Teddy has great friends in Kit and her throuple and seeing Cole reconnect with his big sister Mallory just in time for her wedding weekend was awesome. Both of these characters are good at communicating, but also your usual communication issues that will be in romance novels are present. It is realistic though given all that both of them have been through. This is a Harlequin title, so it moves fast! I'm so glad to see more queer romances in this space and the steamy scenes were hot! There's also plenty of swoony moments where you feel the chemistry between the two of them, even though Cole and Teddy basically fall in love in a weekend. Can't wait to read more from Steven Salvatore as they hopefully continue to write for an adult audience.

CW: emotionally abusive ex-partner, cheating ex-partner, mentions of domestic abuse, strained parent/child relationships

Thank you to Harlequin and NetGalley for the ARC of this book. All thoughts are my own

I love a fake dating trope. Teddy is the plant daddy but has just gone through a horrible divorce with a guy he probably shouldn't have married. While he was mourning the loss of his plant shop at a bar he meets Cole. Who turns out to be a very rich OF type entrepreneur so that's the Pretty Woman part also with the fake dating since they both clicked.
They definitely fell fast and hard and they had some trust issues because of their past and people interfering. Loved their quick banter and steamy scenes

The Boyfriend Subscription is a sweet queer Pretty Woman retelling. Cole is a successful sex worker and businessman who finds himself hiring Teddy, a passionate plant enthusiast bouncing back from heartbreak.

Steven handled a lot of difficult topics in this story, including emotional and financial abuse, emotional manipulation, and sexual assault. If you’re looking for a romance with emotional depth, definitely check out The Boyfriend Subscription.

Thank you to Afterglow Books by Harlequin and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

“Don’t cross me,” I jest. He laughs. “Big mistake.” “Huge.”

What you’ll get:
Pretty woman retelling
Fake dating
Wedding shenanigans

TW/CW: SA

Setting: New York

Teddy just can’t catch a break. He’s getting evicted from his business because his ex husband’s family is terrible and unfairly took advantage of him in divorce proceedings. Cole is the head of a corporation that’s similar to OF and is a secret heir to another giant corporation. He has a deal coming up that he needs a respectable, normal type boyfriend for. He ends up meeting Teddy and paying for a week of his time before he moves home to lick his wounds from the past few years.

Retellings are hard. I appreciated the nods to Pretty Woman in this but something just really didn’t work for me. In their first time together, Teddy kind of dehumanized Cole a bit because of what he does for a living. Maybe dehumanized is the wrong word but it didn’t feel great to read. Cole was willing to fake it and make sure to put on the old razzle dazzle and Teddy finally got it.

Cole threw money in Teddy’s face twice. I just can’t get over it. I just don’t buy this couple making it past a potential extended epilogue. Any chance there was to figure out a miscommunication together ended up with one of them storming away and the other hurt.

Thank you to Netgalley for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Teddy didn’t think his life could get worse when his husband wanted to open their marriage, and he didn’t think his life could get worse when his husband wanted to end their marriage, and he knows his life can’t get any worse now that his ex-husband’s family has stolen his business and Teddy has nothing left. His last resort is to move from NYC to his childhood home in Louisiana, and that is the last thing Teddy wants to do. Having one last NYC drink, Teddy meets a gorgeous stranger with a proposition—Teddy can be his fake boyfriend for a week and get paid for the pleasure.

Cole’s family comes from old money, but Cole never felt like he fit in with that family and he wanted nothing to do with the family construction business. Cole moved away and started his own business, VERSTL, which allows viewers and sex workers to form a connection, and not only is Cole the owner, but he is one of the highest-viewed performers. Cole’s persona is carefully crafted and he doesn’t let anyone in, but Cole needs a partner to secure a new business venture and to accompany him to his sister’s wedding. The attraction is real from the start, but Cole has rules to protect himself. But Teddy could be the exception and all of their rules are about to be broken.

This book had my attention at first and I initially liked both Teddy and Cole’s storylines. Teddy loves plants and his horticulture business, but we meet him in the last few minutes that he’s allowed to be in his shop. His business was everything that made him happy and Teddy is devastated. When Teddy meets his BFF for a drink, he meets Cole.

Cole comes from old money and he didn’t want to be a part of the family business. He sees his parents a certain way, but there is some miscommunication happening there on both sides. Cole’s parents have no idea he is a successful business owner or what he now does for a living. He keeps in contact with his sister and she keeps his secret. Cole is now ready to pursue his dream of being a clothing designer and he needs a partner to complete his image.

The more I read, the more this book fractured for me. The book moves both too slow and too fast all at the same time. There is a lot of build up and exposition in the beginning and then the ending left plot lines untouched and unfinished. The blurb states that this book “is the LGBTQIA+ Pretty Woman rom-com fans have been waiting for.” There are certainly Pretty Woman vibes here and even lines from the movie added in as dialogue. However, I did not think this was a comedy at all. Both men are in difficult places in their lives and there are people out to do them harm and there was nothing about this story that said comedy to me. Also, the characters, or the author, or both, don’t seem to like certain groups of people and there is chatter on that throughout the book, which didn’t appeal to me.

The ending was a disappointment. While Teddy and Cole do get their HEA, Cole is shown doing things for their future that are then never discussed with Teddy. But mostly, there is an integral plot line involving Cole’s business that is never concluded; it’s a pivotal part of the book and then it’s just dropped. I felt like this was a book that wanted to be a movie, but as a book, the plot needed more development instead of grand gestures.

I honestly didn’t know what to expect with this book. I got this request approved months ago and sadly because I am a mood reader I just got to it. But I loved this book! It’s basically a pretty woman retelling and it’s all I could ask for. I definitely will recommend this to anyone looking for a good mlm read.

I was so excited to start this book. At face value, it looked like it was going to be an excellent queer retelling of Pretty Woman - how could I not be excited about that.

Unfortunately, the execution of the plot was a massive let down. Nothing felt cohesive and timelines kept throwing me off. There seemed to be conflict on every single page - either external or internal. Frankly, there was way too many sub-plots happening for the book to be as short as it was. The writing style was clunky and disjoined and overall left me wanting so much more.

Both Teddy and Cole were excellent characters - I wish that more of the story was about them and their relationship, and less on literally everything else.

THE BOYFRIEND SUBSCRIPTION by Steven Salvatore is about Cole Vivien nee Vivien DuBois-Deplantier, CEO of VERSTL, a company that connects people looking for intimacy, and Teddy Hughes, aka the Plant Daddy. Both men have been wrecked by past relationships, but they acknowledge a mutual spark, and circumstances prompt Cole to offer Teddy a boyfriend-for-hire type of situation.

Steven Salvatore’s story is angsty and emotional, as Cole and Teddy find stumbling blocks, internal and external, between their meeting and sorting out their concerns. An engaging read.

Happy pub day to the author and this gem of a book! 🥳🎉🍾

The Boyfriend Subscription made me realize that my favorite type of romance books are those in which I adore all of the MCs right from the start. And I was absolutely head over heels for both of the MCs in this book, Teddy and Cole. These two sweet baby angels have never done anything wrong in their entire lives and I will die on this hill. Their genuine, messy, hearts of gold made this book so enjoyable.

Teddy has lost everything at the hands of his POS ex-husband. He’s lost his marriage, his home, and now his business. On his last night in NYC before moving back to Louisiana, he and his bestie Kit decide the only place to mourn the end of this era is at the bar. Teddy wants to let loose for his last night in the city and if that means going home with someone, that’s no one’s business. But as the bar scene starts to stale, in walks the incredibly sexy and wealthy entrepreneur, Cole Vivien, who flips Teddy’s world upside down.

The thing I enjoyed most about this book was the author’s spin on the movie Pretty Woman. For the record, Pretty Woman is a top 5 best romcom in cinematic history and you can go argue with a wall if you disagree. And what the author does in this book is create such a fun and unique twist on the classic. In The Boyfriend Subscription, the sex worker (Cole) also happens to be the successful and wealthy businessman. He’s built a thriving and safe company centered around sex work. I loved this dynamic so much and I adored how down to earth Cole was, despite the money. Teddy, the actual loml, was out here trying his damndest! The guy was one of the most resilient characters I’ve read in a long time and I loved that about him. I also need to shoutout Kit, Teddy’s sassy childhood bestie who is in a very sweet and supportive polyamorous relationship (we love to see it). And finallyyy… the women 😮‍💨😍 All of the women in this book were exceptionally badass 🔥

The Boyfriend Subscription is out TODAY so make sure you pick up your copy!

Thank you to Harlequin and NetGalley for the chance to review this eARC.

*4.5 stars rounded up

Oh boy I loved this! I normally don't care for "romance" but I've enjoyed everything I have read by Steven thus far so I took the dive. I cannot wait for this to be released! It might be my favorite by the author and it is their adult debut if I'm not mistaken.

The Boyfriend Subscription is not at all what I thought it was going to be. It was so much more. It has aspects to it that I don't think I have ever read in any other book. Honestly, truly, go read this! I might make the queer book club I participate in read it.

Thank you NetGalley, Steven Salvatore, and Harlequin Books for this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

The Boyfriend Subscription by Steven Salvatore releases tomorrow, March 26, 2024!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher (Afterglow Books by Harlequin) for this free ARC in exchange for my honest review.

3.5 ⭐️ For some reason I didn't know that this was a queer retelling of "Pretty Woman" until I finished the book. Either way, pretty apt description!

This book was not a bad book, by any means. There was a lot here that I enjoyed: the beautiful way the author depicts emotions (love, loneliness, devastation) in their characters, the body positivity, and the care that they gave to writing about sex work. The problem for me was that this was a LOT of great stuff, and I felt it was packed too tightly into a contained novel, which then caused the writing to feel incredibly rushed, clunky, and somewhat incomplete. I would have loved to get more story behind Cole and Teddy's relationship, and I would have loved to see them develop more too. We only got three days where we're supposed to believe that they fell in love and solidified themselves as a couple; all of the growth we'd expect to see in a relationship happens within, like, a day, since their relationship initially was a business transaction before they finally stop lying to themselves about how attracted they were to one another (physically and emotionally).

In all, this was a quick read and a sweet getting-together story, but in my opinion, I think Cole and Teddy needed to be fleshed out more as a couple, and I wish we could have seen more about how they grew as individuals and as a couple.

Steven Salvatore described his adult romance debut, Boyfriend Subscription, as a queer retelling of Pretty Woman. I love a queer retelling, but Pretty Woman was never one of my favorite movies. I never believed that Richard Gere’s character was going to value Julia Robert’s character beyond the end of the movie. Once the glow of the new relationship wore off, I was pretty sure he was going to hold having been a sex worker against her. Salvatore takes care of that issue by making Cole, the wealthy member of the pair, the sex worker. Boyfriend Subscription is sex worker positive.

I liked a lot about Boyfriend Subscription, but it ultimately did not work for me. I think the root of my issue is Pretty Woman, so if you liked the movie, you might like this book better than I did.

What I liked most, was the quiet moments between Teddy and Cole. Salvatore sold me on them falling in love with each other in a few hours. I had a harder time believing that they could survive all the drama that happened in their few days together. There is a lot of drama throughout and instead of a roller coaster, it felt like just one high note with a very few breaks. Salvatore has made some necessary and welcome changes to the Pretty Woman story, but I wish he had given the emotional beats a little more nuance.

Here is my other complaint, and this one is technical. Teddy and his best friend Kit are from New Orleans. They repeated call New Orleans, Nawlins. No one who is from New Orleans calls it Nawlins. To be sure that my knee-jerk reaction was founded, I contacted three different current and former residents of the city. Their disgust was immediate. It felt like a weird and unnecessary detail.

All of that said, I would read another book by Salvatore. His writing is engaging and entertaining. Just because this book doesn’t work for me doesn’t mean another one won’t.

I received this as an advance reader copy from Afterglow Books by Harlequin and NetGalley. My opinions are my own, freely and honestly given.

The Boyfriend Subscription is the first book that I have read by Steven Salvatore and I really enjoyed it. I don’t think I have read a romance that is a take on Pretty Woman before so I was excited to read it. I thought the book was great. I read it in an afternoon. The romance was really cute and hot. The third act breakup made sense with the plot of the story.

It was a great quick read and I would definitely recommend it!

No kissing and no falling in love. This is what Cole tells himself when he fake dates Teddy, but love has other things in store for them. This is a sweet romance that actually tackles some deep topics.