I liked this book, but something about it really didn't work for me. I think the pacing was a little off, and I had trouble connecting with the story.

A fabulous heartwarming romance. I really enjoyed this book and the love story along with all the main characters

I thought this was very good and I will have to add this to the shop shelves. Thank you for the chance for us to review.

Real Rating: 3.5* of five

Fun, frothy summer read about a waffling, anxious gay guy grabbing his balls and manning up to exit the Friend Zone. It was a relatable source of anxiety. My issue about this iteration of that story is how <U><i>extremely</i></U> annoying I found Bastian. This could be a mood-driven thing, since the writing's okay, so I'm just not warbling about it instead of slagging it off.

Angst-friendly romance readers likely won't have this issue. Anyone who read and loved <a href="https://expendablemudge.blogspot.com/2020/11/boyfriend-material-romp-of-gay-male-rom.html" target="_blank"><i>Boyfriend Material</i></a> should at the very least sample it. It's more prolonged angst but it's got the same kind of HFN payoff.

Rising Action Publishing asks you for $16.99...borrow it, says I.

A very fun romcom!

Bastian is a brilliant hairstylist with a constant worry that he isn't good enough, which led him to many heartbreaks. But lucky for him, he's not the only one: there is a list of men names in his closet wall, left by previous owners. After yet another breakup, his only support is his best friend, Andres. But Andres, instead of comforting him like he usually does, suggests something new: dating him. Andres is attractive, successful, kind, and he knows Bastian better than he knows himself. On paper, it seems perfect. But there's one tiny problem: if this goes wrong, Bastian loses his heart AND his best friend.

I didn't know what to expect with this book, and I was pleasantly surprised. The story is really addictive and immersive, which makes it easy to read. I easily related to Bastian and his struggles and seeing him try to get over his traumatic past relationships was beautiful and painful at the same time. His relationship with Andres, however, was simply adorable. I loved how they found each other and fell into it, despite the hardships they had to encounter because of both their insecurities and what life threw their way. There was maybe slightly too much self-deprecating for me, but it didn't prevent me from enjoying the book thoroughly. All in all, a fun and sweet romcom!

I recommend if you like gay romcoms with struggles.

"They were never meant to be just friends. Just being friends was never going to be enough. And the love that is possible between them is worth risking everything for."

A beautiful, feel-good M/M friends to lovers romance debut that was great on audio and perfect for fans of authors like Timothy Janovski and Nicolas DiDomizio. When hairdresser playboy Bastian gets dumped yet again, his long time BFF chef friend, Andres proposes the two of them give a romantic relationship between them a real chance. Reluctant to risk losing his friend Bastian hesitates only to have Andres slowly woo him into agreeing. Sweet and low on steam, this was an entertaining summer read with a great cast of secondary characters. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital and audio copy in exchange for my honest review. I can't wait to read more by this new author!

Thank-you to NetGalley, Rising Action Publishing Co., and KC Carmichael for the eARC.

Oh my GOD this book was EVERYTHING I wished for and more. I was hooked from the start and DEVOURED the whole thing. Both hilarious with heartbreaking, all-too-real moments, it had me feeling EVERYTHING. What a debut! Will absolutely keep an eye for and check out all of the author's (hopefully many) future works!

loved it and it was just fantastic to read. the characters were relatable and ones I wanted to see win. I also liked how when shared on social media the author was lovely and answered

This was a fun low-stakes read that I really enjoyed. It was well written and charming and I enjoyed the entire cast of characters. This was a sweet and enjoyable best-friends-to-lovers book and I'd be keen to read more from the author in the future.

This was a sweet childhood romance though it started as unrequited love on both their parts. There was miscommunication but it was hard to tell as we only had one pov. Bastian always wanted to believe the worst and Andres was very attractive but committed. It's hard when you are scared cause you have constantly made the wrong choice on relationships to not pull that into the new relationships. They seemed to be opposites attract. And I loved how the third act breakup made me feel. Lol I love to be humiliated and hurt but only in fiction. So thank you for that.
Enjoyed the hair salon scenes and the besties.
Thank you risingactionpublishing for the gifted e-ARC.

When Bastian’s latest boyfriend announces that he wants to be single for the summer, Bastian grudgingly adds another ex to the list of Boystown Heartbreakers scrawled in his walk-in closet, officially taking the lead for most heartbreaks of all the previous tenants who added to the list. Bastian is surprised and intrigued when his best friend, Andres, wastes no time in asking to be Bastian’s next boyfriend, but with 25 years of friendship between them and this being the most stable relationship in either of their lives, Bastian is terrified of taking this step and the inevitability of adding Andres’s name to the list of Boystown Heartbreakers. Andres is persistent, sweet, romantic, supportive . . . every bit the best friend Bastian has always relied on while also being incredibly rich and sexy and the city’s most eligible bachelor. With a romantic lead that seemingly perfect, and a main character who is paranoid about messing things up, there’s only one way this plot can go. It’s a cozy, feel-good read seeing two best friends who have been pining for one another work through their self-sabotaging to fight for the love and happiness that they deserve.

Bastian Russo has lived in Chicago his entire life and Andres has been his best friend for just as long. Bastian is a hair stylist at an upscale salon and has lived in the same Boystown apartment for years. Inside the closet is a list of men’s names that have broken his heart, as well as the hearts of previous residents—the Boystown Heartbreakers. Bastian constantly thinks that he is not good enough and not successful enough and his bad choices in men leave him broken hearted.

Andres is a successful chef and restauranteur. He has quietly loved Bastian for what feels like forever, but it never felt like the right time for them. After Bastian’s latest breakup, Andres finally suggests that the two of them should date each other. Andres knows everything about Bastian, including his insecurities, and everyone doesn’t understand why the men aren’t already dating. Bastian has to figure out how to move from Andres’ best friend to his boyfriend, and his insecurities might cause them to wind up next on the list of Boystown Heartbreakers.

Childhood friends to lovers is a favorite trope of mine and Bastian and Andres had that going for them, as they have been friends almost their entire lives. Yet, I was underwhelmed by the flow and execution of their relationship. The book is told entirely from Bastian’s point of view and I really needed to know what Andres thought for most of the book. After Bastian’s latest breakup, Andres casually suggests that Bastian now date Andres. I hadn’t gotten a well developed feeling of their relationship at that point and Andres doesn’t tell Bastian how he truly feels, most likely for fear of scaring him off. The two of them secretly start dating, which moves to fade to black intimacy, and their chemistry beyond friendship was never evident for me. They did love each other, but being in love with each felt toned down for me.

Bastian is a hairstylist and his boss, the owner of the salon, feels like a disembodied voice of harsh words and all of the salon clients are shown to be inconsiderate and self-involved. The author writes extensively in the author notes about her time as a hair stylist and it clearly seems there are a lot of micro aggressions and unresolved feelings and it became tiresome to read.

The third-person point of view did create an atmosphere to the story and the scenes were visual. The men don’t suffer from miscommunication, they suffer from no communication. They never define their relationship, even between themselves, which leads to late in the book jumping to conclusions and assumptions that only detracted from the story. The men do get a heartfelt happy ending, but this debut book was missing that zing for me between the characters.

This was a cute, queer romance. I love a good friends to lovers storyline and Boystown Heartbreakers had that. Bastian is a hairdresser in Chicago who has been having zero luck in love. He seems to only be adding more and more names to the Boystown Heartbreakers list hidden in his walk in closet. Enter long-time best friend and restaurateur Andres. Andres has too much luck in love but has no desire to make it long lasting, unless Bastian finally deigns to give him a chance. Can Bastian overcome his insecurities in time to save his and Andres' relationship, or is the only way it can end is with another name added to the Boystown Heartbreakers list?
**3.5 rounded up

I would say this book is enjoyable, but not that great. I normally love friends to lovers but wasn't excited with this one, especially since it has a third act breakup. It was good enough that I finished it, but I probably wouldn't read it again.


https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6451108560

3.25/5 stars. Thank you to Netgalley and K.C. Carmichael for providing an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I found this book to be quite enjoyable overall, but it did fall flat in some aspects for me. The spice was a perfect addition to the book without enveloping the whole story. I feel like the characters felt fleshed out and well-rounded. Bastian and Andres felt like flawed, real characters that I could imagine. I also adore a friends to lovers storyline.

I was not a fan of the miscommunication trope that was included. I also found myself being annoyed with Bastian at times. I reallly wish we could have gotten a dual POV with Andre's thoughts included as well.

All in all, a very lovely and fun queer romance read!

Thank you NetGalley and Rising Action Publishing for the ARC of Boystown Heartbreakers by KC. Carmichael.

Bastian is a hair stylist who has a habit of picking the wrong guys and getting his heart broken. After the latest heartbreak his childhood best friend Andres suggests they should try dating. Bastian is initially hesitant because he worries that them dating will change the dynamic of their friendship. Bastian is also a very insecure person and worries that will be an issue.

Bastian and Andres' friends and family were very supportive of their relationship and at times maybe meddled a little too much. Bastian was so worried about messing with his friendship with Andres and at times I felt like those around him couldn't really understand that. While they could be pushy you could tell that it all came from a place of love and wanting to see these two best friends get together. One thing I loved about the whole cast was the banter that they had with each other. I was cracking up through 90% of this book.

Andres was so sweet and a rock for Bastian. Even when Bastian let his insecurity get in the way Andres still truly cared for him. I wasn't at all surprised to discover just how long Andres has been in love with Bastian. It was so clear in all of his actions and the way he took care of Bastian. I also so loved his support of Bastian and his career and he never made him feel less than because of it.

The romance was so perfect and you could feel the love that Andres and Bastian had for each other. The spice in this book to me was the perfect amount. It didn't overwhelm the story only added to it. KC Carmichael has written a wonderfully sweet, hilarious, and at times angsty romance that I think everyone will love.

This was more gay fiction than romance, with the focus more on Bastian’s character growth than the relationship with Andres. The romance was understated and lacked emotion.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC.

Boystown Heartbreakers is a sweetly romantic, low steam, heart-warming M/M debut—one that managed to reignite my adoration for the friends-to-lovers trope, while also getting me fairly excited for a new author within the genre, in a way I haven’t felt in quite some time.

The story follows hairstylist Bastian, who, at thirty, truly comes into his own, professionally, and personally, after his latest heartbreak leads to his restaurant entrepreneur BFF Andres proposing that Bastian stop searching for Mr Right (in all the wrong places) and try dating Andres instead.

For Bastian, this is quite the radical proposition. Not because Andres is undatable in any way—far from it—but more because Bastian is riddled with personal insecurities and a skewered sense of self-worth, which play a big part in his poor dating history, as well as in his reluctance to grab on full-grasp to the wonderful man he’s always tried to keep firmly placed in the friendship box.

Out of self-preservation and fear of losing the most important person in his life, Bastian hesitates big-time over Andres’ dating proposition. But once the suggestion for more is out there, it’s already too late to turn back, as Bastian quickly comes to realise just what he’s been missing not letting himself acknowledge EVERYTHING he truly feels for his best friend.

For the most part, the progression of this story was lovely and smooth, as Andres does some grade-A wooing and Bastian begins to tentatively open his mind and give his heart and body to Andres in ways he never imagined he could share with another. It’s effortless and easy, the way they slowly shift from friends to lovers, making it clear just what they’ve been missing all these years they haven’t let themselves want more.

There is a lot of insecurity on Bastian’s end, which I was worried would drive me wild, but it actually ended up working for me, especially in the way it was emotionally executed throughout the story. Bastian has flaws and relationship hangups and can’t possibly see why someone as great as Andres would want someone like him for keeps, and I totally got it. Of course, this leads to a bit of miscommunication because of it, with Bastian often jumping to conclusions, expecting the worst, and, perhaps, not sharing his concerns and feelings with Andres as openly as he should have across the story.

But I must say, for someone who loathes most of the miscommunication I come across in romance these days—as well as being utterly sick and tired of the oftentimes lazy third-act-breakup schtick so many authors fall victim to—I actually loved how this particular story played out, even with both of those things transpiring in their own ways here.

For me, these story elements were necessary to put Bastian through the trials and self-reflection he needed to experience in order to truly grow as a person and as the partner he already knew Andres deserved. I got it. I felt everything he felt and I loved him for it. And, hell, Andres was so totally worth all the growth anyone would need to go through to make themselves worthy, the guy was a god among men and I adored him just as much as he adored Bastian.

Their love story truly was sweet and tender and so deliciously intimate, in a way that I wish all books with these themes were. But adding to the wonderful romance element was a full cast of exceptionally relatable and likeable supporting characters, who all helped make Bastian and Andres’ story feel fuller and lighter, and more vibrant because of it.

I really enjoyed this story, with Bastian and Andres relationship effortlessly reflecting practically everything I personally look out for (and have been missing) in a lot of friends-to-lovers tagged romances I’ve tried over the past few years. I’m so glad I came across this book when I did and I look forward to seeing what Carmichael does next, because if this is only her first cab out the rank, as it were, then she’s sure to deliver big and possibly even better things going forward in her writing journey, and I, for one, am here for it!

MM Steamy Romance that finds a hairstylist will have to sort out his fears, insecurity and trust issues to prove he’s worthy of his best friend after he asks him to date.

1/5 stars: Carmichael's MM Steamy Romance is a friends to lovers romance that features a hairstylist who must overcome his trust issues and fears of inadequacy if he''s going to prove he’s worthy of transitioning from friends to lovers with his childhood restaurateur best friend. Carmichael's writing and character work is nice; the characters are well-rounded and likable. And the OPS scenes are quite steamy. Carmichael touches on some tough topics, so take care and check the CWs. Unfortunately, I just lost steam on this; leading me to DNF it at 49%.

I received this eARC thanks to NetGalley and Rising Action Publishing Co in exchange for an honest review. Publishing dates are subject to change.

Absolutely loved this one! Carmichael has written a very cute and swoony plot with characters you love right off the bat. I am a sucker for friends to lovers and seeing the progression of their relationship while mingled in with the highs and lows of the plot felt very realistic and like watching two people I would actually know in real life.