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sarah_thebooknerd's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
4.25 star
2 🌶
I really am enjoying this series. The friend group with the 3 women is incredible. The focus on their goals and men just happening to enter into their lives does not take away from the goals. I appreciate that so much.
I also liked that Taylor has a learning disability in this book. It’s not often seen in books and it’s nice to see that representation. When Taylor calls him 23 it just makes me so happy.
I liked the couple, build to their relationship and how supportive their were of each other and their goals. I’m excited to read the last one!
2 🌶
I really am enjoying this series. The friend group with the 3 women is incredible. The focus on their goals and men just happening to enter into their lives does not take away from the goals. I appreciate that so much.
I also liked that Taylor has a learning disability in this book. It’s not often seen in books and it’s nice to see that representation. When Taylor calls him 23 it just makes me so happy.
I liked the couple, build to their relationship and how supportive their were of each other and their goals. I’m excited to read the last one!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Ableism
mollysbooklist's review against another edition
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fatphobia
Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Death, Toxic relationship, Grief, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
danikajoan's review
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Would have enjoyed this more if there wasn’t so much intense diet culture stuff in it, lots of “good food” vs “bad food” discussion and having to earn foods or work off food with workouts that felt a little triggering as someone who has not always had the healthiest relationship with food and exercise.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism, Body shaming, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, and Car accident
diet cultureheyitsmichellehamm's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism and Death
now_booking's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
This was an immensely cute and emotional and relatable read and a fantastic second installment to the Boyfriend Project series. This novel features Taylor, a second member of the friend group that formed in Book 1 when three women found out they were dating the same no-good Craig and went viral. No worries if you haven’t read Book 1 though, this stands alone perfectly well and even being a stickler for reading series in order, I am happy enough recommending that you can start with this book if you want.
The premise is that Taylor, despite her best efforts, is struggling to make a success of her personal training fitness business, when she gets the opportunity of a lifetime to train Jamar, an injured NFL player who’s trying to make a comeback. The only problem is that he doesn’t want the added pressure of the media knowing he’s attempting a comeback and so when discovery is imminent, they engage in a fake dating relationship to throw everyone of. The only problem is that they’ve caught feelings for one another but there’s no way Taylor is going to hook up with a client, especially having been burnt before in the past.
I’m usually a little 🙄 about the fake dating trope. It’s not one I typically gravitate towards because it’s so unrealistic. But I loved the way it developed here. What’s great about this one is that with Taylor and Jamar, there is strong character development, and these are the sorts of characters that everyone can relate to- we’ve all battled insecurity and the feeling of not being good enough, we all know what it feels like to have broken dreams, and most people are acquainted with grief in some form. Outside of that, Taylor had so many real elements to her that I thought aren’t necessarily always romance heroine characteristics- for example she’s tangibly in debt but trying to hide it from those around her, and she struggles with an undiagnosed learning disability which she only realizes as an adult despite having struggled all her life.
The way this is written with the emotion and support and gentleness wrapped in humour and one liners and a well-executed flirtation made this an absolute joy to read. There is angst because of the baggage both characters carry, but it is bearable and you wouldn’t call this high angst. The love languages are well captured here and the protagonists have many swoon-worthy moments in how they show love and support. They actually communicate (novel idea for a romance) and when they don’t, there is a conversation about not communicating in the moment. The conflict here is mostly internal and due to (character) growing pains and never lies or flimsy misunderstandings that could be cleared with a single conversation. This is a soothing and comforting, unproblematic sort of read. I enjoyed the normalized representation of disabilities from deafness to learning disabilities to ADHD without making this a book about any of those issues or having to intro and fetishize any of those issues- and make them main character traits. There is a good level of heat, but it’s also not an erotic romance.
This is Black romance featuring two Black main characters but there are no cultural markers of race or ethnicity except that the heroine got braids- not that I was expecting Ebonics or anything cliched but these characters were very ethnically neutral. Personally, I was fine with this, the characters still felt very well-developed, but these characters could have as well have been white or any other ethnicity. This sort of neutrality can be both a positive thing allowing the characters to not be race-related by cultural experiences so that they’re “relatable” to all readers because ultimately we’re all human and can all relate to the thematic issues the characters face. But it can also be a negative thing that makes characters a little bland. I can categorically say that these characters weren’t at all bland so this wasn’t a huge issue for me- it’s just something I noticed.
On the whole, I found this to be really well/balanced and a really nice book. I enjoyed this and I highly recommend it if you’re looking for a nice calming read. My caveat is that this is a book about a fitnessgram personal trainer- it is thus, by definition riddled with diet culture and somewhat orthorexic statements by the heroine on nutrition and fitness- bearing in mind that Taylor works with clients with stringent weight loss or fitness goals. If you might be triggered (e.g. have or have had an ED), as lovely as this is, it might be one to skip.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
The premise is that Taylor, despite her best efforts, is struggling to make a success of her personal training fitness business, when she gets the opportunity of a lifetime to train Jamar, an injured NFL player who’s trying to make a comeback. The only problem is that he doesn’t want the added pressure of the media knowing he’s attempting a comeback and so when discovery is imminent, they engage in a fake dating relationship to throw everyone of. The only problem is that they’ve caught feelings for one another but there’s no way Taylor is going to hook up with a client, especially having been burnt before in the past.
I’m usually a little 🙄 about the fake dating trope. It’s not one I typically gravitate towards because it’s so unrealistic. But I loved the way it developed here. What’s great about this one is that with Taylor and Jamar, there is strong character development, and these are the sorts of characters that everyone can relate to- we’ve all battled insecurity and the feeling of not being good enough, we all know what it feels like to have broken dreams, and most people are acquainted with grief in some form. Outside of that, Taylor had so many real elements to her that I thought aren’t necessarily always romance heroine characteristics- for example she’s tangibly in debt but trying to hide it from those around her, and she struggles with an undiagnosed learning disability which she only realizes as an adult despite having struggled all her life.
The way this is written with the emotion and support and gentleness wrapped in humour and one liners and a well-executed flirtation made this an absolute joy to read. There is angst because of the baggage both characters carry, but it is bearable and you wouldn’t call this high angst. The love languages are well captured here and the protagonists have many swoon-worthy moments in how they show love and support. They actually communicate (novel idea for a romance) and when they don’t, there is a conversation about not communicating in the moment. The conflict here is mostly internal and due to (character) growing pains and never lies or flimsy misunderstandings that could be cleared with a single conversation. This is a soothing and comforting, unproblematic sort of read. I enjoyed the normalized representation of disabilities from deafness to learning disabilities to ADHD without making this a book about any of those issues or having to intro and fetishize any of those issues- and make them main character traits. There is a good level of heat, but it’s also not an erotic romance.
This is Black romance featuring two Black main characters but there are no cultural markers of race or ethnicity except that the heroine got braids- not that I was expecting Ebonics or anything cliched but these characters were very ethnically neutral. Personally, I was fine with this, the characters still felt very well-developed, but these characters could have as well have been white or any other ethnicity. This sort of neutrality can be both a positive thing allowing the characters to not be race-related by cultural experiences so that they’re “relatable” to all readers because ultimately we’re all human and can all relate to the thematic issues the characters face. But it can also be a negative thing that makes characters a little bland. I can categorically say that these characters weren’t at all bland so this wasn’t a huge issue for me- it’s just something I noticed.
On the whole, I found this to be really well/balanced and a really nice book. I enjoyed this and I highly recommend it if you’re looking for a nice calming read. My caveat is that this is a book about a fitnessgram personal trainer- it is thus, by definition riddled with diet culture and somewhat orthorexic statements by the heroine on nutrition and fitness- bearing in mind that Taylor works with clients with stringent weight loss or fitness goals. If you might be triggered (e.g. have or have had an ED), as lovely as this is, it might be one to skip.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, and Car accident
Moderate: Eating disorder, Panic attacks/disorders, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Ableism
allisonwonderlandreads's review
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
In this second entry of Rochon's The Other Women Strike Back (unofficial title by me) trilogy, Taylor's personal training business takes a turn when NFL star Jamar Dixon becomes her client. Did the story make me that much more eager for football season? Yes 100%. The romance hinges on fake dating and kisses in the rain, so I was a big supporter of the characters' progress.
The book has a lot of forceful messaging, and I think that can make romance as a genre more powerful and meaningful. Unfortunately, my reactions to the messages here were mixed at best.
Let's start with the positive. At the beginning of the book, we find Taylor with maxed out credit cards and a worry that she won't make rent. This level of financial insecurity is so rarely acknowledged in romance, and I found the setup truly worthwhile. The story also delves into mental health and Taylor's worries about measuring up to her siblings and peers while her business struggles to get off the ground. The book offers a thoughtful, multifaceted indictment of the education system, bringing to the foreground: anxiety caused by a system built and sustained on standardized testing, the pressure to get a higher education for the sake of many career options, and the lack of awareness about learning disorders that can haunt a student when teachers don't properly catch it and meet students' individual needs.
But now I need to delve into the negative because it hit me hard. "Capitalism is my jam" is a real sentence in this book, and I never fully recovered. The phrase "wealth-shaming" also exists in the same book as a girl who worried about a future living out of her car. An All-American message of pulling yourself up by your bootstraps was especially alarming given the detailed context provided. We know that Taylor was failed by her schools and her family, but business decisions that didn't result in instant success are still cast as her failures and an ADHD diagnosis doesn't alter her characterization as impulsive and risky.
I also take specific issue with Taylor's so-called "brilliant" business idea of outsourcing P.E. to part-time fitness instructors, and I do not have the energy to list all my increasingly incensed comments about privatizing public education rather than fixing our achingly broken system. And I'm allowed to be saucy about that, seeing as I work in a public school and spend most of my waking, non-reading moments thinking about said school and education at large.
While there are certainly bright moments to this book, the disappointments far outweighed them for this reader.
The book has a lot of forceful messaging, and I think that can make romance as a genre more powerful and meaningful. Unfortunately, my reactions to the messages here were mixed at best.
Let's start with the positive. At the beginning of the book, we find Taylor with maxed out credit cards and a worry that she won't make rent. This level of financial insecurity is so rarely acknowledged in romance, and I found the setup truly worthwhile. The story also delves into mental health and Taylor's worries about measuring up to her siblings and peers while her business struggles to get off the ground. The book offers a thoughtful, multifaceted indictment of the education system, bringing to the foreground: anxiety caused by a system built and sustained on standardized testing, the pressure to get a higher education for the sake of many career options, and the lack of awareness about learning disorders that can haunt a student when teachers don't properly catch it and meet students' individual needs.
But now I need to delve into the negative because it hit me hard. "Capitalism is my jam" is a real sentence in this book, and I never fully recovered. The phrase "wealth-shaming" also exists in the same book as a girl who worried about a future living out of her car. An All-American message of pulling yourself up by your bootstraps was especially alarming given the detailed context provided. We know that Taylor was failed by her schools and her family, but business decisions that didn't result in instant success are still cast as her failures and an ADHD diagnosis doesn't alter her characterization as impulsive and risky.
I also take specific issue with Taylor's so-called "brilliant" business idea of outsourcing P.E. to part-time fitness instructors, and I do not have the energy to list all my increasingly incensed comments about privatizing public education rather than fixing our achingly broken system. And I'm allowed to be saucy about that, seeing as I work in a public school and spend most of my waking, non-reading moments thinking about said school and education at large.
While there are certainly bright moments to this book, the disappointments far outweighed them for this reader.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Grief
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders and Car accident
Minor: Ableism and Drug abuse
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