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reedkaye's review
4.0
This is the first I’ve read of this series and if you want an easy to read, slow moving relationship, great characters and a fun story this fills that.
Harry and Jack are both so likable. Harry lacks so much knowledge for his age. He is totally unaware of his sexuality until he meets Jack.
Jack is the most patient guy I’ve read about. He is so attracted to Harry that he is willing to take things at Harry’s pace which at times is comical.
Harry’s extra job keeps things interesting. This is a career I’d have never thought of. Toss in the side characters such as Beryl and Tristan to add to the humor of this story.
I have to say finding out the next book is for Tristan makes me anxious to read it.
Harry and Jack are both so likable. Harry lacks so much knowledge for his age. He is totally unaware of his sexuality until he meets Jack.
Jack is the most patient guy I’ve read about. He is so attracted to Harry that he is willing to take things at Harry’s pace which at times is comical.
Harry’s extra job keeps things interesting. This is a career I’d have never thought of. Toss in the side characters such as Beryl and Tristan to add to the humor of this story.
I have to say finding out the next book is for Tristan makes me anxious to read it.
roguesmith's review
4.0
This is the second in the Bad Boyfriends series but could be read as a standalone. Harry is a bad boyfriend for hire, with the idea being parents will be so happy to see the back of him they'll be delighted with their child's actual choice.
I loved Harry and Jack, right from the moment they met and Jack turned out to be the sweetest guy on the planet, after the initial misunderstanding was out of the way. There is wonderful demi/ace representation in this book, it's handled so well and I just adored how Jack would let Harry dictate the pace and never asked for more than Harry was willing to give him.
Honestly I love the premise of this whole series, this book felt very different from Ambrose and that's a good thing, they're both great in their own way. Harry and Jack just work perfectly together, and it was so good to get to join them on their journey with very little angst, and a lot of fluff and happy times. I'm so glad I got the chance to read this book.
I received an ARC and this is my honest review.
I loved Harry and Jack, right from the moment they met and Jack turned out to be the sweetest guy on the planet, after the initial misunderstanding was out of the way. There is wonderful demi/ace representation in this book, it's handled so well and I just adored how Jack would let Harry dictate the pace and never asked for more than Harry was willing to give him.
Honestly I love the premise of this whole series, this book felt very different from Ambrose and that's a good thing, they're both great in their own way. Harry and Jack just work perfectly together, and it was so good to get to join them on their journey with very little angst, and a lot of fluff and happy times. I'm so glad I got the chance to read this book.
I received an ARC and this is my honest review.
itssarahc's review
5.0
Sarah Honey and Lisa Henry are both new to me authors that I will be exploring more, because Horribly Harry was anything but horrible. In fact, the book was so incredibly sweet that my cheeks actually hurt from smiling so hard.
We start with two amazing characters. Harry is finishing university to become a preschool teacher, something he's paying for by being a not so traditional escort. He hires himself out to be a bad boyfriend so that whoever his client wants to shut up about their love lives will or so they'll accept who they really want to be with because anyone is better than Harry. He's also this incredibly adorkable boy who loves his friends and doesn't get what the big deal is with sex or dating.
Jack is a good balance to him. He's mature, but has his dorky moments that lead him to be willing to play along with some of Harry's dorkier traits. He's incredibly patient - which is good because Harry has never had a relationship before and is on the ace spectrum so the relationship likely doesn't look like anything Jack has had before. He's also the brother to one of Harry's previous clients - which both starts the book off with a great meet ugly and also plays a large part in the conflict later in the book.
Aside from two amazing main characters, we have a great supporting cast. Their roommate, Tris, stole almost every scene he was in. Harry's best friend and former roommate, Ambrose, felt very real in his interactions with Harry. Jack's sister, Mia, was awesome. Even Beryl, the old woman from the Op Shop, felt fully developed and more than just a way to eat a few pages. And as someoen who has had stories made or broken by characters, this is a good thing. I love a fully developed cast of side characters.
The story itself is incredibly sweet. Its enemies to roommates to lovers with an incredibly slow burn and low steam. There's a little bit of angst, but its resolved quickly enough. There's a great deal of humor and so much fluff I could take an actual nap on it. While this is the second book in the series, you don't need to have read the first to understand it. (I can say this with certainty as I've not read the first book and could fully understand it.)
All in all, this book was a great read and I would highly recommend it.
** DISCLAIMER: I recieved an ARC and this is my fair and honest review. **
We start with two amazing characters. Harry is finishing university to become a preschool teacher, something he's paying for by being a not so traditional escort. He hires himself out to be a bad boyfriend so that whoever his client wants to shut up about their love lives will or so they'll accept who they really want to be with because anyone is better than Harry. He's also this incredibly adorkable boy who loves his friends and doesn't get what the big deal is with sex or dating.
Jack is a good balance to him. He's mature, but has his dorky moments that lead him to be willing to play along with some of Harry's dorkier traits. He's incredibly patient - which is good because Harry has never had a relationship before and is on the ace spectrum so the relationship likely doesn't look like anything Jack has had before. He's also the brother to one of Harry's previous clients - which both starts the book off with a great meet ugly and also plays a large part in the conflict later in the book.
Aside from two amazing main characters, we have a great supporting cast. Their roommate, Tris, stole almost every scene he was in. Harry's best friend and former roommate, Ambrose, felt very real in his interactions with Harry. Jack's sister, Mia, was awesome. Even Beryl, the old woman from the Op Shop, felt fully developed and more than just a way to eat a few pages. And as someoen who has had stories made or broken by characters, this is a good thing. I love a fully developed cast of side characters.
The story itself is incredibly sweet. Its enemies to roommates to lovers with an incredibly slow burn and low steam. There's a little bit of angst, but its resolved quickly enough. There's a great deal of humor and so much fluff I could take an actual nap on it. While this is the second book in the series, you don't need to have read the first to understand it. (I can say this with certainty as I've not read the first book and could fully understand it.)
All in all, this book was a great read and I would highly recommend it.
** DISCLAIMER: I recieved an ARC and this is my fair and honest review. **
imaginary_sauropod's review
2.5
Jack is Mia’s brother, the woman Harry went on a date with as part of Bad Boyfriend Inc in the epilogue of Awfully Ambrose. Jack only knows Harry as the awful human being who dumped water over his dad’s head when he failed to make a mess pulling the table cloth out from underneath the dinner table at the restaurant Liam worked at. So Jack seeks mild revenge by dumping his strawberry smoothie over Harry’s head, only for Harry to almost die because he is allergic to strawberries.
Mia explains everything, making Jack feel even worse. Jack waits for Harry at the hospital and makes sure he makes it home safely and isn’t left with ridiculous medical bills (didn’t realize that was a thing in Australia). Jack is looking for a place to live because he dropped out of college and thus can’t stay in college housing anymore. Tristan, Harry’s roommate, invites Jack to fill Ambrose’s spot in their apartment.
For a book about a demi-sexual, there was way too much sex. Also, it felt like Harry, the demi-sexual, fell for Jack after the hospital stay which didn’t feel like a good representation. It didn’t feel natural and growing due to their getting closer as friends. It might have been forgivable, but the pacing was horrible as well as the writing. This is definitely the worst book writing-wise of Lisa Henry’s books I’ve read.
I was very disappointed because the premise of this book drew me into the Bad Boyfriend Inc series. What does happen if a family member who used the bad boyfriend service falls in love with a bad boyfriend? How does that resolve? Well, that was such a small part of the real conflict that was over in under a tenth of the amount of sex scenes in the book (when the first book only had one). The major conflict also suffered from being overblown and like a problem straight couples would have instead of two men. Don’t even get me started on the inconsistencies and the grammar was awful too. Not worth slogging through bad writing as the story wasn’t much better, which is sad as Jack and Harry were likable and there was a great set-up.
I had hopes of the book being decent until Harry decided to throw a hissy fit about Jack pretending Harry was a one-night stand when Jack previously explained that he wasn’t going to tell his family about dating Harry until after Mia married her tattoo artist boyfriend that she needed Harry to be worse than. Okay, it is one thing to be hurt and it is completely another thing to act like it ruined your relationship and that your boyfriend actually thinks you are a one-night stand, especially when it is a queer relationship where coming out or being open isn’t going to be an option for everyone safety-wise, which isn’t too far of a stretch for the fact that Jack’s dad is a religious minister. And the fact that Jack was respectful of Harry exploring his sexuality by letting Harry be the only one to drive the sexual aspect of the relationship and then Harry flipped when Jack drew a boundary with how the relationship was to interact with his family makes Harry look like a controlling toxic boyfriend. Also, it suffers from the mind reading trope in bad romances where the one partner knows exactly what is wrong in their relationship and agrees completely with their significant other. Jack didn’t need to take a sick day from work for Harry being unreasonable. In fact, a healthy relationship tip for those reading this without knowing this, taking a break from constantly being with each other when someone is having an over-the-top emotional reaction is actually a good idea. Sometimes emotions need to run their course or someone needs food and sleep to regain rational control of their emotions again.
It was miserable to read and it was in the wrong spot for pacing. It made the having to show up at the wedding together feel forced and contrived. Then the wedding was a major let-down in terms of tension and conflict. The entire premise was working towards this point and then it was over quickly and painlessly, other than an audience watching and gossiping in the background. I know it is to read gay romances without homophobia, but it almost feels like this boom could’ve benefited from some as then there would’ve been more reasonable conflict than you did what you said you were going to do and I’m upset because it isn’t perfectly in my favor. Being demi-sexual doesn’t not mean you are the exception when it comes to meeting the needs of your partner or that you are holy and must be the one driving everything in the relationship. It was just horrible when the whole point is supposed to be that Harry isn’t horrible. Ugh, just ugh. And liking kids and wanting to be a teacher do not magically mean someone can’t be a narcissist or toxic in a relationship. Time to stop ranting and say do not recommend.
Mia explains everything, making Jack feel even worse. Jack waits for Harry at the hospital and makes sure he makes it home safely and isn’t left with ridiculous medical bills (didn’t realize that was a thing in Australia). Jack is looking for a place to live because he dropped out of college and thus can’t stay in college housing anymore. Tristan, Harry’s roommate, invites Jack to fill Ambrose’s spot in their apartment.
For a book about a demi-sexual, there was way too much sex. Also, it felt like Harry, the demi-sexual, fell for Jack after the hospital stay which didn’t feel like a good representation. It didn’t feel natural and growing due to their getting closer as friends. It might have been forgivable, but the pacing was horrible as well as the writing. This is definitely the worst book writing-wise of Lisa Henry’s books I’ve read.
I was very disappointed because the premise of this book drew me into the Bad Boyfriend Inc series. What does happen if a family member who used the bad boyfriend service falls in love with a bad boyfriend? How does that resolve? Well, that was such a small part of the real conflict that was over in under a tenth of the amount of sex scenes in the book (when the first book only had one). The major conflict also suffered from being overblown and like a problem straight couples would have instead of two men. Don’t even get me started on the inconsistencies and the grammar was awful too. Not worth slogging through bad writing as the story wasn’t much better, which is sad as Jack and Harry were likable and there was a great set-up.
It was miserable to read and it was in the wrong spot for pacing. It made the having to show up at the wedding together feel forced and contrived. Then the wedding was a major let-down in terms of tension and conflict. The entire premise was working towards this point and then it was over quickly and painlessly, other than an audience watching and gossiping in the background. I know it is to read gay romances without homophobia, but it almost feels like this boom could’ve benefited from some as then there would’ve been more reasonable conflict than you did what you said you were going to do and I’m upset because it isn’t perfectly in my favor. Being demi-sexual doesn’t not mean you are the exception when it comes to meeting the needs of your partner or that you are holy and must be the one driving everything in the relationship. It was just horrible when the whole point is supposed to be that Harry isn’t horrible. Ugh, just ugh. And liking kids and wanting to be a teacher do not magically mean someone can’t be a narcissist or toxic in a relationship. Time to stop ranting and say do not recommend.
beeziereadsromance's review
4.0
I really enjoyed this, and like the last book, I grinned my way through it.
Jack is (apart from a couple of mistakes that he quickly corrects) the sweetest BF ever and I enjoyed the relatively drama free fun of this story.
Dual POV third person, lower heat (one MC is on the Ace spectrum), accidental attempted manslaughterer/ee to lovers, family hijinx, bad boyfriend behaviour, terrible op shop finds.
I received a copy of this book from the authors and have chosen to leave an honest review.
Jack is (apart from a couple of mistakes that he quickly corrects) the sweetest BF ever and I enjoyed the relatively drama free fun of this story.
Dual POV third person, lower heat (one MC is on the Ace spectrum), accidental attempted manslaughterer/ee to lovers, family hijinx, bad boyfriend behaviour, terrible op shop finds.
I received a copy of this book from the authors and have chosen to leave an honest review.
vicki_williams's review
4.0
Harry is so adorable and adorkable that I just want to give him a big squishy hug. Jack is so sweet and attentive towards Harry that he deserves a big squishy hug also. They are both very loveable main characters who find themselves drawn to each other after a very inauspicious first meeting. It’s a joy watching Harry in his first ever relationship, seeing him gain confidence and embracing who he is with Jack by his side. Their relationship is not high heat but sweet, intimate and tender with a few laughs along the way. A misstep on the way is soon overcome and their HEA is not jeopardised.
I loved every moment of this well written romance. The plot and pacing were on point and a great cast of side characters to keep things interesting. It’s a very easy and enjoyable read and although book 2 in the series it can be read as a standalone.
I loved every moment of this well written romance. The plot and pacing were on point and a great cast of side characters to keep things interesting. It’s a very easy and enjoyable read and although book 2 in the series it can be read as a standalone.
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