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A review by adammm
Boyfriend With Benefits by Allison Temple
5.0
In a true masterclass of how to write a humorous fake-boyfriend romance, Allison Temple in Boyfriend with Benefits achieves what no book I've read in months has managed: to make me write a book review. (I've been busy, okay? Grad school is kicking my ass over here.) A brief summary: after workaholic Bailey finds out that his childhood bully is his new boss, he makes the misguided attempt to insinuate that his straight roommate Gordo is his boyfriend to make himself look successful. Gordo - a possibly unemployed, reptile-raising, 6'6" space cadet of a man - is willing to play along with his scheme, and a working trip to Las Vegas leads to all sorts of shenanigans.
So this is just a freaking delightful book. I'm not even kidding. In this first-person narrative, Temple manages to construct a truly humorous, singular voice in Bailey, a type-A workaholic with the burning desire to prove himself despite the world - or rather, his former bully - being out to get him. As the novel progresses, Bailey gradually learns more about his roommate Gordo, and discovers that he is not who he thought he was. What I find so great about Bailey and his perspective is that he learns everything at the same time we the readers do, and his shock or happiness or pleasure are, in many ways, reflections of our own. In other words, Temple is a master of pacing.
Honestly, I don't really know what to say (which should probably be obvious by this point in the review). It's just a really fun read and one that I think is criminally overlooked in the scheme of m/m romance. Recommended if you like the fake boyfriend trope; size differences; depictions of characters on the asexual spectrum; lizards named Bernard; himbos (er, sort of); and emus.
So this is just a freaking delightful book. I'm not even kidding. In this first-person narrative, Temple manages to construct a truly humorous, singular voice in Bailey, a type-A workaholic with the burning desire to prove himself despite the world - or rather, his former bully - being out to get him. As the novel progresses, Bailey gradually learns more about his roommate Gordo, and discovers that he is not who he thought he was. What I find so great about Bailey and his perspective is that he learns everything at the same time we the readers do, and his shock or happiness or pleasure are, in many ways, reflections of our own. In other words, Temple is a master of pacing.
Honestly, I don't really know what to say (which should probably be obvious by this point in the review). It's just a really fun read and one that I think is criminally overlooked in the scheme of m/m romance. Recommended if you like the fake boyfriend trope; size differences; depictions of characters on the asexual spectrum; lizards named Bernard; himbos (er, sort of); and emus.