The Book Boyfriend Addict

Maybe I need to ramp up my patented Sheldon Soleskin charm to crack his shell and make my first friend at my new school. Befriend the school custodian. Challenge accepted.

Fake dating, holiday romance, opposites attract, grumpy/sunshine – all the ingredients for a great book. But when you take all that and then sprinkle in M.A. Wardell’s signature charm and relatable, diverse characters – what you get is something really special. I fell in love with M.A. Wardell’s writing while reading his first book, Teacher of the Year. The characters differed from what I’m used to reading about, but I totally loved them. Don’t get me wrong, I love reading books featuring characters who look like fitness models as much as the next gal, but there’s something to be said for reading about characters we “regular” people can see ourselves in. It’s refreshing and M.A. Wardell does it so well.

Sheldon Soleskin is utterly adorable. Asshole.

This book features first-grade teacher, Sheldon Soleskin, a petite, femme, fiery redhead who paints his nails to match his outfits and has a penchant for talking too much. And Theo Berenson, the school custodian, he’s big and a little grumpy and certainly doesn’t have enough patience for someone as bubbly and talkative as Sheldon Soleskin. But Sheldon keeps showing up and he keeps talking and every time that damn dimple pops, Theo softens just a little more until suddenly he’s offering to be Sheldon’s date to his ex’s Christmas Eve wedding. It works out since Theo also kinda sorta told his slightly overbearing, but well-meaning, parents that he had a boyfriend. The men agree to help one another and an unlikely friendship begins to blossom but as they spend more and more time “practicing” the fake boyfriend thing, things start to feel not-so-fake. Will either of these men be brave enough to acknowledge these new feelings or will ghosts from their past keep holding them back?

“I’m not a bear.”

“Theo. You literally growl at people.”

“Bears don’t growl. Dogs growl.”

“Okay, well, you’re some sort of beast.”

“Does that make you Beauty?” He steals a quick glance and my face flushes, and what the heck. Is Theo Berenson flirting with me? Are we heading for our own tale as old as time?

Let’s talk about Theo for a moment. This man completely won my heart. When you discover why he always kept to himself your heart will break for him. Between trying to deal with the events from his past and his poor self-esteem due to his size he had trouble believing he deserved love. I just wanted to wrap him up and protect him by whatever means necessary. Luckily for me (and for Theo), our sweet Sheldon was up to the task. The way Sheldon cared for him, without question, even when Theo wasn’t always necessarily nice to him, warmed my heart. In doing so, that “patented Sheldon Soleskin charm” wormed its way past Theo’s walls. It was truly beautiful to see Theo begin to accept that someone like Sheldon could be attracted to and want to be with a “lug” like him. It’s true that representation matters and I think a character like Theo is just so important for the many, many people in the real world who have never seen themselves in a romantic lead character.

The same goes for Sheldon. As his twin sister says, he’s “gayer than a unicorn in drag riding on a rainbow float at the Pride Parade.” Just like you don’t see plus-sized men as romantic leads, you don’t often see flamboyant, femme gay characters as the hero of a romance either. Sheldon was fabulous and he absolutely owned it but he also had insecurities, often being told he’s “too much” or “too flashy” or “too gay” – even from members of his own family. For as sunny and happy as he often was, he was so richly layered and I loved that he let Theo see that side of him. I got the impression that he didn’t let very many people in like that. Without saying too much, the found family aspect in this book brought a tear to my eye.

“Contrary to what you may want the world to believe, you’re a sweet man, Theo.”

At its heart this is definitely a romantic comedy, there were many moments where I’d read a paragraph and be laughing for a good thirty seconds afterward because it was just that funny. But the thing that I really love about M.A. Wardell’s books is that he manages to weave in this humor and sweetness with heavier topics that’ll hit you right in the feels. He did it in Teacher of the Year and even more so in this one. But he balances it so well, you never feel dragged down by the heavy stuff. Oh and let’s not forget the spice, there’s no lack of that here! It is a bit of a slow burn, just due to the nature of these characters but once Sheldon opens that door with Theo, their chemistry was scorching! But even in these scenes, there was humor and it was so realistic.

Anyway, I could go on but I’ve probably rambled long enough! The bottom line is that you don’t want to miss this book. M.A. Wardell has created something truly special with this one and I can’t wait to see what else he’s going to cook up for us in the future!

This book will be available on 10/10/2023 but you can pre-order your copy now! A complimentary copy of this book was provided to me in exchange for an honest review.

My mind replays him holding me. Brushing my hair. Calling me … baby. So infantile and irritating. Why would he call me that? God, I hope he calls me baby forever.