THE BOYFRIEND PROJECT by Farrah Rochon is a feel good adult contemporary romance novel about a woman, Samiah, who makes a pact to work on the “Boyfriend Project” which means no men but then she meets her new coworker Daniel and that’s when things get interesting. I really liked the slow build up to the relationship between Samiah and Daniel. I love the coworkers to lovers trope. I also especially liked the character Samiah since she’s smart, direct and confident. If you’re a fan of Christina Lauren romcoms then you’ll enjoy this one too. I can’t wait to read Rochon’s next book!

I was definitely surprised by The Boyfriend Project! I’m not sure what I was expecting, maybe just your typical rom com, and in some ways it was, but it had some lovely, unique tales on the rom com genre. I really enjoyed Samiah as a character. She was driven, but like able, which I find is rare in these types of books.

Thanks to Grand Central Publishing through Netgalley for the ARC for an honest review.

I was immediately won over at the beginning of this book when Samiah found out that her boyfriend was cheating on her with not one, but two other women, and instead of throwing the women under the bus, they bonded over their shared experiences of meeting a scumbag. They become fast friends and a huge support system for each other. This is such a major shift in how a lot of romance novelists always villainize "the other woman", and it was so refreshing to see three amazing ladies own their amazingness and become friends. As soon as I read that, my attention was captured and I would have given this book 5 stars for that alone.

I'm a white woman, and I recognize that I have a lot of privileges that black women or any woman of color do not. I appreciated the discussion between Daniel and Samiah regarding Samiah's struggle to have to be the best because she cannot afford to be anything less. This isn't just about her, but her her predecessors that follow her in a usually male driven occupation. And Daniel understood this and didn't try to mansplain to her how her feelings were not justified or she was making a bigger deal out of nothing.

That was one of my minor gripes was that Daniel was written almost too perfectly. If you skip the lying about why he was at Trendsetters and what he actually was, he was just this very actualized, nearly perfect dude. I was really expecting him to push her into letting him help her with her app, but he didn't. He was all, "I got that you need this to be your thing, and I support you in this 100%." It would have added a little bit more tension between them than just the climax when she found out who he really was.

Also, she forgave him entirely too quickly. In fact, she became way too okay with what he did entirely too quickly. She was far too rational to be believable, and even though one of my biggest gripes about romance novels is the lack of communication for the sake of drama, there was just way too many issues resolved in a such a short period of time. I really loved that when he asked to speak with her, she said no and walked away. Only for her to regret that the very next day. He LIED, repeatedly, and she was like, "Wellllll...maybe I should listen to him." Yeah, okay, you should, but at least don't be so understanding.

I felt the ending was wrapped up entirely too quickly as if the author didn't know what else to do so she just went ahead had Samiah forgive him and all was well. We got a little bit of "after" in the epilogue that was mainly to set up a possible sequel featuring Taylor. If she does, I'm so there because I really loved Taylor and London, and I can't wait for them to kick ass and find men who recognize how bad ass they are.

This was a great book and is definitely going to be a great summer read. Buy it when it comes out. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Oh how I wanted to love The Boyfriend Project but somewhere along reading, this story lost mainly…. its romance. I’ll start by telling you what I enjoyed about this story and then we will dip on into what didn’t work for me. So, let’s get into this.

Let us start with what this story is about (because ya’ll know I never give ya’ll the blurb…lols). Three women form an unlikely friendship after a man whom they all thought was their “boyfriend” tried to play them. After becoming close, these women decide to keep each other accountable in achieving their planned goals. We start off with Samiah Brooks. Samiah works in the tech field and is damn good at what she does, her goal? To develop her own app. While at work, she meets new employee Daniel Collins. Samiah likes what she sees but can’t get distracted… or will she?

Okay, what I liked:
I enjoyed the unexpected friendship of Samiah and the other ladies formed. Especially given the fact that a dude tried to play them all. I loved the fact that this author didn’t go the route of cattiness and women fighting. I loved the fact that she gave us three mature women who knew their worth and knew they were being played by an ol selfish muthatrucka. Three women singing Beyonce’ “Middle finger up, throw them hands high! Put em in his face, tell him “Boy bye!”
Women need friendships and not to dismiss any other ethnicity of women but Black women NEED their sisters so I was especially happy that Ms. Rochon took care in how it was important for Samiah and the other ladies decided to cultivate a relationship….even though they just met. I love seeing books where care is taken with Black women and their friends.
I also enjoyed the women in tech covered in The Boyfriend Project, mainly the conversation around Black women in the tech field. Samiah was smart…she was good at her job but she still encountered micro-aggressions and obstacles. It’s a good thing to see covered.

Now, what I didn’t like:
Even with all that good mentioned up above, this is a romance…correct? Well, ya’ll the romance in The Boyfriend Project didn’t not move me, it wasn’t interesting…at all. What started off as cute little meet ups for coffee between Samiah and Daniel soon grew cold, imo. If I’m being honest, I feel like there was no chemistry between them. The development of their relationship fell so flat, they would have been better off as friends. I couldn’t even be frustrated with them as individuals. Unfortunately, they just did not work together. I liked them well enough separately, but together? Not so much.

Also, Daniel is biracial (Korean/Black) but it is barely touched upon here outsides the mentions of remembering his Grandmothers cooking. And this man barely knew anything about Black people and their issues and I just….didn’t understand that. And I say this because the author does focus on some racial themes here but I feel like she didn’t or couldn’t “go in” like she could have. It was disappointing to say the least.

All and All:
If I’m being honest, The Boyfriend Project didn’t fill my romantic sweet spot. I thinks it is an alright read...more on the level of “little yang yang yang to read around the house”. This would have imo worked better under women’s fiction. Hopefully this series will get better as the is moves further along with the other ladies stories.

Thank you to NetGalley, Farrah Rochon and Grand Central Publishing for the free e-book in exchange for an honest review.

I’m finding that I am really enjoying reading all sorts of romance novels at this point because of the weird place we find ourselves in right now. This was such an enjoyable and fun read and I couldn’t help but fall in love with both characters. I really enjoyed that these were both really intelligent and multicultural characters. I also really liked that there is a huge friendship aspect to it and that these two characters had real life issues. I also loved the idea behind Samiah’s app and what she was trying to do and how forgiving she was. I would definitely recommend if you enjoy romance!

Out June 9th!

I had a lot of hope for this one and was very excited to read it when it arrived (unexpectedly) on my doorstep. While there were a handful of things I enjoyed about the story, in the end, it just missed the mark for me.

Things I liked:
- The interesting background of it being set in the tech world
- The representation of female friendship and the strong bonds between the friends
- The supportive hero
- The driven and independent heroine

Things that missed the mark for me:
- The romance plotline wasn’t strong enough. This story felt much more like fiction/women’s fiction and I felt the romance was a minor player in the overall story.
- The plot as a whole was a little thin. It didn’t feel like very much happened and I was just kind of bored at certain points and found myself skimming.
- The catalyst at the beginning felt a little like a means to an end. Since it didn’t thread through the entire story, it ended up feeling unnecessary to the story as a whole.

In the end, I think I was just expecting something different than what the book ended up being. If you go into it not knowing much about the story or if you know that the romance plays more of a minor role, it might work out better for you.

Thank you so much for the chance of reading this book, I was so excited when I received your email granting me your permission to read it. However, it wasn't for me. I had to force myself to read it. The first 36percent, there is too much repetition of she/he that I lost track of who the author was talking about. In the dialogs I got confused about who was "talking." There wasn't a relationship at all between main characters. How am I going to know they're falling for each other if the romance plotline is weak. I love romance, and this relationship is just flirt but I don't see love at all.

Things I loved and enjoyed about this book are: The STEM world (as a math major, thank you for this), female friendship, i love this 3 women bond. And even though, I like to read stories that with heroines that are shy, submissive or damaged, it's a pleasure when she is a strong and independent main female character. I wish this book gets more stars from what I'm giving it. For me, this book rating is ⭐⭐⭐.

I was pleasantly surprised by THE BOYFRIEND PROJECT. I went in blind, not knowing anything about the book's premise or the author, but just trusting that the Book of the Month gods knew what they were doing when they selected it.

The story starts with Samiah Brooks, a successful, driven, woman who finds herself catfished by her boyfriend. She forms a bond with her ex's two other women -- London, and Taylor -- and the three make a pact to spend the next six months focusing on themselves instead of on men.

Samiah is focused on developing an app she's always wanted to create. However, suddenly she finds herself enthralled by a new employee: Daniel Collins. He is smart, sexy, confident, and witty. She's supposed to be focusing on herself -- but is Daniel actually boyfriend material?

What I liked about this book was the strong foundation of female friendships. I really enjoyed the start of the book -- it pulled me right in. I also loved the way the book portrayed black and Asian characters in a non-stereotypical and incredibly empowering way. I loved the book's supporting characters and hope Rochon comes out with spin-offs telling their life stories, too!

I have never read anything by Rochon before, but she was whip-smart and the dialogue was hilarious. I enjoyed her writing style, and I felt like I learned...so much...from Googling all of her character's incredibly impressive job descriptions.

This book is powerful, thought-provoking, and adorably cute, while carrying important messages about racial and gender equity and empowerment. I recommend it to romance lovers!

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book. I honestly didnt know much about it going into it, so I was expecting your basic rom com but this book has a fun little mystery flair as well!
Loved the chemistry between Samiah and Daniel! Would recommend this book to others!

I enjoyed this book so much. There’s something so soothing about a circle of girlfriends, old or new, gathering together to to help and support each other. So, I’m 34 and I’ve been married for ten years at the end of this month. I completely missed the dating nonsense of the social media age and reading about the crap singles of today deal with is always a crash course in BS. But this heroine, Samiah handles with it with it like a rock star. The revenge scene that happens early in the story is PERFECTION. So satisfying.

I don’t always love it when a romance involves one live interest being less than truthful with the other but it works in this book. I loved Daniel and Samiah together.

Thank you Netgalley and Forever for the chance to read an advanced copy. I voluntarily read and reviewed this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

THE BOYFRIEND PROJECT by Farrah Rochon is a smart contemporary romance about female friendship, workplace romance and putting yourself first. This was my first Rochon title, but it won't be my last.

WHAT I LOVED:
SETTING: The story felt current- someone live tweets a date that results in our feisty heroine learning that 2 other women are also dating the same loser. The Austin tech scene.
DIVERSE: #ownvoices author with diverse, authentic characters. I love how Rochon addressed what it's like to be an African American woman in tech.
FRIENDSHIPS: I loved how Samiah, London and Taylor supported each other. I'm hopeful that this is the start of a series so I can read their stories.
CONSENT: When an author intentionally incorporates consent I always swoon a bit. The consent in this story was perfect.
READABILITY: It was quick paced and kept me engaged enough to keep flying through the pages. It was a balanced mix of light (romantic chemistry) and heavy (corporate spy).
EGGPLANT: 4 out of 5. Ahem- my 10yr old daughter MAY have been reading over my shoulder during a particularly steamy passage. She MAY have said, "OMG Mom- I mean. What? Too much!" I MAY be incorporating sex-ed to our Distance Learning curriculum sooner than I'd planned. Parenting- not for the weak of heart.

The Boyfriend Project started off as a simple contemporary romance but with an unpredictable twist and engaging plot, it became a really enjoyable and entertaining book.

Samiah is a brilliant protagonist. She is straight-talking, ambitious, honest and intelligent without compromising her kindness and humility. I liked that she was a successful woman striving for even more, rather than just getting to a good point and accepting she was at the top. Going against the odds as a black woman working in the tech industry, she continued to break barriers and stereotypes. Even during the chaos of being part of a viral video, Samiah is still able to preserve her heroine status.

Daniel is an appealing love interest for the main character. He is very sweet, charming and thoughtful, even though he exists under this cloud of mystery. The reader learns about his past and agenda in the book, but the characters are left in the dark. And without spoiling the entire book, it was intriguing to see how Daniel’s involvement in the story played out.

The romance was sweet in this book. I was expecting more, but there were cute moments dotted throughout. I definitely rooted for the love story between Samiah and Daniel, and their mutual attraction and chemistry was obvious from the beginning. Their open conversation was well-balanced, and I like how Daniel became a cheerleader for Samiah, especially when discussing the more serious topics like race and sexism in the workplace.

If there’s one thing the author masters it is celebration of female friendship in the book, especially because it rose from mutual betrayal and misfortune. Three women dating one man could easily result in the unhealthy competition society likes to breed. But instead the ladies walked out on Craig in total triumph – it was glorious.

I love that even after the event, the woman make an effort to maintain a friendship. It’s not easy to build platonic relationships in a new place, and the author touched in this through the storylines in the book. Samiah’s new friends are awesome too: Taylor has a quirky sense of humour while London has more of a wry wit. The women aren’t carbon copies of each other, they have different personalities, backgrounds and circumstances, but this doesn’t become a stumbling block in their budding friendship.

One of the most accurate aspects of this book is that the hard-working characters actually spend time at work. Samiah, Daniel and many of the secondary characters have demanding full-time jobs and work to earn the praise they receive. The author did a great job at developing an authentic but humorous workplace environment, and I really enjoyed the events that took place at the Trendsetters office.

For me, the highlight of the book is Samiah’s exciting ambition and her experiences. The twist from Daniel’s side of things definitely kept me reading, but I related to Samiah as a black woman and found her to be really inspiring.

It’s safe to say The Boyfriend Project read a lot like a film. It’s well-paced, easy to follow and filled with likable characters. Even the ones you don’t like are a great addition to the story. This book is perfect for fans of an office romance with a great twist. The only reason it wasn’t a five-star read is because the resolution fell a little flat and wasn’t as satisfying as I would have hoped.

"Samiah Brooks never thought she would be "that" girl. But a live tweet of a horrific date just revealed the painful truth: she's been catfished by a three-timing jerk of a boyfriend. Suddenly Samiah-along with his two other "girlfriends," London and Taylor -- have gone viral online. Now the three new besties are making a pact to spend the next six months investing in themselves. No men, no dating, and no worrying about their relationship status" This was a quick read, and the basic storyline to be good, But I did find the characters to be a bit flat, and I was wanting more of the friendship between the girls. I found the character of Samiah a bit confusing. She just seemed whiney, on the one hand, she kept saying how no one knew how hard she had to work to get where she was and how her success would pave the way for other minority women. But then she let her co-workers and friends just walk over her without so much as an excuse me.
Overall I would give it 3.5 stars.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⁣
“Alexa, play Drake.”⁣
⁣
So many reasons to love this book!⁣
1. Samiah is a bad ass, feisty, brilliant boss babe and she’s nothing short of an inspiration and role model from the first page. ⁣
2. Daniel is also a brilliant, sexy, kind man who appreciates a strong woman, and isn’t intimated by a brilliant woman in the least. ⁣
3. The strong female friendship between Samiah, London and Taylor is so amazing for so many reasons. They are all successful women, who continue to uplift each other throughout this story, and the way they became friends just made me so happy, because typically that scenario would’ve gone a completely different way.⁣
⁣
This book made be laugh out loud at times, it was steamy, witty, and of course I enjoyed all of the flirty banter between Samiah and Daniel. Taylor was hilarious. I love rational characters and characters who understand and push each other to be their best selves and this book was filled with that. ⁣
⁣
The first scene in this book was AMAZING! Samiah and her sister also have a great relationship, but Samiah slays from the first chapter and it made this book unputdownable. I’m so hoping for a second book.⁣
⁣
Thank you to @netgalley @readforeverpub and @grandcentralpub for an ARC for my honest review. 💕⁣
⁣
#bookstagram #books #romance #romcom #booksharks #SRC2020 #TheBoyfriendProject #booklover #BOTM #netgalley #booksparks

This was a nice surprise, I enjoyed it a lot!I find it fun,smart and fast paced.It has a great premise from the beginning and I find it addictive!Samiah and Daniel had a strong chemistry, I could feel it!

The story follows Samiah as she finds out that her boyfriend Craig has other girls too.She and the other girls decide to focus in theirshelves for a long time!However she didn't expect to meet Daniel in her job!Daniel is so hot and sweet!He was a swoon worthy hero!

There are so many things I love in this story, a great romance , friendships and smart converations!

*Given an advanced reading copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

<i>The Boyfriend Project</i> by Farrah Rochon is a delightful romance novel that delves into the workplace relationship.

Samiah is a talented software engineer working at one of the hottest cybersecurity startups in Austin, Texas. When another woman live tweets her horrible date with Samiah’s boyfriend, Samiah finds herself at a restaurant telling him off along with a third woman. As their confrontation goes viral, Samiah and her two new friends, London and Taylor, become internet celebrities. It’s embarrassing to Samiah until a new colleague Daniel shows concern for her well-being. Nobody else has been doing that, so this catches Samiah’s attention. With superstar pediatric surgeon London and rising fitness guru Taylor, Samiah embarks on the boyfriend project, where the three women promise to stay committed to their goals for six months in order to be prepared to have a real boyfriend. Samiah decides to focus on a mobile app that she had abandoned years before. But the attraction to Daniel is too strong. They eventually fall for each other until Daniel’s undercover mission threatens their budding relationship.

Though the beginning comes off goofy with the date going viral and the girls showing up right on time to catch a player in motion, the story develops with Samiah and Daniel fighting their urges to stay focused on their ambitious careers in tech and Samiah, London, and Taylor cementing a solid friendship.

Overall, it’s a digestible romance that delivers on the promise of a fun read. It shows successful black women and men trying to find love in a millennial-attracting metropolis. The mystery part of what Daniel is trying to dig up on Samiah's company adds another element as does Samiah’s dedication to increasing the company’s community service reputation. The descriptive career elements add more oomph to this story.

Well rounded, engaging plot with excellent characters. I love to see an example of female friendship that lifts each other up. Samiah is a wonderful, strong, smart female lead. And Daniel may be one of my favorite heroes. I admit a secret isn’t my favorite plot point, but given the nature of Daniel’s job it makes sense and it is what it is. This is one of those books where I want to live in this world. :)

Thank you NetGalley and Forever for the ARC!

The Boyfriend Project follows tech mogul Samiah after finding out that her boyfriend has been cheating on her with multiple other women through a Twitter thread. Scorned, these women develop an unlikely friendship and decide to spend six months focusing on themselves instead of on relationships. It just so happens that right after this is when Daniel enters the picture, a man who intrigues Samiah and their pairing develops from there.

I thought that this book was interesting from the beginning. The synopsis reminded me of The Right Swipe by Alisha Rai which also follows a strong female lead who works in the tech industry so I was quite excited to read The Boyfriend Project seeing as The Right Swipe was one of my favorite books of 2019.

Overall I was pleasantly surprised by this novel and enjoyed my time reading it. It was an easy read and I finished it quickly once I started. The one qualm I had with the writing was how unbalanced the switches were from narration between Samiah and Daniel. Sometimes it would switch from chapter to chapter, other times Samiah would get a few chapters to herself, other times they switched in the middle of the chapter. It was a bit confusing and sometimes jolted me out of the story as I tried to figure out who was narrating what.

The characters in this, while each unique, I didn't feel like they all got the time they deserved. This makes me look forward to the other books that are to be published in the series following Taylor and London, the other two girls that Samiah befriends. The trio of girls was such an unexpected group but I enjoyed seeing how they got along and interacted as the book progressed. Samiah was a strong lead character with clear ambition and I thought this was a really good example of how hard women (especially women of color) have to work to make a name for themselves in tech.

The story itself was pretty by the book romance. I thought that there was chemistry between Daniel and Samiah but the situation that brought Daniel into the story gave cause for concern from the beginning. I felt like the way the book ended didn't make a ton of sense considering how scorned Samiah was at the very beginning due to lies told by her cheating boyfriend. Daniel spent the entire book lying to her and she ended up forgiving him so quickly. Considering how strong Samiah was in her feelings and actions throughout the rest of the book, this just felt unrealistic for who she was.

Unfortunately, something that I've noticed happening with a lot of these newer romance books is that they focus so heavily on the sexual nature of the couples in them. This might not be a big issue for some people and others might enjoy it but I personally like romance that is not centered around sex. There were so many moments throughout this book that mentioned something sexual when I felt that it really wasn't central to that scene. I tried not to let it get to me too much but it did leave me feeling more than annoyed more than once.

In the end, I did enjoy The Boyfriend Project a fair amount and I do intend on picking up the next book in the series when it eventually is published.

A viral story starts a trio of women on a new path… When Samiah, London, and Taylor find out through twitter that they’ve all been seeing the same man they come together in an attempt to figure out what’s been going on with their lives. Each is at a crossroads with dreams that haven’t quite worked out yet—though each is successful in their way. And they decide to make a pact to spend six months investing in themselves—no relationships. For Samiah, a gifted programmer, the meeting pushes her to reconsider developing her dream app. But the plan is complicated by a new, gorgeous man at work. This is funny, thoughtful, and I’m intrigued by the possible stories of the side characters. I’m definitely looking forward to Rochon’s next book!

The Boyfriend Project starts of with something that has become very common in our society--the viral video. Samiah finds out the guy she is dating has also been dating other women and confronts him about it. Samiah's biggest humiliation is filmed for public consumption, and as I was reading, I realized that if this was real life, I'd definitely have watched that video. I'd have probably cheered her on.

But our entertainment is Samiah's agony, and Rochon does a great job of setting the stakes by showing how angry & vulnerable Samiah is. She is not going to trust easily again--and after reading the first bit, who can blame her? Enter... Daniel!

Pheeew Daniel. Even reading about him gave me hot-flashes, and the chemistry between them leaps through the pages. The realistic high-stakes plus off-the-charts chemistry makes for a promising story and Rochon delivers. Watching Samiah and Daniel interact were arguably the best parts of the book, maaaaybe tied with Samiah's interactions with her new friends.

There were some issues that I didn't love. Daniel's part of the plot, and his subsequent wishy-washiness about being with Samiah was not my favorite. It dragged on for too long. I could understand it because Rochon did an excellent job of setting up her character's motivations, but I didn't enjoy it. But in the end he more than made up for it and I loved watching these two work towards their HEA.

I also really appreciated the discussions around race & gender in the tech industry/STEM. Samiah as a Black woman has a completely different experience than Daniel, who is half-Black, half-Asian, and I appreciated that reality & those conversations being part of their relationship.

Read The Boyfriend Project for great female friendships, a strong MC who is not afraid to be vulnerable, and fantastic chemistry. I am looking forward to the next books in this series.

**Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an advanced ecopy in exchange for an honest review.**