This was just what needed. Loved this story. Smart, funny and engaging romance, but still managed to deal with the issues Back woman have in the STEM field. I can't wait to read the other ladies stories.

The Boyfriend Project, the first in a new contemporary romance series by Farrah Rochon, is a celebration of Black joy and Black love. The series is established Samiah, London, and Taylor, three professional women, discover they have been cat-fished by the same guy and their discovery was posted online and has gone viral. Samiah, London, and Taylor immediately bond, become fast friends, and form a pact in which they all will focus on a goal that makes them happy before dating again, which might be easier said than done for Samiah.
Samiah is a brilliant and successful app developer. Her intelligence, fierceness, and beauty catch the eye of a new coworker named Daniel who is too good to be true. Though both know starting a work relationship is probably the last thing they should do, the chemistry between them is undeniable. So a tentative relationship starts, but based on a lie: Daniel is actually an undercover FBI agent who is investigating a nefarious scheme at Samiah's work.
I really enjoyed reading The Boyfriend Project and read it in a few days. I am thrilled to see more diversity in the romance genre. Rochon's book is smart, funny, sweet with a dash of steamy and mystery. Samiah is a fully three dimensional heroine, who holds her own. She is an extremely successful, driven, and strong (naturally and not because she needs to be) woman of color in the STEM field. I truly appreciated Samiah's upfront and candidness of having the burden of representation on her shoulders in her career, which I found to be extremely relatable and true. I also loved the friendship that she, London, and Taylor formed in the book. The romance is a nice added bonus for Samiah, but she does not need it to become whole.
I also liked Daniel, who is also gifted and talented. I just wished I got to know him more personally. Due to his profession as an agent we don't really get to hear much of his background as we do for Samiah. His inner conflict of lying to Samiah and advancing his career rings true. The lying plot line didn't bother me as much because I knew Daniel's intention was not to use Samiah, but it was coincidental. Their chemistry together was very cute and their romance was delightfully of the slow burn kind.
The mystery wraps up quite nicely, but I thought the ending was a bit rushed. I would have liked more clues to the mystery before the big reveal. Overall, The Boyfriend Project was an enjoyable read and I look forward to continue reading this contemporary series.

Samiah is a hard worker, determined to make it to the top of her field. When she ends up in a viral video, she makes friends with two other women who were also caught up in it. Together, they make a promise to swear off guys for 6 months in order to focus on themselves. But, when Daniel started working at Samiah’s job the next day, that instantly becomes harder to follow.

This was a fun read! I loved the beginning of this. Seeing the women form a friendship after they were all played by the same guy was such a beautiful thing to see. The friendship they made after that was beautiful. They were so committed to helping one another and pushing each other to be the best possible versions of themselves.

The romance here was excellent. I really loved Daniel and Samiah together. He was so sweet to her and really cared for her. The little things he would do to do to prove it were adorable and lovely, but they also had wonderful flirtatious banter and had that steamy factor.

Samiah was an excellent character. She was a hard worker who reflected on the fact that she was going to set the standards for others who wanted to follow in her footsteps. I loved her and everything she wanted to do to help set the stage for the people following her.

The Boyfriend Project had excellent friendships and a sweet romance.

FULL REVIEW ON FRESH FICTION
THE BOYFRIEND PROJECT by Farrah Rochon is a cute workplace contemporary romance. The set up for this book is perfect--three women figuring out they’re being catfished by the same guy end up becoming best friends. The female friendship is what holds this book together, and it’s fun to watch tech developer Samiah, pediatric surgeon London, and personal trainer Taylor work on themselves and their new friendships. Samiah’s workplace romance with Daniel is intriguing, even though readers are privy to Daniel’s secret and true intentions for employment at Samiah’s company. The conversations Samiah and Daniel have about being minorities in the overwhelmingly white tech sphere are poignant and important, and it’s a powerful connection for them both. And although Daniel does plan a grand gesture to apologize to Samiah, the way it pans out didn’t have the swoon-worthy impact grand gestures generally have in contemporary romance. Austin is a great backdrop for this novel, and the mentions of various parts of the city and its surrounding areas are showcased wonderfully. Though some of the tech jargon and work talk bogged down the story at times, THE BOYFRIEND PROJECT is a delightful romance by an author to watch.

3.5 Stars. Loved this book! Excited for the next. Thank you to the publisher for providing an arc for my review!

This is my first Farrah Rochon novel. I loved everything about this novel. This is a breezy romance story that is funny, engaging, and relatable (but also so far fetched that it fits perfectly with the rom-com genre).

First, Rochon's writing style is fresh and light. I think she did an excellent job with the cutesy flirting build up chapters, but could suffer a little improvement in writing the actual romance. The few times I flinched a bit at the writing was when there were challenges in the relationship. I think some of the tension could have been stronger.

I loved how this author developed subplots with the surrounding characters, I was excited to hear that the series will continue following the other characters. I'm excited to see more about where Lauren and Taylors characters go.

*the following section discusses the ending and some challenges I had with the book*

Like most romances, I think this novel had a very neat ending. As a lover of drama, I have a love-hate relationship with this type of ending, but I felt satisfied.

I take a bit of issue with the male lead having to be biracial in order to be deemed attractive. I mean, it wasn't positioned like that in the book, but I do think it leaves itself vulnerable to perpetuating that stereotype. Theres a line in the book where a character says "he's Black and what?" and while that's real, it is annoying.

Overall, I'm a huge fan of this book. Definitely recommend it as a light beach read.

I tried to enjoy this novel but could not get invested in the characters. The writing was fine, just wasn't for me.

The Boyfriend Project had so much going for it! Samiah is a badass Tech industry pro who finds herself the victim of a catfishing jerk, joins together with two other women the dude has lied to, and goes viral for catching him in the act and humiliating him on video. Wonderful already. I love catfishing. I mean, I don't catfish myself, but the idea of it is so interesting to read about, and when done right, is such a great plot device. So, Samiah and the other women stay friends and decide to form a pact to work on themselves for 6 months and stay single and be badass women with optimized lives. Then Samiah meets Daniel, he's the best, and so much for the pact.

Honesty, this book was great. The female characters are extremely well written-- smart, goal getters, witty, driven, and supportive of each other. Love to see it. Daniel is a great romantic lead, and a worthy reason for Samiah to break the pact. This book also deals with issues of gender inequality at the workplace, women in tech/STEM, and privilege.

The only thing lacking for me was in the chemistry/steam department. On paper, all the pieces were there, witty banter, perfect dude... but it didn't quite come together in the perfect romance novel kind of way I'd hoped. Still totally recommend this one, though, because I really loved that girl gang!


Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the Advance Reader Copy. All opinions are my own.

I loved that the main character loved her job and excelled at it! I would like to see more of this in romance I read!!! The romance itself moved a bit slowly, but I appreciated the emphasis on mentoring and excelling at work.

This was a solid read. The book really took a turn I wasn't expecting which made the reading experience even better.

Programmer Samiah goes viral when she and two other women confront the man who has been secretly dating all three of them. Good riddance to him, but the women become friends, and make a vow to spend the next six months working on their own goals--no boyfriends. Of course, this is the very week that Samiah meets her new coworker, the handsome and charming Daniel. She's determined not to fall for him, and Daniel has reasons of his own for not wanting to get involved. Things do not go according to plan.

Both main characters were bright and complex, and their chemistry was crackling. This was an enjoyable read with a strong message about being true to yourself. I look forward to seeing what happens with Samiah's friends.

Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for the ARC to review. All opinions are my own.

I really enjoyed this book right from the start! It has the perfect blend of comedy, friendships, and romance.

I think one of the most underrated things in the romance genre is the importance of good secondary characters -- especially good friends! The Boyfriend Project has that in spades. I love the relationship Samiah has with her sister, and I am so glad we got to see her develop friendships with both Taylor and London -- especially because they all know who the blame lies with when it comes to that Twitter drama (and it's not them!!).

I also loved how independent and fierce Samiah was. I really enjoyed getting to see her and Daniel at work, especially as their relationship developed. And I was rooting for her the entire! book! to start her app. That's one thing I wished happened a little earlier -- I just wanted her to take the leap instead of discussing and thinking about it for so long.

I do absolutely adore Daniel, but I had a hard time reconciling how much he was lying to her, especially when it got to the end of the book. I understand that it had to be a part of the premise, but every time I was reading in his perspective, I had to cringe. It just got worse and worse!!

However, as it should, it worked out in the end. I enjoyed seeing them end up together, but I wish they were both more open from the start!

I absolutely loved The Boyfriend Project! I ended up physically reading while simultaneously listening to the ALC (audiobook copy) and loved that fun combo. The narrator was great and it was just the icing on the cake for this cute, steamy romance.

Samiah and Daniel were such loveable characters, and the story was written with so much charm and wit. I really thought the chemistry between the two was so sweet and so hot!

*many thanks to Forever, Netgalley and Libro.fm for the gifted copy. All opinions are my own

I really loved this. I love Samiah and Daniel, both separately and together. I also really loved Samiah's friendships with London and Taylor. (I hope, based on the ending, that the next book in this series is Taylor's??) The only teeny tiny complaint I had was the ending seemed very...sudden. I wanted more of a resolution, more explanation for Samiah's change of heart, something...

I read this in March 2020 so I immediately give props to any book that could hold my attention at the time. This is definitely more plot driven than contemporary romances that I normally read, but I loved all the action. I was super intrigued by Daniel's job and also loved the friendship between Samiah, Taylor, and London.

Thanks to Forever for my copy to review.

I really wanted to love The Boyfriend Project but at the end of the day, it just fell short for me.

There were a lot of positives in this book, though! I absolutely loved the beginning, it was such a strong way to start a story. The relationship between Samiah and her sister as well as with London and Taylor were absolutely the highlight of the book for me! I also loved all of the representation in the book as well, that was so wonderfully done and is sorely needed in the romance genre!

It was the actual story and romance that didn't quite do it for me. This wouldn't be considered a romcom, but it also wasn't suspenseful enough, especially considering Daniel was an undercover agent. So it just ended up falling flat and somewhere in the middle for me, which was just watching two people basically at work for weeks. The timeline was hard for me to follow (wasn't Daniel's original goal to be there for a few days, a month tops? And then before you know it 8 weeks have passed?) and I really didn't feel the chemistry. It honestly felt like it had such an explosive start, but then the same few chapters just got repeated over and over, and it really dragged on and felt so boring for me. I know a lot of people loved this book this year, and I don't know if it's because I just read so many amazing books in a row, but this fell so short for me!

This is a great women’s fiction book with some suspense elements to it. This is a story of female friendship, strength, empowerment and love! I enjoyed the setting in the Austin Tech scene. The story addresses some important topics like sexism and inequality, specifically the struggles women in tech face (especially Black women). How they have to work harder to get the same level of success.

This book reminds me of Jasmine Guillory books. The friendship between the women is #squadgoals, I admire them all and would love to be their friend. You can’t help but root for all of them. I was invested in the side characters so I hope there is more from them in the future!

I listened to the audiobook version of the book and I really enjoyed the narration. After listening a few disappointing romances in audio I had told myself I wouldn’t do romance in audiobook format anymore but this one was great!

Another okay read... I love reading romance books but this one just didn't do it for me. This one was very unique because our main heroine is a badass Tech business woman which is pretty rare in romance books! However, the romance was just meh for me...

This was an entertaining read. I liked the combination of the romance along with the suspense of an investigation. It allowed the story to be fun and humorous while also having an undertone of mystery and intrigue.

It did take me a little while to warm up to the story and the characters but I think by the final quarter of the novel, I was invested and wasn't necessarily ready for the book to end.

I'd be interested in this story continuing into a series (or a trilogy) following both Taylor and London. I don't know if it has been proposed or confirmed but it seems like a natural step to go in that direction and I think both of their stories would be incredibly fun to read.

***Thank you to the publisher for supplying me with an ARC of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review***

I enjoyed reading this it was really funny! Loved the interactions between the girls and the drama with their guy. The beginning reminded me of John Tucker Must Die. Great story about friendships and finding love, I would recommend it!

I really enjoyed reading this book. The character development was subtle in a myriad of ways, and the plot moves along quickly enough to keep interest. I could have used a little more expansion around the ending of the book, but on the whole found the experience very enjoyable.