Inspired by the real-world trend of Asian women hiring fake dates to bring home for the Lunar New Year to avoid the comments and criticisms of their family and friends, Gloria Chao presents us with Rent a Boyfriend, a YA novel in which a college-aged woman does exactly that to foil her parents’ plot of hooking her up with the (despicable) guy next door.

Chloe Wang has had to go to extreme measures to get away from the good intentions (but are they really?!) of her traditional Asian parents. Lying about not getting into Stanford just to be able to escape across the country to the (less prestigious in their eyes) University of Chicago is just one of the measures she has had to take, but her latest plot is going to be her most devious yet. Pressured to accept the engagement of the filthy rich Hongbo, the Palo Alto Asian community’s most eligible bachelor, Chloe has resorted to extreme measures. She has seen Hongbo’s true nature - the side he doesn’t show her parents - and she knows that she cannot spend her life with someone so cruel and degenerate.

So, what’s a desperate girl to do? Hire a boyfriend from Rent For Your ‘Rents, a service specializing in dates for Asian women in Chloe’s exact situation, of course! With her new fake boyfriend Andrew by her side, Chloe braves the treacherous waters of her family’s home for the holidays, but it is anything but smooth sailing. Despite Andrew doing his homework on her family, he fails to impress them - her parents only have eyes for Hongbo. Can Chloe keep up the ruse long enough to convince them that Andrew is the one … especially when she finds herself developing not fake, but true, feelings for him?

Rent a Boyfriend is such a fun and informative read! Before going into this book, I did not know that women in the Asian community experienced such intense pressure from their family to settle down, and settle down quickly, with only the most eligible of men, despite the wants and wishes of the woman herself. Imagine having to resort to hiring a fake boyfriend just to avoid scrutiny! Despite covering a quite serious topic, Gloria Chao injects quite a bit of fun and fancy into her novel, filling it with hilarious quips from her parents, and sharing the sweet progression of Chloe and Andrew’s fake to feelings relationship.

I feel like I got a true and authentic sense of Asian culture through Rent a Boyfriend. Chao makes use of a wide variety of Mandarin words sprinkled throughout the story, and even provides a glossary at the back of the book. We also get a real sense of Asian traditions around the holidays and the delectable dishes that surround their celebrations. More importantly, tradition by way of honoring and respecting your parents, the importance of saving face in the community, and finding a good marriage prospect are also explored in detail in this revealing read.

Recommended to readers wanting to walk in the shoes of an Asian woman trying to come into her own while still feeling pressured to live up to her parents’ impossible expectations.

Rent a Boyfriend is a charming, heartfelt rom-com that balances humor with cultural depth. Gloria Chao delivers a sweet fake-dating story as Chloe hires Drew to appease her traditional parents, but real feelings spark. Packed with family drama, identity struggles, and swoony romance, it’s perfect for fans of love and laughter.

Rent a Boyfriend by Gloria Chao is a fun and heartfelt romance that explores family expectations, cultural identity, and the pressures of love. The story follows Chloe, a Taiwanese-American college student who feels trapped by her parents' high expectations. To avoid a future arranged marriage, she hires a "rent-a-boyfriend" named Drew to pretend to be her ideal match. What starts as a simple arrangement quickly turns into something more complicated as Chloe and Drew begin to form a genuine connection.

The author does a wonderful job balancing humor with deeper themes. The characters feel real, and their struggles with family and identity are relatable, especially for those caught between two cultures. Chloe’s journey of self-discovery and finding her own voice is one of the strongest elements of the story.

The romance is sweet and slow-burning, and while the plot has some familiar elements, the cultural context and the emotional depth set it apart. The book also explores the complexities of family dynamics, particularly the tension between love and obligation.

Rent a Boyfriend is an enjoyable, heartwarming read for fans of rom-coms with a little more heart and cultural insight.

So funn, pretty forgettable but a great pick me up book for sure! I was wanting to see more character development and just overall relationships which it lacked to a degree. For a fun one time fluffy read WOULD RECOMMEND

I liked RENT A BOYFRIEND! Like Chao’s previous work, the novel not only includes a sweet romance (And it’s definitely cute and one I totally was rooting for. And it might partly have to do with how much I liked Drew.) but also explores complicated family dynamics.

Was happy to see another Gloria Chao book on the horizon, and liked it better than either of the books that it was compared to in the description.

I had high hopes for this one, and It looked very cute, but the fake dating thing, which I loved by the way, didn't last long enough for me and I felt like the book became repetitive

As much as I loved American Panda and enjoyed Our Wayward Fate, I think Rent a Boyfriend might be my least favorite novel from Gloria Chao by far.

Rent a Boyfriend is inspired by a real-life practice of hiring fake boyfriends to bring home so family members could lay off the pressure to find a husband, though Chao adapted this into a fictional version. In this one, Chloe hires a fake boyfriend (Andrew/Drew) from a company that specializes in this called Rent for Your ‘Rents so her parents would stop pressuring her to accept a proposal from Hongbo.

(Hongbo is the worst, though. Truly. I feel like I’d hire a fake boyfriend if my parents wanted me to marry someone like that as well.)

From my experiences with Chao’s previous novels, I usually go in with fewer expectations, mostly because there’s quite a bit of exaggeration, so if I go in with my usual I’m just going to walk out thoroughly disappointed. There are a lot of puns and funny moments that made me laugh out loud and to top it off, there’s the fake dating trope, which is by far one of my favorite tropes to read. I loved the banter between Drew and Chloe, especially the concept of Mooncake Points and sheep dressed as mooncakes (which I personally found was super cute, and I love that this pays homage to their heritage).

There are moments of seriousness as well, with a heavy focus on family and community dynamics throughout. At home, Chloe is Jing-Jing, someone who fits all the traditional boxes and hides her real self because the environment she’s in would punish her for it. There’s also an emphasis on trying to uphold cultural traditions as a child of immigrants while also wanting to fit into the culture you’ve been born in, something that deeply resonated with me at multiple points of the book. (I very much appreciated the recognition that there are blunders even within a culture and the different nuances between the diaspora umbrella.) Being a child of immigrants is very complex, and while this may come across as miscommunication to some, it’s difficult to communicate from both ends to make the other understand, though everyone involved cares. Chao depicts so well in her novels and it’s one of the reasons why I enjoy her writing style a lot.

But while I enjoyed this a lot, I did find this overly cringy; sometimes I feel Chao tries too hard and it just misses, making it awkward. Rent a Boyfriend does remind me of quite a few Asian romantic comedy dramas I’ve watched which do have their awkward moments and extreme exaggerations, but while I feel those actually have a good balance, Rent a Boyfriend doesn’t really have that balance. This could very well boil down to personal preferences, but there were quite a few moments that felt very over the top for me and I don’t know… it sometimes felt like a secondhand embarrassment. I’d go into a lot more detail, but then I’ll just end up spoiling parts of the book I’d rather not.

While I did read the eARC of it, I did end up listening to the audiobook narrated by Feodor Chin and Emily Woo Zeller during my reread instead of opting for an eBook. Zeller is a relatively familiar narrator for me, having listened to a few other works before Rent a Boyfriend and I generally enjoy her performances (although she’s sometimes a hit or miss for me), so it was nice to listen to her narrating again!

This was my first time listening to Feodor Chin and while I did enjoy his performance, I do feel it’ll be the same case for me with Zeller being a hit or miss depending on the book but maybe this will change in the future. I think the one thing that stuck out the most in their performance is when Chloe and Drew are texting each other, where they each read the text messages sent associated with the character they were narrating. As someone who’s a fan of full-cast audiobooks, I really liked that choice (perhaps it’s my favorite), although it was only when the two were texting.

Overall, this was cute while exploring family and culture and while I didn’t enjoy this one as much as I wished I could have, one iffy experience doesn’t mean I won’t pick up Chao’s future works.

I actually wasn't able to finish this book. I don't think it was for me. I tried and I LOVED this author but it fell kind of flat for me. I kept wanting the story to pick up and it didn't. Totally me though!

I'm sorry to report that this book didn't work for me. I struggled with connecting with the characters, and the story. After multiple attempts to finish this book, it didn't happen so I'm throwing in the towel.

Today’s review is going to be a bit fun! I will be posting my review in five gifs, which is what I did for We Are Not Free by Traci Chee. I’ll also talk a little bit about the book as it relates to my experience as an Asian American. I am not specifically Taiwanese American (I’m Chinese American), and I didn’t grow up with immigrant parents, so as a disclaimer here, I’d like to say I can’t speak on those specific identities.


I think this gif accurately portrays how freaking excited I was to read Rent a Boyfriend. From the opening line I was sucked in, and I couldn’t get enough of it! All I wanted to do was read it. Seriously, I think I ignored my partner more than once because I was too enthralled with my book (sorry!!). This book is such a delightful one full of voice and witty commentary with a reflective tone.


A major part of this book is Chloe/Jing Jing’s relationship with her parents, specifically her mom. There is a lot of hurt on Chloe’s part, from the backhanded compliments to the nagging about her single status, Chloe has a hard time with her mom. And this isn’t to say that her mom is terrible, you can truly tell that Chloe loves her mom and her family, but it’s a very difficult and complicated relationship to navigate as a young woman. I can totally attest to this as someone who’s going through growing pains with my mom. Chloe is constantly trying to balance who she is and who she thinks her parents want her to be, and that’s exhausting. It was great to see this part of growing up explored in this book.


Let’s definitely not forget to talk about the fake dating aspect of the book! It’s one of my top favorite tropes, and to see it with Asian main characters was truly a treat. I loved the realness between Chloe and Drew from the get go. They knew the terms of the agreement, but they also had a spark of truth behind every interaction. I loved watching their relationship develop over the course of the book. Drew and Chloe respected and pushed each other to do more and be more themselves. They weren’t afraid to be bare and honest, which really made their relationship stronger. Everything they went through felt so real, and I love that this practice is pulled straight from Asian culture as well.


Food also is a big element in the book. Chloe has a small, private point system for herself that’s measured in mooncakes. She accidentally lets it slip in front of Drew, and soon they’re both talking about the number of mooncake points different things would be worth. I love how this is a marriage of their Asian and American sides. Something Chloe struggles with a lot is how she feels like she straddles two different worlds and two different versions of herself. She feels like she’s disconnected with the Asian part of her identity, but she finds little ways to incorporate it in her life, especially through food. Drew is a wonderful force in her life in this regard. He helps Chloe meld her two selves and realize that both are equally important to who she is as a person.


Overall, I would give this book a bazillion mooncake points and two thumbs up from sheep in pajamas. This book is filled to the brim with angst, happiness, and a lot of growing. I’m definitely going to be rereading this in the future when I need a shot of joy in these bleak times. As to my own experience, I definitely related a lot to Chloe’s feelings of inauthenticity. I also occupy the liminal space of being Asian and American and sometimes not feeling like I’m enough of either to be part of the community. I love the heart that this book is written with, and I can’t recommend it enough.

Happy reading,

Sophie 🙂

I couldn’t get into this one but I do think that others would definitely enjoy this style of writing. Would still recommend this as I think others would enjoy

I really enjoyed this cute story although the idea of fake dating isn't really my kind of thing. I also like the Asian representation here because it's just too relatable. It was the conflicts that kept me excited to read more. And honestly, I just couldn't get enough of the blooming romance between Chloe and Drew and their journey to pursuing their dreams together.

Thank you Gloria Chao for providing me a copy of this book through NetGalley. All opinions in this review are my own.

I thought this book was pretty cute and tackled some relatable YA/NA topics well. It can be so hard to be bogged down by parental expectations while trying to figure out who you are and want you want to do with your life. The added miscommunications and barriers presented in this novel due to the cultural/generational differences presented by the MC's parents will also be relatable for readers who balance multiple identities; how do you balance what you need from life with what your parents and community want from you?
The romance was cute and the set-up was unconventional but also interestingly based on real life services. I didn't love every conflict in this book, but I would recommend it to readers who like fake dating tropes, reading about strained relationships between parents and child, and readers who are transitioning into adulthood.

I really enjoyed this book with vibes of Kiss Quotient and Crazy Rich Asians. I expected this book to be similar to American Panda, but the relationship and actions of characters make this more of a YA book (that adults will also enjoy). Chloe and Drew's story is predictable, but the dialogue has humor and sweetness. It's a fun book to read.

Chloe's traditional Taiwanese parents won't get off her back about dating a slimy-but-rich society catch. She hires Drew, who sidelines as a fake boyfriend, to ease some of the parental pressure. But what happens when she gets to know the real Drew? What happens when the fake arrangement is more real than Chloe had bargained for? And certainly more than Drew had bargained for. Can these two make something real from a completely faked beginning? Chao's tale is charming in its execution, with very real foibles and missteps overcome by a strong attachment. The characters are likable and the writing is fresh.

This book makes me really appreciate my parents!!

Gloria Chao just knows how to balance serious family issues with love and humor!

Pros:
It's so cool to read about a girl fighting for her best life even though her family doesn't think so. I think this book can and is very empowering!
Writing style was fun! Loved the included text messages
Romance was mostly believable but VERY enjoyable!
Seeing stories with complicated families is also reassuring!
I loved that the two main characters tried to encourage each other for the better
Story is based on a real tradition or service of "renting a boyfriend"

Con:
The miscommunication trope didn't feel to real - they gave up rather quickly after just bef=ginning though they just agreed that it wouldn't be easy. Seemed forced and just for the plot.


I would recommend this to everyone! Love Gloira Chao's work!
Heart warming and interesting stories, that tackle serious issues.

Rent a Boyfriend honestly looks like a fun and lighthearted read. While there are a lot of nice moments between the two main characters, Chloe and Drew, the story deals with a lot of hard themes as well. I really enjoyed the mixture of fluffy and difficult. There was a nice balance between the two. I think the writing was well done and kept my interest throughout. I really enjoyed this one and look forward to more from this author.

Thanks NetGalley for the preview!

I was instantly charmed by this fake dating idea and cannot resist the dual narrators in a will-they-won't-they story! I felt Chloe's emotions along with her and loved Drew's charm. If you've ever felt like you disappointed your family-read this book! I loved this story and learning about the 2 characters as well as their culture!

4.5 stars

Fake dating is my favorite romance trope, so I’ve been super exited for RENT A BOYFRIEND! I read it this past week and loved it! If you’re looking for more college YA, this book is perfect. It’s a fun romcom taking place over the holidays (Thanksgiving through Chinese New Year) starring Taiwanese-American characters.