Rent a Boyfriend was a fun rom-com that I absolutely adored! It's a fresh take on fake dating. It follows Chloe, who is home from college and sick of her parents pestering her to get married. She hires Drew to be her fake boyfriend in order to get her parents off her back for a while. She's not expecting to fall for Drew.

Told in alternating perspectives between Chloe and Drew, this book takes a look at different family dynamics. Both are Asian-American and have very different yet unifying experiences of being the child of immigrants. Chloe is pushing back against her parents expectations and trying to keep the peace, while Drew is estranged from his family because of his passion for art.

This is ultimately a fun rom-com that also has some serious elements in it. It explores the pressure put on the children of immigrants, and especially, the struggles that women face. I really enjoyed it and will be recommending it a lot at my library. Readers who enjoyed Gloria Chao's previous books will adore this one. I will also be recommending it to fans of David Yoon!

When I first heard the premise of Gloria Chao’s Rent a Boyfriend, I fell in love. Then I saw the gorgeous pink cover and literally wanted a framed portrait of it on my wall. Filled with an adorable romance and food descriptions, this fun storyline had me hooked from the first page. However, while I adored the concept and romantic banter, I didn’t love the actual book as much as I loved the idea of it.

I’ve read all of Gloria Chao’s books so far, and Rent a Boyfriend is probably my favorite out of all she’s written, followed shortly by Our Wayward Fate. I always have such complex feelings over Gloria Chao’s books because while I’m always swept away by her fun premises and cute romance storyline, I’ve found that her writing style just isn’t for me.

Part of the reason why I struggle with Gloria Chao’s books are because her parents are much more extreme and traditional than my own so I found it difficult to empathize with them. Still, I understand how each diaspora individual’s story is unique so I appreciated getting to see a different perspective than what I grew up with.

I’ve also noticed a pattern with Gloria Chao’s storylines with how the main characters constantly want to break free from their overbearing parents despite their stringent nature coming from a place of love. Her writing style also tends to rely heavily on the same jokes, and in this case, it was “a piece of mooncake” like “a slice of cake” or “mooncake points” like “brownie points.” The first few mentions were fun and clever, but after the 20th time, I grew tired.

Still, this plotline of hiring a boyfriend and falling in love with them was so fun to watch unfold. While I didn’t click with Chao’s writing initially, I’ve grown to slowly enjoy her books more and more over time. This book doesn’t make my all-time favorites list, but it was still a fun and enjoyable read. I especially think this book would be a great fit for those who are between middle school and high school!

My first impression upon seeing the title, Rent A Boyfriend was that The Kissing Quotient meets Taiwanese teenagers! Rent A Boyfriend feels like the teenager version of The Kissing Quotient by Helen Hoang! In The Kissing Quotient, the main character Stella hired an escort to help her practice in the dating department and that’s where the resemblance ends. In Rent A Boyfriend, Chloe Wang (Jing Jing 晶晶) was forced to rent a boyfriend to impress her parents to the point where they would drop the proposal from Hongbo, the richest and (snobbiest) young bachelor in their Asian-American community. She needs to find a way to change her parents’ mind before New Year’s (the deadline to say YES), when clearly all she wants to say is NO, and make a run for her life back to Chicago.

As an Asian-American myself, I understand how these “tiger parents” are, they want what they believe is “the best” for you, but without really understanding what you want. When you are in high school, they want you to make the best choices for college and career. When you graduate from college, they want you to find the best man to marry, especially if he is a millionaire. After you get married, all they will ever ask is when you will have children! I understand that being parents is a never-ending worry, but at the same time, they need to learn to give you space to make your own decisions and mistakes. Luckily, mine were pretty reasonable most of the time with my decisions. Jing Jing was not given this choice. Her parents want to make her marry someone she doesn’t LOVE! She took matters into her own hands by hiring Andrew to play the part of her boyfriend, who has won all the mooncake points from her! (Inside joke!)

I love all the cultural references such as the Mid-Autumn Festival with Cháng’é (moon goddess) and the mooncakes. The mention of qípáo (Chinese dress), miànzi (saving face is such a huge part of Asian community!), xiàoshùn (demonstrating filial piety, another huge part of Asian culture!) and mahjong. I especially love all the amazing Asian food references – chāoshāo bāo (Cantonesebun filled with barbecue pork), dòuhuā (soft tofu dessert), bubble tea, sībîng (turnip strip cake), banh mi (Vietnamese sandwich), wontons and even the Frankenbao! This is making me hungry and craving for some dim sum and Asian food.

Rent A Boyfriend had me feeling nostalgic, sad and joyful following the fake love to real love relationships between Chloe and Drew. I understand the hardship Drew had as an artist. At one point in my life I had thought I would be working in an artistic field, so I connected with Drew on that level, as well as to the hardship Chloe had as a daughter. I especially LOVE how Drew shares his art with Chloe after hiding it from the world for so long. I love the mention of Cháng’é, the moon and the sheep with antigravity boots over and over! That scene will look amazing in a movie! The buildup of Chloe and Drew’s relationship, was so on point for a rom-com movie that I would totally buy a movie ticket for it! At certain points in the story, I want to punch Hongbo for being a rich bastard who thinks he can get away with anything!

If you are ready for some good laughs and a few oh no! scenes, I highly recommend tackling this book with a smile. Gloria Chao did an amazing job representing the common practices in Asian culture and nailed the fake love to real love scenario! Luckily, I never had to consider using a Rent for Your ‘Rents service!

Rating: 5 out of 5 mooncakes

This was so cute! I loved the main characters and identified with the rocky relationship with the parents. I will highly recommend this to readers at my library!

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Rent a Boyfriend. It was adorable and chock full of family feelings that felt very real. Gloria Chao remains an auto-buy author for me.

Unfortunately I couldn’t finish this. This is my first book by this author and the characters and narration just didn’t work for me. I found the story a little repetitive and I didn’t feel drawn in by the plot or the characters enough to finish it based on that. I love fake dating, but I just think this execution wasn’t for me!

Loved this book! It was a super fun read with one of my favorite tropes: fake dating. I loved seeing the different sides of the couple, and their struggles to reconcile them. I especially loved the way Chloe was written.

There are two Chloes. The Chloe who is the dutiful daughter and the Chloe IRL. And the dutiful daughter knows she has to make her parents happy, even if that means renting a boyfriend for the holidays because her parents want to arrange a marriage between her and this sleazy boy they know.

Enter Drew. Drew likes this job because it helps support his art career. And he knows family is important. He can't mess this job up. But when he meets Chloes, there's just something about her...

I really love the tension and drama that Chloe feels whenever she is with her parents. The urgency is very true, feeling the Chloe's anxiety as she meets this boy her parent want her to marry, and she knows he is up to no good. Between trying to please her parents and be true to herself, it's so easy to see how Chloe got herself into this mess. I also love her parents. Chao does a wonderful job of writing of very complex relationships where no one bad, but they're all trying to do the right/best thing. And those things are totally different depending on where you're standing

>I also really like Drew and his family situation. I love how passionate he is about his art and how he misses his family. He owns up to his mistakes and tries to be supportive and a good person.

That said, I had some problems with the book. I didn't feel like Drew or Chloe had any chemistry. Like none. It was more like they kept talking about how attracted they were to each other, but I never saw it. I also feel like the plot moved a bit too slow for me.

So maybe not my cup of tea. But I think anyone who likes YA contemporary should try it out. The book has some really well thought layers of culture and family and I think that's what makes it stands out.

I think this book had a lot to offer but it fell short. It felt long reading it, even though I don't think it was particularly. The pacing felt off, as well. There was a point in the middle were it felt like the third act was closing and the book was ending--only to find out that there was still 50% of the book to go.

I loved the premise of Drew being Chloe's fake boyfriend for the holidays. Seeing them going through multiple holidays together was a slight variation on the typical "fake boyfriend for the holidays' set up. And Gloria Chao did a great job making me care about both characters.

Beyond the slightly odd structure of the book, I found it really hard to handle Chloe's parents after the midway point of the book. And since the book focuses so much on them, they are impossible to ignore. They're everywhere, even in the scenes that are supposed to be about Chloe and Drew and their feeling for each other. I can accept that they spend most of the book being terrible, that they don't grow or change through most of it because that's real life. But Chloe doesn't change either for the longest time. She learns nothing for the first two thirds of the book. So you're just watching her parents being abusive, and her being upset but accepting it and doing nothing to try to change it. It brings the reader into an abusive cycle that is both extremely unpleasant but also boring, and in way I don't think the book recognizes. By the time it starts to course correct, the reader is already worn out.

This was a enjoyable story. It was a good mixture of fun and serious. I appreciated the Chinese traditions that were included in the story. Reading this made me consistently hungry. It's a great young adult book.

Rent a Boyfriend was EXACTLY what I needed. It drew me in right from the beginning and didn't let me go.

Chloe/Jing Jing is coming home from college and decides to rent a boyfriend to appease her parents and also get away from Hong Bo, whom they want her to marry. She is caught between two worlds, college, where she is Chloe, and home where she is Jing Jing.

Drew works for Rent for your 'Rents and accepts a weekend invitation to be Chloe's boyfriend. His family pretty much disowned him when he dropped out of college to pursue art so this is his way of making ends meet.

Throughout their fake relationship you can feel the tension between Chloe and Drew. It's intense! I loved watching them come together, but also stay apart. It was not to say that they didn't have some struggles.

Chloe's family was so intense! Their determination to marry her off to someone who had money, when she was still "pure" was crazy. They lacked total understanding of what Chloe wanted, which is consistent with their background and upbringing.

Rent a Boyfriend was cute and fun with plenty of banter. Highly recommend!

This was sweet, very funny, and deeply touching. The romance felt a little clunky however, and the pacing was slightly uneven.

This is a super cute rom-com with a heart of gold. Plus it is my favorite: fake dating! I found Chloe's parents to be truly horrible bu I know cultural traditions can be really hard to break even when it is harmful.

I really loved this fake relationship. For some reason there were parts that it felt like it was dragging on. Overall it was a fun read.

Gloria Chao is a solidly reliable author. I know that if I open up one of her books, I am going to get a read that will keep my attention with characters I care about and a good plot. Rent A Boyfriend, Chao’s third book, delivered on all my expectations. This was one of the first physical books I read as I was nearing the end of my first trimester, so coming out of being sick all the time. Thus, it has a special place in my heart for that reason – which is totally unrelated to the merits of the book itself.

Rent A Boyfriend is about Chloe Wang who hires a fake boyfriend to get her parents off her back about marrying this other guy who is completely terrible. As the book opens, Chloe has not yet met Drew Chan from Rent for Your ‘Rents and so she’s nervous. They share an Uber from the airport and Chloe gets to know him just a little bit. From there, Drew leans into his role and he’s very good at it. We learn that there’s different categories of parents and Drew has got it down.

Meanwhile, we also learn about Chloe’s relationship with her parents and how it really isn’t perfect. Especially with the expectations placed on her to find a man who can provide for her. Chloe wants to provide for herself and certainly has the ability to do so. As Chloe gets to know Drew, she falls for the real Drew, not the persona he puts on for his job. You see, Drew is an aspiring artist. This means that he would not be good enough as himself for Chloe’s parents. Still, the chemistry is there and it is undeniable.

I loved that Rent A Boyfriend begins with Thanksgiving. It made me feel happy because it takes place over the holiday season. I actually probably should have counted this among my holiday reading as it had Thanksgiving, Christmas and Chinese New Year. The chemistry between Chloe and Drew is believable. As is the progression of their relationship. Chloe and Drew are both well written characters in their own right. I think that if you’re a reader who loves books about family dynamics, people finding their voice and courage, and romance, you will love Gloria Chao’s Rent A Boyfriend as much as I did.

If you love the fake dating trope, then you will adore Rent a Boyfriend! I enjoyed following along Chloe and Andrew (this book has dual POVs) as they meet through the most unconventional way: Rent for Your ‘Rents, the fake boyfriend service. Everything unravels into a disastrous situation & the personal struggles that both of these characters go through made me feel so much for them--from Chloe's pressure to get engaged to Drew's falling out with his parents due to chasing a career they didn't approve.

Living up to parents expectations is a big theme in this book as well as the courage it takes to follow your own path. And Rent a Boyfriend is PACKED with delicious descriptions of food, so be warned, make sure to have a snack before reading or else you will get hungry! All in all it was a great read for me and I had fun reading this rom-com!!

"Game. On. All I had to do was convince my parents that Andrew was the love of my life and theirs. Piece of (moon)cake, right?"

ing-Jing (Chloe - American name) Wang hires Drew as Rent for your ‘Rents as fake boyfriend to take home for Thanksgiving. Her parents really want her to marry Hongbo - a rich, whiny playboy who doesn’t respect women. But when Drew and Jing-Jing end up spending more holiday ‘dates’ together; they end up getting along so well. Drew is an operative for Rent for your ‘Rents; only cause his own parents disowned him and he needs to make his own rent. He dropped out of college to pursue his passion for art. Hello sheep in pjs! His parents considers art related career as ‘lese’ (garbage). So as Jing-Jing and Drew continue to stage a fake dating relationship to her parents and their tight knit Asian American community, they can’t help wonder if their lies affect their future together as a real couple.
This novel was an amazing read for me! I rarely can connect to all characters in a story. The author Gloria Chao does a well rounded job of creating multiple layers of characters as first generation immigrants Taiwanese vs American born Taiwanese kids. Especially ‘xiao shun’ our parents, their friends that aren’t blood related but we address as ‘ayi or shushu’ as sign of respect. While the story is filled with traditional Taiwanese themes: honor, save face, responsibilities; There is huge major drool worthy mention of Taiwanese food dishes! Us Taiwanese love food. Just check out our night markets.

American Panda is awesome, Our Wayward Fat is good and Rent a Boyfriend is a okay read. Gloria Chao wrote a good story ith vivid characters.

Chloe Wang hires a fake boyfriend, Drew Chan, from Rent for Your 'Rents to take home to her parents during the holidays. However, who would have known that she will fall in love with Drew. Sometimes love can be found in the most unexpected places and situations.

Chloe wants to appease her parents and to get away from Hongbo Kuo. While her parents try to set up an arranged marriage, Chloe wants to make her own choices. Drew takes on the job as pretend boyfriend in order to earn money so he can pursue his dream being an artist.

From the first page, I fell in love with Gloria Chao's writing. It reads effortless and smoothly. I love Chloe from the start and understood exactly how she feels when she has those internal monologues. Rent a Boyfriend is written in two POVs with Chloe and Drew alternating chapters. Chloe and Drew both are hilarious. Their reactions to what Chloe's parents have to say are priceless. I couldn't stop chuckling when reading the novel.

I can understand how Chloe feels about the expectations her parents pave for her. Although my parents let me choose my own path in life, I can relate to typical Chinese expectations and wants for their children. Chao's incorporates humor within the novel and showcases cultural differences between Chinese culture and the western culture. I appreciate her subtext regarding certain Chinese traditions and concepts. Things like mentioning mooncake points instead of brownie points makes the characters more believable.

Rent a Boyfriend is a heartfelt contemporary novel where family expectations, finding yourself and cultural identity collide. Join Chloe and Drew on a love adventure they didn't know existed.

I adore this author and that mean I could NOT WAIT to dive into Chao’s latest novel. The premise sounded intriguing and I love the cover. Sounds like the trifecta for a book I would love… and it was! I really enjoyed this and could not get enough of it. One thing I found fascinating was that this practice actually takes place. That blew my mind! As a white female, I do not have an insight into Chinese culture or family dynamics so it was an eye opener. That made me feel bad for the MC, Chloe. She wanted to escape her over-bearing parents and hoped renting a boyfriend for a family visit help with that. What happened as a result of this choice arrangement was nothing short of charming, hilarious, and romantic.

Chao’s writing style is just one thing that will always keep me coming back to her. She writes with snark, wit, and depth. Her characters are deeply flawed yet relatable, the settings are well developed, and the topics feel real. There is not any cringy-worthy instalove. Normally her stories are slow burns and I’m always here for a slow burn love story.

I will not stop gushing about how much fun this story was. There were parts that were tough to get through, mainly the conversations between Chloe and her mother because there was such a cultural difference. By that I mean Chloe was not raised in what could be construed as misogynistic behavior. Her mother wanted to arrange a marriage, did not believe she would be anything without being married, and that she should want nothing more than to be married and have babies. That was not Chloe at all. Plus, there were times Chloe’s mother ‘fat shamed’ her and it made me want to smack her. Those topics just made the story feel more believable.

Please pick this one up if you have not already. This was such a great story and my only complaint is that I have to wait so long for her next story.