⭐3/5 Rating

This book was a silly goofy time. I genuinely had this on as an audiobook while I aggressively cleaned my house yesterday and it served me well! It was an easy listen and had some moments that actually had me chuckling because, what on earth. This book was super weird and I didn’t find much of it realistic – but with that said! I did enjoy the fact that it wasn’t super realistic because I needed a bit of an escape from reality!

I thought that the story itself was clever because it’s all based around a fantasy book convention (definitely based on ACOTAR – I mean if you look at the cover, the size of the books on the cover look mighty similar to the fan favorite series, but maybe that is just me speculating). I would love to go to a retreat for a week based around my favorite book series, but I am also so awkward and would hate needing to dress up…

The romance was okay, but I was honestly more invested in the scavenger hunt throughout the story. I think there may have been a few character traits added midway through the story because they felt kind of disjointed and it was always a bit jarring to read. So go in with this in mind.

Overall, again, it was a silly goofy time and I wouldn’t go into this one too seriously, it’s a good time not a long time.

Anyways, as someone who doesn’t read spice in books, this book had a few skippable chapters so if you’re looking to read it without the spicy scenes (like I do), check out my open door warnings below!

⛔️Open Door Scenes: 25 & 31

📖Genres: Romance | Contemporary | Contemporary Romance

I enjoyed this one fair enough. It's definitely a "vibes" book in that if you think too much about the reality of the setup, it doesn't quite work. I honestly don't think such an intricate and complicated event/experience is possible (hell, even Disney World can't completely control the immersion in their attractions). But it is nice to pretend and to imagine that it could happen. And isn't that why we enjoy reading fiction?

I mean, who wouldn't want to visit their favorite fictional setting for a week?

The "rivals to lovers" trope is executed well here. Scott and Jennifer are fun characters and their interactions are fun. The side characters are done well here too. I liked that there was such a wide variety of people shown who enjoy this kind of romantic fantasy - men, women, married, single, people with kids and people without. It was great.

Now I need the real-life Elytheum series to be published! (Yes, I know it's a send-up of a bunch of very popular fantasy series, but the scenes and characters alluded to in this story are so interesting and I want to read the actual thing!)

3.5 stars

Just the book for any fangirl like myself. I feel seen lol. I’m usually not the biggest fan of fantasy aspects but this was so good. The concept of the book was so cool and it was genuinely fun to read. It’s truly a love letter for all romance lovers, all enemies to lovers readers and to all people who have ever found themselves in fandoms.

3.5
Book Boyfriend by Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegmund-Broka was a fun romp with an enemies to lovers trope.
The inclusion of the romantasy excursion was great because romantasy is HOT right now. I enjoyed this very quick read, but of their work together, it wasn't my fave. Great palate cleanser of a book!

This book gave me butterflies 🦋, blushes 😳, and all the bookish swoons. I love this writing duo, and they’ve done it again. This time serving up enemies-to-lovers perfection set against the backdrop of a romantasy fandom convention. Yes, it’s as fun as it sounds. 🧝‍♂️💘

Jennifer is the ultimate romantasy fangirl (relatable), and Scott is her workplace nemesis, grumpy, dismissive, and totally uninterested in her fictional obsessions… until he shows up in cosplay trying to become the “perfect book boyfriend.” Cue the banter, the tension, the longing looks during forced proximity fan activities 👀🔥

I loved how the story celebrates fandom, fantasy, and finding real love in unexpected places. Jennifer’s journey felt so genuine. It’s about owning your passions, asking for what you want, and realizing that maybe love can look like it does in books... with a little real-world mess along the way.

📚 Tropes & vibes you’ll love:
• Enemies-to-lovers
• Fandom + convention chaos
• A “grumpy guy tries to understand your favorite fantasy world” moment
• Bookish love, but make it real

This one is for everyone who’s ever crushed on a fictional character and secretly hoped the person across the office might just surprise you.

Definitely not a romance book I would gravitate to, but I did appreciate all the world building they did for the fantasy one week experience! It was really cheesy and the main female character was so annoying. A side character Erik didn’t really make sense of why he was needed in the story. Overall, not my cup of tea.

Thank you NetGalley and Berkley for this ARC!

Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka are two of my favorite writers because their books are always fantastic and totally immerse me in their characters. In this one, Jennifer Worth heads to an immersive fan getaway celebrating her favorite series, Elytheum Courts. And of course—because drama—her work nemesis Scott Daniels shows up. The same Scott who once said he didn’t even like the series. 🙄

But during the experience, Scott is suddenly determined to reinvent himself into the perfect book boyfriend—he’s flirty, confident, and wearing a costume that totally works (in a surprising, but good way). The tension in this book? AMAZING. I love when sexual tension is done right, and Emily and Austin always deliver.

Also, I can’t believe they created an entire romantasy series within the book. It was full of detail, but I never felt lost—I was actually kind of invested in the whole Elytheum world too. Honestly, go grab this book. You won’t be disappointed. I couldn’t put it down, and I’m already planning to listen to the audiobook!

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book contained more swoon-worthy moments than I could've imagined and I was completely swept up in it, just like Jennifer. I really appreciated Wibberley and Siegemund-Broka's world building for the books within the book. All of the information about Elytheum Courts was detailed and compelling. The setting of the immersive Experience was a book lover's dream, and I particularly appreciated the community of friends that Jennifer and Scott found while there.

My only disappointment in the book was related to the conflict between Jennifer and Scott. I thought they had absolutely electric chemistry at many points in the book. But there were moments where they were so harsh with each other that it almost pulled me out of the fantasy. Additionally, their final 'hurdle' in their relationship before the end of the book felt overly manufactured, their relationship was set up to be on such solid footing after an achingly slow burn, to have them fall apart over one conversation felt like too much.

In all, I felt absolutely drawn in by this book. The setting, the lovable and complex characters, and the tension between the main characters made it a delightful read. And I wouldn't mind reading the Elytheum Courts books either!

Thank you so much for an advanced copy of Book Boyfriend!

I really enjoyed this book. I love the writing style, the characters, and the storyline. Overall, it was a really good, engaging read!

Cute romance, but nothing earth shattering. I miscommunications seemed a bit forced at times. I liked the friendships though.

This was such a cute little Rom Com and I loved the concept. I love the forced proximity dynamic in the book as well and the enemies to lovers trope. This was a really cute read.

Thank you so much to Berkley & Netgally for this e-ARC.

I liked their transformation from enemies to lovers, as well as how they handled and resolved their problems. This book provided a really entertaining look at the world of romance. It sounds like a ton of fun to plan an event where you can lose yourself in your favorite fantasy world. It's lovely and entertaining to read. The friendships she made during the convention were one aspect of this that I liked. Another love story that was developing for some of the supporting characters caught me as well, and I was thrilled with how it ended. As a writing team, Emily and Austin were amazing, and I hope they continue to collaborate on many more novels!

Who wouldn’t want to run away from their life for a bit to interact with actors playing their favorite characters and immerse themselves into the fictional world with activities and a quest?

I enjoyed Book Boyfriend a lot and I thought the second half especially was really fun! It felt like a love letter to readers (especially fantasy readers) and the tropes were perfect.

I loved Emily and Austin as a writing duo, and I hope they continue writing together for many more books!

Thank you to Berkley Romance for the gifted copy! All thoughts are my own.

This book was such a fun take on the romantasy world. Creating an event when you immerse yourself in your favorite fantasy world sounds like an amazing time! On FMC Jessica, shows up hoping to find a connection and instead finds her work nemesis and coworker, Scott. This enemies to lovers romance had some great banter between the two made for quick and fun read.

This book was an excellent way to avoid a reading slump. It has elements of fantasy, but not so in depth that I could get lost.

This book takes the Fantasy ball trend and adds it to reality and romance, where a book girlie learns that not all can be a fantasy but it can come close in it's own way.

I felt such warm fuzzy feelings reading this book, and was quite happy knowing there wasn't a ton of smut which tend to overshower simple romance books these days.

The conclusions of all the characters not just the main couple truly made me happy, and I will definetly buy this soon to have on my own personal shelf.

Thank you @PRHaudio and @berkleyromance for my gifted ALC and ARC.

This month, the #winingdownbookclub read Boof Boyfriend. I listened to the book using the PRH audio app.

This wasn’t our favorite pick. While our group reads tons of romance, we don’t all read fantasy and you really need to enjoy fantasy to enjoy Book Boyfriend.

Jennifer is an absolute fanatic for the Elytheum series and I love that for her. She takes a week off of work to visit a college in North Carolina and participates in a fan event that immerses you the fantasy world. But her fun is diminished when her work rival is also at the same event. Can she really forget reality when Scott is also there?

The two main characters have very little chemistry for me. It seemed to me that they got together because there was no one else and they were both available. While I love the trope of enemies to lovers, Jennifer and Scott make much better enemies.

I would probably give this a 3.5. This is the third book I've read by these authors and while I enjoyed reading it and felt captivated at the time, I don't think this is one that will stick with me long term. The same way I would recommend The Breakup Tour to fans of Taylor Swift, I would recommend Book Boyfriend to fans of A Court of Thorns and Roses (and other romantasy, but especially ACOTAR). There were no glaring problems and there was nothing specific I didn't like, but there also wasn't anything that I found particularly heart-melting.

Book Boyfriend is perfect for fans of fantasy! Jennifer just got dumped, can't keep a relationship because she compares all her boyfriends to her book boyfriends, and as we all know, book boyfriends just don't meet reality. When she heads to a weekend retreat for fantasy lovers, think comicon for fantasy, she runs into her coworker, Scott Daniels. The competition between the two heats up as does the chemistry. This is the quintessential enemies to lovers trope!

This is a cute and fun read! It really is perfect for romantasy fans. I loved the setting and banter between the mc’s. It took me a while to get through because I kept putting it down and coming back to it, but that may just be because of my mood at the time.

Unfortunately, this was a DNF for me. While I know this writing duo can write some great books (I loved Do I Know You?), this was definitely not of the same quality. My dislike of both the heroine and hero was near-instantaneous, and that did not change as the story progressed. The setting could've been really interesting and fresh, but ultimately felt unnecessarily complicated instead. There was a ton of potential here, but too many things that rubbed me the wrong way.