⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.25
🌶️🌶️🌶️.5

What a way to kick off pride month! This book was full of queer joy and I am here for it!

I was bought in from the mozzarella stick meet cute and only fell more in love with Asher & Theo from there.

The set-up of a reality tv show was perfect and set the stage for some of my favorite tropes: fake dating, forced proximity and one bed. Like c’mon!

I loved getting to watch things become more real and how each became the other’s safe space. Their emotional connection led to some spice that felt raw and beautiful.

This was my first Chip Pons book but it won’t be the last.

Read if you like:
- M/M romances
- Fake Dating
- One Bed
- Forced Proximity
- Reality TV (especially The Amazing Race/Survivor)
- Meet Cutes

Thank you to Chip, Putnam and Netgalley for the eARC.

Chip Pons delivers an adorable and spicy rom-com that's perfect for summer reading! The story kicks off with Asher Bennet, whose hopes of competing on a reality show with his boyfriend are dashed when they break up at the airport. Drowning his sorrows at T.G.I. Friday's, Asher overhears Theo Fernandez, a pilot grounded for flying too much (yes, that really happens!). In a stroke of rom-com genius, Asher somehow convinces Theo to be his fake boyfriend for the competition.

I laughed, I cringed, and I completely fell for Asher and Theo. This book is a delightful escape that will leave you smiling.

This book had me constantly wanting more. I could not put it down (and I didn't want to!) because I was loving every moment of it.
I just loved Theo and Asher. Their connection was just the best.
These characters were fun, a little goofy, complex, and completely adorable.
A fun, sweet, and romantic story!

This book is like a warm hug wrapped in awkward banter and accidental feelings. When Jesse and Derek end up fake dating after a travel mishap, it turns into the most adorable, slow-burn friends-to-lovers story with so much heart. It’s goofy and fun, but there’s also real emotion underneath the chaos—about identity, taking risks, and finding the courage to want more. Jesse’s inner monologue is hilarious and painfully relatable, and Derek? A total softie in disguise. If you're into queer rom-coms with fake dating, travel vibes, and two disaster gays falling for each other in the sweetest way, this one’s for you.

After being broken up with by his boyfriend, Asher must find a new partner to compete with in a reality show competition. Enter Theo, an airplane pilot that is forced to take a much needed vacation. After a serendipitous meeting at the airport’s TJI Fridays, Theo agrees to help Asher. The only catch? They must pretend to be boyfriends in front of the camera. Through the challenges, both within the competition and their relationship, the guys start to realize there may be more to them than just their on-screen chemistry.

This book was so much fun from beginning to end! I love how they met and came together for the competition. They had some ups and downs, but I really liked how everything played out. The little competitions they had to do were pretty fun to read and I couldn’t help rooting for them. What I enjoyed even more were the little moments between them. Yes, there was some spice, but there were also so many heartfelt moments that added to so much to the story. Definitely recommend this one!

Thank you to NetGalley and Putnam Books for an eArc of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I doubt Chip Pons needs my endorsement--it seems like everyone loves Chip=-but I'll climb on the bandwagon. Winging It with You, his traditional romance debut, is FANTASTIC. Theo and Asher are fake-boyfriend gold--until the feelings turn real--and then they're just #goals.

Asher is dumped AT the airport, right before he and his boyfriend are supposed to fly to LA to appear on a reality tv competition show. Determined to go through with the show, he needs a new partner asap. Theo, a pilot who has been officially grounded, was just trying to get some mozzarella sticks, but he finds himself agreeing to be Asher's fake boyfriend and travel the world for the next several weeks. As they compete on the show and fake it for the cameras, the lines between reality tv and reality begin to blur, and they have to decide if what they're feeling is as real as they think it is.

It's swoony. It's sexy. It's tender. It's hilarious. This book checks all the perfect summer rom-com boxes. Definitely check this out--and it's out just in time for Pride Month!

Thank you so much to the publisher for my advance review copy.

This was cute!! I’m feeling burnt on romances right now so I started this a while ago and needed to put it down and revisit. Glad I did.

Asher gets dumped at the airport right before he and his boyfriend are about to board their flight for the reality tv show competition Epic Trek. While Asher is drowning his sorrows at the airport bar, Theo, a pilot who’s grounded for the next few weeks for a mandatory break, agrees to pretend to be his boyfriend and compete with him on the show.

Winging It With You is perfect summer romcom read if you love slow burn, fake dating, reality tv competitions, big feelings, and soft characters!

I love love love reading about queer joy and this book encompasses that while also not shying away from harder conversations about their pasts and backstories. Asher and Theo (#Thasher) are so freaking cute. I loved seeing them become more comfortable with each other and within themselves and omg the longing between these two was 🧑‍🍳💋

✨Read if you love
- slow burn
- only one bed
- mm romance
- good boy
- whirlwind romance
- fake dating
- he remembers his coffee order
- bit of a breeding kink

Chip Pons' Winging It With You is a heartwarming story of self-love and self-discovery. I've always been a hopeless romantic with a cynic's heart, so it's no surprise that this book put my heart back together again.

Asher Bennett is dumped at the airport by the boyfriend whose lifelong dream was to star on the world-wide travel competition reality show, The Epic Trek. He processes his feelings at an airport TGI Fridays over mimosas and mozzarella sticks. Theo Fernandez is pilot who has been grounded (literally and figuratively) by his employer with a mandate to find a work-life balance before he returns to work. He goes to share a pre-flight ritual with another pilot only to find out Asher has the last mozzarella sticks in the restaurant. Asher needs a partner for the show. Theo needs the mozzarella sticks, but more importantly, to decompress. So, Asher and Theo make a bet that leads to an adventure of a lifetime.

Theo and Asher are a perfect example of what it's like to be human--they're messy, they're perfectly imperfect, they're love personified. I loved watching Asher heal his broken heart through some of the most unusual challenges and I loved watching Theo learn to let himself love again. This book is steamy and hilarious and oh so sweet, but it also documents some of the challenges same-sex couples and queer people face on a daily basis. Chip has crafted a story that is a must-read and one that will still with me for many years to come.

Thank you Putnam for the e-ARC!

Live laugh love Thasher.

What an excellent sophomore novel and trad debut from Chip!! Theo and Asher were taking risk after risk both on the show and for each other and I ate it up. Thought I’d make it through without tears in my eyes. That was a lie. I truly believed in Theo and Asher and their love for each other.

"If traveling the world together has taught me anything, it's that the feeling of home doesn't always have to be a place.” 🥹✈️

Thank you to Netgalley and Putnam Books for the digital advanced reader copy of Winging It With You, all thoughts are my own!

Theo and Asher, aka #Thasher were such a quirky and vulnerable (and sexy🔥) yet all too real love story that was easy to get invested in! A meet-cute over mozzarella sticks - sign me up!!!

Probably one of the most unique plots I’ve ever read, this was a CUTE read with a lot of heart and queer joy throughout! I loved the “amazing race” vibes of the plot, and getting to travel on page to so many beautiful and unique places!

Read if you like:
✈️ fake dating
✈️ one bed
✈️ reality tv
✈️ strangers-to-lovers

4⭐️ 2🌶️

Fake Dating
Reality TV Romance
Only One Bed
Rom Com

Asher goes on a reality show, The Epic Trek, but right as he leaves for this show he gets dumped by his boyfriend. Theo is a pilot who is forced to take a vacation, and meets Asher at the airport, where he decides to be Asher’s fake boyfriend for the reality show. As the show goes on the two start to realize that this might be a real relationship they want. This was a fun, heartfelt rom-com book. I’m not a fan of the third act breakup and this book is no different, but I still overall enjoyed this story.

When Julie Soto recommends a book, you bet I’ll read it!!

This was a really fun and sweet book! I definitely used this as a palate cleanser as a heavier book and it was just what I needed.

I don’t read a ton of MM romances, but this one is convincing me to read more! It was very sweet and light and fluffy, exactly what you want in a romance!

Premise-wise this is really cool. Asher is dumped at the airport right as he is heading off to film an adventure reality show with his now ex. Theo’s a pilot who has just been grounded for not taking enough mandatory rest time from flying. It’s got fake dating and travel (ahem, one bed) so right off the bat I think it’ll tick a lot of boxes for readers. You’ll be taken to exotic locales, and will see Theo and Asher slowly fall for each other!!

Both Asher and Theo are such lovable characters that you’ll be immediately rooting for them, both to fall and love and to maybe win this reality show?

I really liked the start and end of the book, but it was a little slow for me in the middle. I did like the drama, and there was a slight miscommunication trope which is not my favorite, but was resolved quickly!

Thank you to Putnam Books and NetGalley for this eARC!!

This was a fun, fast paced romcom!

Asher and Theo fake date their way through a competition-style reality show (think the amazing race) after Asher’s actual boyfriend dumps him right before the show. The book follows them from adventure to adventure, which made the book feel like a fun quick read, but also perhaps a bit disjointed. The romance felt more like it was because of the close proximity rather than any thing else.

I think this will be a lot of fun as a beach read, it’s light and spicy. I love that an open door m/m romance written by a queer man will be on shelves!

Thank you @putnambooks @prhaudio for a copy of this book.

I love The Amazing Race and fake dating trope so I was so excited for this. Asher and Theo meets at the airport and through of series of events, Theo agrees to go on a reality tv show with Asher.

The story is cute and the challenges they do are entertaining. With these type of settings, the side characters are all surface level so it doesn't add any depth to the story.

I appreciate that there were distinct narrators for both characters but at part, I was confused with whose POV it was because they felt just a bit similar, especially during the challenges.

Lee Osorio and Michael Crouch did a good job the narration. I really enjoyed then parts with Theo's family.

I didn’t love Chip Pons’ first book at all. But given the time between books, the community of authors and the cover and marketing for this one, I thought I’d give it another try.

I’ll be clear… It’s not a bad book. But it’s taken me four days and I’m not even halfway through. I read a book every day, and can’t seem to connect with this one at all. There’s too much going on - and the show & rules in the background of it all don’t make sense and haven’t been explained enough. There’s just not enough character development up front to keep me interested at all in either character (why would Asher date someone he has NOTHING nice to say about? And I’m 45% in and know basically nothing about Theo). I wanted so badly to like it.

3.5⭐️ Survivor but make it queer and fake dating 🤭

This was so much fun, the main couple was completely adorable. I kept picturing survivor but with a horrible host (unfortunately he was no Jeff Probst, he’s the best).

I really loved the story, but it was hard for me to completely the challenges they participated in. I also felt like there were a few loose ends in the end. Now sure if there’s going to be another book, as like a series? Regardless it was a fun time!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for this ARC!

3.5 stars

I love a fun adventure romance, this one was fast paced, with lots of exotic locations! If you love The Amazing Race, you’ll enjoy this book.

This book takes place over the span of three to four weeks, so the romance aspect did feel a little rushed, but throw in the forced proximity of Theo and Asher together 24/7, this helped the romance between these two work.

Both of these knuckleheads have some emotional baggage, and for the most part the author does a good job having them work through it. My hope in the fictional world, they kept working on it off page as well.

Theo and Asher have great chemistry, and this book was well paced to keep me invested throughout.

This was a delightful read! I went in not knowing much about the book other than it was a MM romance and it was such a fun summer read. I enjoyed the premise of fake dating while on a reality tv show! I always loved The Amazing Race and this was a fun take on that type of reality show!
I felt that both characters were fully developed and had many layers to their personalities.
I really liked how the relationship developed throughout the whole book.
Overall, this was a really fun book about love and adventure with some spicy tossed in. Highly recommend for summer reading!

Chip Pons soaring into the skies with my heart - too cheesy?? So sorry.

You’ll love Winging it With You if you enjoy:
- competition reality shows
- fake dating
- putting on a show for each other 😏
- worldly travels
- casual breeding mentioned

Asher’s been dumped at the airport on his way to compete on the Epic Trek, his dream. But he needs a partner or he can’t be on the show. Theo, a pilot, has just been told he needs to take a mandatory vacation to limit his flight hours. One basket of mozzarella sticks later and these two are off.

Attraction: immediate. Chemistry: well…let’s just say they get there on their own time and when they do 🔥🌶️