Listen, I love a fake dating/teach me how(whatever that is) book. Following Eli as he is bogged down in his career because his boss is a complete ass and doesn’t want to actually talk about real stories(esp queer stories), Eli is desperate, so after going on a blind date with a man named Peter(this goes horribly and I thought it was hilarious), he decides to “help” Peter by showing him how to date…which he will use as his article. Of course Eli is lying about the full truth to Peter and so on and so forth.

Listen, Peter was the best character. I just love his personality and his heart. He was the biggest connection for me in the book because he was so willing to share his vulnerabilities.

Eli is getting alot of flack(that I’ve seen in reviews 😉), but I will say that I still liked Eli. I thought his connection with his mom and younger sibling was adorable.

The side characters are pretty one dimensional(but funny to me) and the whole reason for the fake dating was way too predictable. I also thought the grief that Eli had over his dad’s passing wasn’t flushed out well and felt like an afterthought to the overall story.

The narrator did a great job!

Thank you NetGalley and Harperaudio for the ALC!

I thought this was really good! I liked how much “natural” representation there was in this - no character felt added in just to check a box. I also really enjoyed how realistic the pacing of Eli and Peter’s relationship was, especially after everything at the end. The main conflict and plot was just slightly too predictable for me, but I enjoyed this overall.

The discussions this book has about being queer in small towns (and in general), as well as being trans are soso important and were put into this book with so much care and intention, and that really shined through throughout the whole story.

I also thought the narrator for this did an amazing job with the story - his voice really fit Eli perfectly and made it feel really immersive.

Thank you to Avon, HarperAudio, and Netgalley for the advanced copy!

firstly, thank you to the publisher for an arc and an alc!

2.5 stars because peter saved this entire book, despite everyone actively working to bring him down.

i’m sad i didn’t enjoy this adult debut by mason deaver because i really loved their ya debut i wish you all the best (which has a movie coming soon!).

but the build-a-boyfriend-project was a poor take on the fake-dating trope (one of my absolute favorite tropes because YEARNING).

our mmc eli is being deliberately held back at his online reporting job, being denied the staff writer position he’s been vying for for the past five years — not to mention he reports to his ex, who just broke up with him after being together for seven years. when the opportunity arises for eli to showcase his writing in the way his company wants (which is the exact opposite of eli’s passion, btw), eli takes the opportunity to finally earn his promotion… but at the expense of destroying his budding friendship and romantic relationship with peter, a young queer man from the south with zero dating experience.

ultimately, eli takes peter’s lack of dating experience and utilizes it to write a shmear article on peter to get a leg up in his promotion, ultimately embarrassing and breaking peter’s trust — and then eli wallows like HE is the victim, not peter…

while i DO understand eli’s motivation to earn his promotion after being wrongfully denied for years, how is bringing down someone you considered a friend and potential romantic partner the best way to go about it? of course, eli was remorseful but only because he couldn’t have his cake and eat it too…

as for the audio, the narrator was ok — i wish they had a little more emotion while reading.