Picture-Perfect Boyfriend by Becky Dean
Two strangers, one tropical island, and lots of lies in this
funny beach romance from the author of Love & Other Great
Expectations!
Aspiring nature photographer Kenzie Reed just can’t get her
straitlaced family of optometrists to take her art seriously.
She’s resigned to putting aside her dreams and accepting the
depressing life that awaits her at the family business. She even
makes up a fake, boring boyfriend—Jacob—to get her parents off
her back.
But when the Reeds arrive in Hawaii for spring break, Kenzie is
shocked that "Jacob" shows up at the airport—and joins their
vacation. Kenzie can’t reveal him as a fraud without confessing
her lie, so she’s stuck playing along while trying to find out
who he really is.
No way is she going to actually fall for him—because even though
he’s funny, nice, smart, and cute, he’s also a liar. Isn’t he?
Filled with warm summer breezes and salty sea air, Becky
Dean’s Picture-Perfect Boyfriend will sweep you off your feet
into a tropical paradise, sun on your shoulders—where love is
just around a palm tree.
I just finished reading an ARC of Picture-Perfect Boyfriend by Becky
Dean - and I'm surprised by how much I enjoyed it! The blurb had me
requesting this one on Netgalley and it was quite unique - imagine
making up a fake boyfriend in a scheme to reassure your parents that
you've changed for the 'better' and he shows up to meet you on your
family vacation 😂 and no it's not a fantasy book, it's a YA romcom and
there's a reason lol.
Kenzie has always loved photography and unlike her siblings who are
well-organized, she's more impulsive, easily distracted and can wander
away for hours at a time while trying to capture the perfect pic. And
her parents think that this isn't a viable career option and would
rather she work in their family-run optometry business. After a few bad
experiences and a failed competition, Kenzie decides to reinvent herself
by becoming the 'perfect' daughter who loves optometry and has a
'boyfriend' - Jake(one that her parents approve of). When she and her
family go on a vacation to Hawaii, she's shocked when her
fake(/imaginary) bf shows up at the airport to greet them and he seems
to know many of the details that she'd made up about their relationship.
As she plays along in a bid to find out his agenda while trying not to
disappoint her family, she's surprised to find herself falling for him
especially when he's the one who sees the real her and encourages her to
follow her passion!
It took me a while to get into this one, but once I did it was so
enjoyable - and I loved the second half more! Though it was easy to
dislike Kenzie's family at first, I found them to be well-developed
characters by the end and I could see why they behaved the way they did.
I loved her Gran the most! And her brother - Tyler was pretty smart and
hilarious! Kenzie's sister - Alana was the opposite of her, but she's
actually supportive and protective of her in the end. And it was cute to
see Kenzie's relationship development with Jake too! I loved how he
pushed her to be herself and helped her get past her fears, while she
also helped him navigate his family struggles!
I'd have loved to see more about his family and their interactions too,
but the book's focus is on Kenzie and her character development - so I
was pretty satisfied with that! At first, I didn't understand why Kenzie
was so set on being a completely different person when it was making her
so unhappy, but as we get to know more about her, we can see how her
family dynamics and the fear of failure, made her think this way. So I
loved watching her grow and face her fears. There were many hilarious
moments throughout the story and the conclusion was pretty satisfactory
too!
In the end, this was a cute YA romcom with an interesting spin on fake
dating(one of my fave tropes if you must know😆) that I enjoyed reading
and I'm looking forward to reading more from this author soon!❣️✨
You can also find this review on my bookstagram here
*I was provided with an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest
review*
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Becky Dean is a fan of adventures both real and fictional. When she’s
not writing or traveling, she can be found drinking tea, watching
science fiction shows or Jane Austen adaptations, or quoting The Lord of
the Rings. Though she’s a proud Baylor grad and lives in Texas with her
husband, she remains a Southern California girl at heart.
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