If grumpy/sunshine is a favorite trope in romances, you’re going to enjoy Jenny Holiday’s Book Club Boyfriend. I picked it up because of the words “book club”, but it didn’t take me long to fall in love with both troubled leads, Blair Kellermoon and Jack Branksome. But, what’s with those last names?
Blair Kellermoon, a former rom-com star, has two children in college, is going through a divorce, and she’s struggling with her latest project as a film producer. However, her “Books with Blair” quarterly book club makes bestsellers of the books she loves, or brings them back to the attention of the public. She’s hoping Jack Branksome, author of In Times, a book that hit her heart, will agree to appear for her book club. Jack, who has a reputation as a curmudgeon, isn’t even kind when he turns her down. He only makes it worse when he refers to her “little projects on the go” in The New Yorker.
When Jack realizes how rude he was, he texts Blair to apologize. He may have been rude, but they hit it off with their witty, honest texts. He admits he’s having trouble writing his second book, and his deadline has already been pushed back once. Because she’s lonely, and enjoys their conversations, Blair offers him the use of her pool house so he can work on his book. To the surprise of both of them, he accepts.
Blair and Jack have a lot in common. They’re both stuck. She’s desperate to produce the film of “Green Light”, a YA novel based on The Great Gatsby, but can’t find a screenwriter. He’s desperate for inspiration for his second novel after two chapters of his work-in-progress are leaked, and no one is impressed. They both have issues, mental health and emotional ones. But somehow, over Southern food, drinks, and movie nights, they make a connection.
Book Club Boyfriend is a romance, so, of course, there is sex and break-ups. However, their issues cause their break-ups. Blair has undiagnosed anxiety issues and OCD. Jack suffers from comparisons to his famous father, and the rigid upbringing he had. It’s books, and writing, and conversations that bring them together.
Holiday creates appealing characters, including supporting female characters, Blair’s daughter Esme, her film partner Tiffany, and Jack’s childhood friend, Allie. She has comic scenes with Blair’s neighbor over the fence. It’s Blair and Jack, though, two troubled, sympathetic characters who keep the story moving in the entertaining romance, Book Club Boyfriend.
Jenny Holiday’s website is https://www.jennyholiday.com/
Book Club Boyfriend by Jenny Holiday. Forever, 2026. 400p.
FTC Full Disclosure – Library book
