I’ll be honest, I DNFed this book. For starters, this is not the rom com it claims to be. It is very much a woman’s fiction novel with a little romance thrown in (but the romance wasn’t even very good because I didn’t feel like Nicola and Mike had chemistry at all.) Additionally, I didn’t enjoy the writing - it was very redundant and often felt like I was just reading lists about what the Nikki did/was currently doing. There was just far too many things about this story that bothered me so I just couldn’t finish it.

The two strongest qualities of White Boyfriend are its observations on race and on family. I particularly identified with Nikki’s struggle with her overly strict, patronizing father; the dialogue in their scenes is highly realistic. McCoy’s earnestness when discussing how race affects dating and the strong Black-focused aspect of the novel should also be commended.

Ultimately, however, White Boyfriend fell flat for me. The writing lacks energy and reads more like a series of loosely connected events—this novel would probably make an interesting TV series!—rather than a cohesive whole. The last 10% of the story was also a huge doozy to read, especially after the ambling pace of the first 90%.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookoutre for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Let's start off by saying I think this book has been incorrectly marketed.

White Boyfriend is about Nikki – a young black woman who, after a sudden break-up, is thrown headfirst back into the world of casual dating. Determined to keep an open mind and step outside her comfort zone, Nikki soon discovers that dating outside your race can come with a heavy dose of bizarre stereotypes… and they aren’t always what you’d think.

I did actually like Niki as a whole and her goals to change herself. I noted the changes and growth she had throughout this story. The hero Mike was underdeveloped - we found out about his past and his family lives however what did he do for a living - never really explained -his philosophy on life was a little wishy-washy if you ask me. I mean he's a free spirit who makes no plans but runs an unknown stock exchange business - doesn't match to me.

All in all, I think the ending fell short for me and with a bit of character development and a better ending this book could be really good.

This was just....not good. The comparisons to The Hating Game and The Friend Zone didn't make any sense to me. This is women's fiction, not a romance (there's no HEA for the main character and boyfriend), so listing those other books makes it seem like this is more of a romance. The writing was just eh. The main character's interactions with her parents were just ridiculous. There was an out sized amount of time talking about sex toys. I've got no objection to them, but good lord this book mentioned them a lot-even including where the main character bought them from as well as specific model. Very disappointing. I would not read another book by this author and I will not purchase this book for my library.

One thing I have to say is that this book took me on a journey. Nikki is so browbeaten by expectation, I wanted her to find a way out of that mindset. The theme of seeking parental approval way into adulthood shone through in this book. It was so well handled and I totally got it.

I enjoyed the friendships within Nikki’s little group. The relationships were fun, bold and warm. For the friendship factor alone, White Boyfriend, provided a lot of entertainment and light humour. I loved the holiday scenes. They certainly brought the laughs along.

I found myself mulling over the ending for a while. To me, it was perfect. This is a story about one woman finally having the freedom to find herself and that was a joy to read!

I’m really sorry to say that I didn’t enjoy this one. In my opinion it is unfair to the author to imply in the marketing that this is a romance novel with similarities to Talia Hibbert and The Hating Game, since I don’t think it has any similarities to THG at all and the only similarity I could see with Talia Hibbert’s work is that the main character is a black woman, but this feels like a flimsy reason to compare the two. I also honestly wouldn’t really consider this to be a romance, it is solidly a women’s fiction book about a woman learning to be herself and enjoy life with the support of her friends. This is totally fine, but I think it’s important that this clarification is made to temper reader’s expectations. I saw another reviewer suggest that the title is misleading in this respect and I agree.

I didn’t mind the main character of Nikki, although I must say I found her narration a bit boring. At times it felt as though I was reading a list of everything she did that day without me learning anything about her as a character. My main qualm however is that I felt her and Mike had no chemistry, and I actually felt totally misled by the character of Mike. The book description calls him “dorky” but he actually gave me nice-guy/soft-boi/flakey-hippy-who-uses-being-a-free-spirit-as-an-excuse-for-being-a-jerk energy and I was not a fan in the slightest. I’m generally not into self-help books and the like, and I think that Mike’s association with this very specific brand of ‘wellness’ tainted the character for me.

I also found the book’s treatment of sex very odd - sex/masturbation/sex toys are discussed frequently by Nikki and her friends (which is great! I love healthy female friendships where sex can be talked about!), yet when Nikki and Mike get together, all the bedroom scenes are fade-to-black. This is obviously fine and I know that some people don’t want ‘steaminess’ in the books they read, but I just found it to be inconsistent with the frequency sex was mentioned in other scenarios in the book! Also, this was another point which made me think the comparison to Talia Hibbert and THG was misleading.

I have added a star because I think there is value in the discussions of black women’s hesitancy of entering interracial relationships, and the stigma which still exists today. I also thought the portrayal of female friendship was pretty good (though I did find her friends to be pretty grating at times lol).

Honestly I could probably pick apart stuff I didn’t like about this book all day but I don’t want to be cruel so I’ll leave it here. I’m sure this book will be some people’s cup of tea but it’s just not for me!

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for letting me read an e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

It took me a while to get into the authors writing style and when I did I was enjoying the book, I liked the storyline and I liked the characters and their development. However the ending fell really flat for me, it just sort of ended and left me feeling disappointed. I would have scored higher of the ending had been better.

I really wanted to like this book, but I couldn’t connect with the characters or writing style. That doesn’t mean it’s not a good book, of course—everyone has different tastes so if the description appeals to you, give it a go.⭐️⭐️⭐️

Although there where moments where I laughed out loud, Nik's story kind of fell flat at the end. It was packaged as independence, and yet I cant help but think she was running from her problems. Again.

This ARC was provided to me via Kindle, Bookouture and by #NetGalley. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

Liked the book, the main characters journey and evolution of the characters. Didn’t the abrupt ending. I was going to give it a higher rating until said abrupt ending, it really bugs me.

I was intending on giving this a three at the least because there were some plus however that ending dropped it down to a two for sure.

The ending was abrupt and unnecessary, considering the characters and the development throughout the book that ending seemed out of the blue. I can get an ending like this for a women's fiction but not a romance not without some in-depth look a the MC past, present, and future.

I liked Niki as a whole and her goals to change her life. I appreciated the changes and growth she had throughout this story. The male MC Mike was underdeveloped - like we found out about his past and his family lives however what did he do for a living - never really explained -his philosophy on life was a little wishy-washy if you ask me. I mean he's a free spirit who makes no plans but runs an unknown stock exchange business - doesn't match to me.

I feel like the conflict between the two main characters could have been an issue had it had more legs to stand on. I feel like it came out of nowhere near the end to have a conflict to justify that ending.

The amount of time the characters say "sis and make it make sense was overkill. Niki's friends were a delight, loved the dynamics and the love they shared.

All in all the ending disappointed me - with a new ending and a little more development of the characters' stories and conflicts this could have been a great book.

White Boyfriend is a wonderful story of how important it is to have a supportive group of friends while embarking on a journey to find yourself. After Nikki is dumped by her boyfriend, Bron, she finds herself learning to enjoy life on her own. Thanks to her awesome circle of girl friends, she begins to take a yoga class where she meets the easy-going Mike. They quickly strike up a friendship that opens Nikki’s eyes to a new life of spontaneity and adventure which grows into more. While dealing with her ex-boyfriend and overly strict parents, Nikki has to learn to take a stand for herself.

I found myself smiling a lot as a read through this book. The friendship between Nikki and Mike was very refreshing and I honestly wouldn’t mind if it hadn’t even gone past a friendship. I could really connect with Nikki’s struggle with her overbearing parents. I also really enjoyed the friend group that Nikki was a part of. It’s refreshing to see a group of friends with no drama lifting each other up.

While I did enjoy most of the book, there were a few things that threw me off. I had a difficult time with calculating the passage of time in this book. A lot of the major events from the beginning to the end of the book seemed to happen within just a few weeks of each other, however I was surprised to read at one point we had jumped from 2 months from her break-up to 6 months. It really did not make sense with the timeline of events.

(This is spoiler-y, skip this paragraph to avoid) I also felt like while Nikki was showing growth by beginning to take a stand with her parents, she was expecting way too much out of a brand new relationship. This ties in to the issue I had with the timeline of the story. It seemed like she was asking for a long-term commitment from a man she had only been dating for a couple weeks. On the flip side of that, Mike was a lovely, open man when they began their friendship, but began to seem like he was keeping secrets and pulling away within the matter of a few pages of the book.

On a side note, after reading the book, I am not a fan of the cover art shown here, especially the drawing of Mike. The depiction of Nikki is definitely what I thought of after reading descriptions of her, but my man Mike was done dirty. The guy on the cover looks like a frumpy 20 year old college kid, not sexy 32 year old man.

Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

White Boyfriend is the story of Nicola, who after her long-term boyfriend dumps her decides some changes in her life are necessary. She meets Mike who helps her embrace a new way of looking at life and possibly changes her mind about what she's looking for in a romantic partner.

I did enjoy this book. Nicola's journey, while a familiar one, still seemed fresh. Her friend circle was great, and I appreciated how they supported her honestly. The struggle with her parents was written realistically and I liked the slow-burn of her relationship with Mike.

What I didn't like is labeling this book a romance- it's more "Nicola Gets Her Groove Back" than a love story, and the title is wildly misleading- yes, Mike is white, but that doesn't factor much into the plot at all nor cause any complications. However, I always enjoy reading books about successful black women getting their lives on track and this fit the bill well. Three stars.

White Boyfriend by Leesha McCoy is well written with very likable characters. Nikki has unexpectedly been dumped by her longtime boyfriend for the flimsiest of reasons. Sounding like a toddler, he declares that he is BORED! When Nikki informs her unsupportive parents (especially her father) she is told to do everything that she can in order to get him back…go to church, be more loving, more entertaining!! As a method of relaxing and grounding herself, Nikki joins a yoga class where she meets Mike. She and Mike are opposites, not just in their races but in their outlook on life. Mike, due to an almost fatal accident, is not a planner, he truly goes with the flow. Nikki on the other hand, has an almost type A personality and is not able to function without making long term plans. These differences notwithstanding, they embark on a friendship and eventually a romantic attachment. Ms. McCoy tells her story with a light touch and while the ending was not one, I would have chosen, the book ends on a positive if slightly rushed note.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC for an honest opinion.

I read this NetGalley ARC in exchange for an honest review.
It's tricky to rate this one. I liked the girlfriend banter, and the concept of finding out who you are as a person. I liked the idea that you don't need a man to be happy, but sometimes with these issues, the author exaggerated them a bit. Like, went into detail with the sex toys etc. I guess if that's your thing it's fine. It just took away from the main story I guess. And the father shouldn't have apologised just because his wife threatened to leave him. He should've figured that out by how he was hurting his daughter.

Mein Leseerlebnis

Das Buch hörte sich trotz altbekannter Grundidee frisch und unterhaltsam an, da habe ich mit Vorfreude auf ein schönes Leseerlebnis zugegriffen. Doch leider hat der Roman nicht alle meine Erwartungen erfüllen können.

Mein Grundproblem mit der Geschichte war, dass sich Nikkis neue Beziehung für mich so anfühlte, als würde die Autorin sie als Katalysator für Nikkis Weiterentwicklung benutzen und als wäre die Beziehung und vor allem Mike im Endeffekt nicht wichtig. Spoiler: Dieser Eindruck wurde vom Ende des Romans leider bestätigt. Spoilerende

Dem auf mich recht abrupt wirkenden Ende geht eine Situation zwischen Mike und Nikki voraus, in der sein Verhalten für mich nicht stimmig war. Es fühlte sich so an, als würde die Autorin ihren eigenen Charakteren untreu werden, um eine bestimmte Entwicklung in der Geschichte zu ermöglichen.

Zusätzlich fand ich Nikkis Eltern zu anstrengend, vor allem das Einmischen ihres Vaters ging mir tierisch auf die Nerven. Anstrengende Eltern gehören zu etwas, worauf ich in Liebesromanen generell keine Lust habe.

Blicke ich auf mein Leserlebnis zurück, so war nicht alles schlecht. Ich mochte den Schreibstil der Autorin, wurde durch so manche Szene gut unterhalten und fand die Charaktere größtenteils interessant. Aufgrund der angesprochenen Probleme war das Buch für mich aber kein Highlight. 🖤🖤3/4

Für wen?

Wer Liebesromane mag, in denen die Hauptfigur das unerwartete Ende ihrer Beziehung verdauen muss, der sollte sich die Geschichte mal näher anschauen.

Bitte beachtet, dass das Buch kein Liebesroman mit einem klassischen HEA (Happily Ever After) ist, sondern besser als woman’s fiction beschrieben werden kann. Für Fans von contemporary romance oder romantic comedy ist der Roman nur bedingt geeignet.

Thankyou Netgalley for providing me a free copy of this book via publisher in exchange of a honest review

This book was not for me .As a rom com fan I found this book pretty cliche with same story of breakup and journey of finding new love . I don't know how to even write this review .


3 stars for the characters
2.5 stars for story development
3.5 - Writing style

This could have been much better if the story premise would have been somewhat different from regular breakup and heartbreak content

The story of Nikki, who is dumped at the start of the book, and following advice from her friends starts to put herself first. She meets Mike, not who she thought she would date, but she likes him anyway. Will they have a chance or are they too different?

The book ended a bit abruptly for me.