DNF. I wanted to love this one - the concept is sweet and the world NEEDS more LGBTQIA+ romance that's unashamedly positive - BUT. This one was just so awfully written. It was horribly cringey, the writer kept constantly shifting character perspectives mid-chapter (like, after a paragraph we would go to a new character for the love of God just write in third person if you're so desperate to cover everyone's feelings) and the style of the writing was like if you typed 'write a book with the voice of a stereotypical gay man'. I managed about a quarter before reminding myself that life is too short to read badly written books.

a fun, quick read that follows teddy hughes - plant extraordinaire who is down on his luck after losing his business - and cole vivien - businessman and founder of VERSATL, an app for sex workers (in the vein of only fans). the two meet, have a one night stand which ends with cole offering teddy a whole heap of money if he will agree to fake date him for one whole week, attending an important dinner and accompanying him to his sister’s wedding.

the book is told from both teddy and cole’s POVs, which i always like in a romance book as it allows us to see how both sides are feeling. i really liked the discussions in here about sex work and the legitimization/decriminalization of it, and admired how the characters (particularly cole) fought for that in their actions. i admired both teddy and cole’s drive to go after what they wanted, and their willingness to step away to put themselves first when needed. i loved the character of mallory, as well as the throuple that kit was a part of - they all really added some flavour to the story.

unfortunately, ultimately this book fell a little bit flat for me. teddy & cole were very insta-love (despite cole being strictly ‘no feelings’ when they met, which seemed to dissolve within.. one day) which i don’t often enjoy in romance books, and there was also a lot of miscommunication/wilful misunderstanding in the latter half of the book that felt like it was adding drama for drama’s sake. i didn’t massively like how the villain was set up, or how the character of nicko was used.

however - and i stress this because the acknowledgements mention it - whilst i am queer i am not a gay man, and therefore it isn’t really my place to comment on the rep and portrayals, stereotypes or otherwise. i think this will definitely find its audience on release. thank you to mills & boon for granting me an early copy.

I absolutely loved this book and it is definitely going to be one of my top reads of the year. It was so well written and did fake dating amazingly. The chapters were long according to my kindle but it was so good that they didn’t feel it at all.

I loved the premise of the book give me a pretty women inspired retelling any day of the week. Cole and Teddy had great chemistry and such vulnerability that bleeds through the pages. You could tell that the author wanted to take you on a journey of self love and rediscovery within the confines of the relationship. The pop culture references had me giggling away to myself and I adored the easy friendship between Teddy & Kit. I also really enjoyed the body positivity representation as well.

That being said I did struggle with the writing style and I felt the last 20% was rushed. Overall I just felt like something was missing for me.

Thank you so much to NetGalley & the publishers for my ARC!

Unfortunately, this wasn't for me! I was so excited to read this especially as the comp was for Pretty Woman but I didn't quite feel the chemistry between the characters. It felt like there was a bit too much going on and it was a bit too fast. I did enjoy the humour in this book though!

2.5/5

i was so excited by the idea of this book when i first heard about it a long while back, so i’m really bummed by how much i didn’t like it. admittedly, i had high expectations bc i’ve read so many great Pretty Women-inspired fanfic and they were miles above this… had i known initially salvatore was a ya author and this is their adult debut (it made a lot of sense when i found out), my expectations would have been adjusted, but this was still really disappointing.

i liked the pro-sex work angle, but i wouldn’t go far enough to say it was discussed. it came across too superficial for me and there’s a plot element towards the end that was such a missed opportunity i feel, and badly executed.

overall there was no real resolution? the romance was unsatisfying, and the other threads around it, including things involving the antagonist just…meandered off?

i also couldn’t tell the characters apart. this is dual first person pov, but other than some vocab differences and awkward french thrown in, there were multiple times i forgot who’s pov i was in the middle of and had to skim around to find either a reference to crystals and mindfulness or plant metaphors, or just one of the mc’s names. they were cute at times but this didn’t have the yearning and angst that makes fake dating my favorite trope.

this had a lot of promise but it really wasn’t for me. this was more ben alderson but contemporary romance or the vibe of wattpad romances that were picked up by trad pub. i can see it doing well for the tiktok algo. the cover is fantastic tho and it took me too long to realize it’s a scene in the book lmao.

I liked this remix of Pretty Woman. I thought that the set up was really great and that Teddy and Cole were interesting characters and their meet cute was really fun. The move into fake dating and that proposition was a fun element of this book. I found that as it moved into the third act it felt a little bit rushed and everything seemed to happen very quickly and almost out of nowhere, including the declaration of feelings. I knew it was a quick burn but that then did seem very quick and there didn't seem to be any chance for these characters and this story to breathe just a little bit more.

Overall though, this was a fun read.

A sweet and slightly raunchy queer romance that reinvents the pretty woman story.

It took me a little while to get into it, largely because I kept forgetting whose perspective I was reading. I do like a dual point of view, but sometimes it can be confusing if the narration doesn’t have a very distinctive change of tone. It got easier to differentiate as I got to know the characters more.

Loved that there was positive plus size and sex worker representation. Really liked both Teddy and Cole, they were very sweet together. A highlight for me was them both opening up about past hurts and helping each other regain their confidence and their faith in love.

That being said, I can’t quite put my finger on it, but something just felt off in the pacing and development for me. I didn’t quite connect with the romance as much emotionally as I’d have liked. Maybe it’s because I’m just more of a slow burn fan.

The miscommunication and mini break up at the end is also a personal niggle for me. I wish more romances would take the honest conversation/let’s not jump to conclusions route…
I mean the drama kinda made sense, but 3rd act break ups just really get on my nerves.

So…mixed feelings. Mostly had a fun time reading it, there’s lots of cute moments and humour. I liked spending time with these characters, just a few personal niggles that took me out of the story.

Thanks to Netgalley for a digital copy of this in exchange for an honest review.

A solid 3.5 stars. The pacing was a little all over the place but I did have a good time with it. I really loved Teddy and Cole’s characters and I was rooting for them to be together by the end.

What I enjoyed: I loved that at the root, the story was about self love and loving yourself no matter what. It also had some family love and acceptance which soothed my little heart. Even though sex was a recurring theme, I liked that it wasn’t truly about sex at its core. Again, I also really enjoyed Teddy and Cole’s characters and their individual journeys outside their romance.

I do wish that more time was spent developing their blooming relationship however ans less on the sketchy mean side character that was so jealous of Cole’s success he wanted to ruin his entire life and business in the process. Because of this the romance felt rather insta-lovey which I didn’t particularly enjoy.

Finally, thank you to NetGalley and Afterglow Books for providing the E-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Oof! Romantic, spicy, and a perfect romantic read with a little heat. Compelling characters make this a step above the average rom com, and there's a great sex positive and sex worker positive message here that is conveyed fantastically

I really enjoyed this book! Even though our two main characters Teddy and Cole come together very quickly in the story, it still felt slow-burn-y and beautiful. It was definitely a rollercoaster for these two poor men, they'd been through it! Especially Teddy. You start to love the characters very quickly.. Even the side characters are very heart-warming and loveable. (*cough* not all of them *cough*). I just think this book had a beautiful romance as well as an actually entertaining and at times emotional story. You really feel for these characters and want the best for them. The only thing I could say is that, for a book about a romance involving a sex worker, there isn't much talk of how they will navigate a relationship around this, like mostly when that is a plot point there would be more discussion surrounding boundaries and what the job means for a future relationship, but I felt like that was a bit swept to the side in the end, which honestly isn't a big deal. I thought the author dealt with the characters' troubles very well and very realistically. I just loved so much about the relationship between Teddy and Cole, how cuddly and loving they are towards eachother even when it goes against everything that Cole is used to. Just ugh! Loved it. Teddy has my heart. Overall, I would highly recommend this to anyone looking for a very heart-warming (and at times slightly wrenching) and very entertaining romance.

This was a really fun quick read, I read it in under 24 hours and went to bed late because I didn't want to put it down. It was amusing and cute, and I loved the body diversity of the MCs, as well as the extremely SW-positive approach. I felt like the ending was a bit sudden and a bit of a harsh drop off, with the middle of the book being in it's strength. I would reccomend this as a nice, quick read, especially if you're a big fan of the fake dating trope.

This was a really enjoyable retelling of pretty woman that I ended up reading in less than 24 hours. This is my first book of Steven's and I thoroughly enjoyed his writing style, it flowed so beautifully and the dialogue was amusing at times. I really loved watching the fake relationship between Teddy and Cole develop in to much more and it was especially great seeing sex positive conversations throughout, shining a lot of appreciation towards sex workers also.

An adorably gay retelling of Pretty Woman with a twist.

Vivian is the owner of a forward thinking lgbtqia+ sex worker app. He is raking in the cash. Teddy is a cutie red-headed plant daddy who has been taken to cleaners after a messy divorce. On a chance meeting Vivian hires Teddy to be his fake boyfriend for an upcoming business meeting and his sisters wedding.

While the premise of this retelling looks a first glance as yet another run of the mill fake dating story, what the boyfriend subscription is really about is acceptance and the different shapes that love takes.

Thank you to NetGalley and Mills & Boon for approving my request to read an arc of this book

Steven Salvatore is the author of one of my favourite books and so I was excited to see their new book available to read early.
This is their first adult novel and is based off of Pretty Woman. It includes tropes like Fake Dating and unbreakable rules getting broken for the right person. If you enjoy both erotica and queer books then you’re sure to enjoy this one.

I read this entirely in one day. I absolutely adored this book so much, I kept trying to find time throughout my day to read each word because I was so engrossed by the plot! The writing was gripping and humorous, and the relationship between Teddy and Cole was so well-developed! If you're in the mood for a sex-positive spicy fake dating romance, I'd highly recommend this one! It just left me wanting more from Teddy and Cole as a couple because they're just so adorable!

The Boyfriend Subscription is a modern-day gay retelling of ‘Pretty Woman’, where a millionaire sex worker and a destitute horticulturist concoct a fake dating scenario for a wedding!

Cole Vivien is a sex worker and the owner of VERSTL, a hookup app that pairs sex workers with clients and promises intimacy without the complication of love. Estranged from the majority of his family, Cole is emotionally closed off - he refuses to entertain the idea of falling in love and lives only for his career.

Teddy Huges is sad, out of money and out of luck. His gardening business, Plant Daddy, has gone under, his ex-husband’s father is suing him and he’s having to leave New York, the city he has grown to love. On chaotic night out commiserating the tatters of his life, Teddy meets the beautiful and alluring Cole, and the two men immediately hit it off.

Teddy and Cole fall into fake dating after a series of events Cole is invited to require a date. They are both damaged characters who are hurting for one reason or another, but it is clear they are perfect for each other! Both of them have a sweet snarky way about them, and whilst Cole is highly strung and flighty, Teddy is calm and grounded. I really enjoyed watching these two come together and learn about each other’s lives.

Read for:
✨ Queer ‘Pretty Woman’ retelling
✨ Fake dating
✨ Rich sex worker x poor horticulturalist/author
✨ Chubby bear MC
✨ Diverse side characters
✨ Snuggling and cuddling galore!

The reason this book lost a star for me is simply because it felt messy - there was a lot going on, with a myriad of ‘threats’ from side characters and family for both men, and none of them seem to have been fully hashed out by the end of the book. Things that I thought were going to be a big deal hardly got mentioned again and some character’s motivations were never truly explained/dealt with. The ending also seemed to be quite harshly cut off - it’s a HFN bordering on a HEA but it would have been nice to see more of how things worked out! Even so, it was still a great book and I would recommend it 💕

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of this book! 💕