The Accidental Boyfriend by Lori Freeland
⭐ 3.5/5 stars
Genre: YA Romance
Tropes: Coming-of-age, Fake dating, First time love

Gabe, a teenage heartthrob from a popular werewolf TV show, is dealing with personal struggles while managing to stay both hot and mysterious. Taking a break from his busy career, he needs to find someone to give the world an excuse for why he’s staying in town for a bit longer.
Jess, a teenage author, is trying to write her second novel after the massive success of her debut. However, past trauma is holding her back from finding that creative spark.
I really enjoyed the banter between Jess, who tries to stay logical, and Gabe, who is just happy to be near her. As their fake dating arrangement unfolds, real feelings inevitably develop, leading to miscommunication and one person realizing they’re more in love than they thought.
Both characters must overcome their personal struggles to move toward a future together. If you're looking for a sweet, coming-of-age story with laugh-out-loud moments, this book is worth picking up!

This was a really cute book! The cover is absolutely beautiful and it made me pick up the book. The romance and tension in this book was great!

This is a book for the tortured young adult soul. It was a sweet relationship.. very slow burn. Well developed characters. The plot did go on a bit too long the second half of the book and I found myself wanting to flip through some pages to get to the end, but overall, pretty good book!

Many thanks to NetGalley & the Publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

****SPOILER ALERT****

I was so excited about the premise of this book because it seemed so cute. Unfortunately, the execution didn't work for me on so many levels.

-Vi was a toxic relationship and put the FMC in potentially dangerous situations, belittled her, and only cared about herself. The fact that the Dad was ok with all of this, baffles me.
-In fact, almost every relationship (platonic or otherwise) was toxic in the book.
-Gabe was not cute or endearing. He was possessive (please don't ever say "my girl" again), slightly predatory in his constant pushing of boundaries, and the chapters from his POV were more awkwardly written than Jess'. Perhaps it was his use of slang? I have teenagers, so if it was, it wasn't the slang I hear all the time.
-It was really hard to become invested in any of the characters.
-Issues with pacing and the writing made it awkward to read at times.

Again, great story idea, but for me it needs more work for it to be enjoyable.

I went into this book thinking it would be a cute fun time - who didn't dream about being a published author and dating the tv show hottie as a teenager? The story tries to hit on some important topics, but with the lazy use of stereotypical OCD and bipolar references to describe tv volume and other daily things finished me. Overall, the story wasn't terrible and as I said it tries to face issues such as parental marriage breakdowns, the impact and pressure of fame at a young age, and <spoiler>early onset dementia.</spoiler> Fake dating is superior, as always, and the alternating POV is used well.

Jess is a teen author with her debut romance novel selling fast, however writing her second, contracted, novel is proving to be very difficult after the direct inspiration for the first wont cut it for the second. Being thrust into the limelight of a book conference with very public panels and answering questions this is not Jess's happy place with her natural introversion.

Gabe is a teen heartthrob on a popular werewolf show where he is contractually obliged to be his character in public, including dating his costar, to publicise the program. Currently he's taking a break from filming and promoting to visit family and it isn't all going as smoothly as he'd like, he can't act his way through the whole thing. In fact he needs a reason to be in town to cover his tracks and protect his family.

Jess and Gabe's world's collide when Gabe bumps into Jess at the bottom of an escalator in front of his fans and an overzealous paparazzi reporter getting dangerously close to the secret Gabe is trying to keep. Gabe does what he does best, act. Gabe kisses Jess to distract the reporter and hopefully if he can use his charm to convince her to be his fake girlfriend to take the heat off him this trip.

Fake dating, young adult, coming of age mixed with complicated family life and clashing upbringings means this story is heartfelt, detailed and full of life's ups and downs.

The Accidental Boyfriend by Lori Freeland is a YA romance about a debut writer and a TV series stud. I enjoyed the romantic buildup and the author did justice to the other background themes. A good read.
I got the ARC from BooksGoSocial via Netgalley. All opinions expressed are mine

Omg I loveeeeeee Jess and Gabe! What a great story! Can't wait to read more by this author!
Thanks Netgalley and to the author for the ARC!

˗ˏˋ 3 stars ⟡ ݁₊ .

the blurb literally said it was like better than the movies so it sold me. although this was a cute read, it didn't hit me the same way that BTTM did. the plot was kinda predictable to me. regardless, i still enjoyed the book and the characters. definitely pick this up if you're looking for a fast and cute rom-com read.

⤷ thank you to netgalley, the publisher and the author for providing me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

4’2/5✨ First of all, thank you so much to NetGalley, BookSirens and the author for providing me with an ARC of “The accidental boyfriend”. Omg, i absolutely loved Jess and Gabe’s story from start to finish. The romance story reminded me a lot of the fanfics i used to read when i was younger about Justin Bieber xd so I really enjoyed reading this book. I also enjoyed that both Jess and Gabe where developed outside of their romance story, both of them were struggling with some personal issues regarding their families and themselves, and i really enjoyed those parts of the book too. The only maybe "negative" thing is that i was very upset all the people in their lives where so awful to both of them, like some of them were literally bad people. But nonetheless i really recommend this book if you want a cute YA romance between an author and a hot TV series werewolf, were both of them have too many responsibilities for their age but support each other and help each other out.

I flew through this sweet YA romance :)
I did not expect to get as emotional as I did reading this, but the author wrote the main characters so well that I truly felt and grieved with them over the trials they were facing & I fell in love with their love story as they fell for one another.

This is a dual pov story about famous childhood actor Gabriel Wade and debut teen author Jessica Gray. Jessica finds her estranged mom’s diary for when she was her age and turns it into a bestselling book. As her book gains more popularity she finds out more about her mom and what really happened between her and her dad.

Gabriel Wade is going through similar grief as he finds himself as the head of his household at 18 when his mom is diagnosed with early onset dementia. He tries to take on all of the family responsibility while keeping the story from the press. He runs into Jess before her big book debut and figures her book launch is the perfect excuse for him to be back home and not on set of his hit tv show.

They are there for one another when they feel like they have no one else and encourage each other through facing the hard realities of their everyday lives. I cheered for them, cried with them and fell in love with them. Truly a sweet & swoon-worthy story! Thanks NetGalley & BooksGoSocial for this story in exchange for an honest review :)

I enjoyed this book! I thought Jess and Gabe were great characters and the storyline was interesting. The banter between them was witty and flowed well. In general, the book was well written. The only part that confused at points was the timeline of events. I wish this was laid out a bit more clearly.

The author does a great job of writing about mental health, substance abuse and other sensitive topics with care while being accurate to these experiences. It definitely tugged on my heart strings multiple times!

This is definitely an opposites attract kind of story, but it worked really well! Gabe was my favourite of the two. His character felt well fleshed out and stable. His actions were consistent to his values, but there was also a lot of character growth throughout. Jess also had a lot of character growth by the end, but I wish I knew more about her motivations as an author. Why did she let her story get published? Also, it’s mentioned that she is religious, but felt like it was only used to explain her actions/reactions to moments when convenient and not a defining character trait.

I do think there were elements to this book that did not feel young adult to me. Jess is 17, and Gabe is only just 18, but it felt like they were the most mature characters in the story. There are multiple adult side characters who treat Jess and Gabe horribly, or sexualize them at every turn. Gabe is painted as crazy experienced and loves to have sex. Jess is painted as inexperienced because she’s never had a boyfriend, but that’s actually VERY normal at 17. Overall, I think I would have enjoyed this book more if Jess and Gabe were aged up a couple of years and this was a new adult book.

This story, about two teenagers who are both going through some really heavy stuff in their lives, made me believe in young love. Jess is dealing with her parents divorce and not being able to see her mom, while her dad doesn’t seem present in her life. Gabe is struggling with a mom who has early onset Alzheimer’s and doesn’t want the world to know. The way they help each other and teach each other to trust and love was so beautiful and I loved reading about while journeys to happily ever after!

I thought it was just a light teen romance, an easy rom-com, but it turned out to be so much more. Two characters from completely different worlds meet by chance on an escalator, and that’s where it all begins. On the surface, they couldn’t be more different, but they share similar struggles—issues with their parents and the weight of life-changing decisions that shape their future. Watching their relationship unfold in such a touching way was truly captivating. Definitely a great recommendation for teenagers. 10/10.

The Accidental Boyfriend by Lori Freeman is a fun, feel-good romance with plenty of charm and heart. The characters are relatable, and the accidental romance trope is executed perfectly — full of witty banter, sweet moments, and genuine chemistry.

I loved how the story blended humor with emotional depth, making it both entertaining and heartfelt. If you enjoy lighthearted romance with lovable characters, this one’s a winner!

This is a fab YA romance read, this captures the first relationships as a teen perfectly, the blend of humour, vulnerability and navigating a new relationship perfectly.
Loved both characters from the start, gives you all of the feels with the swoon worthy moments but also touches on some emotional topics which was handled perfectly in this book.
Highly recommend!

Thank you to NetGalley and to the author Lori Freeland for this digital book in exchange for my honest review.

It's a very sweet and quick read. Very coming of age meets teen rom com. with all the right tropes. Jessica and Gabe's story is one for the ages and their characters and very well written. Kudos to Lori for writing the characters that we all we in our teen hood.

I can not with this book it’s so freaken cute and it felt like a breath of new air. It felt completely diffrent from any other book that I read and I LOVE the depth of each character and how it really made them come to life and it truely made you feel like you where living there lives even from just reading. I love the story line and how complex it is for each character and how everyone got their happy endings I was worried for a hot second that it wouldn’t be a happy ending. I can’t say enough good things about this book and everyone needs to read it!!

First and foremost as always thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book. This was an incredibly good read! The story was beautifully written and the characters were flushed out really well! I have always been a sucker for fake dating and this book was no exception!!! Definitely worth the read!

The Accidental Boyfriend, by Lori Freeland

4/5✨
YA Romance

Thank you, NetGalley, for providing an eARC of this book! All opinions are my own.

Gabe is a TV star and Jess is a new author. When Jess accidentally finds herself into Gabe's spotlight, he decides she is the perfect decoy for his oppressing fans and kisses her, thinking she will be the perfect girlfriend of the week. But Jess isn't interested in his big celebrity ego and has more on her plate than anyone realizes. What she doesn't realize, though, is that she might share more with Gabe than just her first kiss.

🌸Trauma and healing
🌸Coming of age
🌸Slow burn - he falls first
🌸Fake dating
🌸Closed door

I started this book because I was having Boys of Tommen withdrawal after 3 months of having read it, and I wanted something with that same "reading in your bed on your phone at 3 am on Wattpad" vibe. And it did not disappoint. Honestly it was way more profound and well written than I was expecting, and the trauma that both these kids had to go through is really heavy. There are some heavy themes that I won't be discussing as I feel like they would be spoilers of the book, but those really contributed to the coming of age trope. The book was really focused on both characters' relationship with their moms, which was highlighted by the fact that very chapter started with an entry of Jess's mom on her diary or a line from the TV show of Gabe's mom. That was a really nice touch. I also really liked the characterization of the main characters, with lives so different yet so similar, makes you think about the fact that money really is not everything if you don't have health and love.