The Boyfriend Candidate | ARC Review

As a shy school librarian, Alexis Stone is comfortable keeping out of the spotlight. But when she’s dumped for being too meek—in bed!—the humiliation is a wake-up call. She decides she needs to change, and what better way to kick-start her new more adventurous life than with her first one-night stand?

Enter Logan, the gorgeous, foul-mouthed stranger she meets at a hotel bar. Logan is audacious and filterless, making him Alexis’s opposite—and boy, do opposites attract! Just as she’s about to fulfill her hookup wish, the hotel catches fire in a freak lightning storm—and in their rush to escape, Logan is discovered carrying her into the street, where people are waiting with cameras. Cameras Logan promptly—and shockingly—flees.

Alexis is bewildered until breaking news hits: pictures of her and Logan escaping the fire are all over the internet. It turns out Logan is none other than Logan Arthur, the hotshot politician challenging the Texas governor’s seat. The salacious images are poised to sink his career—and jeopardize Alexis’s job—until a solution is proposed: to squash the scandal, he and Alexis could pretend to be in a relationship until election day…in two months. What could possibly go wrong?

I loved this book more than I’ll be able to articulate. It was clever, real, and had that touch of fake dating to remind us all this is still a romcom.

There is so much I loved about this book, but let me start with some things that made the book shine. First, it had so many clever lines that fed into the humor. I was smiling and laughing more than I thought I would in a political romance book. There is one particular scene between a restaurant waiter and Logan, the MMC, that was pure gold. You’ll know it when you hit it.

The characters were phenomenal. We have our FMC, Alexis, who grows so so much throughout this book. She starts off very timid and afraid to speak her mind, even to herself. The way her growth is portrayed feel natural and well-supported by our wonderful love interest Logan. Speaking of Logan, this man was awesome! Apparently, he’s based off of Roy Kent from Ted Lasso which is great because that’s what I was thinking of the whole time. He’s so charming. He feels like the typical grumpy guy we love in romances but with a bluntness and charm to lighten it up and make him someone completely unique.

Also, even though a main plot point if fake dating, there is so much more to this book than that. We had lots of political intrigues since Logan is running for Texas governor. We have educational politics since Alexis is an elementary school librarian. And we have lots of fun little side plots and scenes to make this book a nonstop balance of romance romps and realistic challenges.

I didn’t realize that this is sorta a sequel (kinda?) of Fool Me Once. This is the younger sister of the FMC from that book. It didn’t feel like a sequel though so you’re totally fine reading this one on its own.

Overall, I would recommend this book to any and everyone, even if politics aren’t your thing. I already want to read this book again, but I’ll withhold by reading Fool Me Once instead.

Disclaimer: I voluntarily read and reviewed a gifted and advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Rating

To check out my other reviews, click here. Or to check out more books by Ashley Winstead, go to her Goodreads profile or her website.