So good!!

I’m not sure how to describe how much I loved The Boyfriend Comeback. It’s taken place as one of my favorite books of this year! The narrators did an amazing job taking me along in the journey of Jason and Beck and their forbidden love. The book was the perfect combination of swoon-worthy moments and handling serious topics like Beck’s anxiety. This was such great representation for me, I felt his troubles in my bones. All I wanted to do is give him a big hug and tell him how proud I am for how he’s handling it. And Jason as well, it’s difficult at times to be on the outside and wanting to help the person you love who’s dealing with this. The Boyfriend Comeback is one of those books that will stick with me for a while!

*I voluntarily read an advance review copy of this book*

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Super sweet and sexy m/m sports romance

This second chance, forbidden, rivals to lovers m/m romance kicks off (pun intended) with a prequel novella, The Boyfriend Kickoff. A great warmup to the forthcoming shenanigans between quarterback rivals Jason McKay and Beck Cafferty. As is Lauren Blakely’s trademark, there’s lots of romance, along with super sexy one on one time between the two MCs, Jason and Beck, two rivals who can’t seem to get enough of each other, they banter like pros, and their chemistry is off the charts smokin’ hot. Jason is the seasoned QB who takes newby Beck under his wing, guiding him through the public situations that amp up his anxiety levels. Some super sweet moments (I loved Bandit the kitty in all his scenes), and the friendships between the key players is precious. The audio version is narrated by Teddy Hamilton (Jason), and JF Harding (Beck), and together they bring the romance, and all their struggles to life. Utter perfection. Included in the audio is a link to a 6 minute bonus story, along with a preview of Limited Edition Husband, (Nate and Hunter’s story), narrated in duet by Teddy Hamilton and James Joseph.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

One of my favourite books this year!

The Boyfriend Comeback is the first book in the Boyfriend Zone series. Each book in the series is about a different couple and can be read as a standalone. There is a prequel to this book called The Boyfriend Kickoff.

I have been waiting for Jason’s story since the Men of Summer series and it did not disappoint. This is honestly one of my favourite books this year!

Jason McKay is twenty seven years old, fun, kindhearted, confident, easygoing and charismatic.

Beck Cafferty is 24, intelligent, sweet, driven, resilient, endearing and my favourite of the two. Honestly, I think he is my favourite Lauren Blakely character so far! It was really inspiring to see a main character with anxiety.

They are both starting quarterbacks for rival teams. But Beck and Jason are so much more than this short description, they are both completely real in a really raw way.

Their white hot chemistry is so searing I had to fan myself several times! Lauren Blakely writes such intense love stories and her heroes are always worthy of the title.

Sport romances are some of my favourite romances to read: one of the things I love about them is the team’s energy and camaraderie-ship.

Fantastic narration is a Blakely trait; she knows how to cast her characters. Teddy Hamilton and J.F. Harding are so good together! Each is perfect creating the personalities that are Jason and Beck. I could hear every emotion and nuance in their voice.

Plus this book features a super cute tuxedo kitten who is half parrot … what more could you want?

The Boyfriend Comeback is a scorching hot, totally swoon worthy, emotional, forbidden, second chance sports romance that is a must read - you won’t want to miss it!

*Spoiler* This book does have sensitive content such as anxiety, death and grief.

Plot: 📚📚📚📚📚
Character rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Sexiness: 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Feels: 🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤
Writing style: 🖊🖊🖊🖊🖊
Eye-catching cover: 🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺
Narration by Teddy Hamilton and J.F. Harding: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕
Prequel - Boyfriend Kick Off: ✨✨✨✨✨

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Lovely rivalry

I loved this book! It's a well-written rivals-to-lovers, vers couple, low-angst sports romance,
and has super likable characters.

The audio is excellent, both narrators did a fantastic job with the characters and the emotions.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

Excellent Narration

Loved this book. Jason and Beck are such a cute couple. A little bit of angst but safe with a HEA

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Quite possibly the Best Lauren Blakely!!

It's a bold statement above, I'll grant you, particularly when this year alone we were gifted with the brilliantly epic Hopelessly Bromantic duet. Not to mention my personal favourite, A Guy Walks into My Bar. But I stand by it, this is Lauren Blakely's best written book to date!

I could not stop listening, the casting is perfection as always with Teddy Hamilton and my new favourite, JF Harding picking up the roles of Jason and Beck respectively. Going in I naively thought this would be a run of the mill enjoyable "Sports Forbidden MM Romance" and while that definitely does describe this book and I REALLY enjoyed it, it also doesn't do it justice.

Through a combination of Blakely's expert writing and JF Harding's truly remarkable performance, the character of Beck Cafferty and his challenges with anxiety really struck me and cut me to the core. As someone who has suffered with anxiety and social anxiety her whole life, I instantly felt a kindred connection with this character and some parts of this book brought me to tears with how sensitively and accurately she portrayed what it is like to live with this and how to cope. Obviously, everyone's experiences are different and unique but for me I loved what she did in this book and the way she made Beck brave enough to live his life and pursue his dreams in spite of the anxiety spirals I am all too aware can threaten to overwhelm us.

I love how Jason truly sees Beck and nurtures and loves him and becomes his safe harbour. Their love story is even more beautiful because of the backdrop of the intense pressure and scrutiny of their jobs which they adore and the expectations placed on them to be fierce rivals makes the undeniable attraction between them even more delicious.

This book is intense, hot but also wonderfully sweet and heartfelt and is beautiful love letter to all the Becks out there, you can find your Jason one day. xx

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

keeps me on seat

I loved the story from start to finish, and the descriptive images makes me hot under the collar

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Enjoyable easy listen

This book was an enjoyable easy listen and I’ll get more books in this series.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

What a great story!

This is another fantastic M/M story from Lauren Blakely. While I have a lot of Lauren Blakely books in my digital library, I’ve only recently started reading her books. I read mostly M/M romance and when she started writing them, I was excited to give them a try. I have NOT been disappointed! In fact, I’ve enjoyed them so much that I purchased the audiobooks of several of them, including The Boyfriend Comeback.

The audiobook of The Boyfriend Comeback actually was released before the ebook so I listened to it instead of reading my ARC of the book. Teddy Hamilton and J.F. Harding knocked this out of the park. Oops, maybe I should have said scored a touchdown since this is a football romance. 😊 These two could probably read the phonebook and it would sound good but Lauren Blakely’s writing is what made this a great listen for me.

I am not a sports fan but I seem to really enjoy reading sports related romance books and this one was really great. The fact that this story also included a forbidden aspect (the two MCs play for rival teams) and a second chance trope meant that it hit a lot of buttons for me.

Jason and Beck meet at a photo shoot for the Furry Friends Weekend charity event. At the media briefing afterward Jason is very comfortable with the press while Beck is not. Beck asks Jason for help so that he can do better in front of the press. This leads to them getting together and eventually hooking up. But later Beck fails to show up for a prearranged date, leaving Jason frustrated and angry so he blocks Beck on his phone. A year later they are playing for rival teams.

Jason and Beck go through a few ups and downs; they must keep their relationship a secret from their teammates and friends because they just know that everyone would be upset if their relationship became public.

This story grabbed me from the beginning and didn’t let go until I finished it in one listening session. I loved that there were deleted scenes included in the audiobook as well as a sample of the next book coming in this series. I was so happy to learn that the next book in this series, Limited Edition Husband, will be a duet narration with James Joseph and Teddy Hamilton; I can hardly wait to listen to it!

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

My favourite narrators

I actually bought this one because I love JF Harding and Teddy Hamilton is also in my top 5. Although these two never fail to please in some places I was unable to tell the characters apart because their voices are very similar.

The story was very predictable and the romance was sweet (too sweet for my taste). If you like a HEA you'll like it. The chemistry between the two was great but I do really question that the old trope of oh dear we are professional sportsmen so we can't possibly come out is getting rather tired. Surely modern America has moved on? Or is this just a convenient vehicle for romance writers to add some tension to their dramas? Who knows.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!