About the Book:

Title: Rent a Boyfriend

Author: Gloria Chao

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Release Date: November 10, 2020

Pages: 320

Genre: YA Contemporary, YA Romance

Synopsis:

 

To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before meets The Farewell in this incisive romantic comedy about a college student who hires a fake boyfriend to appease her traditional Taiwanese parents, to disastrous results, from the acclaimed author of American Panda.

Chloe Wang is nervous to introduce her parents to her boyfriend, because the truth is, she hasn’t met him yet either. She hired him from Rent for Your ’Rents, a company specializing in providing fake boyfriends trained to impress even the most traditional Asian parents.

Drew Chan’s passion is art, but after his parents cut him off for dropping out of college to pursue his dreams, he became a Rent for Your ’Rents employee to keep a roof over his head. Luckily, learning protocols like “Type C parents prefer quiet, kind, zero-PDA gestures” comes naturally to him.
When Chloe rents Drew, the mission is simple: convince her parents fake Drew is worthy of their approval so they’ll stop pressuring her to accept a proposal from Hongbo, the wealthiest (and slimiest) young bachelor in their tight-knit Asian American community.

But when Chloe starts to fall for the real Drew—who, unlike his fake persona, is definitely not ’rent-worthy—her carefully curated life begins to unravel. Can she figure out what she wants before she loses everything?

 

 

 

Review:

*I received an e-arc from Netgalley and Simon Pulse in exchange for an honest review*

After reading and loving American Panda, I knew I wanted to read this one. I’m so glad I did, as it was so cute! It was the perfect blend of a rom com and a story that dealt with family struggles. Gloria just has this great writing style that makes it work.

Chloe’s traditional Taiwanese parents are pressuring her to marry Hongbo, who is quite wealthy and well known in their tight knit community. After a disastrous “date” with Hongbo, where he took her to a strip club, Chloe gets quite desperate. She feels that the only way out of marrying Hongbo is to hire a fake boyfriend from Rent for Your ‘Rents.

Drew has a passion for art, and unfortunately his parents disown him after he drops out of college to pursue his dreams. He works for Rent for Your ‘Rents to pay the bills as he’s supporting himself completely. Thankfully for him, learning the protocols for work come naturally to him. For this job, he just needs to convince Chloe’s parents that he’s right for her, and he’s golden.

Chloe and Drew start to fall for each other, but Drew is quite different than Andrew, the character he has been portraying to her parents. As they fall for each other, the lies to Chloe’s parents keep on coming, and things get pretty complicated. Will Chloe be able to figure things out after the mess that’s been created?

I adored these characters, and they definitely made an impression on me. If you enjoy rom coms and fake dating, I definitely think you’ll enjoy this one!

About the Author:

Gloria Chao is the critically acclaimed author of American Panda, Our Wayward Fate, and the upcoming Rent a Boyfriend. When she’s not writing, you can find her with her husband on the curling ice or hiking the Indiana Dunes. After a brief detour as a dentist, she is now grateful to spend her days in fictional characters’ heads instead of real people’s mouths.

Visit her tea-and-book-filled world at GloriaChao.Wordpress.com, and find her on Twitter and Instagram @GloriacChao.