The Boyfriend Game, Stella Starling

So freaking cute!  Incredibly funny, impossibly sexy, and just un-put-down-able.  I love me some no-angst stories.  When a game show, a hangover, and a years-long crush get put together it should spell disaster.  But in the case of Rip Taylor and Carter Olson, it spells magic, sexy times, and a happily-ever-after.  It's not all sunshine and roses, but the men work their way through shenanigans, jealousy, and miscommunication to steal the show and my heart.

Carter and Rip's chemistry was scorching and also well-balanced by the incredible tenderness between the men.  The miscommunication and lack of words in general always bothers me but I find myself forgiving it quite quickly here because of the way it was fixed...and the fact that it wasn't a recurring problem once it was fixed.

Some aspects of a game show set-up weren't totally realistic but I find myself just not caring.  The side characters that were involved with the show as well as their family and friends all came together to make a well-developed story, one that was not just fun to read, I could believe that these people were real and I needed to read their parts in the story.  The way most of them rallied around Carter and Rip to help them achieve their happy ending was so sweet.

Rip is fun-loving and enthusiastic about everything.  His easy acceptance of his new-found romantic and sexy feelings for Carter is awesome.  We do need to suspend a bit of believability when it comes to how easily he accepts those feelings, but it's relatively simple to do when we get so much of his thoughts concerning their past and his penchant for touching, being close to, and comforting the smaller man.  While Carter was a bit of a Nervous-Nelly at times, he was just adorkable and so very in love with Rip.  His confession for the cameras was truly touching and if nothing else had made me believe in his feelings being based on something deep and abiding, more than just a childhood crush on the hot older-brother's-friend, that did it for sure.

The whole story from start to finish had a great pacing.  There were tender parts, funny parts where I actually laughed outside my head, disappointing moments, and more than several times I caught myself smiling.  To say I loved this book would probably be an understatement.  It's almost as if there was no choice for me but to enjoy this story and these characters.  I have to love these men, it's impossible not to.

*$3.99 on Amazon or FREE on KU!