The Boy Friend

by Mika Jolie

This is the first book I have read by this author and I have to say that as far as friends to lover stories go this is a really great read. I had my doubts that there was going to be anything new, but I can hold my hands up and say that this author didn’t just create a great scenario, nope she built a back story that was as detailed as you could possibly hope for and she filled their here and now with everything they could have every wanted and for me that was it I was hooked.

Friends and only friends Cori ( I had issues with the name Coriander…I’m glad the author gave her a nickname I could use to picture her in my head, Coriander just wasn’t cutting it for me) and Dean has a friendship that went back so far that I wouldn’t have been surprised if either  of them could possibly remember a time when they weren’t in each other lives, from grade school they were the very best of friends and hereto lies the problem because had they not be friends it is very likely they could have been so much more. Well for Dean anyway, because he had considered more…of course he did but Cori seemed to have accepted her role in his life and for her those goalposts never appeared to change.

I loved that this was told from Dean’s point of view, I especially liked that the writing style was able to give me an almost personal conversation between him and I, that was a situation that I totally revelled in.

Hearing how he handled dealing with her and her quest to settle down, find the man of her dreams and even start a family…I felt choked for him, he may have put his best friend face on and agreed to help her find her Mr Perfect but all he really wanted to do was tell her that she was his Miss Perfect and he wanted to be her “more”.

I felt for the predicament he was in, he had a lot to lose by stepping outside their comfort zone but I was silently urging him on hoping that once he dipped his toe over that his feelings would be reciprocated…but would they?

I felt the connection between the two of them almost from the get go, they truly were the perfect match but could survive being more than just friends, I had my fingers crossed. If I hadn’t already done so I think I may have been biting my nails as I waited for their story to unfold.

Oh, sorry I haven’t actually mentioned much about Cori up until now have I, well there isn’t much I can say other than she was a beautiful woman, although she made me cry because I didn’t like the fact that her dating was hurting Dean (she had no idea I know, me being stupid).

The writing was exactly where it needed to be, the banter between the two of them was exceptional, the dynamic worked on every level and the draw that they two of them had on me emotionally was surprising, I ran the gauntlet of being hurt and happy but ended up pretty much where the author wanted me to be I think…content in their resolution.

Great work, thoroughly enjoyable.