The Boyfriend Candidate by Ashley Winstead

The Boyfriend Candidate by Ashley Winstead

Published by Gradydon House ISBN 9781525804960

Trade paperback, $18.99, 384 pages

One of the most popular tropes in the Romance book genre is the Fake Dating trope. Ashley Winstead elevates this in her latest novel, The Boyfriend Candidate.

The story opens with middle school librarian Alexis Stone who has just caught her boyfriend cheating on her again and for the last time. He of course blames her and says some cruel things to her that undermine her confidence. On this night Alexis puts on her sexiest dress and heads to a local Austin bar to pick up a guy and have a one night stand, something way outside of her comfort zone.

When she draws the attention of an obnoxious man who won't take no for an answer, a handsome man sitting at the bar scares off the creep, and he and Alexis spend the evening getting to know each other. Alexis makes up a name and backstory (one more interesting than her own life) and she and Logan decide to head to a nearby hotel for a tryst.

As things get hot and heavy, the fire alarm in the hotel goes off and Logan and Alexis flee outside in a state of undress. Alexis turns her ankle and Logan carries her outside, depositing her in an ambulance and fleeing without a goodbye.

While Alexis is hurt and upset, soon photos turn up online of her and Logan- who happens to be running for governor of Texas. In order to avoid a public scandal his campaign can't afford, Logan and his team convince Alexis to pretend to be Logan's girlfriend of six months, just until the campaign is over in two months.

What could go wrong? No one can know of their deception, and soon Alexis and Logan are fighting their feelings for each other. As is typical in these types of stories, you wish the two of them would be honest with themselves and each other, but what would be the fun in that?

There were so many interesting aspects to this story. I liked the setting of Austin, and the political background. Nora, Logan's campaign manager, is a great character, as is Alexis' sister Lee, a Texas state representative. The way that the author worked in the state of education in this country (the lack of funding for schools and lack of respect for teachers) was well done and topical.

Watching Alexis find her voice politically as a teacher and as a woman looking for a relationship worthy of her was empowering. The writing is crisp, and Ashley Winstead works in important topics with a healthy dose of humor along the way. My only criticism is that it was hard to believe that Alexis didn't know who Logan was when she met him, but I am willing to overlook that for the sake of this terrific story.

I adored The Boyfriend Candidate, and now I am looking forward to reading Ashley Winstead's 2022 romance, Fool Me Once. I highly recommend The Boyfriend Candidate.

Thansk to Harlequin for putting me on Ashley Winstead's tour.