The Anti-Boyfriend

3.5 Stars. Friends to Lovers is one of my favourite tropes so when I read the synopsis, I was excited to get started. I think I connected more with Deacon, who I didn't feel he was a manwhore, more that he was a guy single in his 20's having fun. I liked his personality and how he wanted to help Carys and make her life easier being a single mother and he was witty. Like the rest of us, he had some issues that made him run from time to time, but I really liked him. This book is a sweet story that unites two neighbours to friends and then hoping for something more. Carys, like Paris, is a stay at home mother wanting to open herself up to more than just the four walls of her apartment. She loves her daughter fiercely and wants to give her more opportunities so she looks for a job, part time. Their story is simple and very straightforward with little complications and stumbling blocks that can't be rectified. What I did feel though was that Carys held grudges again her ex partners longer than I thought was necessary, even after the facts were revealed. I felt she didn't have the same empathy that those men did for her circumstances towards their issues and what they were dealing with. I did enjoy the epilogue and how their story ended.

4.5 STARS! The Anti-Boyfriend by Penelope Ward will capture you from the first few pages alone! A hilarious novel that is also uplifting with unforgettable characters, specifically the nosybody neighbor, Mrs. Winsbanger, who calls the hero Monkey Balls 😂. But this book is so much more than a typical manwhore neighbor as the hero. This novel is heart and emotion. The romance doesn't take flight until about the 70% mark making this read a slow burning one. You get the sense that Deacon is fighting inner struggles, which leads to a hiccup in the story, and if I'm being honest, affected my overall rating. The Anti-Boyfriend is a wonderfully sweet, sexy, and heartfelt story. Sunny stole the show in my opinion and the epilogue happens to be one of my favorite things about this book. I truly enjoyed it and recommend it 100%! *I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author through Give Me Books PR. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.*

THE ANTI-BOYFRIEND by Penelope Ward is a contemporary, adult, stand alone erotic, romance story line focusing on twenty-five year old, former ballerina, single mother and PR rep Carys Kincaid, and twenty-nine year old, former football player and IT specialist Deacon Mathers. Told from dual first person perspectives (Carys and Deacon) THE ANTI-BOYFRIEND follows the slow building relationship between twenty-five year old, former ballerina, single mother and PR rep Carys Kincaid, and twenty-nine year old, former football player and IT specialist Deacon Mathers. After ‘hearing’ one too many night time forays from her neighbor next door, Carys Kincaid ‘politely’ notifies Deacon Mathers about his very noisy and very vocal bedroom conquests. Feeling guilty and a little bit attracted, Deacon apologizes with daily coffees and the occasional babysitting offer when needed in a pinch but Deacon Mathers doesn’t do relationships, and when their building friendship starts to turn into something more, Deacon begins to pull away, leaving a heart broken Carys in his wake. With weeks and months passing, and their dance of friendship continuing to straddle the line, jealousy reveals a mutual attraction that will be threatened when Deacon runs without looking back. What ensues is the slow building romance and relationship between Deacon and Carys, and the potential fall-out as Deacon is unable to let go of the past, and Carys is once again left heart broken when the man with whom she is falling in love, no longer wants Carys in his life. The relationship between Carys and Deacon is one of immediate attraction but Deacon’s nightly conquests are a reminder of a life of which Carys is not a part. Once an up and coming football star, Deacon’s career ended before it began mirroring Carys’s life of dance that was destroyed in an instant. Deacon doesn’t do permanent relationships and struggles with the idea of family and kids, and in this Deacon prefers a friends with benefits arrangement that is about to implode when the heart is unable to accept the truth. The $ex scenes are intimate and passionate without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text. We are introduced to Carys’ boss Cynthia; her ex Charles; Deacon’s friend Adrian, as well as Carys’ infant daughter Sunny. THE ANTI-BOYFRIEND covers several months and a few years in the life of Deacon and Carys. A slow building romance and relationship wherein weeks to months will pass where the reader is not privy to current events but you will not feel like the missing information is a necessary reveal. The premise is captivating; the romance is seductive; the characters are energetic, colorful and strong.