One clueless single dad…
Plus one sassy Southerner…
Andy Ferguson, or Kandi as the Thursday night drag community knows him, is just trying to get along in a small town and hold things together while he takes care of his beloved Gam-Gam. If she’d just get off his back about finding himself a man, that would be fantastic, thank you very much. He’ll get around to love… one of these days.
Equals a pair of fake-boyfriends who will keep you in stitches.
When Corb gets the wild idea to ask Andy to pose as his boyfriend to let Gray know that his dad is bisexual and open-minded enough to talk to about his nonbinary status, Andy is amused and just intrigued enough to say yes… especially since he seems to be in the market for a fake boyfriend himself, if it will get Gam-Gam to quit nagging.
This is the first book in the LOVESTRONG series about finding love and being yourself in a small town. Intended only for 18+ readers, this is an mm romance filled with all the fun, fluff, and feels you’d want from an S. Hawke book.
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Such a great story. I’m kicking myself for waiting so long to read this one! It’s got some hilarious moments, heart wrenching moments, and heart warming moments. Andy is just a spitfire, and I love it! Doctor Hottie turned out to be Dr Sweetheart, too. Sometimes found families are better than blood, snd this was one I’d love to be a part of.
The writing is superb and the characters were perfect! From coworkers, to family members, to PTL — I loved them all! I would highly recommend this book to you. Like me, it will leave you wanting to read the next book!
If you get a chance, you need to listen to the audiobook – Michael Dean did an amazing job, and his voice for Honey Combover is ‘fall over laughing’ amazing. OMG, it’s purrrrrfect.
How Not To Blend is a sweet story. Corbin is a doctor who needs help connecting with his kid, and Andy is the drag queen barista who has a crush on Corbin. The fake boyfriend trope was amusing since it wasn’t hard to see how much Andy and Corbin liked each other. The characters were all full of life and sass and it was fun to get to meet everyone. The writing was decent, but some of the dialogue didn’t feel natural; however, the humor and fast pace of the story made it easy to move past any awkward dialogue and still enjoy the story.
Overall: 4 Stars. This is a great start to a fun, new series. The characters are strong, sassy, and oh so sweet. I love the chemistry between Corbin and Andy, and the relationship they both have with Grayson. I definitely recommend this book.
We all need Jeebus in our lives!!!
There are not enough words to describe just how much fun this was to read! I giggled and laughed out so many times I lost count. The adorkable one-liners throughout, especially by Andy were hilarious. However, the banter between characters, Andy/ Gams, Tracy/Andy, Dana/ Corbin, Andy/Corbin, Miss Honey/Andy, EVEN Jeebus/ Andy… just… just… **bwahahahahaaa… Like I said, not enough words.
“Isn’t glitter known as the herpes of the craft world because you literally can’t ever get rid of it?”
Behind all the hilarious banter and romance though is a darkness in the form of hate and intolerance. While dealing with these issues at the heart of the story, happiness is never far away bringing to mind the old adage, “everything happens for a reason.” Even though there are some pretty heavy things that happen to one of the characters, it helps bring about our much desired HEA, not just for the two main characters, but for everyone involved.
This is a story you could see happening in real life and that makes it that much more endearing. I recommend this to anyone who likes to laugh and enjoys stories about family, friends, faith, hope, love, and Jeebus. **giggle… After all, we could all use a little Jeebus in our lives.
“Take a risk and just be yourself with all your peacock glory. Be your colorful self, be loud and proud, and reach for that brass ring. You deserve it, honey.”~GamGams
Corbin is struggling getting his increasingly sullen teenager to open up to him. When he has a “brilliant” idea to enlist the help of a drag queen to give him tips, it gets him an exceedingly sexy Kandi opening his eyes to all kinds of things he never knew about. It also gets him the unapologetically fabulous Andrew who slowly opens Corbin’s heart. If they can navigate Corbin’s relationship with his son, a meddling grandmother, and all the misunderstandings jumping to conclusions gets them, they might be able to turn something fake into something very real.
From the very start I was hooked. The ridiculous banter between Andrew and his bestie, the feels from Gray’s situation, the slow-moving relationship, and even Corbin’s obliviousness all worked together to captivate me at the outset. As things progressed some of those elements didn’t grow or evolve and held their story back a bit. Corbin remained oblivious way too long for my liking and his attitude during their separation didn’t do much to win me over either. Andrew’s campiness was endearing for most of the story, but at times it felt affected rather than organic. Those moments weren’t often, thank goodness, but when they appeared it was quite off-putting. The simplistic detail with which so many things were described felt contrived given the characters involved in the discussion. And for nearly everyone to be a wiki resource on the topic while Corbin was ignorant of everything at multiple times? Not really believable.
Grayson really stole the spotlight, though. As a young teenager coming to terms with their identity and truth, they had a difficult situation combined with bullying and an overreacting father. What I loved about them was their acceptance and resolve. They also didn’t come across as the token “extra” often used to garner more interest than would be warranted otherwise. Instead, they were genuinely great. Their role was more than just to be the non-binary bridge used to bring Andy and Corbin together, they were a fully fleshed out character that was an entity all on their own. Couple that with a ridiculous grandmother that was full of spunk, dirty jokes, a foul mouth, and incredible wisdom and you’ve got a cast of supporting characters that really gives this story wings.