Brooks Johnson’s Words To Live By:
When returning to Licking Thicket, TN, for the first time in ten years to reunite with your nosy neighbors, heart-broken ex-girlfriend, and matchmaking mama who never quite believed you were gay, it’s best to bring a fake boyfriend as backup…
Just don’t be surprised when your ex-girlfriend does the same.
And when her incredibly hot fake boyfriend becomes … her incredibly hot fake boyfriend becomes the one island of calm in a sea of bovine-based insanity, it’s best to exercise caution… especially when he pushes you up against the rough barn wall to check you very thoroughly for splinters…
Just don’t be surprised if you fall head-over-hooves in love with him.
more
Loved this book. The characters are witty and playful. The HEA is sweet and they are a couple you cheer for.
Deserves more than 5 stars for the adorable characters. All of them. Not only the MC’s. The world-building is immersive.
It cracked me up, and it made me cry. <3 I almost feel like this needs two separate reviews, but instead I'll put both here. 🙂
I am a small towns resident, one in Idaho, one in California, one in Montana, and two here in Florida. As a result I generally dislike the resented-small town trope, and am happy with versions where the MC rediscovers love for theirs. This is the latter. Plus, this small town not only has a ridiculous name (which is explained eventually), but the first half or more of this book is very cleverly chock-FULL of puns, word-play and double entendre on that name. It had me snickering, wincing, and LOLing in delight. It works well because our home boy is a great character, and his love interest is a smart-ass.
Things settle down a bit when the romance heats up, and thereafter it becomes more your well-done small-town life-changing romance. The supporting cast felt real, the angst felt real, the not-talking was organic... This one really worked for me, all the way to the last line of the Epilogue. I really hope the hints that there will be more stories set in this town comes true.
The one flaw is the advertising firm owner's attitude. I winced, but I could ignore it.
EDIT: I read a 1-star review by a gay man claiming no gay would put up with what Brooks did. Okay, fair enough as opinions go, although claiming you can speak for your entire demographic is...certainly an opinion. I doubt that reviewer grew up in a small but positive Southern town. IMHO, the authors got the problematic affections right, and the guilt, and the upbringing which is specifically Southern small town of the good sort, rather than the one Mal is from, which is poisonous.
I read another one of fewer-stars that had trouble with liking Ava, and I... That was the point? At first? Sometimes I wonder how people get through life if these stories confound them. LOL
A zany and quirky story of some unique characters and a special town that will win both your heart and your funnybone. I really enjoyed the clear attraction between the characters (Not just the MCs but the secondary characters as well!). The events through the story were highly entertaining and really engaged the reader through witty banter, humour and some very sexy scenarios. Strongly defined characters were a standout in this book and I just loved how each and every one of them brought something special to this story.
Can’t remember the last time when I wanted something this bad like this book. And if you want something, then you have expectations. And this book was way more then enough to satisfy my expectations.
First, the cover. It’s effing perfect. It’s enough for me to one-click it. It’s written by Alexis Hall? Hell to the yes, give it to me and I won’t hurt anyone.
The book was long but not long enough – I mean, come on, I could read Luc&Oliver forever and I wouldn’t be bored at all. There is something in Alexis Hall’s writing style that hooks you to the story and won’t let go. The characters, the background, the side characters/ friends/ parents, everything is real. Make you believe that you can totally meet them on the street, you can hug them and you can be friends with them. Their life is like yours – minus the rockstar parents.
I fell in love with Oliver and Luc too, both were adorable, loveable and really good characters. Loved the way how Oliver called Luc Lucien, it was swoon worthy. So sweet.
Loved how they fell slowly for each other but were really blind for the other’s feelings. The fake boyfriend trope is really good, I love reading this kind of stories, and Oliver&Lucien were really, really a good couple.
And Alex was hilarious, I liked him and the jokes between him and Luc.
The romance was perfect. I was hot for them. This is the perfect romance book ever. I just want to throw this book in few author’s face’ to read it and learn from it, because this is the way how you write romance without erotica while the reader is totally hot and bothered. When the kiss scene or just a simply touch can make you sweat – it’s just PERFECT! You don’t have to write full on sex scenes with all the details – Alexis Hall can make your heart beat faster with the simple of touches between the main characters. And this is right here what makes this book beautiful and perfect.
Oliver&Lucien were perfectly imperfect, and I loved how they relationship worked. Their first kiss, their first date, their first sex (OMG that was so GOOD! How Oliver lost his politeness and got HOT. That scene was everything. E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G.)
I can’t tell you how very much I loved this book. I need it on my shelf in paperback. And I need a real life Oliver to be friends with because he is so cute, I just want to hug him.
HIGHLY recommend this to everyone who needs romance. Perfect romance.
I just want to be able to forget this book and read it for the first time again. And again. And again. Oliver&Lucien are everything
Fantastic characters, great story. Couldn’t put it down. Hope there’s a sequel.
With a name like Licking Thicket, you KNOW it’s good! Licking Thicket, Tennessee is the setting for one of the cutest, funniest MM romantic comedies I’ve read. The Thicket, as it is affectionately known, is the tiny town where Brooks Johnson grew up, and couldn’t wait to leave after high school. He spent his entire youth trying to fit in and be the perfect guy. And he mostly succeeded: captain of the football team, gorgeous cheerleader girlfriend, honor society…
But being a gay kid in small town Tennessee isn’t an easy road. So, 10 years earlier, immediately after being crowned Mr. and Mrs. Licking Thicket at that year’s Great Lickin’ Festival, instead of presenting his girlfriend, Ava, with the promise ring she was expecting, he informed her he was gay, wished her the best, and promptly left for New York City.
Brooks hasn’t returned to Tennessee since that fateful night 10 years earlier. But when his dad has a mild heart attack, he is called back to the Thicket to take his dad’s place as Grand Poobah at the annual Great Lickin’ Festival – a position known, of course, as Head Licker. Because he’s not keen on coming home after 10 years single, especially since he isn’t sure the town has forgiven him for hurting Ava, he enlists Paul, his friend and co-worker, to pose as his boyfriend.
After the Great Dumping Incident, Ava the cheerleader moved to LA, where she met and became best friends with a sexy, gay artist named Malachi Forrester. She knows Brooks will be coming home for the festival this year, and she is also single but doesn’t want to go home unattached. So she convinces Mal to come along with her as her boyfriend.
As one might imagine, this scenario leads to plenty of hilarious hijinks as they go through the week participating in events such as the Lickin Lope, which is a foot race through a forest while carrying a bucket full of milk.
Along with all the fun, there is serious chemistry between Mal and Brooks. It leads them both to re-evaluate their lives to figure out whether they are actually where they want to be in their lives.
This was such a sweet, fun book. Licking Thicket is a place that I doubt exists, but I wish with all my heart that it did. A place where small town folks are accepting of people with differences, whether the difference is skin colour or sexual orientation or religion. It doesn’t matter – as long as they love the Thicket, they are family. When I finished the book I was sad to leave the Thicket – and I’m SO looking forward to upcoming stories from the other characters in town.
Fake boyfriends all over the place. This story is almost too cute for words. I am an avid Lucy fan. May is new to me. But when I heard they came together to write a collaboration I couldn’t resist. This book was just full of witty banter that I am assuming the authors had a good time putting together. In the mix was some down home fun and of course a romance story that brings it all together. The authors have built enough of a world to keep this going and even a hint at who may be next! I thoroughly enjoyed the story and assume others will too.
Everything I expected from these two talented authors!
When you take fake boyfriends, former high school sweethearts, a quirky small town filled with well-meaning nosy people, all mixed together by May Archer and Lucy Lennox, you get magic.
Yes, there are hokey names and traditions, and yes, it’s instalove, but it’s charming and special. Very much a Hobie meets O’Leary feel to it.
I loved the characters, the storyline held my attention, and the sex was pretty hot, too.
I can’t wait to read more from this pair!
(I received an advance copy of this book.)
I read Fakers (KU) by Lucy Lennox and May Archer yesterday and OMG OMG OMG! It was the MOST enjoyable way to spend 5 hours! I even bailed on work yesterday! SHHHH 😉 Such a FABULOUS book..So freaking LOL funny, snarky, clever and sexy…Excellent storytelling and seamless collaborative writing! Once again, I went in blind so I really had no idea what I was in for. It’s a new form of edging for me! LOL It’s an absolute gem of a low angst, sort of opposites attract, fake boyfriend, organic love story!! I LOVED Brooks and Mal individually and together. They are both sweet, loyal and driven, for different reasons, but just perfect for each other. The secondary and tertiary characters are all fantastic in their own quirky way. I laughed my ass off and then proceeded to laugh and cry simultaneously. I am still thinking about this book and have a huge happy sappy smile on my face. I loved every single word from the get go!!
I loved this book right from the start.
It’s fun and laugh out loud funny and so entertaining.
Hilarious story about two fake relationships and the tangled web that ensues.
Ava and Mal, Brooks and Paul, one man fake gay and the other fake straight.
Their families and the whole town of Licking Thicket were sweet and adorable. I love the festival and the hijinks and fun surrounding it.
The innuendo’s and puns were hilarious.
A perfect country town read. One of my favourite books for the year. These two authors did a seamless job of collaborating. The story was so well written that you fall into these people and their crazy town effortlessly.
A really joyful read I highly recommend!!
5 Stars!
This book was such a delight to read! I wish I could add going to the Licking Thicket Festival on my bucket list because it was amazing! LOL
The book is full of double entendrés and silly humor that if it’d been written by someone less skilled than Lucy Lennox and May Archer probably wouldn’t have worked as well as it did. And damn if I wasn’t in stitches right from the first chapter. LMAO!
I adored Brooks and Mal, their chemistry was off-the-charts and they were so well-suited for each other and let’s not forget HOT, because the UST was thick enough to cut with a knife from the first moment they saw each other. *fans self*
I don’t know where Lucy and May got the idea of this crazy town and its even crazier inhabitants, but I bow to their geniusness. This is the kind of book I needed to get past an awful book hangover, although I make no promises about getting over Fakers any time soon.
This was a captivating, hilarious book that I’m sure I’ll reread more than once in the future. Do yourself a favor and lose yourself in this fantastic read!
*** Copy provided to Bayou Book Junkie for my reading pleasure, but I read it through KU. A review wasn’t a requirement.
I loved Lucy Lennox and May Archer, so this was a dream pairing for me!! There was so much I adored about this book! I loved the small town setting with the crazy cow obsession that was full of puns! Characters were well written. This was a great story! Very much looking forward to the next one!
I adored this book. The combination of fake relationships, small town romance and forced proximity collide in this epic collaboration. Mal and Brooks live on opposite sides of the country and are chasing career dreams. The two meet when they both turn up in small town Tennessee. Sparks fly immediately but things are complicated by a previous ex-lover. The two go through many shenanigans in their bid for happy ever after.
Lennox and Archer are both masterminds of the sweet, fluffy and funny contemporary romance. When these two join forces to write a book it comes up as nothing short of magical.
I loved this book. It had a fresh storyline thatalso had me laughing so hard I spit water out across my lap. The characters were wonderful witty and so loveable.
Lucy Lennox is one of those authors who’s books I’ll dedicate myself to reading before I’ve even read the blurb. I haven’t read much by May Archer but I definitely will now. These two together are phenomenal! This book was so great. It has everything. Fake boyfriends, bovine jokes, small town feels, a teeny bit of angst, meddling family, and the best HEA. I was hooked from the first page. Its laugh out loud funny. I can’t wait until it’s on audio and I get to hear Lickin’ Thicket out loud. I can’t recommend this book enough.
This book was laugh out loud funny and so endearing coming from a small town with a Mosquito Festival that crowns Miss Quito. It was full of seriously funny puns and subtle word play and plenty of not so subtle. And the characters were just lovable. Two thumbs up highly recommended. Great fun.
Laugh Out Loud Funny about sums up this first time collaboration by Lucy Lennox and May Archer. I loved Brooks and Mal’s story and once I got sucked in, I couldn’t put it down. I love a good fake boyfriend story and this one had it in pairs! If you’re a fan of small towns, you’re going to love the crazy shenanigans happening at the annual festival in Lickin’ Thicket. Oh yeah, say that 10x fast. Once you finally wrap your mind around all the licking and thickets happening, the sexy times are really going to grab you! The sexy times are fan yourself hot, but the sweetness and tenderness is there too. Really, so many emotions are going to grab you with Brooks and Mal! I loved the crazy family and friends these two collected and I can’t wait to read more about them all! This is going to be a must-read series and I already know I’m going to need to hear this story in audio. I can’t wait to revisit these two men with Michael Dean’s narration!!
5 LOLOLOLOLOLOL Stars
This is a first collaboration between these 2 talented authors and it was slap knee hilarious at times and sweet in others. 10 years ago Brooks left his small town leaving behind his family and breaking the heart of his girlfriend. He wanted to live his life out, not hiding who he was. Now 10 years later he is summoned home to help with the annual festival in his hometown of Licking Thicket. But he doesn’t want to go alone so ropes his friend to pose as his boyfriend because his ex girlfriend is coming too. And she brings the sexy Mal as her boyfriend. What could go wrong? Sexy, steamy, sweet, hilarious and downright romantic. This story was awesome and I hope to see these 2 authors collaborate again!
Fakers is a new sexy, romcom, M/M romance from Lucy Lennox and May Archer. I’m a HUGE fan of Lucy’s, but this is my first May Archer book and I will be reading more of her too! I’m hoping this is just the first of many with Lucy and May and the first in this series. This book is everything. Freaking hilarious, hot as sin, emotional and fun! Brooks is from Licking Thicket, TN and needs to go home for the annual festival. He left at eighteen after coming out to the whole town. He can’t go back alone, he needs a fake boyfriend. His straight friend, Paul gets to be the lucky man! Ava hasn’t seen Brooks since he left town after breaking her heart. They were high school sweethearts and she thought they were going to be together forever. She can’t go home alone, so she ropes her best, gay friend, Mal, to be her fake boyfriend. Brooks is a people pleaser, a yes man. He solves problems and does what’s asked of him. Mal is the only one who’s ever seen the real him and he can’t believe his luck. He’s Ava’s boyfriend. Right? Oh, so wrong! The chemistry between Brooks and Mal is off the charts! But they have to pretend for the town, for Brooks’ family. Mal can’t believe the sexy man he flirted with is Ava’s jerkface ex. WTF! But after a few more run ins with Brooks, he’s not the man Ava thinks he is. He’s sweet, caring, nice, sexy, handsome, hot….wait? What? No! Mal can’t be falling for Ava’s ex. But he is and oh man, is it good! What happens when the truth all comes out? Mal is gay and not with Ava. Paul is straight and not with Brooks and Brooks and Mal fell for each other. Brooks lives in NY, Mal in LA. It can’t work, can it? Sometimes coming home to a place you ran from is exactly what you need. To find yourself. To find love. To find yourself. Oh man! This book! I love it so much! I laughed so hard. Out loud. Like, so loud! Mal and Brooks were killing me with their sexiness and banter and flirting! But it wasn’t only them. Paul and Ava? Hilarious! Brooks’ family? OMG, freaking hilarious! So many lovable secondary characters that I hope we get to see soon! I want to live in this crazy town with these cow loving people!