You never know where the love of your life might turn up. When Matt Connelly suggests to his best buddy Cody Mook that they head to downtown Seattle to audition for the gay reality TV show Husband Hunters, both agree the experience might be a lark and a chance to grab their fifteen minutes of fame. What they don’t know is that the show, modeled after HGTV’s House Hunters, will open doors of … doors of longing neither expected. For Matt, the secret love he has long harbored for Cody might be thrust into the spotlight. Cody might realize his search for his perfect-forever-man extends no farther than the man who’s always been at his side.
Husband Hunters promises laughter, tears, and, just maybe, a happy ever after. Will Cody and Matt’s story be one of best-friends-to-lovers–or an outright disaster?
more
Husband Hunters by Rick R. Reed is a standalone contemporary m/m romance about two best friends who are about to get some surprises when they decide to try out for a gay reality show, Husband Hunters.
If you do not like stories that include characters becoming intimate with other people besides the other main character, even if it occurs before they are together, then proceed with caution… after all it’s about a dating show where contestants are considering several potential suitors. The romance between these friends evolve alower… sometimes you need to explore other options before you realize what you really want was right there all along.
Matt and Cody are interesting characters. They do not have an easy transition going from best friends to lovers. There were times I wanted to smack one of them, both of them – Cody to just stop being dumb and embrace what they could have… or Matt to stop pining for Cody and find a sweet guy who wouldn’t so easily dismiss his proclamations of love.
Overall, this story had a lot of drama and angst, a lot of humor and some romance. There were times in this book that I thought about stopping. The book is well written in my opinion, and I love Friends to Lovers romances… but I didnt feel warm and fuzzy reading this, It felt off. Matt loved his best friend but they each had things going on with other people for most of the book. But something kept me reading, I still wanted to see it all play out.
I received an advanced reader’s copy of the book and I am voluntarily leaving my honest review and recommendation.
3.5 stars-
I was excited about the premise of Husband Hunters. I love friends to lovers romances, and this seemed like a fun and unique take on a favorite trope. In some ways, Husband Hunters was what I hoped for- delivering good characters who had a sweet and fun friendship, easy pacing, and good writing. Despite having so much going for it, I ended up struggling a bit and didn’t find this love story as satisfying as I hoped.
The friendship between Matt and Cody was sweet from the start. Though it seemed a little odd that Cody dismissed Matt as a catch worthy of his special someone, I did like their bond and thought they had a cute connection that played well off each other. That said, I found myself wishing there was more of a palpable undercurrent of attraction between Cody and Matt from the start. There were snippets for sure, but nothing that made me yearn to see these two get a happily-ever-after. Considering how heartrending it was to get to these men’s happy ending, I can’t help but think that more chemistry up front may have helped, or at least make it feel like the pain was worth it. Instead, I struggled with Cody. His dismissals and treatment of Matt made it difficult to feel anything gracious towards him. That isn’t to say Matt was a saint in this story. There were specific moments his actions/choices really frustrated me as well. Inevitably, these rough spots had me questioning if Matt and Cody really were the best match for one another. I wanted the friendship to translate to a wonderful love story, and although I was happy with the ending, the bumpy road they took jarred me out of the story a little too much and left me feeling out of sorts.
*eARC received via LesCourt Author Services*