A delicious new best friends-to-lovers stand-alone romance from #1 NYT Bestseller Lauren Blakely!The second the test-the-sexy-scenes offer landed in my lap, I said yes.After all, I’ve been damn curious about a few things I’ve read in romance novels. Do buttons truly go flying across the floor when you rip off a guy’s shirt? Is staircase nookie hella hot or does it leave you with a big old bruise … you with a big old bruise mark on your back? And don’t even get me started on all that panty shredding, and whether it even works.
Time to find out as I embark on Project Romance Novel Scenes Research, at the request of my hotshot book editor bestie.
All I need is a willing scene partner. Enter Tristan, my best guy friend. The witty, tell-it-like-it-is, bearded hottie volunteers for the experiment.
He’s also the guy who gave me the most devastating, toe-curling kiss of my life ten years ago. But nothing has happened since then.
And nothing will come between my panties and our friendship now since we have a plan to keep it PG.
But once the buttons start flying, all bets are off…
S-E-X AND OTHER SHINY OBJECTS is a standalone romance in the BOYFRIEND MATERIAL series. The other titles are ASKING FOR A FRIEND and ONE NIGHT STAND-IN.
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I loved it! This was one of my favorite Lauren Blakely premises: a woman has to write some sex scenes, so she needs to know if it’s possible to shed your clothing with your man on a flight of stairs, or send buttons flying if you rip open a shirt. So she asks her male friend to act out those scenes together. It’s funny! And, well, they realize how much fun they’re having. Terrific set-up, great couple, and the best little brother in a book, ever!
A friends-to-lovers swoon-worthy new release from Lauren Blakely!
Romantic comedies, by far, are my favorite trope to read, and hands down, Lauren Blakely’s are always at the top of the heap for me. Blakely’s writing always draws me in with her wit, her endearing characters and their whirlwind romances. I’ve yet to pick up one of Blakely’s novels and not loose myself in the pages of it. But there was something about the Boyfriend Material that felt different to me, and after reading Asking For A Friend, the first book, in the series, I was hooked.
Sex and Other Shiny Objects, a friends-to-lovers romcom, grabbed my attention right away with a fresh, fun story line. Peyton, a lingerie store owner, and her best male friend, Tristan, a bar owner, team up to help another friend with a special project by testing out some standard romance novel plot devices. As a romance reader, I know I have wondered about some of the things I’ve read. Like ripping panties off – how is that accomplished without delivering a potentially painful, and mood killing, wedgie? And those scattering buttons tap, tap, tapping across the floor after a man’s dress shirt is ripped open… does it really go down like that? Every time? Blakely builds this couple’s story around their pursuit of this project, and I was thoroughly entertained.
Simmering beneath the surface, however, linger long buried feelings that bubble back up between the lingerie shredding, dress-shirt ripping and their scantily clad states during these experiments. Friends since college who shared a bit of an attraction back in the day, they’ve been victims of bad timing before. This time, though, nothing—except their friendship—is standing in the way of the sizzling chemistry crackling between them.
Sex and Other Shiny Objects had it all. From those sweet and tender moments to cleverly executed humor, it was full of all the feels and fire I want to experience as two friends fall in love. Refreshingly different and unique, Blakely has penned something truly special, wholly amusing and completely addictive in Tristan and Peyton’s love story. This is gold, this is the good stuff, and the kind of romcom magic that Blakely has created in the Boyfriend Material series is precisely what lands her at the top of my favorites list over and over. Five smooches from me for Sex and Other Shiny Objects by Lauren Blakely!
~Danielle Palumbo, Red Cheeks Reads
What a great book for Lauren Blakely to start the new year off with! I absolutely adored Peyton and Tristan’s story. They are best friends who in the past 10 years after sharing one kiss neither seem to have forgotten it. Both are unwilling to lose the deep friendship by getting involved romantically. Tristan always wanted to pursue Peytaon but unforeseen hurdles always seemed to stand in the way. Peyton has given up dating for now due to a bitter breakup and Tristan isn’t looking for love at this time. Peyton has been asked by her friend Amy to research and write about different scenarios in a romance novel her company is publishing. Peyton decides to ask her best friend Tristan to help her out. He can’t let his best friend just ask a random guy to help her. The chemistry these to have is so amazing and you can’t help but fall in love and root for them. The way Ms Blakely weaves this friends to lovers story is great. I can not wait to read the next book in the series. From start to finish this was a well written story that is highly entertaining with a wonderful HEA!
I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book.
Another fabulous, funny, and steamy read from the mind of Lauren Blakely
This is the story of Peyton and Tristan, friends since college, but they always had this vibe together, unfortunately, timing was never on their side and friends they remained for years.
When an amazing and fun opportunity falls into Peyton’s lap, she looks to Tristian to help her with the process of recreating romantic tropes from books. I absolutely loved this storyline and often wondered if popping buttons and bathtub hijinks were really feasible. The way that Ms. Blakely presents it is fresh, funny and uncomfortably real!
The chemistry and familiarity between Peyton and Tristan is fantastic and the steamy scenes were just wowza!
I also enjoyed the secondary storyline with Tristan and his brother Barrett. You have to really pay attention to the dialogue and then you get a heartwarming surprise at the end.
I have yet to read a story by Ms. Blakely that I haven’t thoroughly enjoyed and this story is right up there with the best!
5 He’s Her Permanent Research Partner Stars!!
Oh Tristan and Peyton have grabbed my heart and I don’t want them to ever let go! This is the second book in this new series of standalones and I’m loving every single word and page! These two have been friends for a very long time and when Peyton has to do the most excruciating research…does it really happen in real life like it does in romance books, so Peyton asks Tristan to be her guinea pig so to speak…let the good times begin!!
Tristan has wanted to move past friendship with Peyton for a very long time, but she’s always had a boyfriend so he’s never made his move, but with this research it just may be his moment to let her know how he really feels and I’m all for it!! There’s an easiness between these two which just makes their times together funny and sexy all at the same time. There’re so many moments of laughter while they’re experimenting with these oh so sexy book scenes. Because their friendship is strong and solid, there’s not any feelings of being uncomfortable…but there is a level of heat building that Peyton definitely wasn’t expecting.
This book has everything I love about a Lauren Blakely book…friendship, swoony moments, sizzle and heat and everything in between. The easiness of their friendship translates to the easiness of them becoming more and their love is not only everything they both were hoping for but it exceeds all their wishes and desires because they really are with their very best friend. Add in the relationship Tristan has with his younger brother and a fabulous cast of secondary characters, some of which we met in book one and this story is a perfect addition to this series!
Good read! I have to say the connection and chemistry in this book is off the charts and my favorite part. I don’t know if Iv read a book with characters with so much chemistry and i really enjoyed it. The story. Characters and everything was just a good read.
Peyton and Tristan!! Oh my such yummy deliciousness wrapped up in this one. Peyton is lingerie goddess that runs her own business selling beautiful pieces to the women who visit her shop. Tristan runs a restaurant one of the finest in town and they’ve been best friends for years. When Peyton needs help with some research who is better suited but the man she already trusts and adores but only in the friendship way. This book was awesome, amazing, sexy, delicate able and beautiful story that the author created! Definitely worth reading and who doesn’t love sex and other shiny objects!!
This book is funny, and sweet and all the things a good romance book should be. I really enjoyed it!
I love Lauren Blakely. But this was a miss for me. The H is just a little too cowardly for me. The h debated for a couple of days how to let her true feelings show…he stews for 10 years!! I know that could have been sweet. But it just came across is him being a coward and that was a turn off for me.
The story is well written. And the narrators do a great job performing on the audiobook. This one just didn’t work for me.
Holy hotness, Lauren Blakely can do no wrong. Loving all these stories. And I love a story where I adore the hero AND heroine!
5 Cranky Stars
Piper is a strong independent woman with a caring heart. She has been hurt by love in the past and is guarded now but finally she’s trying to get back in the dating scene.
Tristan is Pipers best guy friend yet he can’t seem to let go of the one kiss they shared back in college. The timing has always been off for them so now they’ve settled into the friend zone.
When Piper asks Tristan for the ultimate favor he jumps on it. Knowing how hard it will be to keep feelings out of it he jumps in heart first.
This story is so funny and I love that the romance tropes were tested. Everyone who loves romance books needs to read this. Lauren Blakley hit it out of the park with this book and had me laughing so hard I almost peed myself. I’ll never look at another stair or bathtub scene again.
I absolutely LOVED this friends-to-lovers look at how romance scenes are played out in novels!!
Do buttons really ping, ping, ping everywhere when shirts are ripped open?
Is tub sex really possible?
Can you really rip panties off with your teeth?
Peyton and Triston take to the task of answering these questions and more, but they do so with trepidation at first, because hey, they are friends, but the steam they generate….WOW….there is definitely something more there.
This story is so delightful, I’m having a really hard time picking my favorite book boyfriend lately…IKR…soooo hard…Tristan is scrumptious, sweet, and amazing and boy does he bring the lusty steam.
They brought the chemistry and built up the “we really shouldn’t” until the tea kettle was absolutely screaming.
This is a perfect combo to go with Amy and Linc’s story, but also can be read as a complete standalone too.
Peyton is given the opportunity to “test the sexy scenes” in romance novels. Bathtub sex, panty ripping, staircase sex etc. We’ve all read them and possibly thought about doing them in real life. For this task she enlist the help of her best friend, Tristan. The two of them have been kind of tap dancing around their feelings for one another for several years due to not wanting to lose the friendship which makes sense.
I really enjoyed this friends to lovers story. It had a refreshing premise. I really liked the whole reenactment of scenes from romance novels. Tristan and Peyton had good chemistry and I loved their banter and the story felt realistic. At times I wanted to shake sense into both of them for being stubborn and in denial but it was all worth it in the end. If you’re looking for a unique friends to lover romance, look no further!
Cute comical story!
I really liked it. The characters were well built. Even the secondary characters were flushed out. I loved the cat, etc. It was an unexpected and twisted story line, but it was a page turner.
I liked reading on things to try and not to try. Funny on how she wrote her blog on her experiences.
In 5 words: friendship, sex-positive, empowering, humorous, charming
Trope: Friends to lovers/second chance
Heroine: She has some insecurities, but is sex-positive and adventurous.
Her mantra: “Put yourself out there. Do the hard things. Go for it.”
Hero: He’s charming, a care taker, and supportive of his friends
What made me swoon: THE moment on the sidewalk, when they’ve realized the depth of their feelings for each other. And that kiss, “Kiss me like you love me.” *heart eyes*
Lauren Blakely is my go-to author for sexy, low-angst romance. Her characters are mature enough to overcome their insecurities/fears by having honest, intimate discussions. As always, I loved the humor and heart in this book!
What a fun and cute story. This had all the steam as well as the banter and the laughs that I was waiting for. Thoroughly enjoyed this story and can’t wait for another!!!
This one was everything!!
Oh my! I loved this story so hard – this group of people who become couples are such a delight to read!! I love this series and we’re only on Book #2 although there are so many other connections – I love Lauren Blakely’s world of books!!
Tristan and Peyton have such a beautiful friendship! They are supportive of each other, have witty banter, and sexual tension that everyone can see, but they deny! I have to say I’m partial to friends who become lovers since I married a good friend! That makes for such a solid base in a relationship!
The premise was laugh out loud when you saw it coming from Book 1 (you don’t have to read that one first, but DO IT!). Trying out romantic scenes for their practicality was bound to create some hilarious moments. But of course, things go from PG to R and oh my! That was steamy.
However, this scene was heartbreaking…”But life isn’t like the movies. It’s not like the books. That’s what I learned this last week. After the door shuts, I let the tears rain down.” So these two have to be brave enough to admit their feelings for each other – you’ll be holding your breath to see if they do.
Such an enjoyably fun read – all the stars!!
I voluntarily requested and read an advance reader copy.