A smart and delightful romantic comedy featuring fabulous female friendships and ”a great love story.” –Jasmine Guillory, bestselling author of Party of Two
Samiah Brooks never thought she would be “that” girl. But a live tweet of a horrific date just revealed the painful truth: she’s been catfished by a three-timing jerk of a boyfriend. Suddenly Samiah — along with his two other … a boyfriend. Suddenly Samiah — along with his two other “girlfriends,” London and Taylor — have gone viral online. Now the three new besties are making a pact to spend the next six months investing in themselves. No men and no dating.
For once Samiah is putting herself first, and that includes finally developing the app she’s always dreamed of creating. Which is the exact moment she meets the deliciously sexy Daniel Collins at work. What are the chances? But is Daniel really boyfriend material or is he maybe just a little too good to be true?
I loved this book about three strong, successful women who discover they’re all dating the same guy and form a close-knit friendship while turning their dating lives around. And the friendship/flirtation between the heroine and the undercover financial crimes agent hero is spectacular. LOVE.
It’s hard to like a hero who lies about who he is to the heroine throughout the book. Even harder to write one. ( Having written two myself, I know that to be true.) But Farrah Rochon really pulled it off in this story. I loved that it celebrated women’s friendships, and making the heroine a smart computer coder with plans for her own app, which is typically considered a guy thing, was a super twist!
I finished this wonderful book last night, and there was a lot to love about it. The series puts the supportive friendship of three badass women front and center – and much like I’ve experienced throughout my #brownnipplechallenge reading this year, I found it incredibly refreshing to read about women of color leading accomplished, fulfilling lives. (Please note: seeing that in a book should not be unique or refreshing — it should be as mainstream and commonplace as it is in real life — but such is the woeful state of traditional publishing).
In this title, our heroine Samiah makes zero apologies for herself or what she’s had to do to get to where she is. I loved that the author pulled no punches and didn’t gloss over the realities of what women of color have to go through to succeed in the modern workplace. I also loved that Ms. Rochon still gave her heroine relatable vulnerabilities and doubts. It made Samiah immensely likable and easy to cheer on.
Luckily, our girl gets exactly the hero she deserves in Daniel. He’s kind, he’s funny, he’s adorable, and most of all – he’s not the least bit interested in bending Samiah to fit his worldview. He adores her exactly as she is, and wants to see her thrive. He wants to support her efforts, not hijack them – and it’s amazing and so fun to read.
The part of this book that really hit me in the feels, though, was the frank discourse about women working in STEM, especially women of color. Ms. Rochon writes about the situations women experience in STEM fields with stark accuracy. The burden that women of color bear is much heavier than that of their white counterparts, however, and the author doesn’t shy away from describing it. Fortunately, Ms. Rochon is too deft to ever come across as pedantic – she weaves these truths into her characters seamlessly, making them courageous and wonderfully human in the process.
From start to finish, I couldn’t stop rooting for Samiah and Daniel to succeed, and I know you’ll feel the same. Highly recommend this one to all my fellow STEM girls! You’re going to feel seen.
I adore books with strong female friendships and this delightful story totally delivers! It starts off with a group of women who form a bond over unlikely circumstances when they discover they are all being played by the same guy who is not who he says he is. A friendship develops with an impromptu sleepover with margaritas that ends with the trio making a pact not to date for a while… I bet you can guess what happens next. 😉
This was such an entertaining story with smart, well thought out characters. I was engaged the entire time and caught up in everything! Great read!
Heartwarmingly charming! A fun, witty & romantic tale.
The story of Samiah & Daniel is different from most of the romcoms I’ve read lately. It was refreshing to see diversity in romance characters, including the love interest. I loved that Samiah is a woman in STEM and enjoys programming. Samiah is beautiful but she’s also smart, driven and willing to work harder than everyone else to be a successful black woman in a tech/programming career because she knows what that means for the next generation.
Daniel’s crush on Samiah leads to some really swoon-worthy lines. I like that the flirting starts pretty early on in the book.
As a Texan, I was thrilled to see this story take place in Austin.
My attention was sustained throughout the book as the techie main person explores a relationship with her co-worker.
The Boyfriend Project is an interesting title and that is what drew me to this book. I personally do no read synopsis because I feel like it gives spoilers away and I like to be surprised, so immediately when I saw the title I just knew , ooh this about to be good and I started my own assumptions to what the details of The Boyfriend Project would be.
It was the complete opposite of what I had in mind and it was great. The way Samiah, London and Taylor meet had me rolling, I could imagine that whole scene in my mind and I was all for it. These three ladies formed a bond and what I believe will be a lasting friendship for many years. I call this divine connection.
The situation with Samiah and Daniel played out differently than I expected, I enjoyed their flirting and how he was determined to not get involved with her , but as they say The heart wants what it wants. This was a great Rom-Com and I enjoyed it very much. I listened to it on audio and the narrator took it above and beyond, they kept me engaged, it was very relatable and I can see this happening in real life.
Another great romance from Farrah Rochon! The Boyfriend Project is jam-packed with romance and characters you’ll love. I obviously started reading for the romance between Daniel and Samiah, but I really enjoyed the friendship Samiah had with Taylor and London, as well as her relationship with her sister. I want to hang out with Samiah, Taylor, and London on Friday night for a watermelon margarita. They’re funny, loyal, and smart women, which is so satisfying to read. And, Daniel…he is a romance hero worthy of Samiah. This book pulled me in from the start, and I kept reading every chance I could get until I was all-too-soon finished with the Boyfriend Project.
I must insist that you read this book immediately before or after If I Never Met You by Mhairi McFarlane. The women in these stories are strong and intelligent, making their way in a tech world that wants to push them out, and with no time for bullshit. The dilemma facing Samiah at the end of The Boyfriend Project particularly is achingly real.
“She authored her own narrative. No one else had the power to write it for her.” I enjoyed this book. Samiah is a strong, confident woman who is passionate about her career in tech. Daniel is working in Samiah’s company undercover and cannot help falling for her. I’m thrilled to see a book that isn’t just well-written but also has strong themes of feminism and the power of women supporting women. Samiah’s newly-found girlfriends support one another in a way that women should and is a strong theme in the book. The only thing I didn’t love was how heavy the book was on aspects of the workplace. While referencing the workplace is necessary for the storyline it fell slightly on the heavy side of the intricacies of the tech world and I found myself wanting to skim at parts. However I do believe most women today may actually love those parts and this is truly just a personal preference. I really enjoyed The Boyfriend Project and would definitely recommend.
I loved this book. The characters were great. I really enjoyed the friendship between the women.
This was my first Farrah Rochon read, and it definitely won’t be my last.
I enjoyed a lot of things about this story and her writing. For one, it’s an office romance. The heroine kicks ass at her job, one that traditionally doesn’t employ Black women (tech), and the way her character was written made it impossible to not root for her. Samiah rocked!
The Black-Asian hero is an undercover federal investigator looking into a suspected white-collar crime at her employer. Daniel’s hired unbeknownst to anyone at the company that he’s a Fed and is immediately attracted to the heroine. They both have reasons to not get involved with each other, but their chemistry is potent, and that push-pull between them is done well.
This story hit a lot of sweet spots for me, but at the same time, I struggled a bit with some of the pacing. There was a lot of repetition in the internal narratives, especially the hero’s with his one big conflict: he isn’t just her coworker, and he can’t tell her the truth. There were a couple of other interesting plot threads I wished had gotten more page time, too.
Overall, the setup was great. I just think there could’ve been a better connection to her issues with trust/honesty, as well as giving the hero more to his characterization so his GMCs weren’t so one-dimensional. *slowly removes my editor hat*
That said, I enjoyed the writing and am looking forward to reading the next book in the series!
RATING: B
(Note: I received a review copy of this title courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley.)
The book opens with three women (London, Taylor, and Samiah) coming together to confront the man who pulled off the ultimate catfish scheme. Rather than turn their separate ways, these women make a pact to swear off men for six months in order to better themselves and uplift each other.
Samiah is a successful coder and developer at a tech firm. Being a black female in a predominately white male field isn’t easy. Thanks to her new friends, she’s only focused on her career and the app she’s developing; well, until she meets the new coder at her company Daniel Collins.
This book is an example of why we need to read ALL black stories.
Yes, there are instances of microaggressions and the obstacles that black women face in the work environment (being judged if you have a “black” name, if you’re hairstyle is acceptable for corporate culture, and being accused of “angry black woman syndrome”.).
However, there is also so much black joy in this story. This is a story of female friendship, strength, empowerment, and love.
It’s so hard not to get behind these females are root for them. It’s hard not to get behind the supportive man that Daniel is, who also doesn’t come with all of this toxic masculinity.
This is one of those stories that I absolutely needed right now.
Thank you to Hachette Audio & Libro.FM for my gifted ALC.
Samiah is a kick butt software engineer that won’t let any man stop her from completing her goals!
Ok this book had me hook line and sinker from the beginning we follow a live twitter story and it turns out that Samiah’s boyfriend is dating 2 other women and they all meet up where their bf is eating with a different girl and confront him *BOOM* YouTube famous so needless to say they become best friends and meet up every Friday and are so irritated with men that they put themselves on a 6 month dating break. Enter in gorgeous Daniel who starts “working” where Samiah works. Will the dating break be broken and is Daniel who he says he is?
Also this book is STEAMY it only has a couple of smexy parts but they get steamy. So steamy it’ll steam up your glasses!
3.5 stars. This book was cute and I really loved Daniel. I wasn’t a huge fan of the “pact” where the girls said that they had to wait 6 months to find themselves before they start dating again after the debacle. I understood Daniel’s reservations for stopping himself when it came to dating, but I just couldn’t get on board with Samiah’s.
She had been looking for someone like Daniel for so long and just because she had a pact she was willing to basically not go after something that was right in her face and amazing. I don’t love it when people fight their feelings for reasons that aren’t “justified” in my mind. This does not mean that it isn’t justified in other people’s minds and I am just voicing my opinion. The book was a really cute light rom com that is low on drama. It is a great cleansing read.
So I really enjoyed Samiah. I loved how smart she was and driven and how she stood up for herself with the loser as well as with people at her work. And I love that she was so committed to giving back to the community! However, I had a hard time with the cutesy-ness. Everything about Daniel is just so cute or so adorable and it was a little off putting. And the descriptions of her turned on she was was also kind of jarring (I’ve never thought I needed an ice pack for my panties). But overall, this was a really great story and I can’t wait to read more by this author.
I enjoyed this immensely!
Laugh out loud funny, and super sweet!