Livy Chapman is in love with Jessie Stephenson. It’s that simple. She has been for years but he only see’s her as his best friend. His best friend who copies her homework, relies on her to bail him out of trouble and who he hooks up with other girls in front of.Enough is enough and when Chase Mitchell, star of the soccer team, and all round Mr. Popular steps in and convinces her that they can do … they can do each other a favour by pretending to date, Livy is just crazy enough over Jessie to agree to it.
I mean, Chase is just her stand-in boyfriend. Nothing could go wrong. Right?
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It was a very interesting book that made you want to read on. There definitely should be a second part to this book!!
This is my favioute book
Full of romace and is a real page turner
3.5 stars for The Stand-In Boyfriend by Emma Doherty .
Livy has been in love with Jessie for as long as she can remember. He is her best friend and doesn’t seem to see her as anything more. He uses her to do his homework and to help him with everything. In comes Mr. Popular Chase. Chase wants to make a deal with Livy. He wants to pretend to be her boyfriends. This will help him with keeping his ex off his back and help her make Jessie jealous. However Chase has a secret of his own .
This was a good young adult romance. It had all the makings of a great book. It had the drama , the romance and the feels . It is worth reading.
Some people might automatically assume that The Stand-In Boyfriend is your typical fake relationship cliché young adult romance, but to all those people out there I have to say…THIS STORY IS SO MUCH MORE THAN A CLICHÉ! Emma Doherty has managed to shed new light into this genre and give readers everything that they crave. She brings us some crazy fun banter, emotionally captivating moments and a deeply complicated romance that brings on all the angst!
Livy Chapman is the perfect leading lady, but the real question is…who will be her leading man? Only time will tell! Jessie Stephenson is her best friend and longtime crush while Chase Mitchell is the star of the soccer team and Mr. Popular. She might think that she knows who she wants, but truth be told she had no clue that Mr. Popular might just happen to be Mr. Right. Of course she has to consider the possibility of opening her heart before she can decide who she truly wants…
I absolutely loved the dynamic of this story and these characters took my breath away. Livy completely captivated my heart and I felt as if I was right beside her as she navigated through this emotional journey. While Jessie didn’t really do it for me as a leading man, my lovable Chase definitely did and I kept rooting for him all the way through to the end. He melted my heart and gave me butterflies all throughout my body.
This is truly one of the BEST high school romances I have gotten my hands on in awhile and all I can say is that I cannot freaking wait for more stories from Emma Doherty, especially with this group of characters! She has gained a new reader and I hope she is ready for all the fangirl moments that are about to come her way!
4.5 Stars
Review by Elizabeth
Late Night Reviewer
Up All Night w/ Books Blog
Wow! I have to say that it has been forever since I have read a YA romance that kept my attention. The Stand-In Boyfriend by Emma Doherty will keep you very much entertained.
Olivia has it bad for her best friend, Jessie, who has friend-zoned her for years. When Chase approaches her to be his ‘fake’ girlfriend to discourage his ex and get her within eyesight of her crush, she is anything but up for the challenge. When Jessie makes her break down she goes for the ‘fake’ relationship. But can they convince the entire high school? Better yet, convince each other that the relationship is fake? Even when it totally is not?
Normally, I am not one for YA romances, much less high school romances, but this book grew on me. It was nice to read something that was clean, no sexy times and has a good plot. Emma Doherty wrote characters that were mature and it was hard to tell at times that they were in fact still in high school. There is not one thing to complain about with this book it was just all around good. I am now a forever fan of Emma Doherty!
What does it take to see the one you’re meant to be with?
March 12, 2019
A fabulous story of the pangs of unrequited love in high school corridors! This was in many ways a tragedy of errors played out by Chase and Livy: a plan to attract the person they each pine for that SO backfired but ultimately does achieve the right result. The writing’s terrific; at no point did I want to pause. It moves at a good pace while doing a great job of covering Livy’s internal struggles. The story is all told from her point of view with very good reason; it keeps us wondering with anxiety-prone Livy just how her silent adoration of BFF Jessie will pan out and why Chase goes to such lengths to draw her to his side.
Their posse of schoolmates, including harridan Abigail and on/off manipulating friend Jessie, BFFs Sophie and Aaron, and their whole intersecting social and sporting circles add to the flavor of their story. Author Emma Doherty has also created moving backstories for both Chase and Livy. The romance is sweet, no explicitness to the romancing past kisses and a removed shirt or two.
I so enjoyed this teen romance. This senior (of the over 55 variety!) heartily recommends this angsty but ultimately happy romance.
I read a complimentary advance copy of the book; this is my voluntary and honest review.
What drew me to read The Stand-In Boyfriend was the title first and, then reading the synopsis of the book. I always love a YA Contemporary that focuses on a best friend romance, where one of the best friends has a crush on her/his best friend, but of course the other has no clue. In this case, though a very sexy soccer hottie Chase Mitchell steps in and convinces Liv Chapman that can do her a huge favor, if she can do him huge favor. What if they pretend to date to make her best friend finally notice her? She’s hesitant at first because Chase is one popular guy who can have any girl and he chooses her to have a pretend relationship with to make her best friend jealous. Although, the pretend relationship may end up backfiring on her in the meantime. Is it fake or is it real?
Okay, I don’t want to give anything away in this book because this book is a very dramatic normal feeling high school book. Here it is Liv Chapman has had her two best friends for years now – Sophie and Jessie. Jessie is the one who she has had a crush on for years, but he has had relationships, instead of noticing her crush for him. He is a jerk to her. I didn’t like his character very much in the book and wanted to slap him silly. No best friend should treat his best friend like a jerk, especially if she’s helping you with your homework. The minute the sexy soccer star Chase comes up to her and proposes the fake relationship and they start hanging out is when Jessie even acts even more of a jerk. Oh, I loved Chase in this book. He is such a sweetheart. I loved him, but I already said that in the previous sentence, but you are getting it again. He’s been deemed a book boyfriend in my eyes. (Deem me a cougar, I don’t care. He’s so sweet! The ending and secrets that come out. I loved it all!)
I did find Liv to be annoying in the book because she was so obsessed with her crush with Jessie that she was clueless with certain other things going on around her. I wanted to go through the book and scream at her a couple of times. I did relate to her though when it came to her anxiety. Even at my age I still deal with it, and I’m so glad she had Chase to help her during her episodes. If only everyone had someone like Chase to help with those episodes. I have my husband and my two daughters to help me today and even my 80 lb Italian Mastiff, but as a teenager, it’s tough to have an anxiety attack in front of your peers.
I loved how the author touched on specific topics of what high schoolers go through in this book. I’ll be picking up the next book in the series and checking out other books from this author. If you are a fan of YA Contemporary, I would recommend this book. There is no steam in this book, so please don’t pick it up if you are looking for steaminess.
Every once in a while I love to go back to my reading roots and pick up a YA Contemporary, which is why I enjoyed this book.
Story Rating: 4 stars
Standalone or part of series: Part of series, but can be read of standalone.
Do I recommend this book? Yes, especially if you love to read YA Contemporary. YA Contemporary was the original genre that got me reading back in the day, so I always like to go back to it every once it a while.
Will I read other books from the author? Yes.
Tropes/Elements: Fake Relationship; Unrequited Love (Best Friend has a crush on her Best Friend, but he’s always dating someone else)
“I had this idea.”
I raise an eyebrow at him expectantly as a grin spreads across his face. “Yeah?” I ask after a couple of seconds of him not saying anything.
“You have to promise to hear me out.”
“Huh?”
“Say you won’t just dismiss the idea and will actually think about it.”
“Um…” This is getting weird. “Okay?”
He grins wider. “We should totally pretend to date.”
Emma had me eating out of the palm of her hand with The Stand-In Boyfriend. She rocks my world. I put my Kindle down last night, just so I could have a piece of this captivating, intoxicating story today, too.
I loved the characters, Livy was a bit oblivious, but such a good hearted girl. And Chase… he was just perfect. Great characers – even the side ones – , great story and even greater ending.
And yes! There’s a new story coming up. Couldn’t be more excited.
The Stand-in Boyfriend by Emma Doherty was such a fun read. Unrequited love sucks! Livy Chapman knows this well. She has loved her best friend Jessie Stephenson for a long time, but he only sees her as a friend. Enter Chase Mitchell. He likes Livy but knows she only sees Jessie, but when he offers a fake-relationship to avoid a pesky ex of sorts and at the same time, make Jessie take notice of Livy, she takes him up on his offer. Nothing can go wrong, right?
I loved Chase. He was so sweet and caring. Livy was a bit insecure about herself and yet she was just as sweet and caring. This was a sweet young adult romance and am excited to see what comes next in the series.
Read and reviewed for Sultry Sirens Book Blog.
Happy reading!