Wanted - Bad Boyfriend

Wanted: Bad Boyfriend was a fun story. I liked the characters even the bride to be, she held a very important role in the story. The storyline was sweet, fun with a couple of twists and an allover good romance with a touch of heat.
Where I liked the story a lot, I was not fond of the narration at all. The pacing was good but the voices? They would have been better off leaving it just a simple narration without the voice changes. Where Nate and Flynn's voices were Ok and I liked the accent, Max sounded like a girl, he also sounded like the mom and I couldn't tell them apart from getting confused at who was speaking, and the headlines at the top of each chapter like gossip were really fun but lost in the narration. This was one I would have rather read myself. Now having said that, if you are short on time and really want to read the story but just don't have time, it's always good to listen while doing chores or sitting at appointments or driving and the story is good.

Party planner Nathan has his life together. He is financially stable, comfortable in taking care of his disabled mother plus spending time with his best friend and happily single - a fact that nobody seems to understand.
Fed up by his well meaning, but extremly pushy relatives and friends, Nathan decides he needs a boyfriend so evil, everybody will want him to be single again. But on the small island the pickings are slim. Flynn has a the worst reputation imaginable. Although nobody knows his deal there are more nasty rumors about him than any other person on the island. He seems like the perfect candidate. But being together with Flynn (or pretending to do so) is just like a disaster waiting to happen.

This book had me hooked from teh very first chapter. The setup is unusual enouth to give the story a nice, cynical touch. Both main characters do not believe in Happy Ever After. And even though the sexual attraction is plainly obvious, the more interesting thing is the developement of Nathan and Flynn. After reluctantly agreeing to play the part of the Anti-Prince-Charming, Flynn finds himself dating one of the islands most adored bachelors. To his utter surprise he finds himself enjoing the dates and the attention. Nathan on the other hand learns a lot about himself as he is forced to stand up for Flynn against practically everyone he knows. Spending time with the island's outcast helps him realizing that the man his friends think of as scum is actually decent - and the perfect candidate for a real boyfriend which he doesn't want - or does he? But as the "relationship" between Nathan and Flynn grows, so do the forces who want to see them appart.

Personally, I can’t imagine a more horrible job than a wedding planner. All those people. Having to deal with the people and their expectations which I bet can change from moment to moment. Worst of all? Having to be nice to all those people. Ugh (huge shudder wracks my body)! So, I could certainly understand Nate’s desire to come home at the end of the day, eat dinner, watch mindless TV, and go to bed. Two things attracted me to this story. One, I really adore this author’s writing and the opportunity to read less dark from her than the other works I’ve inhaled was too much to pass up. And, two, the blurb hooked me with Nate’s ingenious plan to have a “bad boyfriend.”

“…Nate wondered where he could find a bad boyfriend at short notice on an island. Of course, when he put it like that, there was really only one choice.”

Flynn is five years older than Nate and the crush Nate had on him when he was fifteen seems to still be lurking around. Flynn has only recently returned to the island after twenty years in London. There’s a lot of gossip, none of it good, revolving around what Flynn was doing in the city for all of those years. Most of it involves criminal behavior, ties to organized crime, a hidden wife and child, and all manner of nefarious activities. Since Flynn doesn’t talk about himself, Nate hasn’t got a clue what’s true and what isn’t. He only knows that Flynn took over his dad’s garage after the old man died, he works rescues for emergency services, and he’s still ridiculously sexy.

Flynn is a grumpy bastard who doesn’t give a crap what anyone on the island says, or thinks, about him. He enjoys sniping at the St. John family – who own the hotel where Nate works and the heir apparent is Nate’s best friend, Max – and he’s starting to realize he might be getting too old for the rescue services as his body isn’t as young as it once was. Of course, he’s also beginning to see that he doesn’t want to be Nate’s “bad boyfriend” but the idea of being a real boyfriend is somewhat scary. It doesn’t take Nate very long to realize that he truly likes Flynn but he’s so afraid of being rejected he almost waits too long and loses what he never expected to find.

“You saying that you have a problem with my performance?”
“I’m saying that right now you seem more like marriage material than a disaster zone,” Nate said. He raised his eyebrows and tilted his head to the side. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you wanted to date me.”
Flynn snorted. “God forbid.”

I’m going to give a piece of advice: don’t look at the beautiful cover and think this is a lighthearted rom-com. It is a bit lighter than other works by this author but the emotions involved between Nate and Flynn are real, honest, and wonderfully written. There is some drama that revolves around why Flynn left all those years ago and why he and the St. John’s despise one another, but I really liked the way it was handled. There are some great secondary characters and the descriptions of this beautiful island had me wishing I was there. Book one in this brand-new series from TA Moore is delightful and I thoroughly enjoyed it!

NOTE: This book was provided by Dreamspinner Press for the purpose of a review on Rainbow Book Reviews

What a sweet story. I enjoyed getting to know both Nate and Flynn. The atmosphere of the island was so well written that I really want to go there now. The drama was believable and the conclusion with it's HEA was not contrived, but a wonderfully reasonable reaction to all that had gone on before.

Review by Kimmers of: Kimmers' Erotic Book Banter https://bit.ly/2Byti4Z

In TA Moore’s 'Wanted – Bad Boyfriend', as the wedding organizer of the Granshire Hotel on Ceremony Island, Nate Moffatt’s job is to make dreams come true. His dream? He’s happy being a bachelor, but those who know him don’t believe he truly is. Rather than tell them and their match-making services to take a hike, he has a plan. Get the island-man with a bad-boy rep to be his boyfriend, so they will say he doesn’t need a man.

The gruff Flynn Delaney has recently returned to Ceremony after 20 years away, surrounded by mystery and no love loss for the St. John family who own the Granshire. He’s not keen on Nate due to his employment with the St. John’s, and several not so well received proposals to make his lighthouse into a bed and breakfast for the hotel. But he will admit Nate’s sexy as hell!

As Nate presents his proposal to ‘Dishy Delaney’ it becomes apparent there may have been a slight teenage crush some years ago, as Nate’s voice “nudges his brain suggestively and reminded him that fifteen and twenty was inappropriate.” But they’re two grown men now. And this is a set up to fail, right?

With a bit of snide humor, and without the confines real dates bring with them, the two find an ease with their fake boyfriend’s status – and even some benefits. As they slip into the perks of a “relationship” they’re left adrift as to what it really means to them, as each restrict themselves to the “agreement”. After all, it can’t be more – can it?

The allure of 'Wanted – Bad Boyfriend' is that Flynn has a hard time actually being bad. In fact, he’s rather charming. But the thought of wanting what you think you can’t have can make you do stupid things and Flynn may just turn out to be the bad-boyfriend Nate expected. And the prodigal son of the Granshire Hotel, Max, Nate’s lifelong bestie and Flynn’s nemesis, is happy to bring that out in the man he despises.

'Wanted – Bad Boyfriend' is more about overcoming first impressions, hearsay, and gossip and how opinions people project on others can impact what we see or believe someone to be. TA Moore enlightens you to such newsmonger’s with each chapter heading lending credence and making you want to cringe at what busy bodies this small town truly is. Do Nate and Flynn even stand a chance, if they want one?

When secrets are revealed, stubbornness and gossip are minor compared to the jaw dropping reality of why Flynn left all those years ago. Even this girl gasped at the revelation!

Nate and Flynn are older now, more mature, with life experiences – but still have insecurities one faces when it comes to the heart. No matter how old we get it’s never easy. It’s the one thing that is truly ours to give to someone and can be so easily crushed. Which, if these two men choose to give, may be more rewarding than either thought possible.

Nate and Flynn’s journey in 'Wanted – Bad Boyfriend' is a rising tide that when it recedes washes away the muck. But I will say I did find myself questioning the European setting of the book as the terminology is very American, with the limited Mum, Loo, etc. thrown in. Overall it didn’t take me away from the story, it just has more of an East Coast feel to it.

As a new reader to TA Moore’s work it is a pleasure to discover her writing a little reminiscent of Jack L. Pyke’s in the complex yet subtle nuances that require you to read between the lines, with picturesque analogies such as “The spoon clinked self-righteously.” Can you hear the disgust? Or “The tension hummed between them like a plucked string, the thrum of it hard in Nate’s chest.” Can you feel it? Writing such as this, with sassy characters who you can’t help but laugh out loud at, make me curious to see who’s next to get his on Ceremony Island in this new Island Classifieds series. Pssst… Moore, I’m hoping it’s Max!