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Going Solo
Fame is fleeting. Love is forever.
Millions watched as Toby Lyngstad got rejected by his teenage crush on British TV’s most popular talent show, Make Me a Popstar.
While Toby’s heartbreak became a viral internet sensation that haunted him for years, his crush, Cole Kennedy, skyrocketed to global superstardom as part of the show’s most successful boy band, The Go Tos.
A decade later, Toby is the host of radio’s Pop Review, and he’s finally put Cole Kennedy behind him. Or so he thought. When Cole shocks the music world by leaving The Go Tos and going solo, Toby’s boss sees a promotional opportunity too good to miss—and signs a million-pound deal to send Pop Review along on Cole’s first solo tour.
Now, trapped in a travelling studio with the man who once broke his heart, Toby must confront his worst Despite Cole ruining his life, the chemistry between them burns hotter than ever.
With millions watching their every interaction, can Toby and Cole overcome a decade of hurt to write their happily ever after? Or will their second chance at love become another viral humiliation?
Going Solo is the second book in The Brent Boys series, which started with The Paper Boys. It's perfect for fans of Red, White and Royal Blue and Boyfriend Material.
Millions watched as Toby Lyngstad got rejected by his teenage crush on British TV’s most popular talent show, Make Me a Popstar.
While Toby’s heartbreak became a viral internet sensation that haunted him for years, his crush, Cole Kennedy, skyrocketed to global superstardom as part of the show’s most successful boy band, The Go Tos.
A decade later, Toby is the host of radio’s Pop Review, and he’s finally put Cole Kennedy behind him. Or so he thought. When Cole shocks the music world by leaving The Go Tos and going solo, Toby’s boss sees a promotional opportunity too good to miss—and signs a million-pound deal to send Pop Review along on Cole’s first solo tour.
Now, trapped in a travelling studio with the man who once broke his heart, Toby must confront his worst Despite Cole ruining his life, the chemistry between them burns hotter than ever.
With millions watching their every interaction, can Toby and Cole overcome a decade of hurt to write their happily ever after? Or will their second chance at love become another viral humiliation?
Going Solo is the second book in The Brent Boys series, which started with The Paper Boys. It's perfect for fans of Red, White and Royal Blue and Boyfriend Material.
374 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 1, 2025
28 people are currently reading
455 people want to read
About the author
D.P. Clarence
4 books191 followersI was a journalist for a long, long time before finally deciding to bite the bullet and do the thing I always wanted to do — write books about boys kissing other boys.
My debut novel, gay rom-com The Paper Boys, was released in February 2024.
I am an avid reader of everything from rom-coms to literary fiction — but I especially love LGBTQ+ fiction. You can see what I've been reading lately on Instagram and Goodreads.
Originally from Australia, I now live in London with my husband and our very smiley corgi.
www.dpclarence.com
My debut novel, gay rom-com The Paper Boys, was released in February 2024.
I am an avid reader of everything from rom-coms to literary fiction — but I especially love LGBTQ+ fiction. You can see what I've been reading lately on Instagram and Goodreads.
Originally from Australia, I now live in London with my husband and our very smiley corgi.
www.dpclarence.com
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 54 reviews
August 24, 2025
2,5 ⭐
First of all, take my rating with a fistful of salt; some of you might know contemporary romance isn’t usually what I go for, though I still like giving the genre a try once in a while.
This is a perfectly okay celebrity second-chance romance full of humor, some light angst, NO steam, and mixed media in the form of articles that were cleverly incorporated to help the story flow faster. There was also some truthful (yet not surprising) commentary on reality TV and the toxic way it chews young people up only to spit them out as traumatized shells of themselves.
Ten years ago, when they were sixteen, Toby and Cole met at the audition for a TV show looking for a future pop star. They connected immediately, growing closer through their shared love of music. The problem was, the producers clocked Cole as the future heartthrob and a sure winner, while they weren’t afraid to use Toby in their “Cole narrative”. All that resulted in a hurtful, humiliating mess for Toby while the internet watched, and the boys never saw each other again.
In the present time, Toby works in a radio station as a pop music reviewer, reclaiming his life and confidence. Until Cole Kennedy announces his solo career apart from the boy band he was a part of (think One Direction), planning a tour around UK...and he wants Toby there for it.
I actually didn’t connect to either of the MCs, Toby and Cole, even though I found at least some of their characteristics relatable. Maybe that’s why I didn’t mind the second-chance trope; I simply didn’t pick a side and I could understand both boys’ reasoning (even though it was written in Toby’s POV).
Overall, the writing style was pretty okay and made Going Solo into a very easy, bingeable read. I can’t help but mention the humor, though. Yes, some of it was actually laugh-out-loud funny! But when a book is chock-full of wannabe hilarious similes (a couple per page), it gives the impression of trying too hard, bordering on annoying. The humor, unfortunately, passed funny and parked all the way in Cringetown, call me a Grinch.
The plot itself was dramatic and juicy and I admit, I lapped it up. Normally, I would’ve DNFed because of the writing, but something kept me going, and that’s also why I ultimately rounded up.
By the 75% mark, though, I was a little bit done. Ex-lover douchebag drama, third-act breakup, and I kind of didn’t even want them back together by that point. Cole seemed too in love to actually listen to Toby’s needs when it comes to his mental health, and what Toby needed the most is a therapist. Because he’s been having panic attacks related to press and media attention, and that kind of trauma doesn’t just heal with the power of love. And the ending made me feel like it was exactly what happened - love conquers all.
Yeah, so... Don’t let me deter you from picking this book up, I’m definitely not the intended target audience, and you would be much better served reading lovely Drache's review, if the genre and tropes are up your alley!
Some safety warnings - as this is a second-chance romcom, there ARE some mentions of exes, but nothing on-page, so no worries there. What could be triggering is the one scene where the characters go to an oncology ward, meeting patients (Cole’s fans) and mentioning stage 4 ovarian cancer. The scene actually isn’t important for the plot so you can skip it!
First of all, take my rating with a fistful of salt; some of you might know contemporary romance isn’t usually what I go for, though I still like giving the genre a try once in a while.
This is a perfectly okay celebrity second-chance romance full of humor, some light angst, NO steam, and mixed media in the form of articles that were cleverly incorporated to help the story flow faster. There was also some truthful (yet not surprising) commentary on reality TV and the toxic way it chews young people up only to spit them out as traumatized shells of themselves.
Ten years ago, when they were sixteen, Toby and Cole met at the audition for a TV show looking for a future pop star. They connected immediately, growing closer through their shared love of music. The problem was, the producers clocked Cole as the future heartthrob and a sure winner, while they weren’t afraid to use Toby in their “Cole narrative”. All that resulted in a hurtful, humiliating mess for Toby while the internet watched, and the boys never saw each other again.
In the present time, Toby works in a radio station as a pop music reviewer, reclaiming his life and confidence. Until Cole Kennedy announces his solo career apart from the boy band he was a part of (think One Direction), planning a tour around UK...and he wants Toby there for it.
I actually didn’t connect to either of the MCs, Toby and Cole, even though I found at least some of their characteristics relatable. Maybe that’s why I didn’t mind the second-chance trope; I simply didn’t pick a side and I could understand both boys’ reasoning (even though it was written in Toby’s POV).
Overall, the writing style was pretty okay and made Going Solo into a very easy, bingeable read. I can’t help but mention the humor, though. Yes, some of it was actually laugh-out-loud funny! But when a book is chock-full of wannabe hilarious similes (a couple per page), it gives the impression of trying too hard, bordering on annoying. The humor, unfortunately, passed funny and parked all the way in Cringetown, call me a Grinch.
The plot itself was dramatic and juicy and I admit, I lapped it up. Normally, I would’ve DNFed because of the writing, but something kept me going, and that’s also why I ultimately rounded up.
By the 75% mark, though, I was a little bit done. Ex-lover douchebag drama, third-act breakup, and I kind of didn’t even want them back together by that point. Cole seemed too in love to actually listen to Toby’s needs when it comes to his mental health, and what Toby needed the most is a therapist. Because he’s been having panic attacks related to press and media attention, and that kind of trauma doesn’t just heal with the power of love. And the ending made me feel like it was exactly what happened - love conquers all.
Yeah, so... Don’t let me deter you from picking this book up, I’m definitely not the intended target audience, and you would be much better served reading lovely Drache's review, if the genre and tropes are up your alley!
Some safety warnings - as this is a second-chance romcom, there ARE some mentions of exes, but nothing on-page, so no worries there. What could be triggering is the one scene where the characters go to an oncology ward, meeting patients (Cole’s fans) and mentioning stage 4 ovarian cancer. The scene actually isn’t important for the plot so you can skip it!
August 20, 2025
4,5 stars rounded up.
I had fun with Paper Boys but loved Going Solo even more.
I usually avoid celebrity - romances because of the often OTT and unrealistic plot. Here the author wrote a believable queer romance, with genuine characters nd a diverse cast. It begins with Toby and Cole meeting at age 16 at a casting show, and ends 10 years later, Cole a popstar and Toby a nationwide beloved radio moderator.
The first part of the story had me reading with a constant smile on my face. Later my heart broke for Toby, who was hurt so much, but learned to stand up for himself, and longed to never again be in a position where he could be hurt again as he had been.
I emphasized with Toby and his harsh treatment of Cole, even if Cole suffered because of it.
Cole being patient and obviously so very much in love was very satisfying to read, seeing as the story is told only in Toby's pov.
I loved Aunty Cheryl, and had fun with Toby's dry and filthy analogies. Every time he made a statement and continued "like ..." I knew I was in for a treat.
Expect lots of crass (and funny!) puns, especially by 16 year old Toby, and no explicit sex scenes (fade to black).
Two quotes from the author's note:
"Like any romance, the true theme of this book is “love conquers all”. But I also wanted Going Solo to explore themes of identity and belonging, of control—having agency over our own lives, decisions and narratives—and of the idea of ‘home’—what it is, what it represents, who we are there, and who we let in. These are all fundamental to our feeling of security, our health and our happiness and I wanted to see what happened to these characters when those things were changed, taken away, threatened or invaded."
"I hope this book gave you some of those old teenage flutters and that, despite the passage of time, you still have the bladder control to enjoy them. Thank you again for reading. Be queer and mighty, always."
♥️
The book is also available on the author's homepage (for those who prefer to support an author directly)
www.dpclarence.com
I had fun with Paper Boys but loved Going Solo even more.
I usually avoid celebrity - romances because of the often OTT and unrealistic plot. Here the author wrote a believable queer romance, with genuine characters nd a diverse cast. It begins with Toby and Cole meeting at age 16 at a casting show, and ends 10 years later, Cole a popstar and Toby a nationwide beloved radio moderator.
The first part of the story had me reading with a constant smile on my face. Later my heart broke for Toby, who was hurt so much, but learned to stand up for himself, and longed to never again be in a position where he could be hurt again as he had been.
I emphasized with Toby and his harsh treatment of Cole, even if Cole suffered because of it.
Cole being patient and obviously so very much in love was very satisfying to read, seeing as the story is told only in Toby's pov.
I loved Aunty Cheryl, and had fun with Toby's dry and filthy analogies. Every time he made a statement and continued "like ..." I knew I was in for a treat.
Expect lots of crass (and funny!) puns, especially by 16 year old Toby, and no explicit sex scenes (fade to black).
Two quotes from the author's note:
"Like any romance, the true theme of this book is “love conquers all”. But I also wanted Going Solo to explore themes of identity and belonging, of control—having agency over our own lives, decisions and narratives—and of the idea of ‘home’—what it is, what it represents, who we are there, and who we let in. These are all fundamental to our feeling of security, our health and our happiness and I wanted to see what happened to these characters when those things were changed, taken away, threatened or invaded."
"I hope this book gave you some of those old teenage flutters and that, despite the passage of time, you still have the bladder control to enjoy them. Thank you again for reading. Be queer and mighty, always."
♥️
The book is also available on the author's homepage (for those who prefer to support an author directly)
www.dpclarence.com
April 28, 2025
Two teenage boys get chewed up by the Fame Machine and experience the requisite trauma that follows them around like a terrible, loyal dog. One of them turns to drugs and one of them turns to hair styling; who’s to say which is worse? Not me. I’ve never had a guy break up with me so he could pursue pop stardom but that doesn’t mean I wasn’t rabidly defensive of Toby and his well-earned resentment — stay petty, king. Cole has the relentlessly chipper attitude of a Truly Happy Person, which like, wow, must be nice. I am seven years of age so the line about a butthole trying to eat a chair made me laugh so hard I started to fall off my couch (I have to live my truth). If you are or were a fan of reality TV while also acknowledging that reality TV is actually one of the worst things ever, you’ll understand this book on multiple levels (and you’ll miss Sanjaya).
June 12, 2025
What is the most embarrassing thing that ever happened to you as a teenager?
Well, imagine that when you were 16 years old, you were immortalized in one of the cringiest moments of your life. And by "immortalized," I mean it: your moment of cringe becomes a lifetime of cringe thanks to the 15 minutes of fame reality TV bestows ... and it's not over yet. You also become THE internet meme for delulu crushes.
You can probably guess that yes, this is what happens to Toby in Going Solo. But the worst of it? Is that the entire soul-destroying memeification of Toby's cringe is that his crush was totally requited: Cole and Toby are each other's first love (first everything!). The reason Toby's 16-year-old declaration of love is played for laughs is to keep Cole's sexuality under wraps. As a budding star, he needs to be seen as "available" to his rabid teenage fans.
So yes, this is a first love/second chance rock star contemporary romcom. These are phrases that don't make it into my "must read" category, but ... I loved this book! It's told through a mix of entertainment media articles and Toby's POV, which I ended up really liking. (Another thing that can often annoy me is a single POV romance, so this book really managed to get me to like something that's not my usual type!)
Toby feels like his life was ruined by his relationship with Cole. Cole is now an international star, while Toby leveraged his reality TV moment into another reality TV appearance that led to a permanent gig as a radio DJ. (So, he's kind of famous? But the kind of famous that non-famous people kind of laugh at.) Now Cole's back and relentlessly pursuing Toby, which is both endearing and a little boundary pushing. I could forgive this since Cole has not led a normal existence since "winning" his reality TV show 10 years ago, but it also helped me understand Toby's hostile perspective.
The prose is a mix of emotion and (crude) humor. As a fart joke aficionado, this is a mixture that really speaks to me and adds to the cringe + romance vibe.
IDK how to rate albums, but the book gets 5 stars from me!
25-Word Summaries:
Meg: Toby and Cole are brought together and ripped apart by music and a reality show. Why do embarrassing teen moments make for such good TV?
Laine: DP Clarence writes the most charming characters but the world really got me down on this one. If my mom's life was threatened, I'd break-up.
This objective review is based on a complimentary copy of the novel.
Well, imagine that when you were 16 years old, you were immortalized in one of the cringiest moments of your life. And by "immortalized," I mean it: your moment of cringe becomes a lifetime of cringe thanks to the 15 minutes of fame reality TV bestows ... and it's not over yet. You also become THE internet meme for delulu crushes.
You can probably guess that yes, this is what happens to Toby in Going Solo. But the worst of it? Is that the entire soul-destroying memeification of Toby's cringe is that his crush was totally requited: Cole and Toby are each other's first love (first everything!). The reason Toby's 16-year-old declaration of love is played for laughs is to keep Cole's sexuality under wraps. As a budding star, he needs to be seen as "available" to his rabid teenage fans.
So yes, this is a first love/second chance rock star contemporary romcom. These are phrases that don't make it into my "must read" category, but ... I loved this book! It's told through a mix of entertainment media articles and Toby's POV, which I ended up really liking. (Another thing that can often annoy me is a single POV romance, so this book really managed to get me to like something that's not my usual type!)
Toby feels like his life was ruined by his relationship with Cole. Cole is now an international star, while Toby leveraged his reality TV moment into another reality TV appearance that led to a permanent gig as a radio DJ. (So, he's kind of famous? But the kind of famous that non-famous people kind of laugh at.) Now Cole's back and relentlessly pursuing Toby, which is both endearing and a little boundary pushing. I could forgive this since Cole has not led a normal existence since "winning" his reality TV show 10 years ago, but it also helped me understand Toby's hostile perspective.
The prose is a mix of emotion and (crude) humor. As a fart joke aficionado, this is a mixture that really speaks to me and adds to the cringe + romance vibe.
IDK how to rate albums, but the book gets 5 stars from me!
25-Word Summaries:
Meg: Toby and Cole are brought together and ripped apart by music and a reality show. Why do embarrassing teen moments make for such good TV?
Laine: DP Clarence writes the most charming characters but the world really got me down on this one. If my mom's life was threatened, I'd break-up.
This objective review is based on a complimentary copy of the novel.
June 17, 2025
This book pissed me off.
To put it plainly, this was a bad(like, really fucking bad) fanfic of one direction. The villain is the female version of a certain judge and owner of syco(thank god that fucking shit went bankrupt). The unhinged fans are just what people said about directioners and later, harries(can't argue with that, I've seen some pretty terrible stuff).
As you can see, I know my stuff because I was part of that fandom for years. I see the parallels and what the author tried to do.
Now onto the actual book. The pace was all wrong, the structure is not ideal. It started in the present times but then suddenly we spent a big chunk of the book in the past, which lost my interest quickly after the novelty of how much like 1d times it was. There is so much that could've been left out too.
About the couple, I firmly believe there are some things that you can't come back from. And being made fun of resulting in panic attacks, severe anxiety and lading you and your family in a media shit show for a decade because of a guy is definitely it. Do you expect me to believe a character like Tobias would go back to someone who made him suffer like that? Nah, I don't buy it. There's a tweet from a fan in the book that says it perfectly: "Imagine having so little self-worth that you let the guy who turned you into an internet meme use you as a plot twist in his ill-advised redemption arc. Who is writing @TobyLyng-stad's story, Colleen Hoover?". It's not completely accurate because as always fans don't have the entire picture, but the point stands.
Bottom line: I hated this book.
To put it plainly, this was a bad(like, really fucking bad) fanfic of one direction. The villain is the female version of a certain judge and owner of syco(thank god that fucking shit went bankrupt). The unhinged fans are just what people said about directioners and later, harries(can't argue with that, I've seen some pretty terrible stuff).
As you can see, I know my stuff because I was part of that fandom for years. I see the parallels and what the author tried to do.
Now onto the actual book. The pace was all wrong, the structure is not ideal. It started in the present times but then suddenly we spent a big chunk of the book in the past, which lost my interest quickly after the novelty of how much like 1d times it was. There is so much that could've been left out too.
About the couple, I firmly believe there are some things that you can't come back from. And being made fun of resulting in panic attacks, severe anxiety and lading you and your family in a media shit show for a decade because of a guy is definitely it. Do you expect me to believe a character like Tobias would go back to someone who made him suffer like that? Nah, I don't buy it. There's a tweet from a fan in the book that says it perfectly: "Imagine having so little self-worth that you let the guy who turned you into an internet meme use you as a plot twist in his ill-advised redemption arc. Who is writing @TobyLyng-stad's story, Colleen Hoover?". It's not completely accurate because as always fans don't have the entire picture, but the point stands.
Bottom line: I hated this book.
May 27, 2025
I will never not love a second chance romance, and this book was second chance romance perfection.
Dan's writing is brilliantly clever, it pulls you in immediately, and makes you fall in love with the characters right from the start. Just like The Paper Boys, Going Solo is VERY British, deliciously queer and supremely funny. But it also brings into discussion important issues that make you understand that life is full of unfair situations and horrible people.
It was no surprise that I laughed out loud several times throughout the book; what I didn't expect was to cry just as much, if not more. Maybe it's because I read this book at a time in my life when I was feeling extremely vulnerable and emotional, but I kidd you not, tears were streaming down my face on several occasions.
I loved the format of the book. The little newspaper articles woven throughout the book helped the pacing and made the whole story more... authentic, I think.
The author's note at the end was a beautiful insight into his past and thought process.
Oh, and the MOST important thing in this entire book is that one of the off page characters is named after me! I'm kidding, that's not the most important part, obviously. This book gives quite a profound insight into talent shows, the music industry and celebrity life.
But, there is actually a character named Raluca in this book. She is a badass radio host that goes on to present a baking show. She's Romanian and seems pretty damn cool. Just like me. 😎 🤫
Dan's writing is brilliantly clever, it pulls you in immediately, and makes you fall in love with the characters right from the start. Just like The Paper Boys, Going Solo is VERY British, deliciously queer and supremely funny. But it also brings into discussion important issues that make you understand that life is full of unfair situations and horrible people.
It was no surprise that I laughed out loud several times throughout the book; what I didn't expect was to cry just as much, if not more. Maybe it's because I read this book at a time in my life when I was feeling extremely vulnerable and emotional, but I kidd you not, tears were streaming down my face on several occasions.
I loved the format of the book. The little newspaper articles woven throughout the book helped the pacing and made the whole story more... authentic, I think.
The author's note at the end was a beautiful insight into his past and thought process.
Oh, and the MOST important thing in this entire book is that one of the off page characters is named after me! I'm kidding, that's not the most important part, obviously. This book gives quite a profound insight into talent shows, the music industry and celebrity life.
But, there is actually a character named Raluca in this book. She is a badass radio host that goes on to present a baking show. She's Romanian and seems pretty damn cool. Just like me. 😎 🤫
Want to read
May 16, 2025Psst: I really enjoyed DPC's first book, Paper Boys, so for other fans I'd like to report that it and this can both be bought on Mr. Clarence's website, thus bypassing the broligarchy.
I haven't read this one yet, but since I personally pestered the author to make the book available on non-'zon venues I figured I'd mention it.
I haven't read this one yet, but since I personally pestered the author to make the book available on non-'zon venues I figured I'd mention it.
February 24, 2025
I was absolutely enamored with this book; I read it in 3 days. Going Solo pulled at my heart and also had me laughing out loud. I fell head over heels for the main characters, and honestly many side characters. This story is written so vividly I could see everything in my head like a movie. If you love reality tv, boy bands, pop music, second chances, diverse characters, and the journey of self love - this book is for you. Going Solo comes out on May 1st (my birthday). Available on Amazon now! Link is @danskireads bio! After reading this - it stuck with me. I’ve been desperately wanting to fangirl over it with readers.
May 10, 2025
I enjoyed D.P. Clarence’s debut, The Paper Boys — an m/m romance novel about a pair of twenty-something reporters, not pre-teen boys delivering newspapers on their bicycles which that phrase is more likely to bring to the minds of USAmericans of sufficient age — so much that I took the rare step of preordering Going Solo as soon as it was possible to do so. And then, the even rarer step of reading it fairly soon after acquisition, rather than letting it linger in the depths of my ereader for months or years before stumbling across it. All that despite the fact that I have never met anyone with less interest in music than myself, and the whole reality/talent show setup is not merely uninteresting to me, but repellent.
Trust.
I’m glad I did.
The pov MC, Toby, is a delight, and while most of the characters from The Paper Boys appear in what feel more like cameos, we get a fair amount of Nick, who provides additional humor.
That said, this wasn’t as successful for me as The Paper Boys. While, similar to that book, the obstacles to the relationship felt a little too quickly setup and easily knocked down. But here not all of Toby’s traits felt well integrated — the anxiety, for one — and I felt like he got over certain things a bit too easily for all that he was clearly still in love the whole time.
Part of that is my feeling the characters never really grappled with their issues. I never got the sense Cole really grasped what things had been like for Toby, much less acknowledged his own culpability.
And while I generally like epistolary stuff, having the big external issues handled off page and delivered via epistolary inserts at the end was not as satisfying as things might have been.
But, faults aside, it was very enjoyable, and I was eager to get back to it whenever I had to set it down. I’m looking forward to whatever D.P. Clarence puts out next.
Trust.
I’m glad I did.
The pov MC, Toby, is a delight, and while most of the characters from The Paper Boys appear in what feel more like cameos, we get a fair amount of Nick, who provides additional humor.
That said, this wasn’t as successful for me as The Paper Boys. While, similar to that book, the obstacles to the relationship felt a little too quickly setup and easily knocked down. But here not all of Toby’s traits felt well integrated — the anxiety, for one — and I felt like he got over certain things a bit too easily for all that he was clearly still in love the whole time.
Part of that is my feeling the characters never really grappled with their issues. I never got the sense Cole really grasped what things had been like for Toby, much less acknowledged his own culpability.
And while I generally like epistolary stuff, having the big external issues handled off page and delivered via epistolary inserts at the end was not as satisfying as things might have been.
But, faults aside, it was very enjoyable, and I was eager to get back to it whenever I had to set it down. I’m looking forward to whatever D.P. Clarence puts out next.
August 19, 2025
I'm not a hundred percent sure but I think D.P. Clarence puts some kinda drugs in his books! They are so addicting to me! I'm having so much fun while reading and I can't get enough of them! I don't know how he does it?! They are quite angsty books with some heavy topics but they make me laugh out loud? Like The Paper Boys, this book had me laughing, crying and swooning.
Toby, Toby, Toby I have no idea how I feel about you. You annoyed me sometimes but I also could totally see where you are coming from. Before reading the book, I didn't think I would like Cole very much but boy do I love him! He was so so so sweet and I get why he has so many Kenneddicts! In my mind I'm painting a poster for you, that I lift up at one of your shows.
The only thing I reeeally didn't like about this book is that we didn't get Cole's pov. I love it when we get to know both mmcs. I thought because the 1. book had 2 povs, this one will too. It kinda disappointed me, when I realized we only get Toby's. Normally I would remove a star for just one pov but I didn't, that's how much I loved the book!
I hope in the next book we will get a bit more of the Brent Boys though.
Honorable mention Aunty Cheryl. Where can I find someone like her?
Toby, Toby, Toby I have no idea how I feel about you. You annoyed me sometimes but I also could totally see where you are coming from. Before reading the book, I didn't think I would like Cole very much but boy do I love him! He was so so so sweet and I get why he has so many Kenneddicts! In my mind I'm painting a poster for you, that I lift up at one of your shows.
The only thing I reeeally didn't like about this book is that we didn't get Cole's pov. I love it when we get to know both mmcs. I thought because the 1. book had 2 povs, this one will too. It kinda disappointed me, when I realized we only get Toby's. Normally I would remove a star for just one pov but I didn't, that's how much I loved the book!
I hope in the next book we will get a bit more of the Brent Boys though.
Honorable mention Aunty Cheryl. Where can I find someone like her?
June 5, 2025
This was such a cute, sweet second-chance romance. The world of reality TV isn't one I'm familiar with, and after reading this, I can confidently say that I don't think I'd ever want to be famous. I loved the sweet, tender moments between the two MCs and appreciated the way Toby tried hard to protect himself and his family from the public. It's a type of fame that I don't see in books very often: the crash and burn turned meme/punchline who tries hard to redeem himself and take control of his public image after a series of public embarrassments.
I also loved how the author illustrated the passage of time through social media and tabloid articles. It was a creative way to do this and I really appreciated it.
I also loved how the author illustrated the passage of time through social media and tabloid articles. It was a creative way to do this and I really appreciated it.
June 3, 2025
You know there are some authors whose writing voice just speaks to you and you get drawn into the book, no matter the subject matter? DP Clarence is one of those authors for me. When he reached out to ask me if I wanted to beta read Going Solo I screamed like a kid at a One Direction concert.
I rated this book 5* when it was a beta read and promised a full review upon reading the finished version and I can confirm, as expected, that the finished version is ♾️ stars, 10/10 foam concert fingers, #1 in the charts!
This book is a gorgeous and heartfelt second chance romance between international pop star Cole Kennedy and radio DJ Toby Lyngstad, who first meet on reality TV show, Make Me A Popstar. After a whirlwind teenage romance, the pair are torn apart (and kept apart) by fame, and in Toby’s case, infamy, after he unwittingly becomes an embarrassing internet meme. A decade later, they reconnect whilst Cole is on tour and, despite Toby’s best efforts to stay out of the spotlight, he ends up hopelessly dragged back into the orbit of the boy he has always loved.
This book takes a hard look at the price of fame and how it can be life-altering in good and bad ways. Both Toby and Cole suffer in the music industry machine, their lives being twisted to fit the narrative that will garner most media attention. There were parts where I genuinely teared up at the unfairness of it all; but equally there are threads of joy running throughout.
The comedy in this book is absolutely top notch and offsets the often difficult subject matter. Auntie Cheryl is an absolute chaotic delight and seeing the Brentwood Boys out in force again was amazing (Sunny & Ludo will always have my heart!). Nick, Toby’s bff, is also a pinnacle of humour and I look forward to seeing even more of him in future books!
All in all an incredible read; go out and grab a copy for pure reading joy, and to help Dan reach the £30k a month he’s promising his husband that being a writer makes 😹👀
Read Going Solo for:
✨ Second chance romance
✨ Popstar x Radio DJ
✨ Teenage sweethearts
✨ Victims of reality TV
✨ So soooo funny
✨ But also a little sad
✨ The price of fame
✨ A very special cow
✨ Auntie Cheryl. No notes.
✨ Queer found family galore 💕
I rated this book 5* when it was a beta read and promised a full review upon reading the finished version and I can confirm, as expected, that the finished version is ♾️ stars, 10/10 foam concert fingers, #1 in the charts!
This book is a gorgeous and heartfelt second chance romance between international pop star Cole Kennedy and radio DJ Toby Lyngstad, who first meet on reality TV show, Make Me A Popstar. After a whirlwind teenage romance, the pair are torn apart (and kept apart) by fame, and in Toby’s case, infamy, after he unwittingly becomes an embarrassing internet meme. A decade later, they reconnect whilst Cole is on tour and, despite Toby’s best efforts to stay out of the spotlight, he ends up hopelessly dragged back into the orbit of the boy he has always loved.
This book takes a hard look at the price of fame and how it can be life-altering in good and bad ways. Both Toby and Cole suffer in the music industry machine, their lives being twisted to fit the narrative that will garner most media attention. There were parts where I genuinely teared up at the unfairness of it all; but equally there are threads of joy running throughout.
The comedy in this book is absolutely top notch and offsets the often difficult subject matter. Auntie Cheryl is an absolute chaotic delight and seeing the Brentwood Boys out in force again was amazing (Sunny & Ludo will always have my heart!). Nick, Toby’s bff, is also a pinnacle of humour and I look forward to seeing even more of him in future books!
All in all an incredible read; go out and grab a copy for pure reading joy, and to help Dan reach the £30k a month he’s promising his husband that being a writer makes 😹👀
Read Going Solo for:
✨ Second chance romance
✨ Popstar x Radio DJ
✨ Teenage sweethearts
✨ Victims of reality TV
✨ So soooo funny
✨ But also a little sad
✨ The price of fame
✨ A very special cow
✨ Auntie Cheryl. No notes.
✨ Queer found family galore 💕
February 25, 2025
“Going Solo” by D. P. Clarence
Being able to read a book in its infant stage of being published is an honor. To do it again for D. P. Clarence is also an honor that he appreciates my opinion. But I can say this, he has knocked it out of park and has very much hit a home run! If I did not have to be an adult, work, feed myself, or take care of animals this book would have been completed in one sitting. Let’s just say i reread the ending twice because of how much I loved it. I also love the fact the this book had two very strong supporting characters to the main ones. That where in the book the entire time no just here and there. It’s felt like they were there the entire time for Toby it’s Nick his best friend, and for Cole it’s Fiona his sister/his manager.
So, back story that is short and brief. Two boys Toby and Cole meet in line for a reality tv singing competition show, and well you could say it was love at first sight. They both get on the show, they help each other but…one is kicked off and the other is launched into fame. Ten years go past and well one is forced to follow the other one on tour and well…you just have to read it to know the full story. You need to buy this book!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🏳️🌈
Being able to read a book in its infant stage of being published is an honor. To do it again for D. P. Clarence is also an honor that he appreciates my opinion. But I can say this, he has knocked it out of park and has very much hit a home run! If I did not have to be an adult, work, feed myself, or take care of animals this book would have been completed in one sitting. Let’s just say i reread the ending twice because of how much I loved it. I also love the fact the this book had two very strong supporting characters to the main ones. That where in the book the entire time no just here and there. It’s felt like they were there the entire time for Toby it’s Nick his best friend, and for Cole it’s Fiona his sister/his manager.
So, back story that is short and brief. Two boys Toby and Cole meet in line for a reality tv singing competition show, and well you could say it was love at first sight. They both get on the show, they help each other but…one is kicked off and the other is launched into fame. Ten years go past and well one is forced to follow the other one on tour and well…you just have to read it to know the full story. You need to buy this book!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🏳️🌈
April 28, 2025
Ten years ago Toby Lyngstad tried out for British TV's most popular talent show Make Me A Popstar. While things might not have gone his way during the competition, he did meet the boy of his dreams Cole Kennedy. Sadly neither the show, nor the budding relationship between the boys ends well.
A decade later Toby finds himself the host of Pop Review, a popular pop music radio show. When he learns that Cole is leaving the boy band put together during Make Me A Popstar (The Go Tos) to start a solo career, Toby finds himself thrown back into orbit around the guy he never quite got over.
Y'all. Okay. So it's no surprise to anyone who knows me that I loved this. I was (and still am!) completely obsessed with Clarence's first novel The Paper Boys and I knew going in that he writes exactly what I froth to read.
The comedy is more subtle in this book than it was in the first as befitting the second-chance romance theme. But there are still moments where I cackled out loud while reading. Aunty Cheryl is a complete peach and was a constant source of entertainment.
While I find Clarence's comedy to be a perfect fit for my comedic tastes, where he truly shines is in his character work. Everyone feels so real, even when they're caricatures. So many times I just wanted to give Toby a smack to get his head on straight while also holding him to protect him. I loved everything about Cole and seeing these two reconnect and navigate their history while juggling their chaotic present and future was lovely. I rooted for the pair so easily. Just like Ludo and Sunny in The Paper Boys, I know I will be thinking about (and missing!) Toby and Cole for years to come.
This book easily slots into my repertoire of comfort reads. Easy and cozy and lovely books that I come back to time and time again when I need a pick me up.
Clarence recommends this book to fans of Boyfriend Material and Red, White & Royal Blue and, as someone whose favorite book ever is Boyfriend Material I can super agree. Impeccable vibes. Clarence is an auto-buy author for me and I will never stop shouting at people to read his books.
Thank you to D.P. Clarence for providing me with an ARC copy of this book. I am leaving this review voluntarily and emphatically!
A decade later Toby finds himself the host of Pop Review, a popular pop music radio show. When he learns that Cole is leaving the boy band put together during Make Me A Popstar (The Go Tos) to start a solo career, Toby finds himself thrown back into orbit around the guy he never quite got over.
Y'all. Okay. So it's no surprise to anyone who knows me that I loved this. I was (and still am!) completely obsessed with Clarence's first novel The Paper Boys and I knew going in that he writes exactly what I froth to read.
The comedy is more subtle in this book than it was in the first as befitting the second-chance romance theme. But there are still moments where I cackled out loud while reading. Aunty Cheryl is a complete peach and was a constant source of entertainment.
While I find Clarence's comedy to be a perfect fit for my comedic tastes, where he truly shines is in his character work. Everyone feels so real, even when they're caricatures. So many times I just wanted to give Toby a smack to get his head on straight while also holding him to protect him. I loved everything about Cole and seeing these two reconnect and navigate their history while juggling their chaotic present and future was lovely. I rooted for the pair so easily. Just like Ludo and Sunny in The Paper Boys, I know I will be thinking about (and missing!) Toby and Cole for years to come.
This book easily slots into my repertoire of comfort reads. Easy and cozy and lovely books that I come back to time and time again when I need a pick me up.
Clarence recommends this book to fans of Boyfriend Material and Red, White & Royal Blue and, as someone whose favorite book ever is Boyfriend Material I can super agree. Impeccable vibes. Clarence is an auto-buy author for me and I will never stop shouting at people to read his books.
Thank you to D.P. Clarence for providing me with an ARC copy of this book. I am leaving this review voluntarily and emphatically!
May 3, 2025
I loved it so much!
The story is great, both MCs are great (flawed? yes, but great nevertheless), the humor - OMG, 12 out of 10!
Ah yes, and even though it's really funny, it is equally heartbreaking. Going Solo shows the ugly side of TV shows and the cost of fame. It teaches that mayyybe we shouldn't believe everything we see on the internet or TV. I loved how the impact of media was shown through the book. You can't run from it, can't hide - spotlight is always on.
Reading books like this always makes me to reconsider how I'm consuming media. And tell you what -- I'm not delighted with myself. Good thing that we have such books where we can reflect on ourselves!
Thank you, Dan, for writing such great stories! And you, people, BETTER READ IT!
The story is great, both MCs are great (flawed? yes, but great nevertheless), the humor - OMG, 12 out of 10!
Ah yes, and even though it's really funny, it is equally heartbreaking. Going Solo shows the ugly side of TV shows and the cost of fame. It teaches that mayyybe we shouldn't believe everything we see on the internet or TV. I loved how the impact of media was shown through the book. You can't run from it, can't hide - spotlight is always on.
Reading books like this always makes me to reconsider how I'm consuming media. And tell you what -- I'm not delighted with myself. Good thing that we have such books where we can reflect on ourselves!
Thank you, Dan, for writing such great stories! And you, people, BETTER READ IT!
May 31, 2025
4.5 | 🌶️🌶️
Very cute second chance romance. I loved both Tobias and Cole, very iconic and this novel had really great depth. I feel like there are so many routes Clarence could potentially go with all these side character romances — I loved Nick and I lowkey want the lore behind him and his husband. The spice is closed door romance — you get some baseline kissing and innuendos. Overall though, I have read both novels by D.P Clarence and will continue to read his work further.
Very cute second chance romance. I loved both Tobias and Cole, very iconic and this novel had really great depth. I feel like there are so many routes Clarence could potentially go with all these side character romances — I loved Nick and I lowkey want the lore behind him and his husband. The spice is closed door romance — you get some baseline kissing and innuendos. Overall though, I have read both novels by D.P Clarence and will continue to read his work further.
October 2, 2025
I spent the whole time reading the book thinking about how much I was loving this book. It was even better than
The Paper Boys
. The pacing was perfect, the humor was laugh-out-loud funny, and my feelings were hurt in the best way. I don't even know what to do with my life now
April 22, 2025
Will give a proper review when the book is out but good lord, loved this one as well.
April 21, 2025
Thanks to Dan for offering an eARC, I was so ready to get back into the world of the Brent Boys and it was lovely to see familiar characters fairly early on in the book. I warned instantly to Tobias and Cole, and I really enjoyed the pace of the plot to help explain the full breadth of the enduring friendship and the evolution of both main characters. I could have enjoyed this book if it was twice as long telling more of the detail of their journey, but I didn’t feel like anything was cut out either so credit to the author for striking that balance.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 19, 2025
in this instance the rating is more reflective of personal preference than the quality of the work, because there was a LOT to love about this one. the setting was not quite my jam personally, but i could appreciate that it was well done and v immersive. i liked both characters a lot, v much enjoyed and was surprised by their depth. i think if the premise is your vibe, this could easily be a 5 star read!
May 8, 2025
I am once again here to be the curmudgeon who really did not much like a book everyone else is absolutely head over heels for. But the writing in this book grated a bit from the first, and as I went, worse was that I think this book has a lot of wasted potential in the depth of characterization and themes.
First, the writing. I keep seeing this compared to Alexis Hall and his contemp romcoms. It's a chief reason I picked it up. But listen, just because an author uses a lot of British slang and regional dialect does not mean they are working in the same mode of humor, and this did not at all work for me in the way Hall's humor does. Clarence goes very broad and very blue, which on a purely subjective level is just not my sense of humor. Such humor always reads to me as relying more on shock factor than an actually tightly written joke. On a more objective level, Clarence also constructs what feels to be about 80% of the jokes the same way, as a simile where the thing you're comparing to is some vaguely funny description of sex, drugs, general partying, etc. For example: "as cool as a cucumber that's jumped into an ice bath to recover from a long weekend at home with a lonely homosexual." Again, not my humor, it's a bit sweaty, but now also imagine that happening quite frequently. At one point I counted four such jokes within the span of about a page and half. It has quickly diminishing returns.
However, I did feel like I was seeing a lot of potential in the characters and perhaps a willingness to go a little darker and deeper than many a CR in the present moment. And yet, whenever he veers in that direction, Clarence ends up shying away and papering over the moment with a completely anodyne, much more surface-level explanation or resolution. I probably should have expected this, on some level, as this is a book where multiple different characters will all use similar, Instagram-inspirational like phrases such as "live your truth" "share your music with the world" and "taking control of my narrative" with not a hint of irony, but in fact totally straight faces and complete sincerity. When it's not just one character talking like this, but many, I can only assume this is just the writer's voice. And as someone veritably allergic to platitudes like this when applied to complex, human lives and complicated situations, it was perhaps a sign I was not going to get the depth here that I was seeking.
That mainly came through in Cole, who I must confess I just didn't really like as a character. That's okay, I like "unlikable" characters all the time, but I increasingly realized that wasn't the way I was supposed to be reading Cole. No, I'm supposed to read what seems like the pretensions of a 16-year-old as actual musical genius. I'm supposed to read the adult man who basically hand waves away all legitimate points of past trauma and the way they continue into the present with a "the past is past and the future is unknown, so just live in the present" blitheness as actually having some sort of profound depth and insight. In the afterward, Clarence acknowledges this book is fundamentally a fantasy of getting with the boybander you crushed on as a teen. I suppose I can't fault Clarence for writing what he set out to write, but that's also the problem here. Cole remains nothing but a fantasy, despite giving him a fairly dark backstory and a whole bundle of issues he would need to deal with in the present, and that resulted in a complete disconnect for me as a reader between the guy I was reading, and the growth arc I would have expected of such a character, and the more two-dimensional fantasy object we get instead.
The frustrating thing is, there are moments when the book itself seems to want to examine its characters and their central issues (separately and together) in more depth, then feints, and then further makes you feel crazy with how that same issue is talked about later. For example, there is a scene where Cole "has a surprise" for Toby where he takes Toby to a cancer ward, and Cole ends up singing for a dying mother and her daughter, as everyone gathers 'round and cries. At first, this was reading to me as an incredibly hamfisted attempt to make clear to all of us that no matter how famous Cole is, he is such a good and down-to-earth guy. But actually, in the scene itself Toby feels nothing but awkward, wondering why he is here and what Cole wants him to take from this, and also wonders if this is actually just an act of self-flagellation on Cole's part for not being around when his own mother was dying of cancer. I was intrigued and very on board for this more nuanced reading of what would otherwise be an incredibly cheesy scene. And then....nothing. After a halting conversation in which Cole seems genuinely surprised Toby wasn't into this, they never return to the topic and later Toby gushes about how watching Cole sing to this woman and her child was so touching he couldn't help but forgive him for everything that happened in the past. A more interesting, nuanced approach to this scene is right there, Clarence is so close to going with it, and then he just falls back on the much more eye-roll inducing version of events in a way that seems genuinely at-odds with what was first presented. It's that wasted opportunity that frustrated me most.
This is done on a macro scale for the overarching conflict of the book, which is that being at all connected to Cole and his fame derails Toby's life, and therefore Toby is incredibly averse in the present to opening the door for that. It's a good central conflict, one that is not easily solved and would require sacrifice from both, you'd assume. And to the book's credit, you're in Toby's head the whole time and he's a very winsome and sympathetic character, so you get his anguish here. And yet, these concerns are treated very dismissively by pretty much everyone but Toby's family throughout the book, including and especially by Cole. The conversations on the topic get very circular and repetitive, which isn't great generally but worse is that part of the repetition is Cole listens, says some bland therapy-speak version of "I hear you, and that must have been hard" and then goes on to pretty much ignore everything Toby's just said and continuously push making their relationship more and more public. Once again, are we going to dig into this? Clarence isn't unaware this is part of the dynamic, as Toby explicitly calls it out at least twice to my memory. But at this point, of course not, we're going to basically say Toby just needs to like, get over it, and then happily ever after. It's absolutely maddening in a way that signals at best, I just simply have a very different worldview as this author and at worst, the author has not really examined his own characters or central conflict with any depth or even from multiple angles and therefore doesn't know how to resolve these things with any level of nuance or even genuine closure.
I do get why those who are not grumpy cynics like myself are liking this book so much, but unfortunately I just keep coming back to the idea that I have a fundamental disconnect with this book and writing.
First, the writing. I keep seeing this compared to Alexis Hall and his contemp romcoms. It's a chief reason I picked it up. But listen, just because an author uses a lot of British slang and regional dialect does not mean they are working in the same mode of humor, and this did not at all work for me in the way Hall's humor does. Clarence goes very broad and very blue, which on a purely subjective level is just not my sense of humor. Such humor always reads to me as relying more on shock factor than an actually tightly written joke. On a more objective level, Clarence also constructs what feels to be about 80% of the jokes the same way, as a simile where the thing you're comparing to is some vaguely funny description of sex, drugs, general partying, etc. For example: "as cool as a cucumber that's jumped into an ice bath to recover from a long weekend at home with a lonely homosexual." Again, not my humor, it's a bit sweaty, but now also imagine that happening quite frequently. At one point I counted four such jokes within the span of about a page and half. It has quickly diminishing returns.
However, I did feel like I was seeing a lot of potential in the characters and perhaps a willingness to go a little darker and deeper than many a CR in the present moment. And yet, whenever he veers in that direction, Clarence ends up shying away and papering over the moment with a completely anodyne, much more surface-level explanation or resolution. I probably should have expected this, on some level, as this is a book where multiple different characters will all use similar, Instagram-inspirational like phrases such as "live your truth" "share your music with the world" and "taking control of my narrative" with not a hint of irony, but in fact totally straight faces and complete sincerity. When it's not just one character talking like this, but many, I can only assume this is just the writer's voice. And as someone veritably allergic to platitudes like this when applied to complex, human lives and complicated situations, it was perhaps a sign I was not going to get the depth here that I was seeking.
That mainly came through in Cole, who I must confess I just didn't really like as a character. That's okay, I like "unlikable" characters all the time, but I increasingly realized that wasn't the way I was supposed to be reading Cole. No, I'm supposed to read what seems like the pretensions of a 16-year-old as actual musical genius. I'm supposed to read the adult man who basically hand waves away all legitimate points of past trauma and the way they continue into the present with a "the past is past and the future is unknown, so just live in the present" blitheness as actually having some sort of profound depth and insight. In the afterward, Clarence acknowledges this book is fundamentally a fantasy of getting with the boybander you crushed on as a teen. I suppose I can't fault Clarence for writing what he set out to write, but that's also the problem here. Cole remains nothing but a fantasy, despite giving him a fairly dark backstory and a whole bundle of issues he would need to deal with in the present, and that resulted in a complete disconnect for me as a reader between the guy I was reading, and the growth arc I would have expected of such a character, and the more two-dimensional fantasy object we get instead.
The frustrating thing is, there are moments when the book itself seems to want to examine its characters and their central issues (separately and together) in more depth, then feints, and then further makes you feel crazy with how that same issue is talked about later. For example, there is a scene where Cole "has a surprise" for Toby where he takes Toby to a cancer ward, and Cole ends up singing for a dying mother and her daughter, as everyone gathers 'round and cries. At first, this was reading to me as an incredibly hamfisted attempt to make clear to all of us that no matter how famous Cole is, he is such a good and down-to-earth guy. But actually, in the scene itself Toby feels nothing but awkward, wondering why he is here and what Cole wants him to take from this, and also wonders if this is actually just an act of self-flagellation on Cole's part for not being around when his own mother was dying of cancer. I was intrigued and very on board for this more nuanced reading of what would otherwise be an incredibly cheesy scene. And then....nothing. After a halting conversation in which Cole seems genuinely surprised Toby wasn't into this, they never return to the topic and later Toby gushes about how watching Cole sing to this woman and her child was so touching he couldn't help but forgive him for everything that happened in the past. A more interesting, nuanced approach to this scene is right there, Clarence is so close to going with it, and then he just falls back on the much more eye-roll inducing version of events in a way that seems genuinely at-odds with what was first presented. It's that wasted opportunity that frustrated me most.
This is done on a macro scale for the overarching conflict of the book, which is that being at all connected to Cole and his fame derails Toby's life, and therefore Toby is incredibly averse in the present to opening the door for that. It's a good central conflict, one that is not easily solved and would require sacrifice from both, you'd assume. And to the book's credit, you're in Toby's head the whole time and he's a very winsome and sympathetic character, so you get his anguish here. And yet, these concerns are treated very dismissively by pretty much everyone but Toby's family throughout the book, including and especially by Cole. The conversations on the topic get very circular and repetitive, which isn't great generally but worse is that part of the repetition is Cole listens, says some bland therapy-speak version of "I hear you, and that must have been hard" and then goes on to pretty much ignore everything Toby's just said and continuously push making their relationship more and more public. Once again, are we going to dig into this? Clarence isn't unaware this is part of the dynamic, as Toby explicitly calls it out at least twice to my memory. But at this point, of course not, we're going to basically say Toby just needs to like, get over it, and then happily ever after. It's absolutely maddening in a way that signals at best, I just simply have a very different worldview as this author and at worst, the author has not really examined his own characters or central conflict with any depth or even from multiple angles and therefore doesn't know how to resolve these things with any level of nuance or even genuine closure.
I do get why those who are not grumpy cynics like myself are liking this book so much, but unfortunately I just keep coming back to the idea that I have a fundamental disconnect with this book and writing.
April 24, 2025
*cracks knuckles* alright babes. Let’s talk about my new comfort read, Going Solo, by D.P. Clarence.
Summary: This is a second chance romance between two men who fell in love as teens on a reality talent show. Think American Idol or Britain’s Got Talent back when they were designed to glorify some and publicly humiliate others. One contestant becomes a pop star (Cole) and the other (Toby) was publicly mocked after going viral for something he said on screen. Our two MCs had a whirlwind teenage romance, but were separated due to ~ forces ~ and several miscommunications caused anger and resentment. The POV is primarily from Toby, but there are also articles from the Sentinel, Bulletin, and various other media outlets which really add a narrative flair.
Here is what I enjoyed most:
🎥The writing is CINEMATIC - the way that DP Clarence describes concerts and literal grass fields is nothing short of cinematic, despite the limitations of the English language. There were several concert scenes (duh) which were so beautifully written that I could sense everything - sight, sound, touch, smell, and VIBE. The writing is emotional, vivid, and tactile.
🗣️Points of view in each chapter were great! Most of the story is told from Toby’s POV, but I really enjoyed that other chapters were flashy tabloid articles from the Bulletin, news articles from Toby/Cole’s local paper, serious journalism from the Sentinel, and various other publications which really add to the action and excitement in the story.
📰💏 References to the previous book are done well, creatively, and are RELEVANT TO THE PLOT. Nothing makes my eyes roll more than when previous book couples show up and wax poetic about their new, perfect, saccharine sweet lives, and then just peace out. Like… what was the point of that? gtfo.
HOWEVER, in this book, Sunny and Ludo actually contribute to the plot in useful ways. The Paper Boys side characters and even various news organizations have a reason to be there. They aren't simply fan service 🙌
🌩️ The main conflict was well developed - the miscommunication in the book is proper miscommunication that can’t be solved with a simple conversation. The two characters deeply hurt one another, whether intentionally or not, but manage to have mature conversations and eventually come back together. You see the character’s growth, their emotional struggles, strengths, and weaknesses.
🧑🦽➡️👑💅💇♀️Great side characters - the side characters in Clarence’s books are always so so so interesting! and funny! They really add a lot of flair to the book and world-building.
---
Now onto serious topics: reality TV.
In addition to a love story, Going Solo is about TV talent shows, celebrity, and the real-life impact of going viral. It offers a look into the perspective of the contestants themselves and how public humiliation and going viral truly affects a persons life, family, and wellbeing. It also critically examines stanism, fandoms, and their effects on the pop star him/her/themself. I live for this stuff.
Going Solo was particularly interesting to me because I watched an episode of America’s Got Talent last year and noticed two things about Simon Cowell:
* His veneers could cause blindness
* He doesn’t bully people as much as he used to
When I was a young warthog, American Idol was all the rage. I LOVED it. I loved the auditions, hearing peoples’ tragic backstories, guessing who would win, and, shamefully, I also tuned in to watch Cowell bully people. Looking back, I can’t believe I found it entertaining. I can’t believe we were ok with wealthy celebrities humiliating average people for daring to dream. I would specifically like to apologize to Susan Boyle, William Hung, and Paul Potts. All were made fun of for their appearance, and William Hung went viral because he lacked singing talent and dance moves.
In a way, Going Solo made me reexamine what I found entertaining in the aughts and how "entertainment" has changed since then, or at least on mainstream television. I'm glad DP Clarence has written a book that reinforces the fact that bullying is not good entertainment and manufacturing drama on-screen has real life consequences.
TL;DR: 5 stars. I laughed. I cried. I want to be friends with their entire friend group.
Summary: This is a second chance romance between two men who fell in love as teens on a reality talent show. Think American Idol or Britain’s Got Talent back when they were designed to glorify some and publicly humiliate others. One contestant becomes a pop star (Cole) and the other (Toby) was publicly mocked after going viral for something he said on screen. Our two MCs had a whirlwind teenage romance, but were separated due to ~ forces ~ and several miscommunications caused anger and resentment. The POV is primarily from Toby, but there are also articles from the Sentinel, Bulletin, and various other media outlets which really add a narrative flair.
Here is what I enjoyed most:
🎥The writing is CINEMATIC - the way that DP Clarence describes concerts and literal grass fields is nothing short of cinematic, despite the limitations of the English language. There were several concert scenes (duh) which were so beautifully written that I could sense everything - sight, sound, touch, smell, and VIBE. The writing is emotional, vivid, and tactile.
🗣️Points of view in each chapter were great! Most of the story is told from Toby’s POV, but I really enjoyed that other chapters were flashy tabloid articles from the Bulletin, news articles from Toby/Cole’s local paper, serious journalism from the Sentinel, and various other publications which really add to the action and excitement in the story.
📰💏 References to the previous book are done well, creatively, and are RELEVANT TO THE PLOT. Nothing makes my eyes roll more than when previous book couples show up and wax poetic about their new, perfect, saccharine sweet lives, and then just peace out. Like… what was the point of that? gtfo.
HOWEVER, in this book, Sunny and Ludo actually contribute to the plot in useful ways. The Paper Boys side characters and even various news organizations have a reason to be there. They aren't simply fan service 🙌
🌩️ The main conflict was well developed - the miscommunication in the book is proper miscommunication that can’t be solved with a simple conversation. The two characters deeply hurt one another, whether intentionally or not, but manage to have mature conversations and eventually come back together. You see the character’s growth, their emotional struggles, strengths, and weaknesses.
🧑🦽➡️👑💅💇♀️Great side characters - the side characters in Clarence’s books are always so so so interesting! and funny! They really add a lot of flair to the book and world-building.
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Now onto serious topics: reality TV.
In addition to a love story, Going Solo is about TV talent shows, celebrity, and the real-life impact of going viral. It offers a look into the perspective of the contestants themselves and how public humiliation and going viral truly affects a persons life, family, and wellbeing. It also critically examines stanism, fandoms, and their effects on the pop star him/her/themself. I live for this stuff.
Going Solo was particularly interesting to me because I watched an episode of America’s Got Talent last year and noticed two things about Simon Cowell:
* His veneers could cause blindness
* He doesn’t bully people as much as he used to
When I was a young warthog, American Idol was all the rage. I LOVED it. I loved the auditions, hearing peoples’ tragic backstories, guessing who would win, and, shamefully, I also tuned in to watch Cowell bully people. Looking back, I can’t believe I found it entertaining. I can’t believe we were ok with wealthy celebrities humiliating average people for daring to dream. I would specifically like to apologize to Susan Boyle, William Hung, and Paul Potts. All were made fun of for their appearance, and William Hung went viral because he lacked singing talent and dance moves.
In a way, Going Solo made me reexamine what I found entertaining in the aughts and how "entertainment" has changed since then, or at least on mainstream television. I'm glad DP Clarence has written a book that reinforces the fact that bullying is not good entertainment and manufacturing drama on-screen has real life consequences.
TL;DR: 5 stars. I laughed. I cried. I want to be friends with their entire friend group.
June 9, 2025
I really enjoyed this book. The only thing keeping it from being 5 stars for me is that i didn't feel Toby's trauma was really given due service by the supporting characters in the book or in how the romance was resolved. Still great work, but it did make the ending ring hollow for me.
August 20, 2025
ETA: i went back in and finished it despite having an unexpected panic attack over a certain scene; it was no fault of the book and ISN'T why i rated it 1 star initially so put the pitchforks away. it may have added to my already building annoyance at the time, but i still decided to give the book another chance after i slept on it. plus i was already 75% in so why the hell not.
so, let's start with why i had rated this 1 star. easy, it was the writing. christ almighty was i dragged through simile hell by my toes. it was funny at first (though mostly gross, like, lbr i did not need half those images in my head), but when they started showing up at an even greater frequency, almost every page, it was starting to be a nuisance. when you get increasingly bawdy variations of the line "a guy who spoke with an honesty as raw as my penis that time I caught syphilis from a hot tub hook-up on a package holiday to Magaluf" every other page for near 400 pages, that's just taking the piss.
as for my other gripe: i wasn't happy with the easy as pie reconciliation bw Cole and Toby, much deserved as it was, bc Cole's attempts at winning him back included flaunting his money, parading around with his cheeky smile and well furred body, and writing Toby a song. all fantastic stuff, but surely we're gonna need a bit more than that. the song was really sweet i won't lie, and the hangouts were fun with the exception of the visit to the cancer ward (listen, what Cole did wasn't bad, but when you elude to a surprise, no one expects a trip to the cancer ward), but i think there should've been more back-and-forth bw the two that wasn't just flirty banter before they fell back into each other. once i got past my annoyance at this, and how easily they threw around declarations of love at age 16, i could see why they worked well together. not a gripe, but they've both been through different kinds of hell so i don't think it's fair to pick sides based on who suffered more, yknow? it's not a bloody competition.
other than that i do appreciate what Clarence set out to do: shine a light on the horrors of reality tv behind the scenes and the critical role social media plays in ruining a person's life. we've seen smear campaigns at work and how much damage they can do, like, it's so easy to sway public opinion with just the strike of a match. if you've got bank, it's certainly easier than even that.
ending this on a more happier note, Cole and Toby finding their way back to each at the end did soften my heart a little. what can i say, there was a live orchestra and pyrotechnics when they kissed. it was all grandly romantic okay!
P.S. Genevieve 🐮💖
April 29, 2025
Charming, witty and dramatic second-chance romance!
DP Clarence might be Australian, but he knows how to pull you in a modern-day Britain setting in a way very few authors do. Going Solo takes place in the same universe with The Paper Boys and like DP's debut, perfectly captures the vibe of its setting: the media and the entertainment industry. The vocabulary, the mannerisms, the attention to detail, the escape-the-paparazzi techniques, the reality show dishonorable behind-the-scenes, the ups and downs fame can bring you. It is all very relatable, and very British-watch out, Sun, you got nothing on The Bulletin!
Cole and Toby had a fairytale puppy love story when they were teens, auditioning for a musical talent show...until the harsh reality of the industry spinned a narrative, drove them apart and controlled their lives, either directly or indirectly. 10 years later, Cole orchestrates a reunion.
The chemistry is off the charts (and I don't mean the Pop charts). The boys' personalities click with each other, both as teens and in their mid20s. Cole's happy puppy personality is what insecure Toby needs, and Toby's more down-to-earth worldview is what Cole (who spent years in a bubble) needs. They deeply love each other, and despite the very real and traumatic past issues between them (not some silly miscommunication), their love pushes them to find a way to make it work: it is tense but also empowering to read!
The side-characters are a delight: The Brent Boys from DP's debut make appearances, and have actual contribution to the story (we love to see Sunny and Ludo again!), Toby' supportive family is comedy gold, and you get the feeling that no character is mundane: each of them has a role to play!
The book is a goldmine, and cements DP Clarence as an elite author in his genre, if you weren't already sure by now (which you should have been). Do not miss it!
Thank you DP Clarence for the ARC!
DP Clarence might be Australian, but he knows how to pull you in a modern-day Britain setting in a way very few authors do. Going Solo takes place in the same universe with The Paper Boys and like DP's debut, perfectly captures the vibe of its setting: the media and the entertainment industry. The vocabulary, the mannerisms, the attention to detail, the escape-the-paparazzi techniques, the reality show dishonorable behind-the-scenes, the ups and downs fame can bring you. It is all very relatable, and very British-watch out, Sun, you got nothing on The Bulletin!
Cole and Toby had a fairytale puppy love story when they were teens, auditioning for a musical talent show...until the harsh reality of the industry spinned a narrative, drove them apart and controlled their lives, either directly or indirectly. 10 years later, Cole orchestrates a reunion.
The chemistry is off the charts (and I don't mean the Pop charts). The boys' personalities click with each other, both as teens and in their mid20s. Cole's happy puppy personality is what insecure Toby needs, and Toby's more down-to-earth worldview is what Cole (who spent years in a bubble) needs. They deeply love each other, and despite the very real and traumatic past issues between them (not some silly miscommunication), their love pushes them to find a way to make it work: it is tense but also empowering to read!
The side-characters are a delight: The Brent Boys from DP's debut make appearances, and have actual contribution to the story (we love to see Sunny and Ludo again!), Toby' supportive family is comedy gold, and you get the feeling that no character is mundane: each of them has a role to play!
The book is a goldmine, and cements DP Clarence as an elite author in his genre, if you weren't already sure by now (which you should have been). Do not miss it!
Thank you DP Clarence for the ARC!
April 16, 2025
Thank you D.P. Clarence for this eARC in exchange for an honest review. I absolutely loved this story!!! Tobias and Cole meet in line for the reality tv music tv competition Make Me a Popstar, and it’s an instant connection. It’s clear early on that Cole is going to be a star. Tobias however doesn’t make it past the London stage of the show. He’s happy for Cole and at least he got a boyfriend out of it. But then the show airs and they managed to make Tobias an embarrassment. His life becomes a hellscape of mockery, bullying, and harassment. Then Cole ends things for the show. Tobias is devastated and things only get worse when he’s filmed in public upset over the whole situation. Ten years pass and Cole announces he’s leaving the band that was formed on the show and going solo. Tobias has managed to make a name for himself in Pop Radio. However his world is about to be turned upside down when Cole announces his first solo tour and he wants to pay Tobias station to exclusive on the scene interviews and access. Tobias wants to refuse but the station needs the money. So he’s forced to spend time with the guy who broke his heart and ruined his life. But the ten years haven’t been easy on Cole either. And as the adjust to being in each others lives again Tobias will struggle not to feel things. Will the two work through their differences and find love again? Or is Cole’s stardom and fandom too much to handle? A wonderful look at the dark side of reality tv, the greedy side of the business, and toxicity of the press and fandoms! D.P. Clarence’s Going Solo is sweet, charming, and incredibly funny! I loved both Tobias and Cole and all their friends! And it was nice seeing Sunny and Ludo again! This one is perfect for the second chance forced proximity romance lovers!
December 21, 2025
siento que este autor escuchó todas mis quejas acerca de lo que opino de los second chance romance and he delivered lo que quería con exactitud, amé la primera parte del libro, cuando leo libros con esta trama, mi deseo siempre es ver la conexión que tuvieron los personajes antes de la desgracia, me gusta poder conectar con los personajes, con su romance y con sus problemas para sentirme más cercana a ellos y a la trama en general, este libro lo logró de una manera perfecta que ya me tenía rezando para que la segunda parte no se arruinara.
lamentablemente, la maldición de las +370 páginas no se rompió y para el 80% ya estaba harta de todo, no me malinterpreten, seguía amando a los personajes pero estaba completamente irritada de todos los problemas que estaban pasando que no logré conectar para nada, para el momento en donde salió el ex, el libro ya me había perdido y no volví a tener esa conexión con los personajes, lamentablemente un final que no le dio justicia al inicio del libro. aun así, le di 5 estrellas porque 1. lo redondeé y 2. ya les había tomado un montón de cariño a los personajes
aún así, termino este libro con emociones positivas que en un futuro seré capaz de convertir en una conclusión más fija, espero con ansias los nuevos trabajos de este autor y seguir practicando mi inglés británico porque muy apenas puedo formular frases en español como mi idioma principal!! y una mención especial a mi amor por toby de 16 años y esa chispa que me dio mucha tristeza ver desaparecer
lamentablemente, la maldición de las +370 páginas no se rompió y para el 80% ya estaba harta de todo, no me malinterpreten, seguía amando a los personajes pero estaba completamente irritada de todos los problemas que estaban pasando que no logré conectar para nada, para el momento en donde salió el ex, el libro ya me había perdido y no volví a tener esa conexión con los personajes, lamentablemente un final que no le dio justicia al inicio del libro. aun así, le di 5 estrellas porque 1. lo redondeé y 2. ya les había tomado un montón de cariño a los personajes
aún así, termino este libro con emociones positivas que en un futuro seré capaz de convertir en una conclusión más fija, espero con ansias los nuevos trabajos de este autor y seguir practicando mi inglés británico porque muy apenas puedo formular frases en español como mi idioma principal!! y una mención especial a mi amor por toby de 16 años y esa chispa que me dio mucha tristeza ver desaparecer
April 20, 2025
A massive thank you to Dan for divining me the opportunity to arc read Going Solo.
I absolutely adored this book. The main characters, Toby and Cole, are a true delight—funny, witty, and irresistibly charming. Their dynamic brought so much heart and humor to the story, making them a pair I couldn’t help but root for.
What stood out to me most was how the plot cleverly shone a light on the often harsh realities of reality TV, particularly the lack of care contestants have faced in the past. It added a thought-provoking layer to an otherwise warm and romantic narrative.
The pacing was spot-on, especially as the story navigated the lost years between Toby and Cole through cleverly interwoven media headlines. It was such a creative way to fill in the gaps and kept me thoroughly engaged.
There were so many beautifully written moments as Toby and Cole worked to rebuild their relationship. One scene at a windmill was especially tender—it will stay with me for a long while.
With its emotional highs and lows, tear-jerking moments, and laugh-out-loud scenes, this book was a complete joy to read. I’d highly recommend it to anyone looking for a heartfelt, entertaining story with characters you’ll fall head over heels for.
Final thoughts: Fiona, Kevin Jonas really, Surely Nick!
I absolutely adored this book. The main characters, Toby and Cole, are a true delight—funny, witty, and irresistibly charming. Their dynamic brought so much heart and humor to the story, making them a pair I couldn’t help but root for.
What stood out to me most was how the plot cleverly shone a light on the often harsh realities of reality TV, particularly the lack of care contestants have faced in the past. It added a thought-provoking layer to an otherwise warm and romantic narrative.
The pacing was spot-on, especially as the story navigated the lost years between Toby and Cole through cleverly interwoven media headlines. It was such a creative way to fill in the gaps and kept me thoroughly engaged.
There were so many beautifully written moments as Toby and Cole worked to rebuild their relationship. One scene at a windmill was especially tender—it will stay with me for a long while.
With its emotional highs and lows, tear-jerking moments, and laugh-out-loud scenes, this book was a complete joy to read. I’d highly recommend it to anyone looking for a heartfelt, entertaining story with characters you’ll fall head over heels for.
Final thoughts: Fiona, Kevin Jonas really, Surely Nick!
June 15, 2025
Okay so I LOVED this! Rockstar romance, second chance, and lots of hilarious banter and sweet moments. I was totally invested in Toby and Cole’s story.
I loved a lot of the messaging in this book, in particular: you can’t always affect what happens to you, and you can’t change the past, but you can control how you respond to it. That idea was really at the heart of this second chance romance.
Cole and Toby meet on the set of an X-Factor style reality show and form an instant connection. While powerful and real, their bond is torn apart by a humiliating moment and its aftermath. For Toby, it was the most humiliating moment of his life, but for Cole, meant fame and stardom. For both, it changed the next 10 years of their lives.
How they cope with what happened and find their way back to each other is a lot of the core of this romance. But the book also delves into more serious subjects, such as trauma, but also the dark sides of reality tv and media in general.
With all that this book could have felt dark and angsty but it wasn’t. It was warm and hopeful and honestly hilarious in parts. I really enjoyed this book and highly recommend it.
I loved a lot of the messaging in this book, in particular: you can’t always affect what happens to you, and you can’t change the past, but you can control how you respond to it. That idea was really at the heart of this second chance romance.
Cole and Toby meet on the set of an X-Factor style reality show and form an instant connection. While powerful and real, their bond is torn apart by a humiliating moment and its aftermath. For Toby, it was the most humiliating moment of his life, but for Cole, meant fame and stardom. For both, it changed the next 10 years of their lives.
How they cope with what happened and find their way back to each other is a lot of the core of this romance. But the book also delves into more serious subjects, such as trauma, but also the dark sides of reality tv and media in general.
With all that this book could have felt dark and angsty but it wasn’t. It was warm and hopeful and honestly hilarious in parts. I really enjoyed this book and highly recommend it.
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