What would you do if you humiliated yourself in front of a Naked Kitchen Adonis… and then he appeared in your bakery months later?
DAVID I watched in horror as my sister shattered yet another poor guy’s heart… only this time, I can’t get sweet, sexy, straight Hunter out of my head. My daily latte runs to Moore Delicious, the bakery where he works, aren’t helping. And now I’m in a bind: my favorite cousin insists that I attend her wedding. With a date. So she whips up a half-baked scheme that will piss off the family that disowned me and secure an ally by my side: ask my sister’s ex to pretend to be my boyfriend. The question is, will Hunter agree to play along?
HUNTER Six months ago, I walked into my apartment to find a gorgeous man standing in my kitchen, wearing only a towel and a smile. And what did I do? Instead of saying hello and joining him in nudity, I stormed into the bedroom and accused my girlfriend of sleeping with her brother. To be fair, I didn’t know he was her brother at the time, and she really was cheating on me (just not with him). So I hide in the back every time the Naked Kitchen Adonis visits Moore Delicious… until the day he asks for more than his usual coffee, cookie, and suggestively-shaped banana. His proposal is intriguing. I like it. And him. A weekend spent serving up a little revenge while cozying up to the N.K.A. is more than tempting. The lengths we’ll have to go to make it believable definitely won’t be a hardship… but if things heat up, David will be the first man I’ve ever slept with.
Ingredients in THE BOYFRIEND RECIPE include a sweet and spicy fake relationship, a scrumptious marketing exec, a mouth-wateringly handsome engineering student, as much MM romance as you can handle, and frosted with a HEA ending. It contains no cliffhangers, is gluten-free, and has no GMOs, but is sprinkled with a few nuts from the Moore Romance series.
This book occurs during the same summer as A Chance for Moore (Moore Romance, Book 1).
The Boyfriend Recipe contains steamy, explicit love scenes intended for MATURE readers only.
Alex Miska is a certifiable math geek who spends her days (and nights) dreaming of quirky, sexily-intelligent men falling in love. She is a former math teacher to students with learning disabilities and disability advocate. Nestled in a small house in the woods, Alex is the doting parent of a preternaturally-happy, fluffy, white dog and his somewhat gloomy older brother, as well as the solicitous servant of two highly-opinionated Siamese cats.
This book was a little on the shorter side at only 2hrs+ long. But it was still super cute and had some funny moments, just like Alex Miska's other books in The Moore Series. I really do love this authors books. She knows how to pull you in and keep you entertained no matter how long the book is or who the characters are and what happens in the storyline. This book is a spin off of the Moore Series by the same author and its awesome that we get to see some of those characters show up in this book too.
After David's sister cheats on Hunter, David searches Hunter out, not only to apologize but he also has a totally hairbrained scheme for them to become "fake boyfriends" in order to get back at David's sister / Hunters ex, but to also shock the rest of David's family at a family event. This book has everything. It fun and funny with some light and fluffy moments and has some cute romantic scenes between the two main characters, and then mix in a little bit of family drama that isn't too outrageous and you have a winner with this book. I thought that once Hunter and David figured out a bit about each other they ended up as a really cute couple, and obviously David's sister doing Hunter dirty ended up being a good thing for these guys.
The audio for this book was fantastic too. Nick J Russo did a great job portraying these characters and all their friends and family members giving them each individual voices all while keeping their personalities spot on. I was thrilled he was picked to narrate this one, all while still being sad that the original narrator for the Moore Series wasn't doing this one too. But, I am happy with Nick's performance he really made this one stand out for me. Great Job!
Contrary to what the top reviews here on GR say, I thought this story was adorable. It was a quick, easy read, cute and quirky and fun- just what I need on occasion.
I do agree that there was a little confusion at times, as to whose pov we were in, even with the chapters being differentiated. I think that might be because the author didn't use the characters names as much as you see in other m/m books. But honestly, that really didn't detract from the story, just something worth mentioning since other reviewers pointed it out.
This is spin-off of the author's Moore series, and I definitely plan on going back to catch up on those books, after meeting some of the characters in The Boyfriend Recipe.
A fake boyfriend relationship always interesting. This one is no exception. Hunter and David made my heart melted by their sweetness. This is a heartwarming story with a very low angst, and some annoying but loving friends. I read it in one sit, and enjoyed the story. Recommended!
*I voluntarily read an advance copy of this book.*
This should be right up my alley with the fake relationship but it really was not. Everything seemed very confused. Still it was light and not unpleasant.
Hunter walks into the apartment he shares with his girlfriend and finds a nearly naked, adonis-like man standing in his kitchen. He immediately jumps to cheating (his girlfriend has a track record). It turns out that the naked guy was said girlfriend's brother, but the damage was done because the girlfriend really was cheating on him...just not with her brother.
The book begins after all this has happened. Hunter has had no real contact with David (the brother) since the incident other than Hunter avoiding David when David comes into the cafe that Hunter works at. Daily. Every day. Then one day, David asks Hunter to be his fake boyfriend (though David thinks Hunter is straight). Out of the blue. Their first real conversation. In public. Yeah. It didn't even occur to me to DNF at this point because I was confused and I thought if I read more then I would be enlightened. Most times I couldn't even remember whose voice was telling the story. There is a lot of friendliness between David's people and Hunter's people. Spontaneous friendliness. Between strangers. Total strangers. Who does that?! And then there was middle school antics of "he really likes you" and "did he say that?" *and "he did! I saw it circled on the note while I was reading over his friend's shoulder!" I may be embellishing a bit...but it was essentially that.
I did laugh out loud at the first "precious flower" reference, then chuckled a bit at the second then I was rolling my eyes at every reference to it after that.
So...2 stars? It did have a happy ending. It was a quick read. It was a bit steamy sometimes. I didn't read the first 2 books and I have no desire to read it even though this is the third book and the references to the people from books 1 and 2 were so confusing that I know I am missing something.
It was promising and it's definitely short enough to be the exact thing I want in a fake relationship novella. However, it left me disappointed.
Super plus points: Nick J. Russo - hello top 5 fav. narrators ever!
When an audiobook is less than 3 hours - 123 pages - it doesn't need a play by play POV switch over. It just got annoying.
I liked the two MCs enough to be invested in and the author tried really hard to do bisexual representation - like tried really hard. (And not sure if they succeeded).
Also MC saying "I'm not comfortable with pansexual." --? Why? Just leave it be. Just call the motherfuck bisexual and move on. Also, why was David's sister and cousin just so super white girl annoying.
Also, how old are David and Hunter? When was it actually discussed that Hunter is super proud and won't get student loans? So he works at a BAKERY in NEW YORK and goes to GRADUATE SCHOOL part time?
In what century is that affordable or realistic? Why is this relevant?
AND WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY
It was going relatively well for me but the epilogue just really killed it to a yet another super cheesy, omg let me kill you with this fake sugar filled pound cake that I will shove down your throat.
Also, I did not get the title. Because it's related to the bakery? But the recipe was the cousin's?
WHERE WAS THE RECIPE?
This was very scattered. Good ambition and poor execution. A lot of the side commentary and story lines could have been totally cut.
Actually more like 2.5. I enjoyed the beginning, and the end was okay, but the middle... As I said, I found it hard to keep track of who was speaking, even though each chapter was labeled. I also would have enjoyed seeing more conflict between David and his parents. There were only a couple of times they really interacted. As for Tonya, either she was a bitch or she was spoiled and either way, I didn't like her very much.
Sometimes I want to listen to a palate cleanser – a book that is short, sweet, and low on angst. Don’t get me wrong, I love angst. Adore it. But occasionally it gets to be a bit much. Alex Miska’s books are always funny and charming. I’ve listened to all the Moore books available on audio so it was an easy decision to listen to this book. It is not necessary to have listened to the other books. Hunter and David make quite their own magic with the Moore Delicious Bakery and a family wedding as backdrops.
David and Hunter’s first meeting was not destined for greatness. In fact, it was a complete disaster. Memorable? Yes. Embarrassing? Yeah, that too. Hunter’s assumption that the mostly naked man in his kitchen is yet another guy his girlfriend is cheating on him with is perhaps a bit presumptive, but given the woman’s track record, not entirely unreasonable. And David is annoyed with his sister for her dalliances behind the nice guy’s back, but he figured that was the end of it, if not for a random chance meeting at the Moore Delicious Bakery. Now, every day, he goes in for this coffee and an attempt to glimpse the cute guy his sister hurt. Inconveniently, Hunter always seems to be otherwise occupied and the men never talk – not about that fateful night or about anything else, consequential or otherwise.
I understand David’s desire to rectify the wrongs committed by his sister and I also understand Hunter’s desire to put it all in the past. The fact he refers to David as N.K.A (Naked Kitchen Adonis), leaves little room for doubt that the first impression was a powerful one. But he’s been burned before and not looking for a repeat. Plus, although he’s bi-sexual, he has no idea where he might stand with David.
I adore David’s meddling cousin who basically blackmails him into attending her wedding, demanding he bring a date. She knows his family has hurt him, rejecting him because of his homosexuality, and she wants him to show them that he’s not down for the count by any stretch of the imagination. The best way to do that? Show up with his sister’s ex-boyfriend. Sure, why not?
It works, it all works. The antics are fun, watching the sister have a meltdown was amusing, and watching David discover not all his family wants to disown him was charming. Oh, and there were definitely hot times once the men realized the attraction was mutual. I also liked the secondary characters. They fit in the story nicely but all had stories of their own – some of whom I hope are explored later.
This is a great little story and I adored it. Nick J. Russo is a narrator I am well-acquainted with an, as always, he did a great job. Now, if I could just get ahold of one of those pastries…
who stays at their sister’s place and hangs out in the kitchen in just a towel? Rude.
Anyway, this is how Hunter the bisexual unicorn meets his girlfriend Tonya’s gay brother David. Hunter is literally the only man in the universe who understands bisexuality and he loves to lament on how misunderstood he is by all the dumb straights and gays. The straight women are the worst. I mean:
“Gay men just assumed I was confused or closeted, so they never truly considered me boyfriend material. As a result, I’d only had three serious relationships, and they’d all been with women. Sure, women were even weirder about bisexuality than guys were… But unless faced with an ex, women didn’t ever consider that I might be attracted to men. So I never disclosed that side of myself to women, if I could help it, and keeping that part of myself private was the only way that those relationships worked.”
Really? Women are weirder about bisexuality than guys? So he MUST hide that part of himself for his relationships with women to work. Because these narrow minded bitches could never actually accept that bisexuality is real. In fact, Tonya (among others) is certain that David has turned Hunter gay. Because Hunter is David’s fake date to a wedding so David can pretend he turned his sister’s ex (Hunter) gay because David hates his own family. In Hunter’s words:
“I mean, stealing your sister’s boyfriend and turning him gay might have repercussions. I can explain that I’m bisexual, but I don’t know how much that will help. A lot of people see things in black and white, so they’ll just assume you turned me”
Okay then. So Hunter is the only bisexual ever and he’s such a rare creature that people will believe he’s been turned gay before believing bi is a thing.
This is one of the stupidest books I’ve listened to in a while. And that’s saying something. I can’t with Hunter. And I can’t with books that treat bisexuality like some rare and mysterious thing. I don’t get it.
I’m going to be honest here: I was really disappointed. The fake boyfriend/girlfriend/spouse trope is one of my favourite cliches of the romance genre and this book completely failed to utilize it properly for the comedy and sexual tension inherent to it.
In terms of the writing it’s pretty garbage too. There is way too much “telling” and not enough “showing” especially with Hunter’s characters with how much of a nerd he is. The other problem with Hunter is that he has no personality beyond being bi. Which is a big problem bc bisexuality isn’t a personality trait at all!
I stopped reading after the wedding. There were two plot holes that just clashed against each other and I was done. Apparently Hunter never really told his ex girlfriend that he was bi (bc he doesn’t think it’s that big a deal) so he was conflicted when he heard the drama about her brother being gay. But they were living together so she had probably met his best friend (a trans dude) so wouldn’t the issue of her homophobia have been brought up before? I can understand not breaking up with her over her non support of her brother (a dude he’s never met) but wouldn’t they have broken up earlier if she couldn’t stand his friends who seem to basically all be LGBT (which is really dumb and unrealistic and only gets a pass bc he’s a part of a GSA/LGBT club thing). But then he’s apparently talking about the Kinsley scale with a virtual stranger at a wedding. That’s not the kind of thing that you talk about at a wedding unless he’s also gay or an academic. My point is that that sexuality isn’t that big a deal to him to debate or even tell his girlfriend but he’ll discuss it in depth with a stranger.
That was the final straw. This book had a good premise but the execution was just bad. I feel like this could’ve been so much better if only it had been revised a could more times by an impartial party.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
We love short stories, love little snippets of how people fall in love, and The Boyfriend Recipe is one our favorite ideas, the fake-relationship. Although this book has all the right ingredients (see what we did there – Boyfriend ‘RECIPE’) it didn’t work for us.
Hunter is a Bi man, very recently broken up with his girlfriend Tonya after finding a naked man in their apartment. The man is actually her brother David. On chance David happens into the bakery where
The number one reason that we aren’t super-fans is that we got a bit confused with the POV. Yes, the chapters are labeled of who is speaking, but maybe there isn’t enough distinctions between their voices. We actually had to flip back a few times to remind ourselves who was speaking.
We aren’t big fans of romance with a side of angst, and Boyfriend Recipe doesn’t have a lot, but it never really fulfils its big issues. David’s parents think he can choose to be gay, and there is great workup from David, but at the wedding there really isn’t much of a confrontation, it fizzles.
And finally the sex. Yes in 103 pages there is some heat between David and Hunter, but once Hunter reveals he is a man/man virgin and refers to it as his ‘precious flower’, we almost DNF. But, then even after his weird outburst, that the wedding party and other refer to the next day, he goes ahead and jumps between the sheets with David, someone he is playing at a fake-relationship. Ugh, it just didn’t work.
So, all in all, this was not our cup of tea, and thankfully at 103 pages it was a quick read.
I loved this story. While I love male/male romance the fake boyfriend thing is nit a favorite trope. This was very much the exception. This was a short sweet story. Heartthrob one is bi and breaking up with his live in girlfriend. Heartthrob two is gay and the exgirlfriends brother. They meet in the kitchen of one and his girlfriend’s home. One thinks it’s yet another guy she cheated with. The break up is complete. Two needs a date to another of their sister’s weddings and she suggests he invite one. They go to dinner and hit it off so one agrees to go with two to the wedding. Two tells one his family rejected him when he came out to them. They haven’t spoken in years. Two thinks one is straight though one is sending him tons of signals that he is interested. They attend the wedding and two realizes one is bi. Hijinks ensue, they have a hot sexy weekend and part when they return to the real world. Love wins and I got my HEA. If you like a sweet male/male romance give the Boyfriend Recipe by Alex Miska and V. Soffer a listen or a read. The narration by Nick J. Russo was perfect, as usual, he gave each character a distinct voice that suited them beautifully. That is why he is one of my favorite voice actors.
I thought this book was cute, but it was anticlimactic. There isn't any real angst to add depth and feeling to the characters. This would be something that would be perfect to read when you have a free afternoon and you want to read fluff.
Even now a few days after reading the book, I really cannot tell you anything that stood out for me. They were just two generic characters trying to have a go at a fake relationship. Any situation that could have led to a climactic point in the plot fell flat.
The story is a standalone, but takes place within the Moore universe (book 1). It's not necessary to have read/listened to A Chance for Moore (but the series is such a good one, I would recommend it for additional enjoyment). Hunter and David's initial meeting does not go well - Hunter thinks that his girlfriend is cheating on him (again) with David. When he realises that David is her brother, the damage has been done. Fast forward a month or so, David reaches out to Hunter to ask him to be his fake BF for a family wedding. They are both attracted to each other, but the usual 'misunderstandings' ensue. Luckily, and with he interventions from friends and family, both men get their HEA. As usual, Nick J. Russo does a wonderful job with the characters. He makes them seem so real, I almost forget that they are only characters in a fictional story. I was a little worried about his voicing Julian (for the few times he appears), but I needn't have worried- he was great as Julian :)
This was a delightful addition to the Moore universe. David and Hunter pretend to be boyfriends for David's best friend's wedding but as expected, things get a little more complicated than that.
I loved Hunter, he's like a younger, more innocent version of Julian - utterly delicious. David was sweet but clueless at first, kinda wanted to smack him around the head to get him to pay attention!
What turned this sweet-but-kinda-forgettable story into a four-star wonder was the 'precious flower' plot. That was the most adorable thing, the way it got incorporated into all the important things for the boys.
I am a fan of the Moore Romance series, so I was excited to listen to this short story that takes place in that world. Hunter and David were both adorable; and their tale was at different times funny, sad, sweet, and sexy. I was impressed by the amount of story I was able to enjoy in under three hours! I felt the nerves and excitement along with David and Hunter as they planned for their weekend as fake boyfriends, and I loved the antics of the secondary characters. The narrator is a favorite who never lets me down, and his performance was great. I loved this terrific story!
I have read this book and now listened to it being narrated by the awesome Mr. Russo. I very much enjoyed this cute little story. Hunter and David are perfect for each other and I absolutely love the Moore family so getting to see them in this story was a bonus. This is a very low angst, sweet story that will bring a smile to your face and make you laugh on more than one occasion, perfect for a quick intermission to lighten up everything else!
This is a super cute and sweet quick story that I really enjoyed. Although it is a short story it is well developed and the characters are wonderful. David and Hunter make a great couple and I love watching them progress from fake to true boyfriends. The narrator did a spectacular job with all of the character voices and with the story itself in expressing and portraying all of the emotions. I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
I read the first book in the series and fell in love with the characters and their stories. Have literally planned the last few days around reading the rest of the series. Now I'm pouting (like Julian) because I have to wait for the next book. This whole series is absolutely wonderful!
I just loved this book with all the devious plots to get back at the sister and the parents but what was icing on the cake was the grandfather acceptance of their relationship. I also loved how his sister started to accept him as well. It is a romance that is worth reading . It's a feel good story.
The Boyfriend Recipe was a fun read featuring a fake relationship turned real, lots of silliness, a freak-out or two, and true love conquering all! Plus, it was great to visit with a few of the Moore siblings, especially Julian and Logan, again. I wish there was a bakery like Moore Delicious near me. But then I'd probably never leave!
As a Bisexual woman (Pan actually), I found the whole lamenting about the woes of being Bi absolutely frustrating. I mean some of it's true, but the way it was said was extremely annoying.
Also... why the fuck did Hunter have to be a virgin? That was just annoying.
The narration: UGH... the female voices were awful.
I would have DNF'd it, but it was so short and I didn't feel like switching to something else in the few hours I had left of my work week.
Fun light hearted mm romance with very light and. Well written with wit,sass, and a feeling like I was on the out side looking in, watching instead of reading sex was hot and blended in well with the story and not over run with it ❣️🙆🏻♀️😘
I thought this was a really good book and I loved how the two main characters were brought together. Especially the part were one referred to the other as the NKA! That was so funny.