JOSH I’ve always had two dreams. One, develop games for Asteroid Studios. Two, lose my virginity to Gwen, the girl I’ve had a crush on since I was eleven.
Career goals are easy. Work my ass off and get the job. My relationship goals, on the other hand, are impossible seeing how my childhood crush is also my little sister’s best friend.
After four years of college and six years of successful indie game development, I finally got my dream job but I’m still no closer to getting my dream girl.
Gwen and I are solidly in the friend zone. But when my sister has to go on a business trip and leaves Gwen without a human shield to warn off an over-zealous co-worker, I have the chance to show her we could be more than friends. Or I could ruin our friendship trying to turn our fake date, and my lifelong dream, into something real.
This is a steamy 18+ romance with a guaranteed HEA!
Anastasia Austin writes new adult and adult romance with plenty of heat. Things you should know: She's a mess without her morning coffee. She treats her cats like people (all animals, really.) She's overly reliant on gifs to express her emotions. She loves her husband, even though he's a total troll and their teenage son, even though he can't tell a joke to save his life.
This was a quick read about a sexy gamer who’s had the hots for his sister’s best friend for years. Not only does he have the hots for her, but they’re also best friends.
I enjoyed this short story about Josh & Gwen as they (try to) fight their attraction to each other.
It was cute, sometimes sexy, and made me glad I tried this new-to-me author.
This was a cute read, but I felt like it was really underdeveloped.
The gamer focus with the friends-to-lovers and sister's best friend tropes drew me into this book, and Austin's writing kept me compelled to keep on reading the 111 pages. I was very curious to see how certain plot lines would resolve, like the sister Ashley's reaction to Josh and Gwen's relationship.
But at the same time, I feel like the plot and character development could've used a lot more depth. I understand that this is a short read and Austin might not've wanted to write more pages, but I still think more depth could've been packed into the pages we did get.
For example, in a friends-to-lovers book, I'd like to see the friends part get established, to see what their friend relationship is like before moving onto the lovers bit. But the book doesn't really explore this part of their relationship much. Since this book relies a lot on this trope, it makes the payoff, the plot, and the steam much less satisfying.
I left the book feeling like I had just read a draft or outline of some kind, not a fully-developed and fully-fleshed out piece.
The MMC briefly discusses body image issues related to being overweight in college, so please watch out if this is something you'd prefer not to read.
I read this novella in June 2022 and it just didn’t work for me. I was drawn in because I saw a TikTok where the premise is he’s a gamer (streamer) and she comes in and starts pretending to kiss/hook up with him while he’s on the mic. Reminded me a little of that scene from Romy and Michelle’s High School Reunion where she pretends to be hooking up with the car repair guy with the blinds down.
But it was just a little juvenile and silly for me and the characters/relationship didn’t work.
Likes: So refreshing to have a virgin hero! No manwhore here! Whilst also being super steamy! Loved it so much!
Dislikes: I wish it was longer!
Synopsis: Call of Booty follows Josh, a programmer who's been secretly in love with his little sister’s best friend since childhood. No woman has ever come close in his mind, hence why he still has his V-card. But she’s always kept him deep in the friendzone, that is until his sister goes away on a trip and leaves the two of them home alone. Flirty comments become slight touches…but will either cross the line to explore more? And can he ever get of the dreaded friendzone and finally lose his V-card to the woman of his dreams? So good! You need to read this!
I'm a naughty author! Poor Josh and Gwen. Please forgive me for neglecting to tell everyone how awesome you are before now. ♥
It's well past release day but these two still deserve all the love! Josh is the sweetest virgin hero who just wants to dote on his sister's best friend. Seriously, the boy is smitten. We all need a book boyfriend like that in our lives, don't we?!
Head over to Amazon and read Josh and Gwen's story in Kindle Unlimited! ♥
This was a cute little read that booktok made me snag. Friends to lovers, and best friends brother are a few of the things that I don’t usually read, but I couldn’t pass this up with that title. Sweet and heated, a quick little read.
This one I could not resist because the name had me cracking up way too much! Just a shorter novella, not great, not bad… felt like story couldn’t develop enough, but that is a novella for you. The name still makes me giggle though…
Loved the name which prompted me to read this novella. It was ok, I liked Josh but Gwen just couldn't make up her mind until he totally laid it out there. I appreciate it when a guy risks it, so points, but Gwen was a little too wishy washy for me.
He’s a virgin. She’s his sister’s best friend. One fake date could change everything. Josh has always had two main dreams. One, develop games for Asteroid Studios. Two, lose his v-card to the girl he has been crushing on since he was 11, Gwen. Career goals are easy to meet, you just work your ass off to get the job. Relationship goals however, are not so easy to accomplish. Gwen is his sister’s best friend, and his too, making her completely off limits. Right? After four years of schooling and six years of successful indie game development, he finally has his dream job. But is still no closer to getting his dream girl. All hope seems lost until his sister has to go on a business trip, leaving Gwen without a fate date to scare off an unwanted coworker set on being with her. This leaves Josh an opening to show her that they could be more than just friends. Can he convince Gwen that they could have a future together, or will he end up ruining their lifelong friendship?
Josh and Gwen’s story was so cute to read. This is a Sister’s Best Friend/Friends-to-Lovers Romance. With plenty of witty banter, tension, sexy gamers, and steam, this book was a fun, quick book that I easily read in one sitting. I loved the characters, and the writing of this book. This wasn’t my first read from Anastasia Austin, but it is probably my new favorite book from her. While this book is really short, I didn't feel like the plot was rushed. The writing was very smooth and easy to read. If you’re looking for a short and sweet, instalove Best Friend’s romance, this book would be perfect for you.
I received this as a free ARC copy via Booksprout in exchange for an honest review.
Me reading this book: oh my God, this is so dumb. I really should have known based on the title. Grown ass folks acting like high school kids that bang. Also, the stereotypical "fat" gamer/developer who got hot so he wouldn't get teased anymore was cringey. Like I didn't even like reading the parts where he talked about why he decided to get ripped. As someone with body image issues it was just another nail in the coffin for me.
Adorable, as in these two were so adorable. Cute, that’s another word that describes them too. Gwen has known Josh since they were younger, and he’s her besties brother. He is staying with them for a bit until he gets his new apartment, and it’s just the two of them for a few weeks, while his sister is out of town for work….wink, wink, nudge, nudge. They both have had crushes on each other for a long time, his maybe a bit longer, but they never wanted to act on it, well, she never wanted to act on it since his sister is her bestie. But two weeks is a long time to try and resist your sexy nerd crush, who also happens to be one of your besties, that teases and tickles you. Yeah, their chemistry was cute and fun, no idea how they resisted so long, she tries to keep resisting, but that last about, maybe a week.
Safe read, with two cute and adorable people that will make you smile, while chasing each other around, tickling, and calling each other cootiehead, they were so stinking cute, and so much fun. I absolutely loved the epilogue, like so much. One of my favorite epilogues actually, and a hea.
Psst…thanks for having Josh use the word essentials and not toiletries…thanks so much for that.
This is a novella so there’s not a lot of room for all the build up so they mostly skipped that. We had some forced proximity, fake dating, siblings best friend. All very cute.
I think I liked the MMC more than the FMC but both were still cute and had some good chemistry. Side characters are mostly non existent here
For romance and tension if it had been a novel there definitely could’ve been more but for a novella what we got is mostly what’s expected. Some back and forth but mainly told not shown for times sake. For the smut the moments were definitely hot but mostly cute to me, it was still explicit but the puppy dog vibes I got definitely gave more cute vibes (still good)
Overall good, quick read. If someone was interested in reading it I definitely wouldn’t steer them away
Now to start im a huge fan of light hearted books. The ones where we don't have to put ourselves through a blender to read! OK... maybe a slight exaggeration, BUT Call of booty was just that. NO BLENDER NEEDED! LOL Gwen is best friend's with Ashley and her Gamer brother Josh. Ohhhhh Josh!! I loved him so baadddd! Ummm! Ok back to what I was saying...Gwen and Josh have had a crush on each other for a while but didn't act on it for their own reason's until they did!! Oh yeah they did.Ummm Did I say I loved Josh? Anyhoooo I absolutely loved this book, read it in one sitting because I COULDN’T PUT IT DOWN!
I absolutely love Anastasia Austin's books I'm becoming such a huge fan. Call of Booty is a must read!!
Not surprised this time that Tik tok fooled me again, I was expecting something different 😞 Read it cause I heard he's a gamer, she comes in and starts pretending to kiss/hook up with him while he's on the mic. But it was quick awkward and I don't know. There was potential but it was too short to develop the plot I think. It was tiring to watch them running away from each other.
Description: Josh is a gamer, 28 year old virgin (waiting for Gwen) had a crush on Gwen for really long time (they are friends)
Gwen is Josh's friend and his sister best friend. He and Josh are close and often joke with each other.
But with jokes, time some lines become blurry. And soon they try to resist their feelings not to ruin their friendship, and not to hurt Josh sister.
Josh has been secretly in love with Gwen since he was eleven. Several years later he's finally landed his dream job as a game developer at a big company, but he's still stuck in the friend zone with Gwen. Gwen shares an apartment with Ashley, her best friend, who also happens to be Josh's sister. When Josh have to move in with them for a while everything goes smoothly - until Ashley goes away on a business trip...
This is a sweet "friends-to-lovers"/"best friend's brother" trope! A fun, romantic and hot novella from the Fate series, but it can be read as a stand alone. We get dual POV's and I love Josh's and Gwen's witty banter with each other! Josh is adorable, and I like that Gwen has some spunk. This is one of my favourite books by Anastasia Austin, so far!
* I received an ARC from the author and I'm giving my honest review. *
The relationship between the two was very sweet, Josh is a virgin who basically has had a crush on out heroine Gwen since she was 7 & he was 11. This was actually quite slow for a novella, I was going in expecting lots of smut- not sure why tbh. This is definitely more relationship building for the first half and then the spice starts. There was some instances where I sort of cringed or felt like it was necessary. Like when Josh referred to her 🐱 as “sex-soaked petals”. Not sure why but I didn’t like that.
Call of Booty is such a cute but steamy read! I am so glad that Josh and Gwen get a book/novella to themselves. These two are just a cute and lovable couple that are made for each other. Josh is Ashley's brother and has been in love with Gwen since they were kids. Gwen is Ashley's best friend though. Ashley goes away on a trip which leave Gwen and Josh alone for a week. That also leaves Gwen without a date to an event she doesn't to attend alone because of a coworker that won't leave her alone. Josh decides to kiss Gwen and then threaten the guy so he will leave Gwen alone. Of course it's the best kiss ever so they now have to figure out their feelings for each other. I love the fact that these two are best friends already so they definitely have great chemistry and tease each other endlessly. The witty banter between these two but also the way Josh is definitely in love with Gwen just makes this a great story. I was glad this book included an epilogue. I loved the ending and how perfect it fit these two!
read this solely for the title tbh and should’ve known. it’s not terrible, so probably 1.5 ⭐️ tbh, but it felt super tropey with not much substance behind any of those tropes, and a little juvenile as well. also, the mmc says at one point that he’s had a crush on the fmc since she was seven and he was eleven, which isn’t the absolute worst thing at that age but like??? that also means he was fifteen crushing on an eleven year old??? seventeen crushing on a thirteen year old??? yikers brother
4.5 stars. This novella was gorgeous! I loved the characters and their banter and interplay both with each other and with other characters. I also deeply enjoyed how they worked together and for each other.
Both Gwen and Josh, the female and male lead, had anxieties and self-esteem issues to overcome and I appreciated the novelty of the storytelling.
The story is dual POV, well written, and I’ll be looking for others by this author!
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
This was a cute and very quick novella. The pacing was a bit too fast imo, I wasn’t able to fully enjoy it with how quick it was, the scenes could’ve been a bit more developed