To Not Date My Best Friend

The Simple Rules #2

by Gianni Holmes

What do you do when you meet the man of your dreams, but you’re already engaged? You become best friends and hope for the best.

BAZ

It was a meet-cute that should have come with a happy ending. I was hardly at my best when I caught Andy snapping photos of me topless in the name of street photography. I fired angry words at him. In exchange, he gave me his jacket to keep me warm. Thus began our friendship and an unrequited crush on a man who was about to get married.

ANDY

After a photography assignment in the Middle East left me scarred, I have no choice but to face the many issues in my life—my marriage is over, my wife has moved on, and I may never hold another camera between my hands. But there’s no hurdle I can’t get over once I have my best friend, Baz, in my life. When he tries to transition from a stylist to a journalist at the magazine where he works, he enlists my help in writing a column. How can I prove to him that moving from best friends to lovers makes sense when he’s determined to prove the opposite?

To Not Date My Best Friend is a bi-awakening romance between a plus-sized stylist who’s claimed his place in the fashion world and a bi-curious photographer who happens to be his best friend. This book can be read as a standalone and has mild angst in some parts.

Genres: Friends To Lovers, M M Romance, Audiobook, Romance, Contemporary, Mental Health, LGBT

264 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 12, 2022

About the author

Gianni Holmes is a romance author who never outgrew her childhood love of stories. She just started writing her own. She penned her first romance novel in seventh grade and never looked back. In high school, she was that girl: ripping pages out of her English exercise books to write her latest love story the old-fashioned way.
She’s best known for her fan-favorite series The Grimm Tales of Smoky Vale and The Taking Care series, two very different worlds, both full of complicated men, emotional moments, and unforgettable love stories.
When she’s not writing, Gianni likes to study foreign languages. You can keep in touch with her in the following places:

Ream: https://reamstories.com/gianniholmes

Newsletter: https://www.gianniholmesauthor.com/ne...

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/giannigems

Reviews

[Imme van Gorp]

|| 1.5 stars ||

This gave me absolutely nothing. It felt stale and was honestly boring.
It’s a best friends-to-lovers romance, but I couldn’t really see any chemistry or connection between them.

The only thing I liked here was that one of the main characters was overweight while still being super confident and desired by many other men. It’s nice to see positive representation like that rather than the miserable stereotypes where ‘bigger’ people are automatically insecure and unattractive.


'The Simple Rules' series:
1. To Not Fall for My Doc - 2.0 stars
2. To Not Date My Best Friend - 1.5 stars

Other Gianni Holmes books:
Miles High - 1.5 stars
‘A Hitman’s Bait’ series - var. ratings
Daddy’s Adorable Assassin - 2.5 stars
Love in Slow M’Ocean - 3.0 stars
Class Act - 2.0 stars

[⋆｡°✮ Lucy InTheSky ✮°｡⋆]

DNF at 35%

I've read the last installment in this series a couple of years back and I really liked it. And of course, I wanted to read the whole series before I re-read that book, so now I see why I didn't read the first two books in the first place - I probably started to read them and realized they weren't good.

This story is about two best friends Baz and Andy who live next door to each other.
They're both 30 years old, Baz is gay and plus-size, his sex life is outstandingly busy with hot ripped men (where is this magical place??) and Andy is straight (he's thinking he's really bi) and in an unhappy hetero marriage.

They decide to do an experiment together where Baz has to write an article for work about best friends becoming lovers and we're almost at 100 pages in when there's not much happening, not to mention there's no palpable chemistry between them.

I just started skipping sentences, because the way they talk about participating in this experiment simply had no appeal and I'm sure the actual sex would be great down the line, but it doesn't make it worth reading the whole book.


At this point I really hope the last installment is as good as I remember it.

[True Loveislovereview]

4.5 stars. Baz and Andy are best friends, for years and years already. Not Baz’s choice, but he takes what he can get.
When they first met Andy made Baz feel special and beautiful, with all his oversized measurements.
Andy caught Baz’s beauty through a lens and showed it to him. Baz believed him. A friendship was born. Baz was devastated Andy was already engaged and soon will get married, a friendship should be enough.

After all these years, the friendship never got enough. Baz never found his forever, they’ll never be Andy. They still have an unbreakable friendship.

Being a prisoner on a job in The Middle East, tortured and broken into pieces, for over more than a year, Andy is scarred for life.
His marriage is already over, the only thing left is his precious Baz, with his unconditional friendship and support. What if he followed his heart years ago when he first met this wonderful man.

Watch them, together, being amazing, being unbelievably happy, deliciously sexual, vulnerable, innovative, exploring, honest, where their friendship grows into something more, much much more! Thousands of gestures express their deep-rooted love.

Baz is the most amazing open man on earth. Flirty, sexy, fun, animated, and vibrant, he’s everything Andy needed in life, lucky man because Baz is deeply in love with him.
A wonderfully written story, I enjoyed it hugely!
There were a few bumps on the road, that lead to the hea. The end? Goosebumps!

[Julia (bookish.jka)]

To Not Date my Best Friend by Gianni Holmes is a cute, MM, friends-to-lovers read, with lots of positive body image detail and diversity of characters.

It didn’t quite push all of my buttons, but that’s likely because I much prefer a darker MM romance, with more of a high angst, enemies-to-lovers vibe.

You’ll definitely enjoy this if you love:

TROPES

🌶 Cute MM romance
🌶 Best friends to lovers
🌶 Plus size MC
🌶 Diversity of characters
🌶 Low angst
🌶 First times
🌶 Steamy scenes
🌶 HEA

3.5 cute and sassy stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️

[Lori]

To Not Date My Best Friend was a "disgustingly beautiful and fulfilling" friends to lovers book. When Andy and Baz first meet they have a genuine connection which leads them to being best friends. Fast forward years later and Andy's life is pretty sad having endured some traumatic events while working. Baz is his only ray of sunshine. When an article Baz's is writing for work pushes them together, that's when things take a turn for the best! I loved seeing their journey of discovering how they both felt the same for one. They were so hot together, sweet, and dirty, really felt their love for one another. I loved that Andy was fit and was so attracted to Baz who is plus size, I don’t see this much and wouldn't mind seeing more of that. They over came their fears of losing their friendship and some other obstacles and got the happy ending they both deserved!



Just reread via audiobook, and it was everything I wanted and more! Iggy Toma was perfection, loved it all over again!

[PlaidPurplePatches]

DNF at 63%

this one didn't work for me 😔 im not a fan of stories that consist of 80% of dialogues and didn't really feel connected to the charas. it was still cute

[Amanda]

[I received a digital arc for an honest review]

The Simple Rules To Not Date My Best Friend is a solid friends to lovers romance by author Gianni Holmes.

When Andy and Baz first run into each other in college, they have an instant connection. Since Andy is engaged and straight, they end up becoming best friends. When an overseas trip for his photography results in Andy spending a year in a foreign prison, he comes back a broken man. A shell of himself and in a broken marriage the only positive in his life is Baz. In the process of a divorce, Andy offers to help Baz out with writing his stylist article about dating your best friend. When they both confess mutual feelings for each other they learn they don't actually know everything about the other like they thought they did. Baz hopes the new stage of their relationship isn't too good to be true.


Andy and Baz absolutely stole my heart. Andy deserved more than the life he was living, and it killed me that he just accepted that his wife was openly having an affair like he deserved it because of his PTSD. Then we have Baz who was just everything! A plus-sized fashion assistant who was confident as f*ck and rocked whatever outfit he wore, whether it was hip hugging jeans or a sexy skirt. They were a close as two people could be and treated each other as partners even before they acknowledge their feelings and start to explore in the bedroom. The intimate scenes were very steamy and dabble in kink with paddling and I loved that use traffic lights safe words and communicate through it since it was all new for Andy.

I enjoyed that it was relatively low drama, even when it came to the way Andy's divorce played out. There's some awkwardness as Baz and Andy try to juggle the change to their relationship and the difference between being best friends vs as a couple but it's not over the top. It had the right amount of fun and flirty balanced with the emotional aspect of Andy overcoming his trauma.

Overall, The Simple Rules To Not Date My Best Friend by Gianni Holmes is a quality friends to lovers romance with fantastic body positivity, bi-awakening, date nights, quickies in the woods, a bit of kink, friendship, healing and a happily ever with the most precious epilogue.


Two : PTSD , Fat shaming , homophobic and very religious parents

[Badh]

Baz and Andy had had the perfect meeting, but then it turned out that Andy was straight and engaged to be married. THat didn't stop them from being best friends for many years.

Finally, it turns out that Andy's marriage is falling apart and he has feelings for Baz, who has always had feelings for Andy, and they finally decide to do something about it.

I really liked these guys. I really felt for Andy when it came to the family pressure and the conservative religion. That had to be so hard on him. But he and Baz got it all figured out.

[Heather]

This book definitely falls into the "prepare to suspend your disbelief" category. I didn't find it to be at all realistic and it just kept getting more and more ridiculous as the pages went on. In the beginning of the book, the one MC has extreme PTSD from an event that happened to him in the past, but after about the 30% mark, his symptoms just disappear from the story all together. I guess it's the old "love will cure everything" trope. *eyeroll* I could really go on and on about all the stuff that I rolled my eyes about because it was just so utterly unbelievable, but mostly the relationship just didn't seem realistic. I didn't believe in the two main characters as a couple at all. I really don't know why I didn't just dnf this book at 50% when I wanted to.

[Brandyn {Nyn}]

ᑕᑌTᗴ

By far, not my favorite Gianni Holmes book, but it was an enjoyable enough read.
The overall story felt too shallow; for instance, we’re dealing with one MC that has PTSD and it’s barely being acknowledged, much less treated.
At first I wasn’t liking how “easy” everything seemed to flow when the best friends relationship turned intimate … but then that was addressed in the story and that was pretty cool.
IDK, it was a cute story, but too many parts just didn’t vibe with me.

[Amanda Reeves]

This book was really beautiful. It's well written with a beautiful storyline and wonderful characters. It's got some difficult situations of PTSD, unrequited love, and some angst. I loved how much Baz was okay with himself and his plus-sized body without being self-conscious at all. It was a bit weird with the ex-wife constantly being around though. I loved this book and can't wait to see what's next.

[Heather MMRomanceReviewed]

Full review:
https://www.mmromancereviewed.com/202...

[Anna]

Przyjemnie się czytało.

[Caroline Forrester]

4 ⭐️

I have lots of thoughts (see the tons of highlights). I’ll come back to share.

[Jamie Lee Zonneveld]

4,5 stars
To Not Date my Best Friend is the second book in The Simple Rules serie by Gianni Holmes. This book is about best friends Andy and Baz. Baz has a unrequited crush on his married best friend Andy. After a photo assignment gone wrong in the Middle East Andy is left with emotional scars. His marriage is ending but with his best friend Baz he can do anything. When Baz needs helping writing his article about 'why to not date your best friend', Andy wants to help him and convince him of the opposite.

I loved their story. It was sweet, sexy, full of feels and very well written.

[frannilys]

The cover does not do this book justice. It suggests a cute friends-to-lovers story and that’s not totally wrong but it’s also heavy.

[Beaumont]

3.9 stars.

This book has overarching romcom vibes with some deep and serious topics sprinkled throughout. It also includes a lot of decorative discussion of body positivity and plus-size acceptance, from both Baz (plus-size) and Andy (straight-size). The “let’s date for the article” thing is very brief and not a big part of the plot.

Without the random “misunderstanding” at the end (doesn’t result in breakup) this would have been an easy 5 star book. But it was so out of left field it’s no longer a 5 from me. Still fun, though. Also at the end the MCs are having their second kid in the epilogue and make a point of not knowing or caring about the gender because the kid will tell them who they are when they can. Which is very nice! But then immediately followed up with them being happy they now have a boy and a girl child and have apparently collected them all. Like, why make the first point just to follow up with the second one???

Baz is a 20-something cis white gay man. He’s a stylist/writer at an online magazine. He leans somewhat femme or GNC, likes to switch and mix femme and masc fashion, and is just slightly camp. His fashion interests are broad (likes lace underwear, charmed ankle bracelets, suspenders, and scarves are his “signature” accessory). He describes himself as plus-sized and somewhere north of 200 lbs. He had moments of insecurity about his body, but overall has worked on and has become comfortable with who he is. Hes sexually experienced and comfortable with that. He’s less experienced with relationships and only has casual relationships because he’s so in love with Andy and thinks it’s unfair to any potential boyfriends. He’s just a touch camp. He’s very supportive of Andy, who he’s had a crush on since the moment they met, but has never made a move since Andy was engaged then married (and believed to be straight). He even lives next door (at Andy’s urging) and is friendly with Malia (Andy’s wife), and believes they’re a solid couple who can get though anything. After he and Andy start dating/hooking up for the article/experimentation, he takes a long while to believe Andy is serious about him and doesn’t view him as a fun temporary experiment before going back to his “normal life.” To be fair, Andy explained his feelings horribly and I completely understand Baz’s confusion, and if I hadn’t had Andy’s POV I’d have thought the same as Baz.

Andy is a 20-something cis white bisexual man. He has a much stronger preference for women in general, but he’s always liked Baz even before he knew he could like guys. Baz is the person he cherishes the most in his life. He has only ever had sex with Malia. He’s a photographer and documentary maker (or documentarian? I’m not sure). He’s taller than Baz and very fit (exercise is a big mental health aid for him). He has PTSD and likely some depression/anxiety from a year in an Iranian prison. His family is super religious and had him get married right out of college to Malia, whose parents also pressured her into marriage. The two of them are amicable and care about one another but are no longer in love. They also never used condoms during sex but weren’t able to conceive a child, which probably added to their unhappiness (religious straight couples have a lot of pressure to procreate quickly and frequently). Malia is having an open affair with a man named Phil, and while Andy didn’t give his permission for that, he’s also not upset by it anymore. They remain married years after they fall out of love because “that’s what a man and woman do.” Andy slowly comes to accept his romantic feelings for Baz and has to work to get Baz to understand that (he explains it very badly). He’s always been just a touch jealous of the guys Baz has sex with.

I loved that Baz never forced his crush on Andy. He’s supportive of Andy maybe getting back together with his wife, of finding another man he wants to experiment with, or finding another woman to be serious with. He was also very gentle and careful to check to see if Andy had any shame kicking in about liking/having sex with a man, and tried to go slow and not make him have to reciprocate sex in case it freaked him out. Andy, while he was confused about what “counts” as bisexual was onboard with being with Baz. I liked that it occurred to Baz that maybe Malia wanted to save her marriage to Andy and that Baz was in the way, and that he was concerned about both husband and wife and was willing to put their marriage first above his feelings as he’d always done (but neither Andy or Malia wanted to stay married).

I understood why Baz was initially upset when he thought Andy was going to lie to his father and say he was straight and happily married to Malia and deny Baz meant anything to him, but… Andy said he wasn’t going to lie, but he had to back Malia up by going to the meeting. I wasn’t sure why he was upset about that. I feel like he was part of a different conversation than I saw, because when he explained why he was upset…none of that was written into the scene? I was confused. And disappointed because that would have been some fun drama. And without any of that happening none of it made sense with Baz’s character and his supportiveness of Andy and Malia and their marriage.

I wish I could say the religious family members were over the top but… they’re not. I have relatives like that.


I still didn’t know how to define myself. What did I classify as if I still mostly found women attractive, but a few guys turned my head, mostly the one sitting across from me? Was there a certain quota I needed to reach before I could classify myself as anything but straight?

I like that this was brought up. A startling number of bisexual/pansexual people think that “it doesn’t count” or “isn’t relevant” that they’re bisexual if they’re dating the opposite gender, or if they vastly prefer one gender over the other. It’s about attractions and the capability to be attracted to multiple genders. Frequency and intensity of attraction, and experience don’t matter (to be defined as bisexual).

I also liked that Andy learned that being with someone of the same gender is an enormously different life experience than with someone of the opposite gender, related to how the world and others treat you (much, much, much worse), and more options related to relationship dynamics (with a man and a woman, there’s often only one allowable dynamic with narrow rules, and only small variations). That’s often ignored and it shouldn’t be. It’s a not insignificant part of WHY so many bisexual people end up with the opposite gender (another part is that most bisexuals just genuinely prefer the opposite gender and seek that out).

Contains:
—closeted bisexual mc
—out gay mc
—mc already married
—religious family enforcing “natural” heterosexuality (I never understood why you’d have to enforce something supposedly innate in all humans)
—friends to lovers
—PTSD related to being imprisoned in another country two years ago
—loss of sex drive related to PTSD
—blackouts related to PTSD
—chubby MC x “ideal weight” MC
—gay MC x bisexual MC
—bisexual MC who general prefers women but ends up with a man
—ex-wife who is a normal person and not a villain
—MC who likes to wear lace underwear (Baz)
—bisexual MC who had a crush right away and had no idea because he was only “supposed to” like women
—MC’s wife having an affair (MC doesn’t mind anymore other than initially being miffed, and while it’s not an open relationship they’re open about the affair)
—MC in an opposite gender marriage that was “strongly encouraged” by both their families
—MC with moderate anxiety that he won’t be able to enjoy sex with a man instead of a woman despite romantic feelings for a guy
—mild and brief jealousy (Andy about Baz)
—mild possessiveness in bed (both of them)
—protectiveness (Baz about Andy)
—explicit sex scenes between MCs
—discussion between MCs about STI testing and not using condoms
—spanking with a paddle, blowjobs, swallowing, anal sex, rimming, intercrural sex,

Other:
—first person dual POV
—romantic rival: no, though Andy gets mildly jealous once before they get together
—cheating: not between MCs. Technically Andy is still married when he and Baz get together, but his wife is aware of it and they’ve decided to divorce already. Andy’s wife cheated on him previously and he knows this and has accepted it.
—breakup: no
—kids: yes, in the epilogue they have two kids
—sex: strict roles. Andy has no desire to bottom (though says he would try it to make Baz happy, and Baz says he’s “a total bottom” and has zero interest in Andy forcing himself to try something he’s not enthusiastic about in bed. Any has experience with anal sex with his wife, and Baz has tried and enjoys a lot of stuff in bed.
—HEA: yes



But I’d tried to make our relationship work. We’d been together for years. She was familiar. Baz was familiar too, but as a friend, not a partner. Being with Mal made more sense. Having Baz around in my life as my best friend made more sense.

“This… this is a lot. I don’t know what to say.”
“What is? Me admitting I have been attracted to guys?”
“You’ve never mentioned that before.”
“I didn’t want to make a big deal out of it. I was married to a woman, so it was hardly relevant.”
He frowned. “Being married to someone doesn’t erase your sexuality, you know.

The front door opened, and Malia entered. She paused and stared at me. My stomach dipped, and my mouth went dry. She didn’t see me as the other “woman,” did she? I’d only listened to Andy’s side of events about their divorce, but what if she secretly wanted to work things out with Andy and I was getting in the way?

[S.K.]

I should preface this to say that I think this is more about me than the book. I wanted to like this story, I really did. I thought the premise was excellent and I loved the idea of the two of them dating whilst Baz was trying to confirm that it couldn’t work whilst Andy wanted to prove that it could.

But that wasn’t what the story was. I wanted to learn more about what Andy went through that made him decide he needed to face his issues; the whole friends to lovers thing happened in a flash with what seemed like very little thought about the consequences if things didn’t work out; and I can’t fully explain it, but it felt like it held little substance.

I didn’t like the cheating thing with the wife and thought it was unnecessary to the story, and perhaps that affected my perception? I don’t know, this just didn’t work for me. It was very well written, descriptive and interesting in parts, but somehow didn’t strike a chord for me. 3.5/5.

I received an ARC from GRR.

[Bkwrm24]

Baz and Andy ❤️

3 Stars🌟

First of all, I love me some Gianni Holmes...as much as I adored the first book in this series, this one...ugh, In some ways it fell flat for me. It was really sweet and I love a great friends to lovers story but I felt like there was too much unnecessary outside dialogue/drama and not enough feeling emphasized with the pining and longing between these two best friends who have loved each other since meeting. I guess I wasn't feeling the intense connection that I had expected between these two characters.... it was still a good read and the ending was everything I could of hoped for these guys ❤️ All that aside, I have to give props to Baz's characters and how he was written, he wasn't your stereotypical fem twink...he was in the heavier side and he was fabulous, Andy loved him just as he was!!! I adored him and his unapologetic shine ❤️

* I received an ARC from GRR, this is my open and honest review *

[Biscuits]

**2.5**
very plain book when I think it could have been developed differently, more slow burn where you can definitely see the connection between the two of them.
I will forget about this reading very soon...

[Julie Underhill]

To Not Date My Boyfriend by Gianni Holmes is a friends to lovers story. Andy and Baz met in college when Andy, a photographer, took a picture of plus sized Baz when he got caught in a rainstorm when going to class. Baz was mortified but Andy showed him the pictures and convinced him that he thought he was beautiful just the way he was. They went out to eat and from then on they were best friends. But Andy came from a very religious background and was engaged to Mal when both families thought they were a good fit. They did get married and Baz bought the house next to theirs and they continued to be best friends. Secretly, Baz was in love with Andy but knew nothing could come of it. Andy took photographs of problematic situations all over the world and was arrested in Iran and kept prisoner for a year where he was tortured and worse. When he came back home he was a different, broken person who didn’t do much but exercise and go to therapy. Also, his marriage was falling apart. Baz was always there for him. He was a stylist for a fashion magazine but was also looking into writing articles for it. He came up with the idea of not dating your best friend because it could cause problems in the relationship. His editor thought it was too clinical so asked him to try it out in real life and then write about what happens, He thought about trying with many of his friends but ended up with Andy who agreed. Things were simple at first but after a difficult night Andy confessed his love for Baz and their relationship took a different turn that eventually led to a HEA for them. I really enjoyed this book. It is something different from Ms. Holmes as she usually writes much darker stories. However there is lots of angst with unrequited love, dealing with PTSD, a marriage in disarray, disapproving families, and just learning how to be with each other in a different way than best friends. The characters were realistic and fun, especially Baz, and their friends were helpful. The love scenes were varied and I always like reading them where it’s the first time for one of them. I also liked the scenes at the magazine as I learned a lot about what a stylist does. My favorite part is the epilogue because you see where Andy and Baz are several years later and just how wonderful their life is. I am a big fan of Ms. Holmes’ books and this one does not disappoint. I highly recommend it and am looking forward to reading more of her books.

[Janet]

Loved fabulous plus size Baz and his built best friend Andy

Friends from the moment they met, Baz and Andy have stayed close over the years, with Baz buying the house next door to Andy and his wife. Andy's marriage has been crumbling behind closed doors for a long time and finally, divorce is looming.
Baz has loved Andy since he stopped being mad at him about thirty seconds after they met. Pining for Andy was better than not having the man in his life, and besides, Baz also loved Andy's wife too and they were all friends.
Andy has deep-seated trauma after a photographic assignment went badly wrong and it has affected his whole life since then. He leans on his best friend and cannot imagine not having Baz's unconditional love and support.
The story was very good and their solid friendship was established while also showing why Andy and Mal got married and why their relationship could not last. Andy's mental health was sensitively dealt with and Baz's plus size was adored by Andy who loved every single ounce of him. Baz's workplace was so inclusive and protective of their employees and I loved the interactions Baz had with his colleagues.
Baz with his confidence and his fabulous fashion sense was a delight and Andy was a lost soul who I wanted to hug. Andy's adoration of Baz's size was the icing on the cake where I was concerned. I loved how protective both of them were towards the other, and how perfect they were together. The ending was very satisfying, giving a glimpse into their future.
The reason I have given four stars instead of five is that things between Andy and Baz moved fast, with an initial nudge because of Baz's job. For a straight man who suddenly realised he had romantic feelings for his friend, they jumped into intimacy unrealistically quickly and easily. Usually, time to become comfortable with private intimacy and public affection is required for the newly-awakened but Andy had no such hang-ups at all. I have to assume that Andy had googled sufficiently to be aware of the mechanics but nothing appeared on the page to say that he was in any way prepared for jumping into bed with Baz.

[Kelly (Maybedog)]

There isn't a whole lot of plot here. It's all about them getting together with almost no conflict. They started with Andy dealing with some really heavy stuff and Baz being there for him and they improved from there. Andy's PTSD was never ignored nor was it cured quickly. They worked on it.

This is diverse. There's a nonbinary character and lesbians. They talk about how they don't care what gender a baby is because the child would decide when they got older. There are people of different races. And I love that Baz is nonbinary clothing-wise and it is never brought up as anything out of the ordinary. Andy sometimes gets excited about the lace over Baz's ass, or describes how hot Baz looked in a dress. He also revels in Baz's body.

I love that Baz is quite overweight and is completely happy with himself. He is attractive as he is and isn't trying to change himself. Andy got really angry when someone suggested that Baz wat getting a bike to lose weight. He told Baz that he was so hot the way he was and if he wanted to lose weight that was his decision but he loved him and he was sexy the way he was. The weight isn't ever a bad thing nor ignored. Andy would talk about grabbing handfuls of Baz's lovely big ass or how he loved Baz's thick thighs. Baz was big and he was beautiful.

I think they went way too fast with sex (there was a little mild spanking) but they didn't pretend Andy was a virgin. He knows how to have sex, he's had it for a decade and a half. He'd even had some anal sex with his wife before. It was realistic, unlike the blushing virginal first time GFY guy.

I really enjoyed this story and will seek out other stuff from this author.

The narrator, Iggy Toma, was excellent. The characters' voices varied, including the women, and his intonation was really good.

[Emily Hernandez]

I've never read a best-friends-to-lovers story quite like this one. Andy and Baz seemed like two very different people when I first met them, but their friendship was undeniably strong. I fell in love with Baz's confidence and sense of style right away, and it was genuinely so much fun to learn about his job as a stylist's assistant. It took me a lot longer to warm up to Andy, mostly because I didn't understand his trauma or the situation with Malia, but once I saw how sweet and engaged he was with Baz I grew to appreciate him better. To be completely honest, I'm still not sure how I feel about Malia and Andy's choices in regards to their marriage, but thankfully it didn't cause a ton of drama for Baz and Andy.

Andy and Baz may not have been romantically involved at the start of this book, but they had the kind of casual intimacy that only comes from a very strong bond. I loved that Baz was Andy's safe haven whenever he felt lost in his head, and their obvious affection for each other made me feel all warm and gooey inside. It seems kinda silly that Baz's dating article was the catalyst that finally made them see each other in a new light, but I don't think Baz would ever have put himself out there had Andy not insisted he be the guinea pig. Their chemistry heated up right away once they started dating, and it blew my mind how immediately compatible the two of them were in the bedroom. The whole second half of this story was a glorious exploration of their deepening feelings for each other, and I was over the moon when Baz and Andy committed to each other forever.

**I voluntarily read an ARC of this book. This review expresses my honest thoughts and opinions.

[Chelsea Moore]

To Not Date My Best Friend is a super beautiful friends to lovers romance. Andy and Baz met in college and immediately had an instant connection that led to them being the best of friends. Upon meeting Andy snapped a beautiful picture of Baz, and Baz being self conscious he was mortified. Andy showed Baz the picture and made him see just how beautiful he really was. Their connection was solidified after that. Fast forward years later and Andy’s life looks incredibly different. He is married but his relationship is very estranged. His friendship with Baz is still very much alive. They continued to be there through thick and thin. Slowly their friendship begins to change and they become closer than they ever have been before. Once they admit how they feel to one another they begin this beautiful relationship that blossoms into something that is truly amazing. They are so beautiful together and so sweet and tender with one another feelings. This book is also very much not lacking any steam. I enjoyed this book so much and will be looking for more in this series!

I received a copy of this book from Gay Romance Reviews, and this is my honest review.

POV: 1st Person Dual POV

Standalone or series: Book 2 in The Simple Rules series

Would I recommend it: 5 stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ highly recommend!! 🤩

Would I read it again: Most definitely!

[Reading*Renee]

This is a best friends-to-lovers story with some emotional depth that's low on overall angst but high on feels. Baz stole my heart a bit from the first few pages, and it's easy to see why he captured Andy's too. Cheers for the genuine plus-size body-positivity from start to finish too.

Baz has been secretly in love with his straight best friend (and current next door neighbor) Andy since they met in college. Then engaged and now married, Andy has endured severe trauma that's strained his already rocky marriage and has him leaning on his best friend more than ever.

Andy's also forced to face long-harbored deeper feelings for Baz that he's never explored. With Andy's divorce pending, they agree to date as an experiment of sorts for both (for reasons). They're great as supportive and caring friends, and their lovey-dovey romantic relationship unfolds with humor, sweetness, a dash of uncertainty, and tons of steam.

The effects of Andy's past trauma is a key aspect of the story early on, but what he endured is not elaborated upon in great detail (and rightly so for the storyline). I appreciated how he's shown going to therapy to address it rather than there being some quick-fix resolution. I received an advance reading e-copy of this book and have left this honest review voluntarily. (Also read in KU.)

[Showarst]

I love a friends to lovers romance especially when one’s been pining after the other one thinking there’s absolutely no chance because he’s straight. That’s the premise behind Gianni Holmes’ new book in her The Simple Rules series. Baz and Andy met when Andy took a picture of Baz without his permission. From there, a sweet friendship developed.

Baz is a plus sized man who loves fashion. I adored how Baz was confident in who he was and how he presented himself. Andy was a photographer who had been through a traumatic experience in a different country and is struggling to deal with what happened. It affects everything even his marriage to Malia. The only one he feels comfortable with is Baz.

I loved the development of Andy and Baz’s romantic relationship. I was not a big fan of Malia being such a big part of the story. They were planning on divorcing, but she still came over to make Andy breakfast. It just felt awkward. It also bugged me how near the end of the story, Malia wanted Andy to pretend to be happily married to her in front of their parents to ward off the divorce rumors. These are people in their 30s trying to placate their parents (even though neither one seemed all that close). I thought Baz was justified in his anger of that.

All in all, it had a sweet HEA and the epilogue was perfect.

**I received an ARC for my honest review**

[Mandy (MP Book Reviews)]

Years ago Baz met Andy when he was snapping a photo of him in the name of street photography and Baz was upset. Andy lent him his jacket to keep him warm. So they became best friends and Baz buried his crush on Andy. When Andy did a photography assignment in the Middle East it all went wrong and he returned home with mental scars. When Andy returned he found himself in therapy, a marriage which is over, a wife who has moved on hands that did not want to hold a camera. Baz tries to move from being a stylist to a journalist at the magazine he works at and enlists Andy's help with a column. Andy just needs to prove to him that moving from best friends to lovers makes sense when Baz is determined to prove the opposite?

This was an emotional story about love and how that can help to heal. Poor Andy had PTSD which was understandable after what he went through. I found it strange that Andy was best friends with Baz but did not share the details of his ordeal in the Middle East with him until their relationship had changed. A lot of emotions and feelings are discussed in this story although not at a very detailed level. Easy to read, feel and understand. This is an MM story with mature content.

[Didi Ps]

Baz & Andy met in a strange way, but ended up becoming the best of friends.

A few years later, Baz is someone who’s confident in himself, & he has secret crush on Andy. He’s never acted on it, however, since Andy is married. Then Andy ends up telling him the truth about his marriage, that it’s falling apart, & that since he is now divorcing, he’d like to explore if he really is only attracted to women.

They decide to go out on a few dates, which will help Andy discover more about himself, & will help Baz write an article for his job about whether it’s a good idea to go out with a friend (or if it can ruin a friendship).

It's a tad unrealistic for most people (at least for most adults) to give each other hugs when one person is sitting on another person's lap. It sometimes happens in romantic relationships, but it's not something that most people would identify with, unless it's an adult with a young child.

However, I simply love how accepting they each are of the other. Each admires the others for how they look, one for being muscled, the other for being curvy, & both are just full of compliments.

Nice ending, too.

I received this free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Myeshia Cole]

Being Andy's best friend is what Baz does best. From their first explosive meeting, it is clear that there is chemistry between them. Baz quickly develops feelings for Andy, but keeps them to himself because Andy is straight and about to get married. They become best friends and for Baz that seems to be enough. Several years later, Baz and Andy are still best friends. They have become the most important people in each other's lives. Andy has experienced a traumatic ordeal and his marriage has imploded, but his friendship with Baz is still solid and pure. When Baz gets stuck on a writing assignment for work, Andy uses it as the perfect way to test his new feeling for his best friend. Their relationship was easy and pure. They had a few minor bumps along the way, but nothing to big that they couldn't work it out without a bit of conversation. I adored this story. The characters were likable and the plot flowed nicely. It was the perfect friends to lovers story. It was easy to fall into that once I started reading it, the only thing that made me put it down was sleep. Definite five stars. Would highly recommend