The Boyfriend List is a 2022 Contemporary Romance Writers Stiletto Finalist!
High school is about to get complicated for Maegan Murphy. The quiet, nerdy girl who wears science-themed graphic T-shirts, posts TikTok videos about frogs, and likes to hang out in the school library reading books. The shy, awkward girl with two left feet who is prone to having monumentally embarrassing accidental mishaps; something Maegan blames on her last name, Murphy. As in Murphy’s Law, the adage that states: “Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.” And Maegan’s biggest Murphy’s Law mishap of all? The Boyfriend List—a secret list of the names of all the boys she has ever had a crush on. A list she creates in a moment of feeling sorry for herself because she feels like she’s the only girl in school who has never had a boyfriend. Has never been kissed. Has never found that special someone who sees her and not the awkward, weird sister of her older, very popular brother and star pitcher of the varsity baseball team, Braedan.
Maegan doesn’t realize it yet, but that dreaded Murphy’s Law she feels cursed with may just give her what she has always wanted. And it all begins with an accidental hallway collision into Grayson Ramsey, her best friend’s very cute older brother, a wayward half-eaten apple core that hits Christian Alexander in the back of the head at lunch, and a lost Boyfriend List. The list that includes the names of both Christian Alexander and Grayson Ramsey. The list she swears she put in her backpack but absolutely, positively cannot find. The list that suddenly appears taped onto every locker and on every wall at school the next morning. The list that changes everything.
The Boyfriend List is a sweet YA rom-com that will have you laughing and falling in love at the same time.
You'll love The Boyfriend List if you like: Laugh out loud romantic comedy Sweet and sassy heroine Swoon-worthy book boyfriend Fake relationship that turns real Small town High school romance Murphy's Law hi-jinks Awesome best friend (who happens to be a guy) So many cupcakes
JL Wyer is an author of Young Adult romances. She lives with her family in the Gulf States, is married to a Brit, and you can usually find her in her favorite reading spot, e-reader in hand, with the latest romance novel.
She writes steamy, adult romances under Jennilynn Wyer and is a Rudy award-winning author and a three-time Stiletto Finalist.
I legit would have given it zero stars if I could the middle was so good but she irritated me legit like one of those 2013 fan fics. And the way she’s so condescending to Christian asking him to spell procrastinate ew. I couldn’t even handle the lack of consent when she jumped Grayson to kiss him like girl chill out. And it was cause of JEALOUSY. And the way I expected a little bit more push back from the brothers cause they didn’t want their besties dating their siblings. NO they HAD TO PUSH THEM TOGETHER FOR WHAT REASON. Any way wasent the worst book it’s basic Highschool cringe with no concept of female alliance and consent.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
My 15 year old self is so freaking happy right now. For that reason alone, this book gets 5 stars.
I really, REALLY wish this book had existed when I was in high school. My teenaged heart would have absolutely swooned (I say as if the warm fuzzies weren't there from the very first chapter.)
It's a charming and incredibly sweet coming of age story filled with all the joys (and cringes) of first love-- and with no exaggerated dramatics. AND a few frog facts!
Tropes- 🩵 Best Friend’s Older Brother 🩵 Fake Dating 🩵 Friends to Lovers 🩵 Small town romance 🩵 High school 🩵 very light love triangle?? 🩵 Her best friend is a guy
I LOVE THIS BOOK!! (internal screaming.. and maybe some actual screaming too 🫣😏🤫) So clean, so adorable, so funny, and can I just say adorable again?!! ughh omg Grayson.. gray eyes (which he has the perfect name for), dimples, dark hair and overall SUCH a swoony guy when he talks or even if he just smiles 😍😍🤭 and Meaghan was this awkward, super funny girl that when she gets nervous starts saying random facts of things and has an obsession with frogs (frogs guys 🐸) .. and might I just say they’re perfect for each other!? Cuz they are.. no questions asked I also just wanna say that Noah was like THE BEST BOY BFF EVER.. like not even kidding.. I have not yet read a better guy best friend more well done than this.. for now this is Top of my list for best representation of a guy best friend. Applause to the author for doing such an amazing job on that part and everything else 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 But yeah if you haven’t read this.. GO READ IT.. and it has a bit of fall vibes so that’s a bonus!
⚠️ Age suggestion: 14-15+
Content‼️ No spice (up to non-descriptive kissing only), no language, and no lgbtq content!
This is my first book by this author and I am really glad that I took a chance and read this book. Because it is one of the cutest, funniest and sweetest books I have read in a long while!! Remember that movie with Sally Field called Murphys Romance? Imagine that except it's all about teenagers and it's 10 times funnier. And the girls last name is Murphy and she is so clumsy it's not even funny....bless her heart!!! And momma's that read with their daughter's this is a perfect book for you!! I absolutely adore this book and read it in one sitting because I couldn't put it down!! So I highly highly recommend it!!!
I gave it a fair. I felt it was more of a preteen book. There was a lot of immaturity in it that got on my nerves and just too much "bad luck" embarrassing things kept happening to this girl that made it annoying and unbelievable. This was supposed to be YA., but I didn't get that feeling at all. If all the kiddie behavior(which was a lot) was removed, i probably would have liked this book a lot more
*****The Boyfriend List (ARC) by J. L. Wyer: WHY did it have to end?? So good! This is one of the funnest, sweetest, heartwarming books ever! It kept me interested and smiling — still smiling… This is a feel good read that I highly recommend. —PTators
This is one of the most refreshing, hilarious and achingly sweet romance novels I have ever read! Truly recommended for anyone who wants to smile for days.
Such a cute book!! I would definitely recommend if you want to read a simple, adorable romance book but you will have a lot of second hand embarrassment moments… at least I did
One of the most sweet and funny YA adults romance I've ever read. I really loved how J.L. Wyer talks about those teenage years when everything seems confusing, but, at the same time, it's during those years that you start to really know what kind of person you are and want to be. I love how she describe our protagonist, Maegan Murphy (funny how her last name is associated with the Murphy's Law): she is really the prototype of the nerdy, geeky girl but shows to be such a strong woman, knowing the values of frienship and love; I loved the friendship with Noah, which shows how, even if you grow up and live different experience, you'll always have by your side the ones that you love and really care about; it was awesome also seeing her good relationship with her brother and her parents, demonstrating that a good relationship with your parents can really be helpful in finding who you want to be and what you want from your life. Last but not least, I LOVED know Grayson Ramsey and the first love they've shared: since the start, when he propose her a fake dating contract to escape from all the mess created by The Boyfriend List, you can really see him being into her; and her, at the same time, when she doesn't really understand if its that she has a crush on or Christian. To sum up, this novel is really reading worth, ans you should really try giving it a chance if you want to revive the high school years and the emotion of the first love ♡
I’m sorry I know this is meant to be a cutesy light hearted romance but this book did way too many things that gave me the ick:
•The FMC is a huge pick me girl who mentions how quirky she is at every turn
•The kissing booth movies are referenced several times
•I knew from the description she made Tiktok’s about frogs but I didn’t know it would be mentioned every other page
•This book actually felt the need to explain its jokes to me in the narration; I know this book is YA but everyone knows what people mean when they say you have the memory of a goldfish
•Again, I knew she was clumsy from the description but what I didn’t know was that she’s so clumsy she trips more often and ridiculously than a girl in a Kdrama
•A stereotypical mean girl who is trying to steal, not one, but both of the main characters love interests
I know I shouldn’t take all that so seriously but there’s only so much someone can take in 200 pages. To top it all off both of the love interests were blander than unseasoned chicken.
first, I just want to say that I am a sucker for a cute, YA romance. I have been in the biggest reading slump and I feel like this book really helped me get out of it. It is fast-paced, cliche, and cute what else can I ask for? I am not very picky with YA romance, so don't look at this review for that but if you are in a slump and want a funny book that gives you the feels, then I recommend it. Here is a breakdown of some of the tropes: Best friend's brother, love triangle, and fake dating. Overall, I had such a fun time reading this book!
OK so EVERYONE in the reviews was saying how funny this book is, but for my annoying public school brain, I couldn't get past the second page. The main girl is a pick me girl. And I'm sorry I'm so picky but "and I'm just, werid, quiet, quirky, unnoticeable me" come on how come no one warned me of this, I read through the book to see if she stays this way, AND SHE "SQUEALS AN UNLADY LIKE SQUEAL" when she sees her crush. I am here to warn others if this bothers them...😭😭
1.25/5 ⭐ This is the worst book I read this year. I've read Wattpad fan fiction that is far better than this. I was looking for a sweet, wholesome, high school romance book. I was promised To All the Boys I've Loved Before but this doesn't even come close. This 250-page book took me about a week to read which for me is abhorrently slow. I didn't like any of the characters and I didn't care about the love triangle at all. I should have just DNF'ed it.
This book is literally if “The Kissing Booth” and “To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before” had a baby, except nothing happens until like the end of the book. I’m surprised I wasn’t sent straight to the emergency room after rolling my eyes more than should be physically possible. Other than that the book was fine 💀
A fun little highschool romance, a little below my age bracket, but a fun read nonetheless. Light and fluffy, with all the confusing teenage hormones.
Possible spoiler…
Very glad the guy best friend did not have a crush or get angry/jealous at Meagan’s liking his older brother. That always annoys me in books like this (aka the kissing booth)
This was definitely not one of the worst books I've ever read but it also was not the best. I found myself skipping pages because I just got bored and the characters just felt off to me, they acted about five years younger than they actually were. Despite this it was a good, short book that I could finish in one night before bed and I'm happy the characters got their happy endings.
Cute, witty, and swoony, everything you’d ask of a good, clean high school romance! I’m sad that so many people have taken stars away from such a great story because they’re looking for something more on the NA spectrum!
So I totally love this and if you enjoy "The Kissing Booth" and "To All the Boys I Loved Before" then you may get a kick out of this book.
Just like in "The Kissing Booth" the main character (Maegan) has a best friend that is a guy (Noah) who has an older brother (Grayson). Instead of letters like in "To All the Boys I Loved Before" this book has a list.
Maegan is considered a nerd and is shy. She is not in the popular group of kids at school. She is also prone to accidents of any kind. She is not in the group of girls that she thinks are considered pretty by guys because she has freckles and is not athletically thin.
Maegan has drawn the names of some boys that she likes a lot in bubble letters and she tries to hide this list from her bff Noah. He doesn't get to see it but she loses the list. When the list pops up the following day many copies have been made and posted on several lockers. When she is confronted by girl that used to date Christian that she likes Christian, she has a hard time coming up with a response. She is so embarrassed and is dreading the fact that someone handed the list to Noah because on the list is his older brother's name Grayson. In true bff fashion Noah tries to rescue Maegan from this scene by laughing loudly and saying that Maegan has been pranked and that she would not have written the list because everyone knows that she is dating his brother. Grayson decides to ask her to be his fake girlfriend because he can't get some girls to leave him alone even though he has turned them down several times.
This is just the beginning of the book and a fun adventure in innocent romance. I love Maegan and Noah as bff's. Maegan older brother (Braedan) is protective of her but loves to tease her a lot as well. Grayson is her brother's bff and has always been considered off limits. I love the scene in the diner with the four of them talking about rules for Maegan's fake relationship with Grayson. Braedan is telling them they can't do anything that would show a public display of affection like even holding hands until Christian shows up and comes over to talk. Here is my favorite quote once Christian leaves the table: "Gray, I changed my mind. Whatever you need to do to keep that guy away from my sister, do it."
This book is worth the read if you like high school romance and the geeky girl as a star.
Jennilynn Wyer, ‘The Boyfriend List’. A Sweet YA Romance.
As an ARC reader I received a free copy of this book and voluntarily wrote an honest review. Here it is.
Rating: 5 (of 5 stars).
In general: A sweet YA rom-com.
Main characters: - Maegan Murphy (15). She’s a quiet, nerdy tenth grader at Porter Creek’s High School (NC). A shy girl who likes to hang out in the library. Waiting for her best friend, Noah Ramsey, and feeling sorry for herself because Maegan thinks she’s the only tenth grade girl who never kissed a boy, she made a list of all the boys she ever had a crush on and - like Murphy’s Law - that list got out and was plastered all around school.
- Grayson Ramsey (Noah’s brother) and Christian Alexander. Two boys on the list whose interest has been aroused.
A mean fellow student had spread Maegan’s list all over the school. So she became the center of attention and felt very uncomfortable in that - for her - unusual position. Because of her clumsiness and Murphy’s law she finds herself in one funny, unexpected or painful situation after another. Then the author, Jennilynn Wyer, describes how Meagan with her sassy, intelligent mind (but with a shy mouth) and self-mockery stays herself during all the unusual attention she gets. She charms both boys and they become her (fake)boyfriends. In the end she has to choose between her two admirers to get her first kiss. It’s a well written, very funny, sweet story with wonderful main characters.
Not sure if I noticed this was a YA read when I took it for review, as it isn’t my usual genre. That said, this is a fantastically funny story of young Meaghan and how she got caught with The Boyfriend list.
The one thing I absolutely loved about this book was how relatable it is at my advanced age. ;) I do watch a lot of Dateline and worry about my kids, like Meaghan’s parents and the references to Mean Girls and other movies were hilarious. I could picture Regina George in my head as Meaghan battled it out with her own version.
All of the characters are beautifully written. While our focus was on the quirky Meaghan, we are also involved with her family, as well as her best friend and his brother, who happens to be on the list. While she thought the list being exposed would crush her, it did the exact opposite. Meaghan was ready to start some kind of dating life, however didn’t expect it to turn out the way it did and now she’s got some decisions to make.
The book is well written and the blurb says it all, the details are what matters. The little nuances from Meaghan and this crazy supporting cast. They are all funny in their own right and make one heck of a read. While I wasn’t sure about this book at first, it changed my mind by the end. Such a sweet read that didn’t need any extra flash to keep my interest. The Boyfriend List reads as a standalone with a little epilogue to wrap things up.