The Boyfriend of the Month Club

by Maria Geraci

"Romance readers will revel in the Austen-perfect happy ending and the warm friendships among members of the club." Publishers Weekly

This sexy, funny new novel asks: Can a woman find a modern-day Mr. Darcy in Daytona Beach?

At thirty, Grace O'Bryan has dated every loser in Daytona Beach. After the ultimate date-from-hell, Grace decides to turn her dwindling book club into a Boyfriend of the Month Club, where women can discuss the eligible men in their community. Where are the real life twenty-first century versions of literary heroes such as Heathcliff and Mr. Darcy?

Could it be successful and handsome Brandon Farrell, who is willing to overlook his disastrous first date with Grace and offers financial help for her parents' failing Florida gift shop? Or maybe sexy dentist Joe Rosenblum, who's great with a smile but not so great at commitment? Unfortunately, like books, men cannot always be judged by their covers...

Genres: Chick Lit, Romance, Fiction, Contemporary Romance, Adult, Humor

384 pages, Paperback

First published December 7, 2010

About the author

Maria Geraci writes feel-good small-town contemporary romance. She’s a two-time RITA® Finalist and a finalist in the National Readers’ Choice Awards and Romantic Times’ American Title Contest. Her stories feature strong women, dreamy heroes, lots of laughs, and a little bit of heat. Born in Cuba, she was raised on Florida’s Space Coast. She and her husband of thirty-plus years (along with their four dogs) are thrilled to call central Florida home again. She loves hearing from readers. You can write to her at maria@mariageraci.com

Maria also writes cozy mysteries as her alter ego Maggie March.

Reviews

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Last summer, I read a book by this author, and thought it a well thought out, non-sappy chick-lit type novel, so when this one fell into my hands with a batch of books I was given to BookCross, I thought I'd read it, too. Despite the fact that the title made me a little uncomfortable to read in public, it was a perfect poolside read. Again Geraci has created some likeable characters, and put them in realistic situations, laced with humor. While I could immediately see the flaws in the idea of a boyfriend of the month club, modeled on a book club, (some of which Geraci developed into plot arcs) it was amusing to see the follow through. Sometimes, when I start a book such as this, I'll write down at the beginning who I think will end up with whom. My score for this one was 100%, even for the duo introduced late in the book, but it was fun to see how the author brought everyone together.

[Shannon · Rating 2 out of 5]

At first I thought this book was really cute. The story moved along well and the characters were funny. In the middle of the book, the story started to drag. The plot was very weak and didn't move the story forward the way it had done in the earlier chapters. By the time the end of the book came I was ready to be done with it.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this book was quite amusing. I thought the club was an interesting idea that was bound to get out of control. And boy did it ever!! This book is meant to be fun so don't take it seriously and just have fun reading it.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are lots of books out there about single women trying to find the perfect man, so I wasn't sure what to expect with Maria Geraci's latest, THE BOYFRIEND OF THE MONTH CLUB. What I found inside the pages was a highly readable and funny tale of a Daytona Beach woman, Gracie O'Bryan, who's juggling her crazy friends and relatives, her rotten love life, and her job managing the family-owned Florida Charlie's, a big tourist stop off a major highway. Gracie's wary of love after a long-term relationship ends badly. When a date with a rugby-playing rich boy blows up in her face (or, rather, ends up with a pitcher of beer in the guy's lap), Gracie decides that what she and her friends need more than a book club is a boyfriend club, where they can name and rate the guys they've gone out with so they can steer clear of the losers. Unfortunately for Gracie, things get out of control very quickly: with the club, the men in her life, and the family business. Armed with Moose Tracks ice cream and a bounce-back attitude, Gracie navigates every crazy crisis with humor and pluck. A very enjoyable read that I'd highly recommend to any chick lit lover!

[Idelgad1 · Rating 1 out of 5]

Unfortunately, I found nearly everyone in this book to be unlikable or uninteresting. If I wasn't rolling my eyes, shaking my head in frustration or cringing at the main character's "sass", I was getting angry at the book's weirdly misogynistic undercurrent. I just wanted a good time, okay? And this book did NOT deliver.

**** Spoilers Below *****

Even the side romances where awful: In what world is Elsa - who is literally a terrible friend and honestly the real antagonist of the book - ending up with the awful misogynistic shock jockey, who may I remind you, encouraged people to sexually harass her, considered ROMANTIC?

Also, throwing in that fake sexual harassment accusation at the end as a kitchy little way of adding some conflict left a real bad taste in my mouth. It's barely acknowledged again, except to explain how it brought Charlie and Sarah together--swoon (?)--and resolved with a throw away line about it being a "she said he said situation"--really? I know this was published in 2010 but STILL.

I'm not even going to get into Grace casually dropping "chunky chaser" in there like it was a savvy and somehow not horribly awful retort

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. It kept me reading until way past my bed time. Grace was such a great character and so easy to relate to, although I think if I'd had friends like hers, I wouldn't have been quite so nice and forgiving LOL The idea of a boyfriend of the month club is very appealing and I loved the idea of relating each man to a literary figure, particularly the Jane Austen ones.
The love story really kept me guessing right until the end and I enjoyed how neatly Ms Geraci tied up all the loose ends and gave everyone a happy ever after. This book had such charm that it will go on my keeper shelf and be taken down when I need a quick pick-me-up laugh out loud read.

[Ro · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book helped pass the time but truthfully i'm tired of books that just pass the time. I want to read something that has me so involved that i can't peel my eyes aways and that I don't notice the passing of time. Shame this book is not one of them. I did like how every chapter seemed like a short story it had a point made and cleared by the end of that specific chapter but thats all the praise i'm giving this book.
the main character in this book is foolish to me and the author truly made her sound dumb.
I would only recommend this book if you are looking for mindless filler other than that don't waste your time.

[Mary · Rating 2 out of 5]

so far - i'm disappointed. I'm about 1/2 way through. My biggest problem is that the author thinks she's WAY more clever than she actually is, so the writing is very boring to read. too bad - it has so much potential. I'm debating whether or not to finish it or start working on something else in my list...

Just finished. Glad to say the book didn't get any WORSE but sad to say it still only gets 2 stars. There were a few parts that moved really quickly - hence the finished book. I felt like it was a little too predictable, too. :(

[Cortney Davis · Rating 2 out of 5]

I won this book on a giveaway!! Super excited to read it!! Thanks Goodreads!

I thought this book started out funny and real, you meet Grace, a 30 year old who is dating. Throughout the book you get to know her more as she dates other guys and there's two from the past trying to get her back, and one she just met trying to get to know her too. I thought it ended well and was well wrote, but the middle of the book I got bored. I ended up finding the main character kinda annoying.

[Chelsea · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found most of the characters uninteresting (not even unlikeable, just uninteresting), the frequent invocations of Jane Austen and the Brontes wishful thinking at best, and the only actually enjoyable part of the book was the (very very) side plot of Charlie and Sarah (I had to walk across the bookstore in the middle of that sentence to make sure I had remembered their names correctly).

Given the opportunity, I would have liked to have a chat with Grace about her self-esteem. But whatever.

[Bridget · Rating 2 out of 5]

Do you know how sometimes when you are reading a book and the characters are doing something so obviously stupid and you know it's going to blow up in their face and you just want to reach into the pages and shake them so that they stop?? Just me? Anyways - I felt like that about 50% of the time while reading this. That said, it wasn't an entirely bad book. The characters are likeable enough and it's a really quick read.

[Michelle Sallay · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is cute enough, but it just dragged on too much. It felt like it would repeat information over again all the time.

I was crazy about the author's book A Girl Like You, and this had a bit of her sass, but it just wasn't as good. I didn't like the supporting characters as much and the third person wasn't as successful as first person.

[Helen Dunn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Frivolous romance novel where women start a “boyfriend club” to review men instead of books and compare them to literary heroes and rakes.

It’s fine for what it is but it’s very much “empty calories” of reading.


I got it free which is good!

[Keri · Rating 2 out of 5]

A Kindle Freebie.

It was ok... a good quick read to entertain me while hubby was out of town. I found the main character a little irritating at times.

[Heather Stroh]

Well, I am somewhat biased, but I thought Boyfried was fantastic. I wasn't able to put the book down for even a minute. Another hit by a great author!!

[Abby · Rating 2 out of 5]

I saw this book at a Little Free Library and it looked like light summer reading with a play on Austen-type storylines. Which it was. And also 200 pages too long, seriously boring and full of questionable characters. Two of them get together when one realizes her love for him when another woman accuses him of sexual harassment? Um, wut? And the radio guy that everyone loves who’s a full misogynist winds up with the smartest character? No thanks! I added a star for its effort to bring in some literary comparisons but they also added to the ridiculous length of this book. But I admired the spirit of the thing. That star also includes having a hot, principed Jewish leading man, even though it plays into more than one stereotype about his family, oy. Overall - skip this!

[Diane Houdeshell · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book for the most part. Grace and three of her friends are members of a book club, but one night after a date gone wrong, she comes up with the idea of changing it to a Boyfriend of the Month Club. The idea is to create a file on different men and their faults.

I found it frustrating to read because you just knew something was going to go wrong. Despite that though, I liked the rest of the book.

[Kate Maxwell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute, quick read about not judging a book by its cover!
Grace has been a part of a book club, that has been held in her family's tourist shop, but never read the books. After a failed attempt at having a hot date with Daytona Beach' most eligible bachelor, she shows up at the book club meeting, and wants to critique her date, and past boyfriends. That way, other women will hopefully avoid heartache and bad dates based on her reviews.
With the help of her friend, a literature professor, Ellen, they create a rating system that likens the guys to various dudes in literature.
Can this buy be your Mr. Darcy or is he destined to be Wickham? Remember, you should never judge a book by it's cover!
The characters all had their own personality and it was a fun read, especially for book lovers who can identify a Heathcliffe from Colonel Brandon.

[Amy Cacace · Rating 5 out of 5]

So good!!

This book was so different than any of the typical romance novels that I read. I really didn’t know which way things were going to go, right up until the end. But I absolutely couldn’t put it down until I found out how things all worked out. I loved al of the characters and everyone in Grace’s family. I highly recommend it!

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun and flirty romance with lots of laughs. I particularly enjoyed the interactions of Grace, Brandon and Joe and also all the goings on at Florida Charlie's, a unique gift shop. Really enjoyed this book and hated for it to end. Always enjoy this author.

[Laila Adams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Honestly, I was so disappointed in Grace. I can't believe I had to wait until the end of the book for Grace to find out what I knew all along about Joe. I would read this book again because it was so good. If you don't read this book it would be an absolute crime. This is a MUST read!!

[Marissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

Almost a 4 there were things I liked but some I was frustrated with. You know when you're thinking the character should just stop talking or why are they not telling them this (oh yeah because the book will be shorter)

[Krystyna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved it!!! just couldn't put it down it was just that good

[Molly Durava · Rating 3 out of 5]

Didn’t like the writing, couldn’t get fully invested in the story. Thought the premise would be different but it was a bit weird.

[Michelé · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad. For a romance it felt pretty well rooted in reality.

[Kasey Ardron · Rating 5 out of 5]

As you can tell i read this book extremely fast. I couldn’t put it down. I honestly don’t have anything to say but, i loved this book so much!

[Jessica Goninan · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was a quick read and had all the ups and downs you'd hope for in a book. The funny bits were good and it had some crazy drama. I definitely recommend it.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this in one day.

[Katie · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5

[Stacey Rate · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book years ago and it’s one of the funniest books I’ve ever read! Loved it