Book 756: Strawberry Kisses – Charlie Novak

Give me a fake boyfriend romance any day of the week, gay, straight, bisexual, anything really, and I’m in. I don’t know why I like them so much, I just do. So, when I saw this come through from Gay Romance Reviews and I needed a filler between two nonfiction books, I requested a copy.*

I won’t lie and tell you it got off to a great start, there was a typo on page one [“Deseeding twenty passion fruit and another ten pomegranates was a pain the ass and had taken a ton of time.” (Chapter One)] and I wasn’t sure about Novak’s voice, but it definitely got better so I’m glad I kept reading.

For the most part I really enjoyed the story. I liked that Novak played with expectations and stereotypes flipping the big beefy guy (Patrick) and the petite dancer who likes heels and makeup (Connor) around with who was doing what to whom.

When I’d first really accepted I was gay, I’d wondered if anyone would ever find me attractive. All I ever saw were pretty men with honed abs, and I didn’t know if anyone would want me the way I was. Now, thanks to a little bit of porn surfing, I thought I had just as good a chance as anyone else. I didn’t think I was unattractive. I just wasn’t anything special. (Chapter 10)

I also liked that this and its predecessor (Screens Apart) featured larger men. She doesn’t really describe them so they could just be “average” and not the gym-model hot that most books have, but they could just as easily be a bit more overweight than you’d expect. This type of representation isn’t something I’ve come across much outside of N.R. Walker’s The Weight of It All which actually takes it a step further with a larger guy on the cover (which Novak doesn’t).

Novak does lay it on thick with Patrick being incredibly shy and hesitant about his weight/stature and always questioning it even during sex which could be a bit annoying, but I guess that’s a character flaw and he does show growth throughout the novel,

I wasn’t anybody special. I was just some bloke.
Except maybe to Connor. Maybe to him I was someone else, that special someone so many romance novels promised us was out there. (Chapter 29)

Balanced with this though, there were passages that made me melt because of the sweetness of them and how Connor truly loved Patrick the way he was.

Patrick laughed, his whole body shaking. I loved him like this—carefree and laughing, his grey eyes twinkling and the dimples evident around his mouth. I didn’t want a lean, muscled gym rat. I wanted a man like this, soft and warm with wide shoulders and a thick chest and a bit of a belly. Someone who, when they wrapped me up in their arms, made me feel totally and utterly safe and wanted. (Chapter 6)

There were some cool family dynamics that Novak incorporated as part of the fake boyfriend plot that made me really want to know more about the family. This is always a plus for me because many books are made or broken on minor characters because they add so much flavor to the story!

Recommendation: I enjoyed the story more than I thought I would. The title is definitely a blink and you’ll miss it reference, but I totally get why she went with it. I’m definitely going to look into a few more by Novak (oh hey Kindle Unlimited) as I think she’s a decent enough story teller to keep me engaged when my top tier must read authors haven’t released anything or I can’t get a hold of it via my local library.

*I received a copy of Strawberry Kisses via Gay Romance Reviews in return for my honest opinion. No goods or money were exchanged.

Opening Line: There was something calming about the chaos of a kitchen in the middle of service.”

Closing Line: “I wondered if whenever he kissed me, he’d always taste like strawberries.” (Whited out to avoid spoilers, highlight to read.)

Additional Quotes from Strawberry Kisses
“There was something wonderfully comforting about reading a book I knew well, like curling up with an old friend or listening to someone I loved tell me the same story I’d heard a million times before but knew they were going to tell me again.” (Chapter 13)

“Conner had a thing for very steamy gay romance novels, and although there was nothing wrong with that, I honestly wasn’t sure I’d be able to cope with the second-hand embarrassment. I mean, it had taken me three years to be comfortable with even searching for porn. I didn’t know if I’d be able to cope knowing that Connor knew what I was reading. My face would probably be bright red the entire time.” (Chapter 13)

“I felt like a fucking idiot, but somehow, now that I’d started, I couldn’t seem to stop crying. I was going to make a serious mess of my make-up if I kept this up. Waterproof mascara was only waterproof up to a certain point, and I was not willing to test its limits today. Pandas were cute, but that didn’t mean I wanted to look like one right now.” (Chapter 17)

“They sounded like good points, but I wasn’t sure what order to bring them up. Was I supposed to start by telling him that I loved him? Or was I supposed to start slowly and list all the reasons out? My love of romcoms had given me a skewed sense of perspective. In the movies, the guy made some sort of grand gesture and declared his love, then the girl said yes, and they lived happily ever after. But it couldn’t be that simple in real life, could it?” (Chapter27)