Book 930: The Fake Boyfriends Debacle (Frat Brats of Santa Barbara #1) – Hayden Hall

When this popped up on the Gay Romance Reviews site I requested a copy since I’d been watching Hall’s social media and book releases for some time.* I figured why not give him a go and see what I thought.

Unfortunately, for me, this was a miss. Don’t get me wrong it wasn’t poorly written or anything and honestly, it probably had better copy-editing than most of the self-published books I’ve read or received via GRR. It just didn’t work, but more on that later.

The Fake Boyfriends Debacle is the story of Jayden, a scholarship student who has worked his ass off to get to the fancy college they attend, and Caleb, the series’ titular frat brat, who comes from money but has desires not to follow in his family’s footsteps. They’re in college/university, but honestly, this felt more like a high school/prep school and that bothered me for the first few chapters, but I was able to let it go.

Overall, the story was plausible if a bit rushed and there was only one MAJOR plot hole: Where the hell did the BFF for life go and why were there no additional scenes with him except at the beginning and the end? Seriously, don’t introduce a character with as much sparkle and sass as they had and then not have them interact with any of the characters again until the final chapter. The ending really saved the novel for me, I debated between 2 and 3 stars on Goodreads, and the post-crisis/climax ending pushed it to that 2.5 and so I rounded up.

The sex scenes were well written and engaging, Hall pulls you in and keeps you interested changing up the characters’ positions (whoop verse characters) and actions. If there’s one critique to the sex scenes, it’s the same one I’ve had with every male MM Romance author I’ve read, the scenes are a bit rough and they happen REALLY fast. I couldn’t help but think of Damon Suede and how I thought his stories were great but the sex was a bit much. I don’t think Hall took it that far, but there’s a definite difference between a male and female MM Romance author.

Now for the issues, for the most part, the biggest issue I had was the writing style. Hall needs to take to mind the “show don’t tell” rule. They did a decent job at this sometimes, but those first two chapters were ROUGH and I debated DNFing it. At one point Hall described every member of the “fuckboys” and I was like WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS, just move the story forward. Thankfully, this didn’t happen (for the most part) during the intimate scenes or I definitely would’ve DNFed it. This came across a lot more frequently early in the novel when Hall was trying to world build, but it wasn’t necessary, the novel got progressively better (minus a few select scenes) when Hall stopped describing everything and just let the characters have their story.

The other big issue was the cheese factor, and this is not something that Hall alone struggles with. Even the best authors with a lot of experience can lean too far into the cheesy side of Romance/Rom-Com, but the best can dip their toe in making you swoon a little at the over-the-top ridiculousness of it and then reign it back in with some seriousness or even levity. Unfortunately, Hall isn’t there yet which is interesting as I believe this is his 15th novel if I remember reading the acknowledgments correctly. Don’t get me wrong, I live for the ridiculously corny “this would never happen in real life” moments, but I Hall leaned on them a little too much and they weren’t balanced out with something else.

There were some weird formatting decisions for the e-book (why a serif font and such close default spacing) and the cover has changed since I received my copy (the cover model originally had a speedo), but other than that like I said, I was impressed with the overall copy editing for a self-published work.

Recommendation: This one wasn’t for me. Hall often fell into over-description and over-the-top saccharine-sweet language and scenarios, which was unfortunate because the premise of the story was a good one and Jayden and Caleb were actually intriguing and fun characters and even the minor characters had personality and were memorable (loved The Aunt Squad and Gramps). I hope Hall matures/evolves as a writer because clearly, he has a lot of ideas putting out so many books, but until he gains some finesse and story editing/critiquing skills I don’t think he’ll really shine. Not going on my must-read or even keep an eye out list, but if a book pops up with a plot that really grabs me further down the road I might try again.

*I received a copy of The Fake Boyfriends Debacle via Gay Romance Reviews in return for my honest opinion. No goods or money were exchanged.

Opening Line: “My pristine uniforms filled most of the space in the wardrobe, leaving little room for my other clothes.”

Closing Line: “Carefully, his lips parted, and our souls collided.” (Whited out to avoid spoilers, highlight to read.)