Review: The Boyfriend Candidate by Ashley Winstead

The Boyfriend Candidate by Ashley Winstead

Publication Date: May 9th 2023 by Graydon House

Pages: 384

Source: Publisher 

Rating: ★★★½

Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Harper Collins | Goodreads | Bookshop.org

My Thoughts:

Alexis is off to her first one-night stand to celebrate a year of being rid of her cheating ex, who accused her of being unable to “satisfy his needs”.  She meets Logan Arthur, a gubernatorial candidate, unbeknownst to her at the time, and they hit it off splendidly, talking, laughing, all the while sparks fly. Unfortunately, what promises to be a lusty, unforgettable night ends abruptly when a fire causes the hotel to evacuate, and they’re caught on camera fleeing.

Logan has the rep of a playboy which has been hurting his campaign, so his team asks Alexis to pose as his girlfriend shutting down more gossip about his playboy ways.

The Boyfriend Candidate was in parts enjoyable to me, but it contained one of my least favorite forms of conflict: miscommunication. Logan and Alexis come close to being honest about their feelings for each other time and time again, but something stops every time them until almost the very end!  Logan was a sweetheart, and a blind person could see he was a goner for Alexis. I liked Alexis, but she tried my patience by breaking every one of their ground rules without regard to how her actions affected Logan or his team.  The whole Will situation was particularly frustrating.  Also, Alexis is touted as a shy character terrified of public speaking but somehow has a complete turnaround within a few pages and is speaking out for education reform with gusto.

With all that said, I did enjoy The Boyfriend Candidate overall. It was entertaining. I enjoyed the humor and the chemistry between Alexis and Logan. I was really rooting for them! There were a lot of laugh-out-loud moments. When Alexis adopts Patches, a long overlooked shelter cat, my heart soared! Alexis’ mom with her video to promote her cat/animal shelter was a hoot! Cute/fun cat scenes I loved! I enjoyed the positive female friendships, as well, even though I wasn’t a huge fan of her sister, Lee. 

I wouldn't hesitate to read another romance from Winstead. I would like to try her thriller: In My Dreams I Hold a Knife. 

3.5 Stars

Book Description:

A laugh-out-loud rom-com about learning to embrace living outside your comfort zone.

As a shy school librarian, Alexis Stone is comfortable keeping out of the spotlight. But when she’s dumped for being too meek—in bed!—she decides she needs to change. And what better way to kick-start her new more adventurous life than with her first one-night stand?

Enter Logan, the gorgeous, foul-mouthed stranger she meets at a hotel bar. Audacious and filterless, Logan is Alexis’s opposite—and boy, do opposites attract! Just as she’s about to fulfill her hookup wish, the hotel catches fire in a freak lightning storm. In their rush to escape, Logan is discovered carrying her into the street, where people are waiting with cameras. Cameras Logan promptly—and shockingly—flees.

Alexis is bewildered until suddenly pictures of her and Logan escaping the fire are all over the internet. Turns out Logan is none other than Logan Arthur, the hotshot candidate challenging the Texas governor’s seat. The salacious scandal is poised to sink his career—and jeopardize Alexis’s job—until a solution is proposed: he and Alexis could pretend to be in a relationship until election day…in two months. What could possibly go wrong?

Photo credit: Luis Noble

About the author:

Ashley Winstead 2021 breakout thriller was In My Dreams I Hold a Knife. Her 2022 romance debut, Fool Me Once, was an Amazon Editor’s Best Romance as well as a USA Today, PopSugar, New York Post, and Goodreads best or most anticipated romance of the year. Her work has been translated into more than a dozen languages and optioned for film/TV.

Connect with Ashley Winstead:

Website | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads