Rent a Boyfriend by Gloria Chao

Title: Rent a Boyfriend

Author: Gloria Chao
Publisher: Simon Schuster Books for Young Readers
Publication date: November 10, 2020
Pages: 400
Source/format: e-ARC//Publisher
Rating: ☆☆☆☆

Synopsis (from goodreads.com):

To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before meets The Farewell in this incisive romantic comedy about a college student who hires a fake boyfriend to appease her traditional Taiwanese parents, to disastrous results, from the acclaimed author of American Panda.

Chloe Wang is nervous to introduce her parents to her boyfriend, because the truth is, she hasn’t met him yet either. She hired him from Rent for Your ’Rents, a company specializing in providing fake boyfriends trained to impress even the most traditional Asian parents.

Drew Chan’s passion is art, but after his parents cut him off for dropping out of college to pursue his dreams, he became a Rent for Your ’Rents employee to keep a roof over his head. Luckily, learning protocols like “Type C parents prefer quiet, kind, zero-PDA gestures” comes naturally to him.

When Chloe rents Drew, the mission is simple: convince her parents fake Drew is worthy of their approval so they’ll stop pressuring her to accept a proposal from Hongbo, the wealthiest (and slimiest) young bachelor in their tight-knit Asian American community.

But when Chloe starts to fall for the real Drew—who, unlike his fake persona, is definitely not ’rent-worthy—her carefully curated life begins to unravel. Can she figure out what she wants before she loses everything?

M Y  T H O U G H T S 

Chloe Wang hires a fake boyfriend, Drew Chan, from Rent for Your 'Rents to take home to her parents during the holidays. However, who would have known that she will fall in love with Drew. Sometimes love can be found in the most unexpected places and situations.     

Chloe wants to appease her parents and to get away from Hongbo Kuo. While her parents try to set up an arranged marriage, Chloe wants to make her own choices. Drew takes on the job as pretend boyfriend in order to earn money so he can pursue his dream being an artist. 

From the first page, I fell in love with Gloria Chao's writing. It reads effortless and smoothly. I love Chloe from the start and understood exactly how she feels when she has those internal monologues. Rent a Boyfriend is written in two POVs with Chloe and Drew alternating chapters. Chloe and Drew both are hilarious. Their reactions to what Chloe's parents have to say are priceless. I couldn't stop chuckling when reading the novel.

I can understand how Chloe feels about the expectations her parents pave for her. Although my parents let me choose my own path in life, I can relate to typical Chinese expectations and wants for their children. Chao's incorporates humor within the novel and showcases cultural differences between Chinese culture and the western culture. I appreciate her subtext regarding certain Chinese traditions and concepts. Things like mentioning mooncake points instead of brownie points makes the characters more believable. 

Rent a Boyfriend is a heartfelt contemporary novel where family expectations, finding yourself and cultural identity collide. Join Chloe and Drew on a love adventure they didn't know existed.

Top Ten Tuesday: Non-Bookish Hobbies

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish and the meme moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. This week's Top Ten Tuesday asks bloggers to list their top ten non-bookish hobbies. The following bookish hobbies are in no particular order. 

1. Baking and cooking - I love baking but I am starting to like cooking much more lately. I love stumbling upon recipes and trying to create scrumptious dishes. Not only is baking and cooking fun, but you save so much money eating at home and you can tweak the recipe to your liking. Also, it's always fun to cook and bake with loved ones.

2. Needle Felting - I stated needle felting when I attended a workshop at a Harry Potter Convention. I was hooked! There is something satisfying stabbing wool to create an ornament or a little figure. It's a create way to relieve stress and to create something new!

3. Playing Animal Crossing - I am a new fan to Animal Crossing and can I say that I am obsessed with Animal Crossing New Horizons! It's so much fun and I am enjoying being able to visit friends virtually since we cannot visit people during the pandemic. The game has been a life saver and has helped me greatly during these unprecedented times. Also, I love the seasonal events! So much fun!

4. Drinking tea - I love drinking tea during the colder months. I am very fond of loose leaf tea. I like to relax with a steaming mug of delicious tea whether it be a strong black tea to a soothing green tea. Tea invokes memories for me. It brings out the emotion and it's pauses time. I love meeting up with friends for afternoon tea during non-pandemic times. Nowadays, I love to curl up with a book while drinking tea.

5. Walking outside - I love walking outside especially during autumn. The crunch of the leaves, the brisk autumn air, the eye-catching foliage and the sweater weather is everything that I can wish for in a perfect walk.

6. Listening to music - Music definitely makes me feel better. I feel more at peace when I can open Spotify and play a song I want to hear or when I discover a new artist. I have been enjoying K-Pop lately and have been obsessed with groups like (G)I-dle, Blackpink and Dreamcatcher. I am also a huge fan of The Harp Twins. Camille and Kennerly are so talented! They cover metal/rock music and they also do covers of fandom related songs as well with harps! Lately, they have been creating their own music which features their Nordic heritage. 

7. Traveling - I do miss traveling and I hope to travel more once the pandemic is over. There is something intriguing and inviting when you visit a new place. There is so much to explore and to take in. I love learning about the history and the culture of new places I visit. 

8. Trying new restaurants - Speaking of traveling, one of my favorite things to do is to try out all the yummy food and drinks at restaurants. My husband and I love eating the local fare. However, we also love trying new restaurants near where we live too. Yum! Food is life and makes me happy!

9. Craft beer - My husband and I love going to brewery tours and trying out craft beers. We even got married at a brewery and had our reception at a biergarten! I do like a good pint! Cheers!

10. Sleeping - I have to admit that I love sleeping in and on days that I can, I will sleep in pretty late. I am not much of an early bird but I can say I am more of a night owl. 

What are some of your favorite non-bookish hobbies? Do we share any hobbies?