Reviewed by Becca
TITLE: Fake Boyfriend Breakaways
SERIES: Fake Boyfriend #2.5, 3.5, 4.5
AUTHOR: Eden Finley
PUBLISHER: self-published
LENGTH: 2822 kb
RELEASE DATE: September 26, 2019
BLURB:
Breakaways is a collection of short stories from Eden Finley’s Fake Boyfriend universe. They all feature side characters from the series but do not contain fake boyfriend tropes.
Rebound (Fake Boyfriend 2.5)
Aron and Wyatt have been best friends since college and are both rebounding from bad break-ups. One night of drunken sex makes them question their whole friendship and what they’ve had right in front of them all along.
Best read after Trick Play in the Fake Boyfriend universe.
It’s Complicated (Fake Boyfriend 3.5)
Max has been in love with his childhood best friend, Ash, for years. The reason he has kept it a secret is because Ash also happens to be Max’s brother’s ex-boyfriend. Complicated doesn’t begin to explain their relationship.
Best read after Deke in the Fake Boyfriend universe.
Winning You (Fake Boyfriend 4.5)
(Previously published in Heart2Heart volume 2. This story has been extended from the original and re-edited.)
Marty and Luce win a blind date through a charity raffle. Marty is young and vibrant. Luce is older and a little bit bitter. In one night, they manage to change the course of each other’s lives.
This is a prequel of Hat Trick in the Fake Boyfriend universe.
REVIEW:
It’s Complicated and Winning You don’t have a separate thing that I saw, so that’s why there’s not something below for them. If you read the blurb, you will see where all these fit in. How all the relationships got started and what happened to get them where they are. It’s a good set of stories. I loved the whole series. And these little snippet stories help fill in some blanks about things.
With It’s Complicated, it’s the start of Max and Ash and what happened before they became them. And it’s a doozy. I’ve read all these stories but some of it I’m trying to remember. For Ash, he’s always been in love with Max. But with Max being straight, he figured there was no hope. But who he moves on to is the kicker. Max’s brother, Ollie. For four years Ollie and Ash were together, but Ollie chose the career over Ash and it was a heartbreak. And he’s in another relationship where he’s realized it’s happening again. The guy just wants a marriage, it didn’t matter who. And Ash is supposed to feel honored because he was chosen. pfft. But during all this, Max has been lusting for Ash and trying to hide it. But after all that’s been going on, Max has finally been pushed to the point where he has to speak up. Only it throws everything badly. No one is talking really to anyone. Ollie is ticked, despite being with a man he’s found as his one. And it’s just a huge mess. And now Max has to do what he has to do to fix it all.
Unrequited love. Being in love with a straight guy. Always a disaster in the making. It’s not something that you can just get over. This mess between Max and Ash is just insane. It’s been a mess since college. If they had just talked to begin with, they could have saved everyone a lot of heartache and anguish. But of course, life is never that easy lol. But getting past everything isn’t easy either. And Ollie is being as ass about it, which isn’t helping. I don’t know. I can’t remember the correct saying, but the one that comes close is don’t poo where you eat, kind of thing. Just dating everyone in their friend pool and stuff has been a mess for all these guys and yet they haven’t learned yet. Or in the family pool. Either way. I’m glad they find their happy finally after all these years. But like I said, communication would have solved things so much better if they would have just done it.
And the last one, Winning You, is Luce and Marty’s story. Luce, is Radioactive’s new manager, if you’ve read into that story. It’s Jet and Soren’s story. Or right before it. It’s how everything started with Luce and Marty and how Luce ended up taking over as management and being the best thing for the band. It didn’t come without complications for Luce and Marty, but they learn to make it work. At first, when things start to change, they wondered if it was going to at all. But after being together and pretty much falling in love, they don’t want to be apart. But they have to figure out how to make it work. But that’s the key thing, they have to learn to compromise, communicate, and realize what’s important in life. And if they can figure it out, things will start to fall in to place.
It’s funny that Luce won a date with Marty. Marty wanted a date to get to Jay/Jet from Radioactive. A band Luce didn’t even really know of. And he’s with the label. Kind of ironic, I’d say. But what makes things funnier, is that because of Marty, Luce finds himself in a situation where things are changing and for the better. He sometimes felt at the beginning that he was being used to a point because of how into Jay/Jet, Marty was, but when he realizes how much Marty is beginning to mean to him and hopefully how Marty feels about him, it becomes easier. I
It’s been really cool to be able to read these in betweens. If you read the stories without reading these, things will still be there and all will make sense, of course. But reading these, it adds more info. It adds a bit more heartbreak as well, but it adds more to the actual stories because you can now see how things are working out with everyone and how it all came to be. Because for a bit there, it was awkward for EVERYONE! I loved getting to see the starts and finishes, and how it all came to be. It’s been a good set of stories. I loved it.
RATING: 
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TITLE: Rebound
SERIES: Fake Boyfriend #2.5 (read after Trick Play)
AUTHOR: Eden Finley
PUBLISHER: self-published
LENGTH: 57 pages
RELEASE DATE: April 28, 2018
BLURB:
Aron:
I’ve always known Wyatt was hot, but scotch and half a bottle of tequila makes him so Goddamn beautiful.
After my last disastrous relationship with a close friend, you’d think I’d learn my lesson and choose someone else for a rebound. Someone I don’t have a solid friendship with.
I should definitely stay away from Wyatt. But when have I ever listened to logic?
Wyatt:
I’d long forgotten my college crush on Aron. He was never a possibility, having friend-zoned me from the beginning. But now he’s drunk and looking for a rebound.
It’d totally ruin our almost decade-long friendship. I have to say no and be the bigger person … right?
**Rebound is a 17,000 word short story that belongs to the Fake Boyfriend series but does not contain a fake boyfriend trope. While it can be read as a standalone, it’s recommended to be read in companion with the series.**
REVIEW:
Heartbreaks and rebounds. Can be the start of something bad, if you aren’t careful. And when Aron has been through a couple of the group of friends already, getting involved with another could be even worse. But Wyatt has had a crush on Aron for years and even though he’s not a one-night stand kind of guy, he does for Aron. But one night turns into two and three nights and ends up turning into more. Both are nervous about it, but they’ve both realized, they’re it for each other. But can they trust what they are feeling, since they were each other’s rebounds or are they really feeling the love for each other?
It was hard on these two. Both being dumped, more or less, by people they thought they really loved. The problem with Aron, though, he wasn’t really in love with Noah. And it took him leaving and getting into another relationship with someone else to see that. He was just at the point in his life where he really wanted a relationship. For Wyatt, finding his ex cheating on him, for who knows how long, to see that his pattern was bad guys for him. He’s always had a flame for Aron, but he shoved it in the friends box and moved on. But after drowning their sorrows in alcohol, they realized that maybe what they are looking for was in each other. But it’s a worrisome thing. I hurt for the both of them, because being each other’s rebounds could turn out so ugly. I was hoping they got something out of it and gratefully they did, but it could have been bad.
It’s a good start to their story. I really enjoyed this.
RATING:
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