Reviewed by Valerie
TITLE: The Bookseller’s Boyfriend
AUTHOR: Heidi Cullinan
SERIES: Copper Point: Main Street #1
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Presds
LENGTH: 229 pages
RELEASE DATE: January 19, 2021
BLURB:
Bookshop owner Jacob Moore can’t believe his longtime celebrity crush, author Rasul Youssef, is moving to Copper Point. For many, the chance to meet the playboy novelist would be a dream come true, but Jacob dreads it. You should never meet your heroes.
You definitely shouldn’t pretend to be their boyfriend.
Rasul came to this backwater town for an academic residency—a necessary evil, since he’s burned through his advance without finishing the book that goes with it. But he’s also getting distance from a toxic relationship. Quiet, reserved Jacob isn’t his type, but their charade gives Rasul a respite from the social media circus surrounding his breakup, and Jacob’s charming apartment proves the perfect setting to write.
Of course, prolonged exposure reveals that Jacob’s reserved exterior hides a thoughtful, intelligent man who sets Rasul’s imagination—and heart—alight.
Every day Rasul reveals himself to be more than Jacob ever dreamed he could. Jacob tries to be content with friendship and the professional overlap between author and bookseller, knowing a shooting star like Rasul could never make a home with Jacob in a small town like Copper Point.
REVIEW:
The Bookseller’s Boyfriend is an entertaining, fake boyfriend story served up in a refreshingly different way that makes it stand out from others with this trope. The leading men are warmly wonderful, painfully real characters. Jacob is a lonely, buttoned-up bookstore owner whose motto could be self-preservation. Reading saved Jacob. It was the debut novel by his favorite author, Rasul Youssef, that enabled Jacob to find his way out of the despondency following his parents’ sudden deaths, and Rasul’s second book that led him through a debilitating, dark depression. Rasul became Jacob’s hero.
It was like you saw right into me. The fight to find identity, dealing with loss but carrying on— that was what I needed. I read the book over and over, as if only these words could keep me alive.
Rasul is a vibrant, passionate playboy whose childhood left him with a deep fear of abandonment. He has been struggling for seven years to write his third book but his creativity well is dry. As a last resort before his publisher drops him, his highly frustrated literary agent has exiled him to a small town to teach at the college for a year and take the time to finish (er, start) the book. The story begins with Rasul wandering into Jacob’s bookstore and meeting the man who will ultimately inspire his writing.
Coinciding with Rasul moving to Copper Point, beginning his visiting professorship, and meeting Jacob is a scandal he’s becoming embroiled in with his ex-girlfriend. The most effective way to combat that, according to his agent, is for Rasul to fake a relationship with Jacob and garner a social media presence that will hopefully shift attention away from the scandal. Rasul has no problem with this plan – he’d like to be dating Jacob for real. It’s not as clear-cut for Jacob, though. He’s built himself a safe, comfortable life he doesn’t want to jeopardize, but he’s loved Rasul from afar for so long and so intensely. As much as he longs to be with him, he’s terribly afraid his heart will break when Rasul leaves his temporary teaching position at the end of the school year. Rasul will resume his exciting, jet-setting, hobnobbing lifestyle while Jacob will continue his quiet, small-town existence.
Jacob is also afraid to let go of the ephemeral form of Rasul – an impossible dream he always held close and could imagine however he needed him – and instead grasp onto the real man.
Heroes shouldn’t come to life. He should have stayed up on his pedestal where he belongs…A man in the mists I could imagine to be whoever I wanted him to be, whatever I needed.
I didn’t read Cullinan’s previous series, Copper Point Medical, which is set in the same town as this book. It’s clear that a number of main characters from that series serve in minor roles as friends and community members here. The most significant characters are Jacob’s longtime best friends, Gus and Matt, who love, cherish, and support him during his inner struggles over Rasul.
There’s more to The Bookseller’s Boyfriend than just the story of Jacob and Rasul’s evolving relationship. There are layers here that add to the reading experience. Dig below the love story and individual character arcs and you’ll find an exposition of the harmful aspects of social media and the destructive or dangerous behavior it can incite, and the addiction it can cause. There are also interesting details about the publishing, PR, and entertainment industries, as well as a glimpse at the process of writing a novel.
I’ve read many of Ms. Cullinan’s terrific books, but it’s been a few years; I was hoping she held onto her writing mojo and she did – The Bookseller’s Boyfriend is creative and entertaining with two protagonists I rooted for eagerly. The individual growth of Jacob and Rasul – personally and professionally – as well as their growth as a couple, culminates in a lovely, romantic ending. Because this is the first book in a continuous timeline series, there’s no follow-up epilogue. That’s fine, though, because we’ll see them again, I’m sure. I’m looking forward to the next installment, presumably featuring Gus or Matt. This is a wonderful kick off to the new series and I highly recommend it.
RATING: 
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