Reviewed by Sadonna

TITLE:  Brother-in-Law Material 

AUTHOR:  Crystal Lacy

PUBLISHER:  self-published

LENGTH:  200 pages

RELEASE DATE:  May 29, 2021

BLURB:

Can his sister’s fake boyfriend become his real one?

When Kendall O’Hara catches his boyfriend cheating, he runs to his sister–the only person he can rely on in the city. But she’s on a business trip, so Kendall finds himself temporary roomies with her super hot and equally kind live-in boyfriend.

Luke Hale’s family has made him so jaded regarding relationships that he’s had no problem pretending to be his best friend’s boyfriend. It’s never been a problem, until her sweet, adorable brother arrives.

Kendall’s passion for his food channel is contagious and his openness and vulnerability are intoxicating. They both know the other should be off-limits, but spending time together–cooking, talking, laughing–is so easy and wonderful. Their attraction is undeniable and once Kendall learns that Luke is actually available, all bets are off.

Sizzling chemistry quickly gives way to real feelings. But Kendall’s stay is temporary. Can their friends with benefits arrangement blossom into a forever love or will they both wind up alone again?

Brother-in-Law Material is a 55,000-word M/M romance including the following tropes: fake boyfriend, temporary roommates, friends with benefits, best friend’s brother.

REVIEW:

Kendall gets home early from work.  Boy was that a mistake!  His boyfriend, Maverick, is caught in the act cheating on him – and it’s obviously not the first time.  All of Kendall’s friends were Maverick’s friends first, so his only option is to got to his sister Keira’s place in the city.  But she’s out of town on business and her boyfriend Luke isn’t home either 🙁  But Luke shows up and takes him in and a grateful Kendall settles into his sister’s room in their apartment.

Poor Kendall is a disaster in the kitchen, but he’s got a food channel on YouTube and Instagram with a lot of followers.  And why wouldn’t he?  He’s adorable and even his cooking failures are fun 😉  But Luke is a really good cook and after a few mishaps and some replacement of pans, Luke helps (mostly off-screen) Kendall learn more about cooking in his videos and hopefully keeps his kitchen intact.  They have a good rapport and seem to be developing a real friendship.  And his subscribers love the new dynamic and assume that Luke is his boyfriend 😀

When a company anniversary party comes up at Kendall’s work, Maverick, the evil who also works at the same company, wants to “patch things up” with Kendall.  He also tries to gaslight Kendall!  But Kendall tells him he’ll be bringing someone else.  Then he has to find someone to be his date.  When he asks Luke and Luke turns him down, he’s kind of desperate and reaches out to an ex.  This sets Luke’s blood boiling (he doesn’t want to look too closely at why that is the case 😉 )and so he agrees to go with Kendall.  And Keira gives them her blessing for this fake boyfriend ruse too, so what could go wrong?

The party really sets things in motion.  Maverick is a real jerk and Luke, realizing he’s feeling both jealous and protective, comes to Kendall’s aid when things start to get a bit out of hand.  Luke’s cousin Mizuki is also at this party and shows an interest in Kendall and his love of food.  Mizuki is a restauranteur (which Kendall has no idea about) and they immediately bond over Kendall’s enthusiasm for the food at the party.  As the evening goes on, it’s clear that this simmering just below the surface attraction between Kendall and Luke is about to boil over 🙂

Of course things can’t go smoothly for Kendall and Luke.  Luke has a lot of baggage because his family is a bit of a mess.  He doesn’t feel like he’s relationship material.  Kendall doesn’t know this though – he only knows that Luke is not really his sister’s boyfriend, but just her best friend.  It’s a mutually beneficial relationship that keeps both families from hounding them.  And it turns out Luke isn’t straight either as Kendall had assumed.  But Luke freaks out after their initial time together and it takes some work and some additional discussions to get to a place where they can get back to being comfortable in their friendship and living arrangements.  It’s only a matter of time until their sizzling chemistry leads them back together.  And they agree to a “friends with benefits” arrangement.

When Keira returns from her business trip, it’s of course at a most inopportune moment and neither Kendall nor Luke has kept her apprised of their changing “friendship” so there are some funny moments.  Keira has her own big news which will have an impact on Kendall and Luke also.   And things get weird pretty quickly.  It’s clear that both of them have feelings beyond “friendship” but Luke is convinced that he’ll screw things up and end up hurting Kendall and Kendall doesn’t believe that he is enough for the successful Luke anyway.

Things become more and more uncomfortable and Luke and Kendall are still sharing the same apartment, but that’s it. There are no cooking videos, no smexy times, not even any TV watching or joking around 🙁  And Kendall is still dealing with Maverick bugging him at the office.  When Mizuki offers a potential solution to Kendall’s situation, well things definitely change 😛

This story was adorable.  Kendall’s inner voice kept me chuckling.  He’s so cute and sweet and I just wanted to hug him!  Luke is a good guy who cannot get out of his own head.  He’s so worried about following a pattern that he’s seen in this family that he has given up on even trying for something more than hookups in his own life.  His arrangement with Keira has been great because nobody it on either of their backs about “settling down” and if he’s not exactly happy?  Well at least he’s not miserable because he devastated someone else.  But when he starts developing feelings more than friendship for Kendall and he’s pretty sure Kendall is feeling the same, his reaction is to pull back.  This leaves Kendall off balance and unhappy.  I loved Luke’s cousin Mizuki and I sure hope he gets his own story.  He’s a key player in getting these guys to pull their heads out of their asses and see what’s right in front of them!  He’s such a good guy and I really want him to get his own HEA!  Keira is hilarious and a no BS character that I couldn’t get enough of either.  Her reactions to Kendall and Luke were so spot on 😀  The cheating ex – I really hope karma gets him 😛

This is the third book I’ve read by Crystal Lacy and I really like her style.  She’s particularly adept at these kinds of stories – friends to lovers especially.  I’ve enjoyed each book a little more than the last and this one is adorably sweet. Kendall and Luke are very different people, but they really fit together perfectly – even if they are the last to figure it out 😉  If you’re a fan of fake boyfriends, friends to lovers and low angst sweet romances, this is a book I think you’ll really enjoy!  Highly recommended.

RATING: 

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