Reviewed by Kat

TITLE: To Not Date My Best Friend

SERIES: The Simple Rules (Book 2)

AUTHOR: Gianni Holmes

PUBLISHER: Coco Nutz Publishing

LENGTH: 264 pages

RELEASE DATE: April 12, 2022

BLURB:

What do you do when you meet the man of your dreams, but you’re already engaged? You become best friends and hope for the best.

BAZ

It was a meet-cute that should have come with a happy ending. I was hardly at my best when I caught Andy snapping photos of me topless in the name of street photography. I fired angry words at him. In exchange, he gave me his jacket to keep me warm. Thus began our friendship and an unrequited crush on a man who was about to get married.

ANDY

After a photography assignment in the Middle East left me scarred, I have no choice but to face the many issues in my life—my marriage is over, my wife has moved on, and I may never hold another camera between my hands. But there’s no hurdle I can’t get over once I have my best friend, Baz, in my life. When he tries to transition from a stylist to a journalist at the magazine where he works, he enlists my help in writing a column. How can I prove to him that moving from best friends to lovers makes sense when he’s determined to prove the opposite?

To Not Date My Best Friend is a bi-awakening romance between a plus-sized stylist who’s claimed his place in the fashion world and a bi-curious photographer who happens to be his best friend. This book can be read as a standalone and has mild angst in some parts.

REVIEW:

Wow…so much more than I expected! What a fabulous book!

Andy and Baz have been best friends since college. When Baz realizes that the man of his dreams is not only straight but engaged to be married to his high school sweetheart he does the right thing and keeps his feelings to himself and becomes best friends. When Andy returns from his wrongful imprisonment in Iran, being both psychologically tortured and physically beaten, Baz is there for him. It turns out Mal, Andy’s wife had been cheating on him and their marriage was ending. When Baz needs to re-write his article for the magazine that he’s a stylist for Andy suggests a way he might help. What happens next when Baz discovers that his straight, married best friend isn’t as straight and perfectly married as he thought?

Andy and Baz are my heroes. As a person who struggles with body image and how people view me they shine as a beacon of role models. Andy for always not only accepting Baz and his plus size body but loving how his best friend looks and constantly telling him so. And Baz for accepting Andy’s words and embracing who he is and what he looks like. He is comfortable in his own skin and owns it! This story gave me so much encouragement when I have been fighting how my body is changing.

I loved how Mal remained friends with both Andy and Baz and actually encouraged Baz (after making sure of his intentions) to be with her soon-to-be ex-husband. Mal and Andy had married for all the wrong reasons and it became painfully obvious as the story unfolded.

I am happy that we only learned snippets of what Andy endured locked away in that prison. I don’t think I could have handled having read too much because I cared about him.

This was simply the major pick-me-up I needed. These two men epitomized what it looked like to rise above and move forward through adversity. Simply put…they were my heroes! I can’t recommend this book enough.

RATING:

BUY LINKS:

Amazon