Reviewed by Valerie
TITLE: Horribly Harry
SERIES: Bad Boyfriends, Inc. #2
AUTHOR: Lisa Henry and Sarah Honey
PUBLISHER: Pride Publishing
LENGTH: 247 pages
RELEASE DATE: August 9, 2022
BLURB:
Bad Boyfriend, Inc—when you can’t find a good boyfriend, why not hire a bad one instead?
To supplement his income while he’s completing his Early Education degree, Harry Townsend hires himself out as a terrible date—for a set fee, he’ll horrify parents and family members in all sorts of interesting ways. But when it comes to actual relationships—and sex—Harry doesn’t get the appeal. He doesn’t get the same tingly feelings everyone else seems to when they meet someone attractive, and he’s fine with that. He’d rather spend his evenings watching TV anyway.
Jack Windsor abandoned his uni degree to do an apprenticeship as a mechanic, much to his parents’ dismay. He’s happy with his choices, but leaving uni meant losing his accommodation, and now he’s crashing on his sister Mia’s couch. It isn’t ideal, but it’s only until he finds something else—which is proving difficult in Sydney’s brutal rental market.
When Jack almost kills Harry with a strawberry smoothie, he discovers that not only was Harry’s disastrous date with Mia a set up, but that Harry is looking for a roommate. Moving in with Harry is great, if only he wasn’t so distractingly cute—and totally uninterested in Jack. Except as they grow closer as friends, for the first time in his life, Harry tells Jack he’s developing feelings for him—tingly ones.
But how can Harry and Jack be together when Jack’s family thinks that Harry is the worst human being in the universe? And how can Jack convince them that his Bad Boyfriend is the best boyfriend he’s ever had, without admitting that Mia hired him to be terrible to them? When an approaching family event brings everything to a head, Jack’s going to have to step up to prove to Harry that he wants him in his life. And it might just take some bad timing, some good luck and the ugliest suit known to mankind.
REVIEW:
Horribly Harry is the second book in the entertaining Bad Boyfriends, Inc. series. I love the premise of the series: men or women hire an actor who pretends to be a outrageously bad boyfriend so their parents will think their real partner is fabulous in comparison. The bad boyfriend dating antics are over the top, LMAO hilarious. It’s a creative, refreshing spin on the fake boyfriend trope. This book also features enemies to lovers and sexual awakening themes. And the meet-cute tops all others in terms of funny ridiculousness – an almost, accidental murder with a strawberry smoothie by Jack, the brother of one of Harry’s previous clients.
Harry is the former roommate of Ambrose, the first Bad Boyfriend, who met the love of his life, moved out, and passed the bad boyfriend gig onto Harry. Now Harry just lives with Tristan (who will carry on with Bad Boyfriend, Inc. in book three).
Even though he almost killed Harry, Jack turns out to be a salt-of-the-earth kind of guy: patient, loving, and caring. He needs a place to live and becomes Harry’s second roommate. He’s soon crushing on adorable Harry, who he assumes is straight. Jack becomes increasingly interested but it seems Harry doesn’t reciprocate his feelings. Harry, it turns out, has no interest in anything sexual. He doesn’t understand attraction and thinks sex is unnecessary. It’s very confusing, therefore, when he starts noticing and taking interest in specific things about Jack: his smile, his hair ruffling in the breeze, his tattoos! He’s getting the warm fuzzies but can’t comprehend these foreign feelings. Harry always thought there was something wrong with him – maybe he was asexual? So what is this now… attraction? He can’t stop looking at Jack and thinking about what he would look like naked. Maybe he’s Jacksexual.
The book is certainly witty, but while I loved Awfully Ambrose, this one didn’t work as well for me. I didn’t care for the writing style this time around. It felt like a too-detailed play-by-play of their daily activities. It was slow at times. I applaud the ace/demi representation but I didn’t enjoy the step-by-step descriptions of Harry’s slow entry into the world of sexuality.
All of the characters are great, though, and the storyline is engaging. Despite my little niggles, I happily recommend Horribly Harry and look forward to Tristan’s terrible fake dating story.
RATING: 
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