Reviewed by Ro
TITLE: Say You’ll Be Jasmine
SERIES: Boyfriend Cafe #6
AUTHOR: F.A. Ray
PUBLISHER: Self Published
LENGTH: 236 Pages
RELEASE DATE: June 11, 2024
BLURB:
The semester hasn’t even started and I’ve already spent a night at my own student’s house. And I know they want more.
Diego
Leaving my small town in Wisconsin for a big university was terrifying. Breaking down in front of a student’s house was even more terrifying. The attraction between that student and myself is the most terrifying thing of all.
Avery is beautiful, intelligent, bold and non-binary. They’re unlike anyone I’ve ever known, and I’m hopelessly drawn to them despite my best intentions.
When Avery drags me out to a drag show, the change of scenery, the darkness, the club music — it weakens my defenses. Once I finally give in, is there any going back? Or is Avery a temptation I simply can’t resist?
Avery
My plate is beyond full. I’m taking care of my friend’s house, running the Boyfriend Café, trying to finish my degree — oh, and crushing on my hot new TA.
I really don’t need to make my life even more complicated, but when the guy whose car breaks down in front of my house turns out to be my TA, there’s no going back. I can’t help flirting with Diego, but he’s terrified of crossing the line.
I am not.
I’m going to convince this man to give in to what he wants, no matter how hard I have to work for it.
Say You’ll Be Jasmine is a TA/student MX romance with a non-binary main character, some firsts, a slight age gap and spicy open door scenes. Go to linktr.ee/faraywrites for CWs.
REVIEW:
It’s the end of the Boyfriend Café series and I admit to being a bit sad. So glad these people all ended up happy!
This last installment is about Avery, Gabriel’s sibling, and the new host of the Boyfriend Café. They are very organized and very dedicated to the Café. They’ve hired servers and a manager, Mia (who is awesome), and set up a bakery delivery. They have classes they enjoy. What they don’t have, as Mia, Gabriel, and pretty much everyone else keeps telling them, is a life outside school and work. Albert (the one who made sure the Boyfriend Café could stay in existence) has asked Avery to stay at the house and caretake and they worry about that too.
After a night of work at the Café, Avery and Mia find someone broken down in front of the house. It is Diego, a new student/TA at Montridge College. He’s excited but not. He’s from a very small town and everything is overwhelming to him.
“It’ll be great. I’m a twenty-six-year-old adult and I can move to a city that isn’t even a city and have a roommate and experience new things and I will not die of shock or fright in the process.
Probably.”
The fact that his car decides to give up the ghost so close to his new apartment is freaking him out. When Avery comes out to ask him if he needs help, Diego is a little scared. “He almost looks scared, but that’s ridiculous. I’m not a large human. Who would be scared of me?” Diego, that’s who! He’s nervous and worried about so many things. Because it’s late and Avery is kind, they offer Diego a guest room, assuming they will never see each other again.
Surprise! Turns out Diego is the TA for the class Avery is taking on Gender. Avery wants to cause no issues, but they are excited to realize,
“He’s the first person I’ve ever met who actually wants to listen to me ramble about historical documents on gender presentation. He might be the only person who wants to listen to me ramble about that.”
Diego is rightly worried that people might think bad thoughts about the fact that he, the TA, spent the night at a student’s place, regardless that it was innocent. But they are drawn to each other. They meet for a drag show, for talks about assignments and finally, hook ups. I felt badly for Avery because Diego likes them, but is just so hot and cold. “You’re trying to run again…I get it. You’re scared. You’re overwhelmed. When you’re scared and overwhelmed you usually run. But please don’t.” I understood it to a point. When his parents come to visit, I loved them, especially his mom.
There’s a bit of one step forward, two steps back with Diego and sometimes you want to just push him forward. But he’s sweet and just scared, missing his hometown and the silly things there. So I cut him some slack. I really enjoyed the interactions between the two. It’s very low angst, and the miscommunication that happens is actually on Avery.
I found this a fitting end to the Boyfriend Café series. As an aside, the cover photo looks exactly like what I would expect Avery to look like!
RATING: 
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