Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: Horribly Harry
SERIES: Bad Boyfriends, Inc.
AUTHORS: Lisa Henry and Sarah Honey
NARRATOR: Grant Cartwright
PUBLISHER: Tantor Media
LENGTH: 6 hours and 20 minutes1
RELEASE DATE: April 29, 2025
BLURB:
Bad Boyfriends, 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.
Jack Windsor abandoned his university degree to do an apprenticeship as a mechanic. 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 recognises Harry from his sister’s terrible date, he almost kills him with a strawberry smoothie. In the aftermath he discovers that not only was Harry’s bad date with Mia a setup, 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, for the first time ever Harry starts to develop feelings—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?
Horribly Harry has previously been published. This new edition contains no major content changes.
REVIEW:
Note: This is the second book in this series and contains spoilers for the first book 🙂
Harry is a university student who is studying to be a preschool teacher. He’s not had a girlfriend. Or a boyfriend for that matter. He just isn’t wired that way. When his roommate Ambrose moves out, he needs a replacement roommate and also a side gig to make some money. Ambrose has been hiring himself out as a bad boyfriend but now he’s got a real boyfriend, so that’s not an option anymore. Harry has never been much of an actor (unlike Ambrose), but he figures he can give it a go being a terribly bad date for hire so that whoever hires him will be able to swoop in with their real significant other and the parents will be so thrilled they won’t care who or what that person does 🙂
One of his first bad dates is Mia. Her real boyfriend is a tattoo artist. Her father is a clergyman. They have been trying to fix Mia up for years but she wants Tate. Enter Harry. A terrible boyfriend and the date has the desired effect. All goes well until Harry sees Mia on campus while she’s sitting with another guy – not Tate. This guy is introduced as Jack. Jack then realizes that this is the guy that was so awful to his parents – because he is Mia’s brother. He ends up causing Harry to go into anaphylactic shock requiring a trip to the ER via ambulance. Oops.
Jack does feel bad especially after Mia explains that she actually HIRED Harry to do what he did. He takes Harry home to his run-down apartment. He also discovers that Harry and his roommate Tristan are looking for a third roommate. But the time Harry comes to, it’s a done deal. Jack is now their third roommate as he’s been couch-surfing and needs a place. The rent is cheap and it turns out that Jack actually kinda likes Harry – even though he assumes that Harry is straight. But even Harry doesn’t know exactly what Harry’s orientation is. He just doesn’t feel that way about anyone really.
As Jack and Harry spend more time together, Jack likes Harry more and more. Harry doesn’t know what’s going on. He’s feeling things that he hasn’t before. Is this what attraction feels like? Could he like Jack in that way? It takes a little time for them to sort of navigate this new scenario.
In the meantime, Harry has an ongoing feud with a women in a charity shop. And Mia, Jack’s sister has plenty of her own surprises to share. Jack is also dealing with the disappointment of his parents that he didn’t finish his university degree and is happy being a mechanic apprentice. It’s all going to come to a head though when secrets are spilled and the truth comes out.
Oh my! This was so much fun! Harry is so adorable. His feud with Beryl? LOL! Jack’s nearly killing Harry? Mia’s secrets? All so perfectly played out in this story. I was pulled in from the very first sentence. A really lovely blend of sweet, sexy, romantic, and laugh out loud funny is what you can expect in this story. The series so far has been a delight! Tristan, the third roommate is QUITE the character. I’m dying to get into his book. He seems to go through a different man every night – but with no unsatisfied paramours it seems. In fact despite his one night stand ways, he’s instrumental in helping Jack and Harry get over their stumbling blocks with Jack’s actions cause Harry to run. It’s also great to see Ambrose and Liam again 🙂 A fun series built on a great premise that I’m thoroughly enjoying.
Grant Cartwright was a new narrator to me with the first book. He continues his excellent work here on the second book in this series. I know the authors were keen to get a native Australian narrator for this series and they struck gold here. The voice choices, the accent, the pacing are on point. I loved the humor and pathos in the emotional journey of these two. Harry is on a journey of self-discovery throughout the book and I appreciated the performance of this tentative and new world that Harry finds as he responds to his attraction to Jack. Just a really well done audio. I loved all the characters here – but Tristan and Beryl as supporting characters really stood out 🙂 Highly recommended.
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