Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: Terribly Tristan
SERIES: Bad Boyfriends, Inc.
AUTHORS: Lisa Henry and Sarah Honey
NARRATOR: Grant Cartwright
PUBLISHER: Tantor Media
LENGTH: 6 hours and 80 minutes1
RELEASE DATE: May 13, 2025
BLURB:
Bad Boyfriends, Inc—when you can’t find a good boyfriend, why not hire a bad one instead?
Leo Fisher is the outward picture of respectability, just like his parents raised him to be. But when he inherits a crumbling terrace house from his great-uncle, he also inherits a tenant who turns his world upside down. Tristan is brazen, gorgeous, experienced and utterly fabulous. He’s everything Leo is not—so why is Leo drawn to him? Leo has always made the right choices—the sensible choices—yet here he is, hooking up with his tenant, who’s a rent boy.
Tristan Montague is not a rent boy. Not exactly. He’s a bad boyfriend. For a fee, he’ll turn any date into the kind of disaster that will have his client’s unsuspecting parents begging them to date anyone but him. Boyfriending for cash is fun—but for real? No, thanks. Tristan doesn’t do relationships. Except when he meets his cute, awkward landlord Leo, Tristan finds himself rethinking his No Relationships rule. But in order for Leo to take a stand against his overbearing parents, Tristan will need to play the bad boyfriend one last time—and it’s going to have to be spectacular.
Contains mature themes.
REVIEW:
Note: This is the third book in this series and contains spoilers for the other books 🙂
Tristan has taken over the Bad Boyfriend gig. He’s doing it for fun more than anything. And he’s SPECTACULAR at it. He’s been banned from so many restaurants already 🙂 He likes living with Jack and Harry in their run down apartment building even though they’ve gotten very sappy now that they are together 😉
Then the guys learn that Jimmy, their landlord has passed away. So of course they want to go to the funeral and wake to pay their respects. It’s clear who the family are – and there aren’t that many of them. The rest are friends from the neighborhood. This includes the guys, the drag queens, the workers in the local sex-shop, etc. The wake is kicking and then they go to an after party at a club.
Leo Fisher is Jimmy’s great-nephew. He is gay and when Tristan meets him at the wake, he makes assumptions about who Leo is to Jimmy. The Leo makes assumptions about Tristan and his job. He totally misunderstands about the Bad Boyfriend dates and assumes that Tristan’s job is something else entirely 😉 This goes on for a while – even after he and Tris have had a night together. A very good night thank you very much.
Tristan is shocked that he can’t stop thinking about Leo. He figures out other reasons for them to get together under the guise of helping him since he’s inherited Jimmy’s estate. This includes the falling down building that Leo is determined to fix and the sex shop and it’s attached apartment. This all comes in quite handy at some point in the story 🙂
Leo’s family is “accepting” of their gay son. As long as he’s the “right” kind of gay. Leo has been chafing under their control and disapproval for years. Now that he’s dating Tristan and working on the apartments etc., he’s done kowtowing to them. So he and Tristan come up with a plan. And it’s a doozy!!!
This was an absolutely fabulous conclusion to this series. I for one am sad it’s over. The premise, the setting, the characters, the humor and the heart were on full display in this final episode. I am not going to spoil this at all because the reveal is just FAR too perfect. Tristan is not at all what he appears – in more ways than one 🙂 We finally get to find out more about Jimmy, the mysterious landlord who is mentioned many a time in the series. The family dynamics between Jimmy and his family are explored throughout the story. More than one character is revealed to be someone other than the reader assumes and I loved it every singe time 🙂 Leo is just wanting to break free of his boring life and his controlling parents and figure out what it is he really wants. Finding out about his Uncle Jimmy and the life he lived gives him the courage to go for what he wants. Surprisingly enough Tristan wants more than a one and done with Leo! This is a first. Their awkward first meeting aside, these two are so good together after Leo finally understands that his first impression and subsequent assumptions about Tristan are completely wrong. But he still doesn’t know just wrong he is 😉 There is so much hilarity with Tristan getting Leo out of his shell. He’s certain there is a fun and free guy under the buttoned up exterior and he’s determined to help release THAT guy. The guy that it turns out he wants. Liam and Ambrose and Jack and and Harry are as shocked as anybody that Tristan’s parade of men seems to be over. They like Leo and they want to keep their home (well Jack and Harry and Tristan do). Leo is determined to do right be his uncle in spite of interference from his family. When he finally stands up for himself? IT IS GLORIOUS! One of the BEST reveals ever. I loved it. This writing duo is so good with the balance of humor to heartfelt romance that I would read their books forever.
Once again Grant Cartwright does a fantastic job of performing this story. There are a lot of characters here, some known to us and a lot of new ones. I adored Tristan’s devil may care attitude – totally consistent through all the books. But Mr. Cartwright is able to bring a sweetness to Tristan when he realizes that he isn’t done with Leo. He’s done a superb job with this whole series. The new characters are so well done. Leo’s chagrin when he realizes he’s been completely mistaken about Tristan is spot on. The big reveal and the stuffy attitude of Leo’s parents? *chef’s kiss’ Highly recommend this whole series. Rom Com at it finest with perfect performances.
RATING: 
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