Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: The Boyfriend Proposal
SERIES: Appleton Falls
AUTHOR: Felice Stevens
NARRATOR: Kale Williams
PUBLISHER: Good Man Press
LENGTH: 7 hours and 49minutes
RELEASE DATE: August 24, 2026
BLURB:
Theo
I’m just me—plain, boring Theo. Everyone’s friend but no one’s boyfriend. Dating apps don’t work for me, and the one time I try to change my image is a total disaster.
All I want is someone to come home to and hold hands with. A boyfriend who’ll love me. It doesn’t help that I have this silly crush on Jaxon Polaris, our sexy, gorgeous, district attorney. He’s a flirt who’s never without a date. No matter how nice he is to me, I know the truth. A man like Jaxon would never be interested in someone like me.
Jaxon
I love being the district attorney of Appleton Falls, but I definitely have dreams of sitting on the bench. When the leader of the party approaches me, suggesting I run for a judgeship, I’m thrilled…until he tells me my image as a party boy might hurt me with small-town voters. I can’t deny it—I’ve had more than my share of lovers, and I’ve never hidden my desire to remain single. His suggestion? Find a nice guy and make him my boyfriend.
Problem is, I don’t know any nice guys…except shy, quiet Theo Sweeny.
Reluctantly, Theo agrees to my boyfriend proposal, and the man proceeds to challenge me at every turn. Shy? He’s stubborn and feisty. But his kisses are so sweet, and I can’t stop thinking about him. Being with Theo means I’ll have to tell him my truth—a secret that could prevent me from achieving my dreams. But the more I get to know Theo, the more I come to realize: Win or lose the election, what I’m searching for might be right here by my side.
REVIEW:
Note: This book contains spoilers for the previous books in the series.
Theo Sweeny’s life is OK. He’s taken over his family bar after taking care of his alcoholic abusive father for years. He lives across the street in his older family home. He’s made a lot of positive changes and improvements in the years since he’s been running the bar and his nest egg is in good shape – which is good since he still has a lot of renovation to do to his house. He’s taking it slowly because it’s large and needs a lot of work. Most days he just works, comes home to sleep. Rinse. Repeat. What he wouldn’t give to have a boyfriend or partner though. He didn’t come out until after his father was gone and he has spent his whole life feeling like he doesn’t fit in. He gets nervous around other out men and he is fairly inexperienced. He has friends now – including the deputies from the local police force and now their partners/husbands, but now he is even more aware of his lonely status and everyone seems to be coupling up.
Jaxon Polaris is the local District Attorney. He’s another out gorgeous man who makes Theo nervous. Jaxon’s profile has risen significantly after a huge case of police corruption at the highest levels crossed over into drugs and gun running and he’s done a great job of handling the fallout and prosecution. He is also a huge flirt and doesn’t do repeats. He’s not looking for Mr. Right – more like Mr. Right Now. But when he’s approached about running for an opening on the bench when someone will be elevated to a higher court, he can’t help but be flattered. It’s what he’s always wanted – to be successful and help people in a way that is meaningful. His personal life however? It might be misconstrued and more so because he’s a single gay man. His mentor gently suggest that he might want to find a stable boyfriend to help his chances of winning the election against a “family values” candidate with a wife and five kids.
Jaxon bristles at the suggesting that his personal life should have any bearing on his candidacy, but he know that’s unrealistic. At least for a minority population who will face additional unfair scrutiny. Then he runs into Theo at a legal conference and watches him get away from what could have been a disastrous situation. That accidental meeting plants the germ of an idea. Theo would be the ideal candidate for his stable “boyfriend.”
Jaxon’s initial proposal to Theo of posing as his “fake” boyfriend for the election does NOT sit well with Theo at first. And then his friends – well one in particular – takes a run at Jaxon as well for not caring for Theo and being selfish and potentially hurting Theo. Theo doesn’t exactly love that his friends seem to think he, as an almost 40 year old man, can’t take care of himself or make his own decisions 😐 Then the opposition candidate shows up at Theo’s bar. And that convinces him to go all in and accept Theo’s proposal.
Things get off to a bit of a rocky start, but eventually they settle into a pattern of spending evenings together – largely at Theo’s house. Jaxon wines and dines him and spoils him a bit. They have had a no intimacy pact, but soon their lust gets in the way. But then Theo pulls back again. Jaxon has issues as well. Theo wants them to be honest with each other and then Jaxon shares his difficult upbringing, he understands why Jaxon has been reluctant to get into any real relationship.
When the one secret that Jaxon has never ever divulged to anyone comes out at the most inopportune time, it nearly wrecks him. And worse, he’s convinced that he will lose everything as a result. He should never underestimate Theo though 😉
On this story was so emotional! Both Theo and Jaxon have overcome a lot to get to where they are in life. Jaxon has worked so hard to make a success of himself despite an incredibly rough start in life. Theo has managed to move on from his abusive childhood and make a success of his business. He has friends now and a purpose. But he is lonely. Jaxon doesn’t think about being lonely. He can always find a date or bed partner when he wants one. He masks his loneliness with an active but surface social life. When they start spending time together, well it’s clear that these two guys would be much better off if they could just be honest about what it is the want in life. They both resist falling – but clearly they are helpless against the onslaught of feelings. When they are both vulnerable enough to expose their true desires for a real relationship, well things come together. It certainly wasn’t easy, but they manage to work together to get their happy ending 🙂
Kale Williams does another masterful job performing this story. Theo’s growth from a nervous and shy man to someone who can hold his own with Jaxon and his friends and colleagues was just beautiful to behold. Support and confidence do great things for him 🙂 Jaxon’s evolution from good-time guy to serious and caring boyfriend was so lovely. His work get Theo to understand what a great guy he actually is made me so happy. Their relationship was a bit start and stop and they had numerous hurdles to overcome, but I believed every single word of this story in this capable narrator’s hands. Honestly this author and narrator are a match made in heaven. I really loved hearing them go from secret crush to HEA over the course of this story. Oh and the epilogue? *chef’s kiss* Brava and bravo for this audiobook.
RATING: 
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