To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before meets The Farewell in this incisive romantic comedy about a college student who hires a fake boyfriend to appease her traditional Taiwanese parents, to disastrous results, from the acclaimed author of American Panda.
Chloe Wang is nervous to introduce her parents to her boyfriend, because the truth is, she hasn’t met him yet either. She hired him from Rent for Your ’Rents, a company specializing in providing fake boyfriends trained to impress even the most traditional Asian parents.
Drew Chan’s passion is art, but after his parents cut him off for dropping out of college to pursue his dreams, he became a Rent for Your ’Rents employee to keep a roof over his head. Luckily, learning protocols like “Type C parents prefer quiet, kind, zero-PDA gestures” comes naturally to him.
Drew Chan’s passion is art, but after his parents cut him off for dropping out of college to pursue his dreams, he became a Rent for Your ’Rents employee to keep a roof over his head. Luckily, learning protocols like “Type C parents prefer quiet, kind, zero-PDA gestures” comes naturally to him.
But when Chloe starts to fall for the real Drew—who, unlike his fake persona, is definitely not ’rent-worthy—her carefully curated life begins to unravel. Can she figure out what she wants before she loses everything? (Taken from goodreads.com)
*Before I jump in I want to thank Simon Teen and Netgalley for an eARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own and have not been impacted by this fact.*
Chloe wants her parents to stop pestering her about when she’s going to start dating. She knows that if she says she’s ready, they will try to set her up with Hongbo, resident butthole and super rich boy. This is where Drew comes in, Chloe’s hired boyfriend from Rent for Your ‘Rents. Chloe thought this would be quick and easy, hire Drew and get her parents off of her back. But as Chloe keeps needing to rent Drew, slowly their relationship grows outside of work and things start to blur.
This was one of the cutest books I have read in a very long time. Chloe wants to please her parents after choosing a career path her dentist parents don’t approve of, economics. They want her to marry Hongbo, the son of their friends who is the star of the town even though he’s really nothing more than gum stuck to the bottom of your shoe. Chloe is smart, passionate, kind and wants nothing more than to make her parents happy even if its at the expense of her own happiness. I wanted to hug Chloe, she’s is too kind.
Then we have Drew, or Andrew as he calls himself to those who rent him. He is an artist, he is kind and smart. He wants to help Chloe and slowly even wants to know her out of work.
Chloe’s parents want nothing more than to give her a better life, its hard for them to understand that what Chloe wants might actually be what will give her a better life. Chloe’s relationship with them changes throughout the novel and I love the way we get to know her father better. I would love more about Chloe and her dad.
I have always loved Gloria’s books and this was no different. I love learning more about the Chinese culture and this was so cute and so much fun! I highly recommend this one!!