Book Review: The Boyfriend Project by Farrah Rochon

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This book is an adult contemporary romance that is more than two strong personalities growing feelings for each other as it dives slightly into the trope of an undercover agent falling for the colleague at a workplace he’s inspecting at; and brings a confident woman to the front and center as she fights the themes of misogyny, sexism, and racism in the tech industry through an insightful narration. Thank you to Forever Publishing for the opportunity to read this early!

Samiah is an ambitious Black woman whose hard-work and talent has gotten her far into the coding industry, but her dream of launching a self-coded app is still blooming everyday. Her portrayal is so pleasantly surprising through her love for make-up—especially a smoky eye—and her dry humour. She’s clearly not one to let go off what’s evidently wrong and that is boldly, unapologetically put forward throughout the story.

Daniel is the biracial son of a Korean mother and an African-American father who is now working for a government agency that employs him to gather intelligence and information around financial crimes by stepping into undercover personas at different offices. His hard-work and sheer dedication has brought him to the heights but he’s also had to say goodbye to potential relationships due to the nature of his job.

The two main characters typically meet at the coffee station of their office every morning, and soon the quick little chats—and fun flirting—turn into dates. Though, this budding session is even more interesting since the two have their own reasons to stay away from this potential workplace romance that is clearly not on either of their agendas.

Samiah and Daniel are so compatible that it hurts at times if you’re super single and the easy conversations, innocent jabs, humorous sequences, or long discussions are evident enough. They can and do talk about all the themes that this story wishes to explore and not only does that give the readers more than the romance but also strengthens the emotions of these two. Plus, the kisses and more will leave you flustered.

Right off the bat, four women—including Samiah—coincidentally come together when they all find out about their cheater boyfriend, the man who four-timed them: courtesy of Twitter. And soon they connect over more than just an unfaithful man. They share their dreams and insecurities, and collectively decide on The Boyfriend Project, a six-month commitment to not be romantically committed and work on oneself. It’s refreshing to see these friendships, especially in contrast to a woman at Samiah’s workplace who steals our protagonist’s excellent ideas and passes them to the top heads by herself.

This story perfectly includes the reality of marginalised representation in workplaces through Samiah’s stance at her office and outside, where she supports her ideologies by actually dedicating her success or opportunities to those women of color who need to see someone like them in great places and with great possibilities. She’s also vocal about hardships that she and so many have to face for being different in the white-dominated sectors, especially through transparent conversations around diversity at her workplace—or the lack thereof—and being the ‘rarest of rarities: a diversity unicorn’ according to the corporate world of coding.

my rating ↣ ★★★★☆

Buy the book: Amazon US | Bookshop UK | Amazon IN

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