love and the real boyRating: 5 stars
Buy Link:
Amazon | All Romance | Amazon UK
Length: Novel


After virtually ruining his only friendship by trying to tear another friendship apart, Rich Langston is lost. Though you wouldn’t know it from his icy exterior and cool façade. So when he’s asked to help restore Justice’s fiancé’s prized boat, he takes on the task as a sort of penance. As Rich is trying to wrap his head around the loss of his best friend and trying to start his life over without Rory, another bomb drops. When they were in foster care, Rich’s brother, Joseph-Michael, was adopted. Rich has wondered a lot about him over the years, but has hesitated to contact him. What if his adoptive family was no better than their mother? What if J-M hated him? Out of nowhere, a PI shows up claiming that J-M is searching for Rich and would like to meet him. And suddenly, Rich—the man who always has a plan—has no idea what to do. In the midst of his turmoil walks Patrick. Rich never expected to meet a man who would turn his life around.

Patrick O’Dowd had heard all about Rich’s attempt to take over as Rory’s best man by outing Justice to his friend and everyone else, yet something about the arrogant asshole intrigued Patrick.  When he realizes there’s more wrong with Rich than losing his friend, Patrick takes the time to be a listening ear. Well, it’s more like pulling teeth at first, but eventually Rich talks. And that leads to the bedroom. Rich isn’t the kind of guy to sleep with the same guy twice, but Patrick becomes the exception to that rule. Their nights are filled with talking and sex. In Patrick, Rich finds a comfort he never expected, more so than in any friend he’s ever had.

The appearance of Rich’s brother, jealousies of old friends, old relationships barely put to rest, and an accidental outing only serve to draw Rich and Patrick closer. When they make up a story and lie about their status as boyfriends—saying they are, when Rich is sure they aren’t—both men find more than they ever bargained for.

Love and the Real Boy is the second book in J.K. Hogan’s Coming About series.

Yes! I’ve been dying for Rich’s story since the last book. Some of you know him as “douche suit guy.”  I just like to think of him as misunderstood. Okay, I know that he was a total douche to Justice in I Survived Seattle, but at least now we know why. Although by the end of book one, I was certain there was more of a story, and I wanted it. I was not disappointed. With Love and the Real Boy, Hogan takes readers on an in depth journey into the life of Rich Langston, aka Ricky Dalton. On one hand, it’s a sad and heartbreaking tale of a man who is either left or loses everybody in his life until the day he finds the one man stubborn enough to stay. On the other hand, this book is the heartwarming, sweet tale of a man who finds himself where he least expected it.

I loved Rich, which should be no surprise as I happen to fall hard for all the broken heroes. But Rich is exceptionally broken. He uses his past as a sort of shield, not one he tells people about. No. That would be too easy. Instead, Rich shores up his defenses and wears a greater-than-thou façade complete with top of the line suits, a high paying job, and a cherry red douche-mobile. But his transformation from asshat to real boy, as the author puts it, is the beauty of this story. And Rich wouldn’t have been able to find the real boy he is without Patrick. I loved Patrick for all his hard headedness. He refused to back down. Even when Patrick is the one to screw up, he refuses to let Rich hide. I love the way he digs beneath the surface to find the real Rich without Rich even realizing it. Also the Irish accent I hear in my head for Patrick… completely sexy, but that could just be me. I have a thing for red heads and accents. They are a wonderful couple.

And this story. There’s so much I want to tell you, so I’ll start with this: read it. This book is near impossible to put down once you pick it up. You’ll need to read book one just so you are up to speed as to the tension between Rich and the others and the mentions of the previous story, but it’s worth it too. I liked that one as well. But this story is so much more… complicated, yet not. The author does a wonderful job taking some pretty heavy subjects and using them in a way that doesn’t weigh the story down. I appreciated that. Because whereas Rich’s story is intense, it’s not so heavy it hurts. It’s such an easy read, even with the different storylines interweaving. I was enthralled. I loved it.

Rory!!! Okay, so if you read the first book and you’re anything like me, you knew there was something about Rory. Something not quite kosher. I’m still scratching my head about him. You see, at one point at the end of book one I was just so sure Rory and Rich would end up together. Not that I’m the type of girl who cheers on broken marriages or home wreckers, but there was something between Rich and Rory and I knew it way back then. Now I know the truth of it. And the truth is there is something. Friendship. But Hogan has me on pins and needles with Rory—AGAIN!—with a one-liner that has me questioning everything. Okay, really it’s a couple lines throughout the book, but definitely one line at the end. Will we see Rory again? Sources say you’ll have to wait and see. I am definitely watching and waiting.

I loved, loved, loved Rich and Patrick’s story. A truer, more explosive romance I couldn’t ask for. It was wonderful from beginning to end and now I’m once again dying to know what’s coming next. So yes, I’ll be stalking the Wilde City website until the third book is released. I highly, highly recommend Love and the Real Boy by J.K. Hogan.

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