We have a lot of eARC’s and we want to promote them a little bit more. So we decided to do some more Bookish Beginnings On Friday. One of my more recent Can’t Wait Wednesday picks was The Perfect Guy Doesn’t Exist by Sophie Gonzales. So of course I was super excited to get an EARC. And I think its perfect for this post, so let’s dive in!
A fanfic writer brings her favorite TV character to life in this friends-to-enemies-to-lovers novel full of humor and heart.
Ivy Winslow has the house to herself for a week while her parents are away. She’s planning to use this newfound freedom to binge-watch her favorite fantasy TV show, H-MAD, and hang out with her best friend, Henry. She’ll also have to avoid her former best friend-turned enemy (and neighbor), Mack. But things quickly go awry when Ivy wakes up to find Weston, the gorgeous, very fictional main character of H-MAD in her bedroom, claiming to be her soul mate.
Ivy realizes that her fanfic writing has somehow brought Weston as she’s imagined him to life. But it turns out that the tropes she swoons over in her stories are slightly less romantic in reality, and her not-so-fictional crush is causing some real-world problems. To figure out why Weston is here and what to do with him, Ivy decides to team up with Henry and (against her better judgment) Mack. But with Mack back in her life, Ivy starts to wonder if Weston, her “perfect guy”, is the one who’s truly perfect for her . . . or if that was someone else all along.
I think my pacing is alarming Mack. She’s sitting on my bed with her hands pressed together in a praying pose on her lap and one eyebrow quirked as she watches me go around and around my bedroom. I’ve been doing it for a while now. It’s not that I’ve backed out of telling her or anything. More that, now the moment is finally here, I can’t seem to remember a single word in the English language. She tucks her hands in the pockets of her oversized Nike hoodie—a men’s one she found in her favorite shade of teal last year—then takes one hand straight back out and sweeps her long braids back over her shoulder. She’s stressed, I’m stressed, this is stressful, and I wish I didn’t decide to do it today, but I did. I’m committed now, and I’m going to. Eventually.
I have no clue what’s going on in this scene yet but I do want to know more! Sophie Gonzales is already an author I tend to really enjoy and this beginning gets me excited for this newest release. I really enjoy Sophie’s writing style, I was halfway through the chapter before I could stop myself.
As I’ve said many times, I’m not a big contemporary reader. But a writer like Sophie Gonzales gets me really excited about a contemporary story. Although I’ll admit this one does have a magical twist. And I’m curious to see how Sophie handles that.
I have really high hopes for this book and it’ll probably end up on my favorites list once I’ve finished it. What do you think of the start of the book? Would you want to read it? Let me know in the comments!
