Tiffany Schmidt

"Rory likes Toby, but Toby likes Rory's sister Merrilee, even though Merrilee is already dating Toby's friend Fielding--and it's all about to get even more complicated at Reginald R. Hero High"--

A Bookish Boyfriends Novel

The Boy Next Story

Candyce Kirk

Let's start off by saying that you don't have to read the first book in this series to read this one. Even though they are connected in a few ways, The Boy Next Story can be read as a standalone.

That being said, I have to sat that The Boy Next Story is a perfect summer read. We meet Aurora (Rory) who is an artistic type and quite talented. She's more of an introvert and is having a hard time finding her place at school and maybe even at home. I loved Rory, because she isn't the perfect teenage girl about to start a romantic journey. She has a hard time with school, works hard and is still insecure about many things. Rory works at it though and I think it's amazing the author shows us a character like this as well. Your dreams still work even when you have to work a bit harder.

The Boy Next Story mixes The Great Gatsby and Little Women in the plot and even though I haven't read either of these, I didn't feel like I was missing anything. Enough is explained to understand why it's used in the book, but it's not too much. I could still pick up these books and want to read them. My favorite part of these books being included was the English teacher who seemed to know what books a student was needing. I love the idea of a book helping someone understand themselves more and their dreams.

On top of amazing connections with books, there are some awesome characters. Rory becomes friends with Huck and I loved his character. He seems really genuine and I honestly wouldn't mind seeing him in his own story. Toby, the boy next door, is really fun as well. I liked getting to know him while reading this book and the romance between him and Rory was really cute. Not too much, but just enough.

Besides the friends we meet along the way, a lot of time is spent with Rory's family. I felt bad at times for Rory, because she really felt left out. Their relationships do develop during this book and it was nice seeing Rory stand up for herself and start telling them how she felt. 

All in all, this was such a cute story! I definitely plan on picking up the first one soon. If it's anything like this one, I need to read it this summer.

The Boy Next Story A Bookish Boyfriends Novel

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