If you’re looking for an a fun, sweet YA romance with trans rep, then I have the book for you!

The Borrow a Boyfriend Club was such an entertaining read, like at one point I was just giggling away to myself as I read because it was verging on being a comedy of errors, but at the same time it was really heartwarming!

Noah goes on such a journey of self acceptance throughout the book, gradually gaining confidence and I really empathised with him throughout, especially when he felt unsupported by his parents and because of how realistically his insecurities were written.

The side characters were so much fun and I just ADORED Lenny, but I also really enjoyed Noah’s budding romance with Asher! It was so sweet and I was rooting for them from the beginning, even if I too wanted to smack him once or twice!

Honestly, this was the light, entertaining read that I really needed right now! Not to mention Noah’s journey to self love and how unserious this book is! It’s a little bit silly in places and it certainly doesn’t take itself too seriously, but it’s fast paced and I had such a good time breezing through it!

This book gave me giggles and warm fuzzies a plenty!

The Borrow a Boyfriend Club follows Noah, a trans high school student who has just moved schools and joins the 'Football and Lamborghini' club in order to convince his fellow students of his gender. The club turns out to be a front for the Borrow a Boyfriend club where classmates can 'borrow' a member for dates to dances, weddings and so on. Noah doesn't pass the initiation but strikes a deal, he'll help the club win at the fundraising talent show if he can continue with initiation. He gets off on the wrong foot with the club president Asher but after a few rounds of showing off his dating skills, their fake romance isn't feeling all that fake anymore. The only issue is that if he helps get the club's funding and becomes a full member, he'll have to follow the stay single rule.

Up front, this story will be slightly absurd but once you get past the initial 'okay, they're doing what?' stage, it's such a fun ride. Noah's journey is genuinely lovely to read, while he still deals with issues around his gender like frustration with his parents, having to do things like name change documents himself and reflecting on the slip ups at his old school which made him move high schools in the first place, we also see his confidence soar. He makes friends with other members of the club and sees how there are so many forms of masculinity, it's not one size fits all. Lenny is probably my favourite side character, he's a goof who I would have been friends with in high school.

The romance element does have enemies to lovers vibes but I did find it frustrating at times. Maybe that's how we're supposed to feel, just like Noah with the bluntness he gets from Asher but I would have maybe liked to see Noah deny his feelings less so, having a realisation earlier in the book might have made the pacing just a little smoother. I liked Asher as the love interest, he was very different to any others I've seen and I also kind of loved that labels were never really used for his or Noah's sexualities. They're young and figuring stuff out, sometimes vibes are what we need!

This book is so much fun, there's trans joy, dancing, fake dates, a club theme song, Italian folk tales... what more could you want?

This was a quick read, fun and heart-warming in the way that makes me devour a book in one sitting. It's a little bit silly, but embraces that in the way that all the best YA does, and made for a fun ride that I adored. The characters were incredible and I loved watching them develop throughout the story.

The kind of book that made me dizzy up with feelings. I absolutely devoured it within an afternoon. Just swoony and a bit silly but actually quite emotionally grounded.

I was not expecting this to be this good!! But seriously this was such a great YA contemporary; the concept, of course, is a bit silly, but it worked so well and the characters were really just everything. Noah was a fantastic main character who you couldn't help but feel for, and I loved Asher as well. It was just such an adorable story, with found family elements, self-acceptance and classic teenage awkwardness. This whole book really just feels like a warm hug and I think that it will be so comforting to so many people. I'll admit that I didn't really get where the popularity for the club within the school came from, or how it can really work either, but overall this book is so incredibly heartwarming, cute, and fluffy, and I look forward to reading more from the author!

This was such a cute story with some really strong emotions inside. It went deep into the need a trans boy has to be accepted as a boy both by his classmates and by his family. I really felt for Noah every time he didn't feel enough or every time his parents called him N.

I liked the cast of characters in this book, though sometimes there were a few too many boyfriends to keep track of. It was nice to be handed a little hint about the character's personality at the start with "the popular one" or "the sporty one" or "the influencer one" and then learn more about their personality beyond that as we went through the book.

And I loved how supportive this club was to each other and to Noah. It really had such a feeling of found family to it. I can imagine them sticking together through everything.

The Borrow a Boyfriend Club follows Noah, a transgender teenage boy who has recently relocated to a new school to escape his former identity and leave behind all of the micro-aggressions and memories of his former self that haunted him at his previous school. Desperate to solidify his identity immediately, Noah intends to join the most masculine club in school and finds himself suddenly in the midst of a very difficult initiation process for a coveted spot as part of the school’s secret ‘Borrow a Boyfriend Club’.

As he undertakes the initiation process, he finds himself fitting in better than he could have expected and forming complicated and unwelcome feelings for the club’s infuriating president, Asher. He then starts to wonder whether he’s really only doing this to solidify his identity, or if he really could find somewhere to belong in the club.

This is a really sweet, wholesome book about not only Noah but a whole cast of really unique and interesting characters who are trying to find their identities and place in the school. The transgender representation is really genuine and emotional, and Noah is a very easy character to root for. There are so many other good characters to fall in love with in this story as well, each with their own struggles to overcome, and it was really just a joy to read about Noah and the others as they realised what exactly would make them happy.

I did have some issues with the constant back-and-forth of the enemies-to-lovers romance, but everything that the characters did seemed consistent and there were so many sweet, romantic moments that this didn’t bother me too much. The fast pace of the book means that this is easily something that can be read in a few days, and I flew through it, desperate to know whether Noah would get his happily-ever-after.

If you’re looking for an adorable, cosy romance, or a contemporary with incredible LGBTQ+ rep, I absolutely recommend.

This heartfelt debut is one of the funniest books I’ve read this year and I enjoyed it so much! The main character Noah wants to prove that he’s the perfect boy at his new school to keep his classmates from guessing that he’s trans. His plan? Join the illustrious (and secret) Borrow a Boyfriend Club! But there are some unexpected challenges before he’s accepted: From romancing the grumpy club president (without falling for him) to teaching the club members a dance routine for the school’s talent show. As you might expect, things don’t quite go as planned. I loved the concept of this secret club and all of the steps that were part of Noah’s acceptance made for such an entertaining and fun read. But my highlight was definitely the cast of characters! I adored not only Noah but also how all of the club members grew into a found family. Page Powars perfectly captured how awkward being a teen is and added a swoony romance and so much trans joy!

[ARC provided by NetGalley and Hachette Children's Group, Hodder Children's Books. Thank you for the opportunity to read and review The Borrow a Boyfriend Club.]

Rating: 5/5

The Borrow a Boyfriend Club was the kind of book that by the end of the first chapter, I knew I would love it. Page Powars’ debut is a delightful contemporary romcom that follows Noah, a trans teenager who has joined a new school where he hopes to be seen by his fellow classmates as his true gender. His plan involves joining a school club, a particularly secretive one at that, called The Borrow a Boyfriend Club. This is a place where classmates can rent out club members for dates and Noah is certain that the key to fitting in for him is to become a member. Unfortunately for Noah, this is no easy task, and he’ll have to win over the difficult club president, Asher, before his place in the club is secured.

There’s so many reasons I loved this story and one of my favourites was the characters, and more importantly, the character development. Powars has done an excellent job of creating a diverse, interesting cast that all bring different things to the table. I loved the various ‘types’ in the club (I’d have been arty type for sure), but the characters had more depth than I expected which made me appreciate them even more. They have their own very different personalities along with the struggles they face individually. Noah and Asher in particular grew a lot throughout the book and their journey from strangers to dislike to love was incredibly sweet.

I also felt that the pacing in this book was perfect. A lot happens but we progress through the school year quickly and get to enjoy a lot of different scenes. My favourites were the escape room and then literally any scene with Noah and Asher’s adorable pining, so pretty much every page.

I highly recommend The Borrow a Boyfriend Club to anyone who loves sweet, young adult romcoms that feature important themes, complex characters and a very cute romance. Page Powars has produced a lovely debut and I can’t wait to read whatever else he releases in the future.

Noah recently finished his transition and switches high schools in the middle of the year to get a fresh start. On his new school he wants to be just Noah. He decides to join a club to blend in with the other boys, but his options are limited because most clubs only do applications at the beginning of the school year. He decides to join the Football and Lamborghini Club, only to discover that it’s actually a disguise for the Borrow a Boyfriend Club. And he has accidentally insulted the club president earlier that day. Can he pass Asher’s rounds and join the club?

The Borrow a Boyfriend Club was a book that made me giggle, smile and feel for the characters. Just like Noah I wasn’t fond of all the characters in the beginning. But as Noah got to know them better, I started to like them more and more. It felt like I was building a friendship with them throughout the book. There were many sweet and funny moments in the book but also heartfelt moments.

I really felt for Noah. Throughout the whole book he second guessed his actions, trying to prove to himself and others that he’s truly a boy. It didn’t help that his parents kept calling him ‘N’ just like before his transition. He just wants to be Noah. And Noah deserves the world if you ask me.

The Borrow A Boyfriend Club is a book filled with sweet moments, humour and a journey about self love.

The Borrow a Boyfriend Club focuses on Noah as he is starting at a new school after transferring. Noah wants to join a club, something to prove he is a boy, and one of the only clubs accepting is the “Football and Lamborghini Club”, which is really the Borrow a Boyfriend Club. And they have a 3 stage interview process for accepting new members - even though the club is struggling.

I absolutely loved all the characters and I really just want to give them all a hug and hang out with them. I also liked that each character in the club was more than their ‘type’ and that they had personalities and weren’t just background characters to the focus of Noah and Asher.

As some of you know Fake Dating is my absolute favourite trope and I am so happy that this is part of the book, as well borrowing a boyfriend suggests it will be a fake date!

Noah wants to be accepted, especially after what happened at this old school, and it seems like Noah has to prove to everyone, including himself that he is enough, and throughout the book we can see that acceptance growing, we see positive changes in Noah’s life including big ones! Noah isn’t the only one struggling with acceptance, as Asher is too but in a completely different way, he is trying to live up to expectations and be like his role models.

I absolutely loved this book and there were some fun scenes that were well written, like the first date, or the escape room! I enjoyed this book a lot and read it one day. I am giving The Borrow a Boyfriend Club 5 stars and I can’t wait to see what Page Powars comes out with next!

OMG this book were do I start. If you love Red White and Royal Blue, One Last stop and Love Simon you will love this book.
This Book follows Noha who is trans who had started at a new school to find his identity and to be himself. To do this he tries to find a club that is very boy orientated. He then stumbles across Football.and Lamboghni club disguised as The Borrow A Boyfriend Club run by the stand offish and a bit of a douchebag Asher Price. Noha then must impress Asher in a seris of interviews one of wich to Romance Asher to become a Member and with the clubs.money running out to win a dance completion.
I loved the Romance between Asher and Noha I love Enemy to Lovers books and this one was brilliant I wanted Noha to do well and I think got emotional in certain parts. I am not Trans myself but I felt by reading this book I found something new from.the community like how hard it is to get even your name Said in full by your over ones. This book is very accepting and I forgot that Noha was Trans while reading it. I loves the whole finding yourself and the message this book will send to young Trans people that it's OK to be yourself and that nothing is wrong with you.
I loved the charctures there was even a charcture who was diabetic I am diabetic myself so I felt seen so thankyou I am hoping one day we will get a MC with diabeties. Just having a support charcture with diabeties pressing a button on a pump made me feel seen. Charcture development was amazing and the ending left me Satsyfied I would love to see a sequel as I want more Adventures of Asher and Noha. The cover is amazing I love purple.
Thankyou Netgally the Publisher and the Aiuthor for letting me read and review this book. I hope it gets the hype it deserves its up there now with. My all time face LGBTQ+ Romances all though this book is so much more then just a Romance book. 5 stars

I wanted to like this more than i did, but the concept just felt weird to me in the end. I liked part of Noah’s motivations - I do get that he doesn’t want to trust after his previous experience. However the way he goes about it didn’t quite sit right. And Asher was way too all over the place. Their romance is cute in the end though, and the book is silly enough to just get away with it all really :) Good entertainment, just not quite what I personally hoped for. 3 stars.

The Borrow a Boyfriend Club follows Noah, a young trans guy who moves to a new school to start over after he transitions, and he just wants to be seen as ‘one of the guys’. In order to do this, he joins the first manly-sounding club he sees, the Football and Lamborghini club. He learns very quickly that this is all a cover for the Borrow a Boyfriend Club and wants to join because he is desperate to prove that he’s a guy to the world. I really enjoyed reading this book and finished it in a day because I just could not put it down! The author had a great way of describing things and making each character seem just as important and fleshed-out as the others. I loved reading about Noah’s journey with his name change as it was meaningful to me and was written beautifully, especially with how accepting all of Noah’s new friends were. I cannot recommend this book enough as I would have adored this book as a teen just as much as I adore it now, and I would suggest that everyone gives this a go, whether trans or an ally, as it was a beautiful read and I was so engrossed! Loved it!

I liked this book - thought it was fun, feel good read

I liked the journey we went on with Noah and how it turned into more then him just wanting to prove to his new school that he was a boy. I really like that we got to see all the insecurities about his old friends, his family and his new friends not accepting him / thinking he’s a boy

I really liked how very naturally Noah and some of the other characters came out and how it was very supportive but wasn't this how song and dance and made a whole deal out of it

- trans MMC
- LGBT
- YA
- 1st person / single pov

Many thanks to NetGalley and Hachette for a digital ARC of this book in exchange for a review.

A lot of the elements in this book are a little ridiculous. However, this book was not written for me, a cynical 28-year-old. Young trans people are woefully underrepresented in YA fiction, and this book centres the experience of a trans character in a way that avoids slipping into the all-too-familiar habit of putting them through the wringer for the sake of the story. The plot sidesteps a lot of the expected tropes, which I found refreshing, and delivers a satisfying, well-earned ending.

3.5 stars, rounded up.

i really enjoyed this book. It had all the elements you have to have for a classic romance story - initial dislike, falling for each other, misunderstanding- and a whole lot more besides.
Noah has moved to a new school to escape all the comments and misgendering at his old school. Desperate to establish his credentials as male he joins a club, which turns out to be a disguise for the underground Borrow a Boyfriend Club. In his efforts to gain membership he has to impress (and romance) the annoying president Asher. This leads to various mishaps, before Noah starts to realise that he may be falling for him. Alongside the light hearted club storyline there are more serious issues dealt with. Noah has a lot of doubt about how people see him and whether he is good enough. Asher is looking for a sense of belonging/ family. This is a romance but it is also a story of acceptance and belief.

I urge you to look at reviews from trans reviewers because their better suited to talk about this story.

The best way to describe this book is that it's fine. It's perfectly average in everyway which is disappointing because I expected to at least have fun reading it and that did not happen. If not for my being given the arc I would have DNF'D.

This is my first time reading a book with an MC that's trans that's already transitioned so that was a nice change of pace. It highlighted that the journey doesn't end with transitioning, the journey after is still riddled with obstacles and having to prove that your transness is valid is an everyday battle.

For a book so concerned with a group dynamic these kids didn't feel like a close unit but rather a random assortment of people. The logistics of the club didn't make sense to me considering that the whole student body knew that it was a front for something else. Why would these kids pay for fake boyfriends to go to dances at their school where everyone knows that it's fake? Wouldn't secrecy be one of the selling points?

The stakes never felt high for me even though I was constantly being reminded that joining the club was important which contributed to my being both perplexed and annoyed with the play because it made zero sense to this day. I had zero idea what it about,  I couldn't envision any of the choreography (the descriptions were lacking) the muse for it was not explained in a way that made sense. The entire time the play was being talked about I was like, when will my suffering end?

My main issue is that none of the characters were ever developed beyond their initial descriptors upon our meeting them at the club tryouts. Intially it's okay because you need meaningful interactions to know people better but even as they interacted I felt bored by every single one. Even our MC is not spared from this blandness. I can't tell you anything else about Noah beyond him being a dancer.

I was unconvinced by the romance between Noah and Asher because they had no chemistry. I don't believe that they think anything of each other beyond possibly forming a friendship due to proximity. There were things set-up that could have been used to develop their relationship but weren't. Noah having to teach Asher how to dance, them having each others phone numbers so they could have texted, the dates they go on etc. If any of these moments were utilized I would have gotten a much better story.

In the end this feels like a decent idea that needed much more time to be developed but sadly wasn't given the time. If you're on the look out for a queer read without outing I say pick this up but I can'trecommend it beyond that.

CW: mention of transphobia, misgendering.

What a wonderfully queer coming-of-age and coming out story, filled with humour, growing pains and joy!
I'm not a huge romcom fan but this packs in well used tropes to create a journey of queer friendship and discovery.
Noah is delightfully written. His journey with identity, gender and sexuality was relatable, authentic and written with care.
I really liked how Noah's relationship with his parents and others affected his own view of himself, but didn't have a harrowing ending.
It's a fairly fast paced story with great, easy to read writing and overall I really enjoyed it!

Thank you to Netgalley and Hachette Children's for the ARC!

"I'm not a girl, thank you very much. I'm just very pretty."

A joyously queer, painfully relatable coming-of-age and coming out story that made me feel all kinds of growing pains again.

This delightful YA romcom packs in your favourite familiar tropes in a refreshingly new package — think Netflix’s *The Perfect Date but with serious self-discovery and beautifully queer romance.

Our narrator Noah was a delight — of course he’s sixteen, so he didn’t always make the best choices and was immensely frustrating at times but he’s literally a teenager so he was written pretty perfectly. His journey learning about his identity, gender and sexuality was of course difficult at times, but so authentic and written with so much love and care.

He never expected how much decision to act as a stand-in date for his classmates would change everything, and even though we can see what’s going to happen, watching Noah try to figure it out was absolutely spectacular. He made me cringe, he made me reminisce, laugh, cry and fall totally in love with him.

The story moves fairly quickly but gives us plenty of time to sit with Noah and his thoughts; his narration is very direct to the reader and meanders along with this thoughts giving us a real insight into his thoughts. And there was such a deep tension; not only because Noah is just trying to live his life and facing so many obstacles, but this book reminded me in visceral detail what a pressure cooker school was and how serious everything felt back then.

A heartwarming story about finding yourself and your people that made my face hurt from smiling.