Boycotts & Barflies
Product Description
After an endless string of bad dates and a generally pathetic love life, Grace Park and her friends decide to boycott men for six weeks. With a fantastic pair of shoes on the line for the woman who makes it to the end without breaking any rules, the competition gets fierce. Sparks fly a few days into the bet when Grace and her friends cross paths with a sexy bartender named Michael Andris who happens to have a little bet of his own going with his friends….In this hilarious debut novel, Victoria Michaels brings us a colorful and relatable cast of characters. She sends them on a sweet and sexy escapade as they sidestep one booby trap after another, manage the best of misguided intentions, and exert a whole lot of willpower and self control as they race down the path to true love.
Winning isn’t everything…or is it?
My Review: *sighs* I started this book back in March and just finished it now. I read a dozen books in between this book, but since I was determined to finish it, I finally did this past weekend.
I remember reading that this book started out as a Twilight fanfiction story and in my opinion it really should have stayed that way. I just didn’t think the story or the characters were developed enough into something that made them stand on their own.
Grace (the would be Bella character) is a girl down on her dating luck. Living with her roommates, Meg (Alice type character) and Bianca (you guessed it, Rosalie), Grace lacks confidence and has to constantly call them to pull her out of bad, boring dates. Tired of dating duds, the girls decide to boycott boys! They make a pact to not date or have sex until New Years in order to win a pair of very expense shoes.
Meanwhile, bartenders, Michael, Ryan, and Jack (read: Edward, Jasper, and Emmett) are tired of having to swat away bimbos, aka, barflies. They are young, hot bartenders so naturally they want girls who are sexy, yet funny, classy and smart! They too make a bet to stop dating barflies and find some real girls to be in a relationship with.
When the guys decide to go to the library to meet ‘smart and sexy’ girls, they run into Grace. Immediately sparks fly between Grace and Michael, but she doesn’t believe she would be his type. When they bump into each other again at the gym and later at a bar, Grace decides to just go for it, after of course teasing Michael by giving him the run about about what her name is.
As love blooms between Michael and Grace, it also does among their friends. Meg and Ryan connect instantly and even seem able communicate silently through their eyes (hmmm… why does this sound familiar?). And Bianca and Jack seem to be the first ones out of the bet when it is discovered that Bianca faked being sick so she could avoid an out of town trip for the holidays to stay home and have crazy monkey sex with Jack (who snores like an angry bear).
Upset that she wouldn’t be able to see Michael over the holiday break, Grace reluctantly heads home and is dreading the possibility of her mother setting her up with another dud. It is during that trip home that Grace discovers her mom, Susan, was once friends with Michael’s mom when Grace and Michael were kids. So it’s not really a surprise for the reader when Michael turns up for the holidays and is able to meet all of Grace’s family. It is during this time that they fall asleep in each other’s arms, and we find that they both talk in their sleep, and they confess their love for one another during their sleep talking. Meg takes a picture of the moment and comes to find that the picture matches one that their parents took was taken of them when were young and napping together. Daww! Seems like they were meant to be.
As things begin to get hot and heavy between Michael and Grace, Grace begins to doubt her ability to stay in the bet. Michael cleverly finds many loopholes, but that still doesn’t seem to be enough. Finally, the bet draws to an end and Grace discovers she one, her friends having deceived her a bit in order to help her gain some self-esteem.
The story line just worked out too perfectly, and it was painfully predicable. Each girl was a perfect match for each guy and each character was the human shadow of their Twilight characters. Yes, there were some funny lines, but that didn’t keep my interest for long.
My rating: 2 1/2 squees for some LOL moments, but the build up to the amazing sex that Grace and Michale would have once the bet was over fell flat at the end. Their big date night dragged on and seemed forced in some places and too overdone in others.
Sorry you weren't that into the book, but great review though!
~Angela
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I loved this story as a Twific, but sounds like something got lost in translation. Thanks for saving me the pain of re-reading!
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Definitely agree with this review. As great a Twific as B&B was, it wasn't one of the best-suited for an original story. I'd love it re-read the old, Twific version, but I can't bring myself to read (or pay for) this new version.
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Wow, despite what others have said, I thought this was a pretty damn good story. Looking forward to checking out the sequel.
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This was a very well written story. I loved the characters and yes it was originally a twific but I think its been adapted wall for an orignal story. I would have preferred it published as a twi story but we all know of the copy right issues with that. Anyway great story, very talented author.
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Read this story originally as a Twilight fanfic and loved it as that. I was disappointed in the author for pushing her luck and deciding that it needed to be published. This story is not developed enough, nor original enough to be anything but a fanfiction. The characters are too much like their Twilight counterparts and not all that unique. It seems to me that the author decided that since the characters were already well known (Bella, Edward, etc.) why not just change the names add a silly plot and make some money. I'd re-read it as a fanfic, but I won't waste my time or money on this new version.
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