Terribly Tristan (Bad Boyfriends, Inc. book 3) by Lisa Henry and Sarah Honey - Review, Excerpt & Giveaway

Sadly, we are coming to an end of the Bad Boyfriends franchise, but happily we get Tristan's story!

The blurb for Terribly Tristan:

When it comes to dating, one and done has always been Tristan's rule—so what happens when once isn't enough?

Leo Fisher is a sensible guy, with a sensible life. He's the picture of respectability, just like his parents raised him to be. But when he inherits a crumbling terrace house in Newtown from his uncle, he also inherits a tenant who turns his world upside down. Tristan is brazen, gorgeous, experienced, and doesn't care what anyone thinks of him. He's everything Leo is not—maybe that's why Leo is drawn to him. Leo has only ever made the right choices—the sensible choices, yet here he is, hooking up with his tenant—who happens to be a rent boy.

Tristan Montague is not a rent boy. Not exactly. He's a Bad Boyfriend. For a modest fee, he'll turn any date into the kind of disaster that will have his client's unsuspecting parents begging them to rethink their life choices. Boyfriending for cash is fun, but for real? No thanks. There are way too many flowers in the garden of life to settle on one single bloom. Tristan flits happily from lover to lover like a glorious gay butterfly, and he doesn't do repeats.

Except when he meets cute, awkward Leo, Tristan finds himself rethinking his 'no repeats' rule. Tristan's mission to show Leo that he, too, can be a glorious gay butterfly takes an unexpected turn when physical attraction develops into something more, and Tristan realizes he might not want to be a fake boyfriend anymore...he might want to be a real one?

But for Leo to take a stand against his overbearing parents, Tristan's going to have to be a Bad Boyfriend one last time—and it's going to have to be spectacular.

Jacqueleen the Reading Queen's Review:

I was super excited when I learned that it was Tristan's turn at taking over Bad Boyfriend Inc because that meant he was getting his own book. As the resident man whore of the dilapidated house he shared with Jack and Harry, I was intrigued how everything was going to play out. There were more surprises than I expected about Tristan by the end of his story. Like Leo, I saw the way Tristan behaved and made assumptions about him. It turns out we were both wrong. I mean Tristan is still his snarky, unapologetic self who likes to roam around the apartment stark naked, but he is also so much more.

It was amazing seeing buttoned up Leo begin to come out of his shell with Tristan by his side. He had so much growth as a character in the book and I cheered along with Tristan every time he did something out of his comfort zone. Then there was the steam. Holy moly were these two on fire. They could also be incredibly sweet. For his first time being in a committed relationship Tristan sure aced the whole boyfriend thing. He also had me laughing out loud too many times to count.

" So I should tell the guy to fuck off?"

"He's still there?"

"No I already told him to fuck off...I just thought I should check if that was the right thing to do."

The ending was absolutely hilarious and ended up being even more so when you finally come into the know. I swear that will make sense when you read it. The epilogue in this one sort of tied everything together perfectly so I am guessing this is the last one in the series. Definitely recommend.

Rating: 5 Stars

Jacquie's Review:

While I'm sad to see this series end, I do think that ending here is the high note it should end on.

I loved Tristan and Leo's love story. Both showed a lot of growth and it was great to tie in some things with the house and other couples.

There was 1 part later on where the reader is in on the joke, if you've figured it out, but another where I was still shocked (in a good way). 

This book had me laughing out loud and was very sweet at the same time.

Rating: 5 Stars

Heather's Review:

This series has been an amazingly fun read and one that I hadn't seen before and what I've loved is that each bad boyfriend takes up the mantle in a completely different way and you see their personalities shine through in their work and in their relationships!

Tristan has been the resident man whore of the terrace, and the latest to take up the Bad Boyfriend mantle and he meets Leo in an unusual place and with an unusual line and the smiles and giggles continued from there!  What I love is how both Tristan and Leo blossomed and grew into their relationship throughout the book, without losing themselves or bowing to outside forces...

This book sucked me in - it's well paced with great characters, fun scenes and a beautiful epilogue that ties the whole series together!  While you can read the story as standalone, I think you'd miss some of the inside jokes and really, the series is best read in order.

Rating: 5 Stars

Angel's Review:

I love Jenny aka Kev, I really enjoyed her spirit and the the different dimensions of her character. She wasn't just one 'type' of person yes, she's a drag queen but she's also a really great accountant when she's not in drag. I loved the full circle moment on chapter 19. When Leo and his parents figured out who's Tristan's parents are and the whole debacle Tristan did. I absolutely loved that scene so much. 

This book was really enjoyable to read, it made me smile and feel good about reading it. I'm glad Jimmy was able to help pull Leo away from his controlling parents even though he wasn't there to do it himself. Jimmy was playing match maker from up above, I really enjoyed the characters. 

This wasn't just about two characters hooking up, it was about friendship and persevering, and loss, and unexpected surprises. Embracing the part of yourself that you had to lock away, when you find the right people you don't have to hide that part of you anymore. That's what Tristan did for Leo, encouraged him to embrace all of the parts of himself that he had to hide before. He could be whoever he wanted to be and do whatever he wanted. And what is it that he wants? To keep the house, keep and run the shop, and most importantly be with Tristan. 

I really enjoyed this book, good writing, this had a really good pacing. Not too slow not too fast, it was just right. Good attention to detail, each character had a reason to be in this story. 

Overall really good, I definitely recommend this. 

Rating: 5 Stars

Janet's Review:

Terribly Tristan is book three in the Bad Boyfriends, Inc series. 

Leo has inherited the house from his Uncle Jimmy that Tristan lives in with his friends Jack and Harry. Tristan has taken over the Bad Boyfriends, Inc business. He’s of the mindset one and done. Leo makes him rethink. 

I'm glad that Leo was able to get away from his controlling parents! This has been such a fantastic series and I’m sad that it’s ending. Leo and Tristan’s story was sooo freakin good! 

Overall, a fantastic ending to the series! Well written with pacing that flowed!! 

Rating: 5 Stars

Terribly Tristan is available to buy as an e-book or to read with Kindle Unlimited subscription.

Still on the fence?  Check out the excerpt below:

Terribly Tristan by Lisa Henry & Sarah Honey

Book 3 in the Bad Boyfriends, Inc. series

Add to Goodreads

Excerpt

On an otherwise unremarkable Saturday morning, Tristan Montague was woken by a hard pounding. And not the sort he liked. The sort he liked, he realised as he unglued his eyelids, wouldn’t be forthcoming at all—last night’s hook-up was still crashed out beside him flat on his back, with his mouth open as he snored. This pounding, unfortunately, was coming from his bedroom door.

“Wha?” Tristan grizzled. The house had better be on fire, seriously, because it was only—he flopped an arm out, fingers searching for his phone on his nightstand—11.37 a.m. That was inhumane for a Saturday. Unless it was Sunday—but no, it would be just as inhumane for a Sunday.

The pounding on his door continued.

Tristan rolled out of bed and shuffled to his door. He pulled it open and glared at Harry, his housemate.

“Tristan!” Harry exclaimed, then his wide-eyed gaze travelled down Tristan’s naked body and back again. By the time it returned to his face, Harry was bright pink in that adorkable way that made Tristan want to ruffle his hair, pinch his cheeks and possibly rail him over the back of the couch into next week. Harry was out of bounds, though. Not only was he like the awkward little brother Tristan had never had, but Harry was also stupidly in love with Jack, their other housemate. They gave each other such heart eyes over breakfast each morning that Tristan half expected the local wildlife to burst into song every time, Disney-style. The local wildlife, in their case, being the mice infesting the walls and the huntsman spider that lived in the shower. “Tristan, you’re naked!”

There wasn’t really anything Tristan could say to that, so he nodded and waved his hand in front of himself like a showcase model on a television game show.

Harry’s blush extended all the way up to his glasses. “Like, really, all the way, naked.”

He sighed. “Did you wake me up just to tell me that?”

Harry blinked at him. “No! I woke you up to tell you that Mr. Erskine is dead!”

“Oh.” Tristan felt a moment of actual regret. Their landlord was at least six hundred years old, and batshit crazy in the best possible way. He loved to drop in and collect the rent money from the Milo tin in the kitchen, then spend hours regaling Tristan with stories of the Cross back in the seventies. And Tristan loved listening, because Kings Cross back in the day had been wild. “I thought the Milo tin was getting full.”

“I thought he’d just forgotten to collect the rent.”

Tristan sighed again. “Wow. That really, really sucks. Mr. Erskine was an awesome old bloke.”

“He once offered me a hundred dollars to play with his hair,” Harry said, his brows pulling together. “Which didn’t make any sense, because he was bald.”

“Well, not everywhere, probably.”

Harry blinked rapidly. “Oh. I didn’t think of that.” His mouth turned down. “Ew. Was he sexually harassing me?”

“To be fair, I think he sexually harassed everyone without realising it,” Tristan said. “Oh, man. What’s going to happen to this place, do you think?”

Harry looked slightly panicked. “I don’t know! I can’t afford to live anywhere else!”

The old terrace house in Dickson Street, Newtown, was a complete dump. It was the rotten, blackened tooth in an otherwise pristine smile of gorgeously renovated veneers, but it was cheap. Well, cheap by Sydney standards, at least. Which wasn’t saying much. Tristan would be okay whatever happened, but Harry and Jack were on incredibly tight budgets.

“I mean, these things take months, right?” Tristan asked. “Wills and probate and all that bullshit. And there’s probably some law that you can’t just throw tenants out on the street without notice. Isn’t there?”

Harry chewed his bottom lip. “I don’t know.”

“Hey, don’t stress about it,” Tristan said, even though it was pointless, because Harry stressed about everything. “It’ll all work out in the end.” He lifted his nose and sniffed as the scent of bacon and eggs cooking reached him, and his stomach growled. He brightened. “Is Jack making breakfast?”

Harry blocked him as he tried to step out of the room. “Tris!”

“What?”

“You’re naked.”

“Oh yeah.” He reached around to grab his robe off the hook on the back of his door. “Breakfast first, then crisis, okay?”

Harry nodded unhappily, and they headed down the stairs.

About the Author

Lisa Henry

Lisa likes to tell stories, mostly with hot guys and happily ever afters. Lisa lives in tropical North

Lisa lives in tropical North Queensland, Australia. She doesn’t know why, because she hates the heat, but she suspects she’s too lazy to move. She spends half her time slaving away as a government minion, and the other half plotting her escape.

She attended university at sixteen, not because she was a child prodigy or anything, but because of a mix-up between international school systems early in life. She studied History and English, neither of them very thoroughly.

Lisa has been published since 2012, and was a LAMBDA finalist for her quirky, awkward coming-of-age romance Adulting 101, and a Rainbow Awards finalist for 2019’s Anhaga.

Find out more at Lisa's website and blog. You can follow her on Bookbub and sign up to her newsletter.

Sarah Honey

Sarah started life in New Zealand. She came to Australia for a working holiday, loved it, and never left. She lives in Western Australia with her partner, two cats, two dogs and a life-size replica TARDIS.

She spends half her time at a day job and the rest of her time reading and writing about clueless men falling in love.

Her proudest achievements include having adult kids who will still be seen with her in public, the ability to make a decent sourdough loaf, and knowing all the words to Bohemian Rhapsody.

Terribly Tristan will be her seventh published novel in collaboration with Lisa Henry.

Giveaway

Enter for the chance to win a $50.00 First for Romance Gift Card! Competition hosted by Totally Entwined Group. 

 a Rafflecopter giveaway