Who’s your book boyfriend? This is not an uncommon question to be heard amongst book bloggers, bookstagrammers, and other ravenous readers.
The answers may range from the classic — Darcy, Heathcliffe, Rochester — to the more contemporary — Edward, Nikolai, Rhysand — but regardless, we book nerds are known for fantasizing about fictional men. (Even those of us who are happily married. Hiiiii.)
But what if one of these paramours actually manifested in some form in your real life. Would you really swoon? Or are their charms less appealing when they’re not on the page?
That’s the premise behind Tiffany Schmidt’s Bookish Boyfriends series. The first book, A Date with Darcy, follows 16-year-old Merri who falls hard and fast for the guy at her new school who she thinks may be a real-life Romeo. But is Romeo really all that great?
Okay, honestly — I have NEVER liked Romeo & Juliet. I always thought their relationship was rushed and rash and totally immature, and given the nature of how they met, ran away, and then killed themselves, I never thought it was particularly romantic. (Like, the opposite of romantic???) So at first, I wasn’t sure about Merri and her supposed real-life Romeo … well, turns out, Merri isn’t too sure, either. I LOVE how Schmidt captures all the things that annoyed the crap out of me about Romeo & Juliet, and then some, and shows all its flaws in the form of a contemporary version.
Then along comes a Darcy. And … yep, you can imagine where things go next.
The premise of this series is so delightful, and Schmidt absolutely charms with her modern portrayal of classic literary love interests. This book was so fun, and I honestly can’t wait to see which famous Bookish Boyfriend we get to meet next.
A Date with Darcy is in stores now; sadly, real-life Darcy is not included. Here is the official synopsis:
In this contemporary YA, a teenager’s favorite literary heroes woo her in real life
The first of two books in an intended paperback original series about a girl whose classic literary crushes manifest in real life. Merrilee Campbell, 16, thinks boys are better in books, chivalry is dead, and there’d be nothing more romantic than having just one guy woo her like the heroes in classic stories. She’s about to get the chance to test these daydreams when she, her best friend, Eliza, and her younger sister, Rory, transfer into Reginald R. Hero High, where all their fantasies come true—often with surprising consequences
Novel Novice 
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