Rating 4 Stars
What’s the book about?
Most people would describe Katherine Berger as a responsible girl with a big heart, a loyal friend who takes care of those close to her, and the possessor of a wicked sense of humor. There was something about her that most people didn’t know. “My name is Kat Berger, and I love porn.”
When twenty-five-year-old Kat is dragged to a porn convention by her best friend, she’s both embarrassed and nervous. The last thing she ever expected was to meet someone who makes her laugh like no other. This is a story about acceptance and friendship, and a love born out of the most unexpected of places.
My Review
First of all, if I could sum this book up in one “word”, I would say: LOL. Right from the get-go, Lingus was as hilarious as you’d expect from a friends to lovers romantic comedy about a porn convention and I’m so glad I picked this up on Amazon for less than $2. It absolutely had me in stitches.
To sum it up, Katherine (known to her friends as Kat) is dragged to a porn convention by one of her friends and while there she meets Tristan. At the time, she believes Tristan is merely there waiting for a friend, much like herself. However, while at the time of their meeting Tristan was waiting for a friend, he was also at the convention for a purpose: his online persona/alter ego, Robby Lingus.
Upon discovering this tidbit about her new friend, Kat makes the decision not to pursue Tristan and simply remain friends. The fact that Kat knew herself well enough to know she wouldn’t feel comfortable dating someone who slept with other people for a living was something that I liked about her. For this reason, she also made it a point not to view any of his videos no matter how curious she became. She understood that Robby was a part of who Tristan was and didn’t try to shame him or make him give up his profession before he was ready to. I’ve read several stories where the heroine would pretend to be okay with something the hero did, not speak up and then begin to develop jealousy so it was refreshing to read a story where the heroine decided from the start of the situation: “Nope. This is not something I would be comfortable with.” And stuck to her decision.
As for the hero, Tristan/Robby was lovely. As Tristan, he is the perfect partner for Kat. He’s sweet, charming, attractive and has a sense of humour that matches hers completely. From the moment they meet, they get along so well and form a fast friendship. However, he doesn’t tell her about his alter ego because he doesn’t realise he’s going to keep randomly running into her and he’s trying to keep a low profile at the convention. Towards the end of the convention though, he’s forced to come clean when she sees him at his booth donning black hair dye and glasses with fans wanting to meet “Robby Lingus”. I adored the way they maintained a solid friendship throughout the entire book and Tristan was able to come to the realisation that he was in love with Kat in his own time and by his own terms.
While I do like friends to lovers, it isn’t my favourite trope but I love it when I find a story where the friendship between the love interests feels genuine and develops realistically which is exactly what happens with Kat and Tristan.
In addition to the hero and heroine, there was also a great cast of supporting characters who really added their own flair to the story and gave it further depth. My only issue with this was that I found the specific traits of the other characters to be dead giveaways to what story this was originally based on. I’ll add the spoiler for which book at the end of the review! That all being said, it didn’t detract from the story at all and I still really enjoyed this book. It’s definitely one of the stories I’ve enjoyed so much as an ebook that I would love to buy as a physical copy later down the track.
I would definitely recommend this story for fans of Mariana Zapata and/or those who want an easy-to-read, lighthearted and silly romantic comedy! Fans of great friendships in friends to lovers stories should also check this one out!
If you want to know which story this was originally based on, keep scrolling past the alternate cover below!
Spoiler:
This story was originally written as Twilight Fanfiction. While the character names, physical traits and story features such as location were changed, I still noticed it… probably because I read a lot of twific while waiting for the release of Breaking Dawn all those years ago!
As an additional side note, I think it’s amazing that so many incredible authors got their start by writing fanfiction and later learnt to develop their own unique voice. It really goes to show how similar authors and readers are, that inspiration can be found everywhere and everyone has a story to tell.
Bookishly Nomes 