The Boyfriend Effect

Easton swears he's not boyfriend material — and his track record backs him up. When his friend's sister Maren offers to coach him through everything he's doing wrong in relationships, it seems like the perfect low-stakes arrangement. Except nothing about Maren feels low-stakes, and the more time Easton spends learning how to be better for someone else, the harder it becomes to ignore that she's the one he actually wants. The Boyfriend Effect takes a familiar setup — the reformation arc, the forbidden connection — and gives it real emotional weight, making you root for a man who's convinced himself he doesn't deserve the thing he wants most.

Kendall Ryan writes with a breezy confidence that keeps pages turning fast, but she doesn't sacrifice character depth for momentum. Easton's voice is disarmingly self-aware and genuinely funny, which makes his vulnerability land harder when it shows up. The push-pull between the two leads is well-calibrated — enough friction to feel earned, enough warmth to keep it from tipping into frustrating. As the first book in the Frisky Business series, it does exactly what a series opener should: deliver a complete, satisfying story while making you immediately curious about who comes next.