I’m so excited to be a part of the book tour for Picture Perfect Boyfriend that is hosted by TBR and Beyond Tours. I was really excited to also be able to interview the author for this book!
INTERVIEW
The book is about a girl who’s shocked when a stranger shows up on her family vacation in Maui pretending to be the fictional boyfriend she invented, and while they explore the island she has to keep up her lies, figure out who he really is, and try not to fall for him.
Can you introduce us to the main character(s) of Picture Perfect Boyfriend?
The main character, Kenzie, loves nature and photography and exploring. She’s not always the most organized person in regular life but she’s dedicated when she cares. She feels like she doesn’t fit in her family and is tired of that feeling, which led her to reinvent herself and create a fake boyfriend in the hopes of impressing her parents and feeling more accepted. But when the book starts, she’s struggling to keep up the role and it doesn’t help when she meets…
Jacob, AKA Jake. AKA a stranger who somehow knows about Kenzie’s fake boyfriend—and is pretending to be him. Jake is mysterious at first since he’s trying to play a role, but Kenzie can see that he shares her love for adventure, that he’s direct, a take-action kind of guy who appreciates her humor and seems to like the genuine version of her, the one she’s been hiding. But she doesn’t know who he is, for real, or if she can trust him.
Do you know from the beginning how your books will end or do you let your characters decide their journey?
I always have to know roughly how a book will end before I start writing it. Sometimes the exact details of how the final scenes will play out might not be clear, but I know the growth I want the characters to have gone through, how the events of the story have changed them for the better, and how their lives will be different at the end. I feel like they do decide their journey, I just learn what that is before I start, and while a few details might change as I write the book, the end usually stays fairly close to how I envisioned it.
Do you have a favorite scene, moment, or quote from the book?
I love the scene where Gran is encouraging Kenzie and tells her: “What makes each person beautiful is that no one else is like them…You either embrace that idea and live to be your fullest self, or you don’t. But those who don’t are usually unhappy. Not only that, but they’re depriving the world of something only they could have offered.”
What is something readers will find in Picture Perfect Boyfriend that they may not realize based on the
synopsis?
In addition to the fun plot and beautiful setting, readers will find deeper themes of being true to who you are and embracing who you were made to be, not trying to be like anybody else or force yourself to conform to what others expect. I enjoy writing banter and humor and travel adventures, but I also hope to touch on deeper ideas in my books.
What’s something you hope readers will take away from Picture Perfect Boyfriend?
Aside from the theme, I always hope that my books inspire readers to want to see more of the world and travel!
What are three books you would recommend if someone enjoyed Picture Perfect Boyfriend?
For cute romance, summer vibes, and/or travel: Places We’ve Never Been by Kasie West, Not Here to Stay Friends by Kaitlyn Hill, and Love & Olives by Jenna Evans Welch
ABOUT THE BOOK
TITLE: Picture Perfect Boyfriend
AUTHOR: Becky Dean
GENRE: Young Adult Contemporary
RELEASE DATE: May 23, 2023
Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Indigo | IndieBound
Synopsis:
Two strangers, one tropical island, and lots of lies in this funny beach romance from the author of Love & Other Great Expectations!
Aspiring nature photographer Kenzie Reed just can’t get her straitlaced family of optometrists to take her art seriously. She’s resigned to putting aside her dreams and accepting the depressing life that awaits her at the family business. She even makes up a fake, boring boyfriend—Jacob—to get her parents off her back.
But when the Reeds arrive in Hawaii for spring break, Kenzie is shocked that “Jacob” shows up at the airport—and joins their vacation. Kenzie can’t reveal him as a fraud without confessing her lie, so she’s stuck playing along while trying to find out who he really is.
No way is she going to actually fall for him—because even though he’s funny, nice, smart, and cute, he’s also a liar. Isn’t he?
Filled with warm summer breezes and salty sea air, Becky Dean’s Picture-Perfect Boyfriend will sweep you off your feet into a tropical paradise, sun on your shoulders—where love is just around a palm tree.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Becky Dean is a fan of adventures both real and fictional. When she’s not writing or traveling, she can be found drinking tea, watching science fiction shows or Jane Austen adaptations, or quoting The Lord of the Rings. Though she’s a proud Baylor grad and lives in Texas with her husband, she remains a Southern California girl at heart.
Stuck in Fiction 