Title: Blaine for the Win
Author: Robbie Couch
Publisher: Simon Teen
Publication date: April 12th, 2022
336 pages
4/5 stars
Goodreads Synopsis
After being dumped so his boyfriend can pursue more “serious” guys, a teen boy decides to prove he can be serious, too, by running for senior class president in this joyful romp from the author of The Sky Blues.
High school junior Blaine Bowers has it all—the perfect boyfriend, a pretty sweet gig as a muralist for local Windy City businesses, a loving family, and awesome, talented friends. And he is absolutely, 100% positive that aforementioned perfect boyfriend—senior student council president and Mr. Popular of Wicker West High School, Joey—is going to invite Blaine to spend spring break with his family in beautiful, sunny Cabo San Lucas.
Except Joey breaks up with him instead. In public. On their one-year anniversary.
Because, according to Joey, Blaine is too goofy, too flighty, too…unserious. And if Joey wants to go far in life, he needs to start dating more serious guys. Guys like Zach Chesterton.
Determined to prove that Blaine can be what Joey wants, Blaine decides to enter the running to become his successor (and beat out Joey’s new boyfriend, Zach) as senior student council president.
But is he willing to sacrifice everything he loves about himself to do it?
Review
I am a huge, huge sucker for high school M/M romance – there’s just something so sweet and endearing about these relationships that are enthralling and captivating. Blaine for the Win is no different. Blaine is a high school junior who just got dumped, on his anniversary, at a fancy restaurant, when he believed he was going to be invited on a beach trip with his boyfriend’s family. Yikes. Joey tells Blaine he just isn’t serious enough because his fashion sense is quirky and he paints murals for local businesses, so he needs to pursue more serious guys if he wants to be a politician.
So, Blaine decides to become a serious guy by running for senior class President. Now, I’m not a huge fan of the changing yourself for love trope, but Blaine ends up learning a lot about himself and what his values are while engaging in this adventure so I’ll give it a pass. The friend group was super entertaining and I was drawn to these characters and their struggles.
This is a slow burn, friends to lovers, romance, with one on page kiss. There is a third act fight but not a breakup. I will definitely be reading Robbie Couch’s backlist after really enjoying Blaine for the Win. If you want a good revenge story, this one is for you.
Thank you to Simon Teen and Netgalley for an early copy in exchange for an honest review.
Happy reading, folks!
Baltimore Bibliophile 