What do you do when your Mr. Right doesn’t agree that he is, well, Mr. Right? What do you do when Mr. Right goes on a trip to Paris for a conference? Well, you hop on a plane and take off to said City of Light. Except apparently, you weren’t paying enough attention, and Mr. Right was at a conference in Paris, Texas. And you are alone in Paris, France. This is the situation in which we find our heroine, Holly, at the start of The Accidental Boyfriend. As much as she wants to settle down, Holly can’t reign in the crazy.

A second grade teacher and former wild child, Holly has “been in love” with Benjamin for years. They have history! From the eighth grade. After all this time, she has put Benjamin up on a pedestal as the perfect potential husband and father. So, when he says he has a conference to attend in Paris and doesn’t invite her along, she is, shall we say, less than pleased. But Benjamin doesn’t see her as more than a good friend. She’s certainly not wife-material after pictures are posted to various media outlets of her kissing someone else at her sister’s wedding. Holly may not be famous, but she is fame-adjacent. Her sister married one of the more wealthy businessmen in Europe, and his business partner Jake, the man Holly was photographed making out with, is known as more than a bit of a playboy.

So, it makes perfect sense that when Holly’s sister finds out she went to the wrong Paris, she mentions it to her husband, who passes it along to his partner and best friend (Jake), who immediately volunteers to fly to Paris to “rescue” Holly from herself, since he’s been in love with her for years, but is the world’s biggest commitment-phobe. It’s all a bit…contrived. The entire series of events reads like a matchmaker set-up, and really bugged me.

I had a hard time connecting with either Holly or Jake, and as a result didn’t really care very much about their romance. Holly’s obsession with Benjamin doesn’t really make much sense either, and for all the “he’s a great guy!” moments, it feels like he’s stringing her along. Maybe not on purpose, but still. If nothing else, he’s boring and is more what Holly wants to want – someone steady and reliable and a homebody, etc, etc, etc. Jake is pretty much Benjamin’s complete opposite – almost as wild as Holly is, with his own jet-setting ways and playboy self. But as much as Holly wants to want Benjamin, she certainly doesn’t think much of him while making out (and then some) with Jake. Just sayin’.

I have to say, though, that I appreciate that the big moment in the end isn’t the traditional one. I’m really tired of reading romance after romance that ends either with the wedding or the babies. It was fun to have something a bit different this time, and it definitely works well for these two commitment-shy lovers.

Overall, the story was sweet and a little quirky, but no matter how much I liked the writing and the ending, not being able to connect with the romantic couple is a big turn off. In the end, The Accidental Boyfriend just isn’t for me.