From the moment I read the synopsis for The Rich Boy, I knew I was going to love it. Now I can’t wait to see if more characters in this world speak to author lady.

There are just not enough words for how excited I get when I hear Kylie Scott has a new story for us. Repeat and Lies were a few of my reading highlights last year, and The Rich Boy is kicking my 2020 reading into high gear. There’s so much to love about this book, but most of all is how Kylie Scott gave us a cute bud of a love story that was even more beautiful when it fully bloomed in the final few chapters.

The Rich Boy tells the story of Alice Lawrence, a waitress trying to make ends meet while she pays her student loans and works a dead-end job. Flirting with the new bus boy is just a way to pass the time, and maybe have a few hours of fun after work here and there.

It sure wasn’t because she thought he was a super-rich kid on a walkabout. It definitely wasn’t because she had any idea that falling for him would change her life for good and for the better at the same time.

It’s funny how well I know Kylie Scott’s writing because throughout The Rich Boy, even when Beck was being sweet and wonderful, I felt like something was off. And then, in those last few chapters, the romance-factor kicked in full force and everything felt right in my world.

I love the subtle ways Kylie Scott uses her writing to convey the spirit of the characters coming alive on the page. It was pretty obvious to me throughout the length of the first two-thirds of this book that something odd was going on underneath it all. And its catharsis is satisfying thanks to the chorus of third parties that chime in to save the romance at the heart of The Rich Boy.

Alice and Beck are a pretty cute couple. I love that he loves doting on her. I love that she resists his impulse to buy everything, but doesn’t whine about him wanting to shower her with all the luxuries she has never afforded before. I also love that no matter how badly either of them screws up, neither is willing to call it quits.

Reality in romance can be a hard needle to thread. Even in contemporary romance, there has to be an element of wish fulfillment or fantasy at play to get that HEA after your main players spend the majority of the book doing everything they can to screw it up.

Kylie Scott threads that needle with deadly accuracy in The Rich Boy.

First and foremost, she lets Beck be the spoiled rich kid, but doesn’t vilify his riches so much as she does vilify what those riches can turn a man (or woman) into.

I loved Beck almost as much as Alice does. Subtle manipulations aside, he really is a good guy, trying hard to make life easier for as many people in his life as he can, caring deeply for a family that has never put a premium on love or affection. Oh, and his choice of a pet name for Alice? Magnifique! **insert finger kissing emoji here**

Secondly, she manages to make Alice supremely relatable in pretty much every aspect of assimilating into the world of the super rich. Her discomfort with the extravagances feels authentic to her character, even as she enjoys the luxuriousness of the life of the super rich.

I also love how Alice tries very hard to judge those she meets in this world by the content of their character rather than her first impression or the size of their bank account. She, wisely, takes her time choosing her allies, and in the end, that wisdom pays off in spades.

I attest much of Alice’s quiet skepticism to her having to navigate a world that doesn’t treat plus size girls with kindness. We see in her first interactions with Beck that experience has taught Alice to guard her heart first, and trust strangers second, a lesson most overweight people in the world know all too well.

The supporting cast of this book is fabulous, which has me screaming internally (so as to not scare the innocent or uninitiated) with hope that this book could be the beginning of a wonderful new world for Kylie Scott to play in.

Each of the younger members of Beck’s family has such potential for a whole host of great stories to come out of them. Emma and Matias are absolutely delectable when it comes to second chance romance. Their unique outlook on divorce proceedings is comedy gold, and I would love to watch the next chapter of their romance unfold.

Likewise, Henry and Ethan both feel like lovely, flawed heroes that just need the right person to step into their world and straighten or muss them in the perfect way.

The Rich Boy is a story I know I will have to revisit. I want to take a second look at how Beck courts his lady, and what signals Alice may have ignored early on that may have set her and Beck on the right path sooner rather than later.

It doesn’t ultimately matter, though, because I love their brand of love. Their understanding, forgiving, and compromising bond is what romance dreams are made of, and I can’t wait to have a chance to fall in love with their love all over again.

The Rich Boy is available now! Get your copy from Amazon or Barnes and Noble, and don’t forget to add it to your Goodreads, too!