Review | Rent a Boyfriend by Gloria Chao is a fun and flirty Asian-American romantic comedy
Trained as a dentist, in her latest novel Gloria Chao draws on the teenage experience to tell the story of Chloe Wang, a student who hires a fake partner to divert her parents’ attention from her single status
Rent a Boyfriend by Gloria Chao, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
In Chao’s latest book, Chloe Wang turns to a company that provides fake dates for this very purpose. Although she is still an economics undergraduate at the University of Chicago, her parents plan to marry her off to Hongbo Kuo, the son of a wealthy family friend. Chloe not only feels she’s too young for marriage – her parents wouldn’t let her date in high school – but she also finds Hongbo an entitled chauvinist.
So when Chloe returns to California for Thanksgiving break, she spends most of her meagre savings to hire Andrew Chan from the company, Rent for Your ‘Rents. Chloe has no expectations from Andrew other than he stick to his role and divert her parents’ attention away from Hongbo.
Andrew, who goes by Drew, seems like a dream come true. He speaks Taiwan-accented Mandarin like Chloe and her family, pretends to be a University of Chicago student bound for med school, and brings the Wangs a box of fancy mooncakes. Neither does he flinch at the sight of the Thanksgiving table adorned with dumplings, sesame noodles, and tong choy. But as Chloe’s and Andrew’s lies pile up, it becomes difficult for them to keep their stories straight.