Review: Ten Trends to Seduce Your Bestfriend by Penny Reid

Ten Trends to Seduce Your Bestfriend by Penny Reid
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I was provided an ARC via the author, all opinions are my own,

This book is nothing but 100% amazing. If you love Penny's work, you are going to love Byron and Winnie. This book is a little on the long side, but I did not mind one bit because once I started reading this I did not want to put it down.

Winnie is a middle school science teacher, who also makes STEM centered videos for social media on the side to get kids, girls specifically more interested in STEM fields. She is looking for a side hustle to help pay down her school loans and help her live a bit more comfortably. Byron on the other hand is ridiculously intelligent, is a best selling author, is wealthy, hates social media, and generally doesn't enjoy people. He and Winnie have been in the same social circle for years, but they aren't particularly friendly. Winnie doesn't particularly care for Byron for several reasons, so when he offers to help her with her social media following by recording various challenges with her she's a bit surprised. Turns out Byron needs her help with something too. As they spend more time together working on the challenges and generally getting to know each other as friends, things take a turn into romantic territory.

Normally I don't enjoy books with where miscommunication is a trope, however I will make a an exception here. Much of this book is about Byron and Winnie learning to communicate with each other. They get frustrated with each other as they learn to navigate each other, their likes and dislikes, their needs and feelings, what they each value and why. Winnie and Byron are similar in some aspects but they are opposites attract in others. If it weren't for their miscommunications and attempts to learn to communicate with each other this would not be the wonderful story that it is. They have both been hurt by people in the past, and it takes them both quite a long time to accept that they can trust someone else. From that perspective this is a bit of a slow burn romance. There are some steamy parts, you do have to be patient and wait for them to develop.

Much like with all of Penny's books, I love the care and research that she puts into each of her books! I particularly love that she put an emphasis on girls in STEM. I graduated with a degree in electrical engineering and I was one of only a handful of girls. I wish I had had a Chemistry Maven growing up. While the numbers are better than they were 20 years ago, girls are still underserved and underrepresented in STEM fields. I also really like that Penny is bringing awareness to neurodiverse characters in her books. With mental health getting more and more attention lately, it is also important that we also treat people who learn, process, or experience the world differently with kindness and respect. I this case Byron was always that weird guy who doesn't like people, when he was actually a very nice person who was easily overwhelmed when faced with lots of people he doesn't know. I really appreciate when authors bring awareness through characters and I feel Penny did a great job here.

Overall, I loved this! Winnie and Byron were perfect for each other.

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