Guillaume (What I Like about Me, 2020) packs her sophomore novel with plenty of early 2000s rom-com vibes and lighthearted mishaps as Katie imagines a Hemsworth-perfect boyfriend who comes to life. Katie may not be able to hook popular and flawless Declan, but when Guy appears out of thin air, her romantic troubles are just beginning. Is an impeccable boyfriend really worth all the trouble? Guillaume's cinematic story weaves together beloved romantic comedy tropes touched with magic is it science? d drops them into a fresh, contemporary setting. Despite the playful tone, this isn't without nuance, taking on serious topics such as male body image, friendship, and asexuality. Katie's sometimes-naive approach to life easily endears her to readers, while her friends and loved ones earn their spots in her life with support and tough love. Uniquely delivered with interjections from Katie's best friend, this is a prose version of Kristen Gudsnuk's Making Friends (2018) met with the layered froth of an Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka novel.

After creating a perfect boyfriend, Katie should be happy…shouldn't she?Disappointed that she hasn't yet experienced her first kiss, 16-year-old Katie sculpts a clay figurine that represents her perfect man: He's tall and well built, with blue eyes and floppy hair. Her best friend, Libby, mixes up a special potion to give him a soul. But after Katie falls asleep, voilà-the sculpture's gone and there's a naked teenage boy with no belly button in her bed. After overcoming her surprise, she realizes her parents won't be happy with her keeping a boy in her room, so she enlists Theo, her next-door neighbor and longtime friend, to help hide this 6-foot-tall Adonis whom she's named Guy. Eagerly claiming his role as her boyfriend, Guy wants nothing more than to adore her. His sweet attention is wonderful at first, but why is she still crushing on Declan, a popular soccer player at school? Interjections from Katie and Libby break the fourth wall and comment on the narrative, but their exchanges become wearisome and fail to elevate the otherwise predictable tale. Katie faces doubters who question her relationship with as attractive a person as Guy, but the story only dips a toe into interrogating beauty standards and the idea that everyone is deserving of love and respect. Most main characters are White; Libby is cued as Filipina, and the story includes queer representation.An enjoyable rom-com. (Romance. 12-18)