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Robbie Couch

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Blaine for the Win Kindle Edition

by Robbie Couch (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

4.5 160 ratings

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After being dumped so his boyfriend can pursue more “serious” guys, a teen boy decides to prove he can be serious, too, by running for senior class president in this “clever, fun, original” (BCCB) romp from the author of The Sky Blues.

High school junior Blaine Bowers has it all—the perfect boyfriend, a pretty sweet gig as a muralist for local Windy City businesses, a loving family, and awesome, talented friends. And he is absolutely, 100% positive that aforementioned perfect boyfriend—senior student council president and Mr. Popular of Wicker West High School, Joey—is going to invite Blaine to spend spring break with his family in beautiful, sunny Cabo San Lucas.

Except Joey breaks up with him instead. In public. On their one-year anniversary.

Because, according to Joey, Blaine is too goofy, too flighty, too…unserious. And if Joey wants to go far in life, he needs to start dating more serious guys. Guys like Zach Chesterton.

Determined to prove that Blaine can be what Joey wants, Blaine decides to enter the running to become his successor (and beat out Joey’s new boyfriend, Zach) as senior student council president.

But is he willing to sacrifice everything he loves about himself to do it?

From the Publisher

If I See You Again Tomorrow, The Sky Blues

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Packed with empowering and relatable moments, with the perfect balance of humor and heart, Blaine for the Win has my vote." -- Rachael Lippincott, New York Times bestselling author of Five Feet Apart

"Blaine for the Win celebrates flighty, unserious gay boys everywhere! As one myself, I've never felt more seen. Robbie Couch has gifted us with an irresistible, lion-hearted rom-com about love, inspiration, and toxic queer optics. Don't miss this confection!" -- Adam Sass, award-winning author of Surrender Your Sons

"A wonderful novel about the importance of being yourself and having friends who will follow you no matter where you go. Blaine and his fun-loving, absolute powerhouse circle of friends had me cheering for them the whole time. I'd vote for Blaine!" -- Loan Le, author of A Pho Love Story

"Couch (The Sky Blues, 2021) has written an engaging novel with likable characters and a clever plot...an altogether winning read." -- Booklist

"With panache and an upbeat tone, Couch (The Sky Blues) delivers a lighthearted rom-com pastiche that updates its source material, tackling issues of mental health and self-care, socioeconomic divides, and staying true to oneself." -- Publisher's Weekly — March 2022

"Inspired by Legally Blonde, this novel ultimately shrugs off the restrictions of being a mere adaptation to offer a clever, fun, original story full of heart, awkwardness, and laughs...this is a clear win for readers who like their heroes loveable and imperfect." -- BCCB

About the Author

Robbie Couch writes young adult fiction. If I See You Again Tomorrow, his New York Times bestselling third novel, has received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly, Booklist, and the Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books. Robbie’s debut, The Sky Blues, was a Barnes & Noble Young Adult Book of the Year finalist and Junior Library Guild selection. Robbie is originally from small-town Michigan and lives in Los Angeles.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Chapter 1 CHAPTER 1
It’s official: a more perfect Friday will never exist.

My spring break has begun. The mural in front of me is turning out to be one of my all-time favorite creations. And, in just a few hours, I’ll be on the most magical date of my entire life. Does it get any better?

Days like today are an anomaly, I’ve learned in my sixteen years. Days like today will stay with me forever. There’s no other way to explain a day like today other than to say the universe must be delivering a hefty batch of good karma that I stored up in a previous life.

I am paying back said universe by featuring it on the storefront of Susan’s Stationery—and doing a pretty bang-up job, if I do say so myself. The mural is only about halfway done, give or take, but coming along much better than I anticipated, honestly. A bubble-gum-pink Saturn with rings of teal floating in cobalt-colored space; the perfect pick-me-up on a boring block like the one that Susan’s Stationery calls home.

Ms. Ritewood, the owner, handed over full creative control to brighten up the greige facade, which has been in desperate, decades-long need of an “aggressive facelift”—her words, not mine (although I wholeheartedly agree). City code would probably call for the crumbly storefront to be bulldozed and built from scratch, but with Ms. Ritewood’s limited budget, a high schooler with a big imagination and even bigger paint selection is the next best thing.

“Blaine!”

I jolt at Ms. Ritewood’s voice, nearly dropping my brush.

She floats from her store entrance to the middle of the sidewalk to get a better view of my progress. After a good five seconds of contemplation, she breathes, “It’s coming along wonderfully.”

Relieved, I take a few steps back and attempt to see it through her eyes. “You think so?”

The cheery store owner, barely five feet tall, stands beside me, eyes wide and arms folded across her belly. “The colors are spectacular, Blaine.”

“Yeah?”

She shakes her head in amazement, her sculpted, copper bob of hair unshakeable beneath a layer of hair spray. “The rings are mesmerizing.”

“They’re my favorite part.”

“And… wait a minute. Is Saturn…” She leans forward, peering at the personified planet, with its emerald eyes, button nose, and oversized dimples. “Is Saturn supposed to be… me?” She rotates her head to get my answer.

I bite my lower lip, nervous now that the big reveal has finally made itself known. “Yes.”

“Ah!” Ms. Ritewood lights up, arms shooting into the air. “I love it!” She goes in for a hug—

“Wait!” I jump back, showing the palms of my hands, which are covered with smudges of cobalt acrylic. “I don’t want to ruin your clothes!”

“Oh, that’s right,” she says, glancing at my raggedy white shirt, splattered with teal. “Smart move.” She turns her attention back to the wall with a grin and a sigh.

This moment—the thrill in her eyes, the hanging jaw, the pregnant pause filled with all the possibilities an aggressive facelift like this one could mean for Susan’s Stationery—is a big reason why I paint murals for local businesses around town. I also enjoy the aesthetic rewards of sprucing up my weathered corner of northwest Chicago, of course, and getting lost in my own fictional worlds of color is a form of therapy for me. But watching a business owner in real time taking in their new storefront? I’m not sure if there’s a more rewarding feeling in the world.

Ms. Ritewood looks up at me, cheeks flushed with excitement. “Was your—” But an L train zooms along on the rusted tracks above, rattling the liquid surfaces of my paint cans and blanketing our conversation in a deafening roar. Ms. Ritewood finishes her thought, but I don’t hear a word.

“Sorry,” I say with a grin. “You’ll have to repeat that.”

“I said”—she raises her voice—“was your anniversary dinner canceled?”

“No…?” I reply slowly, confused. “Why would it be?”

She glances at her phone. “Well, it’s already six o’clock, Blaine, and I thought—”

I gasp. “What?”

“Yes, dear.” She checks her phone again. “It’s 6:09, to be exact—”

“I’ve got to go!” I begin hammering on the lids of my paint and throwing items into my reliable utility cart—the four-wheeled metal wagon that I’ve been dragging around Chicago since my first mural.

The biggest dinner of my life is tonight, and I’m running behind.

“Can I help you pack up?” she asks, glancing around anxiously.

I consider requesting that she gather up my drop cloth, before reminding myself that Ms. Ritewood is a sixty-something-year-old with lower back pain, persistent carpal tunnel, and the agility of a tortoise. “I’ve got it!”

“You’re sure?”

“Definitely.”

Once my cart is full and the cleanup is complete, I snag the cart handle and dash down the sidewalk for home. “I’m making good progress!” I shout over my shoulder. “I should be able to finish up in the next week or two!”

“Sounds good, Blaine,” Ms. Ritewood calls after me, eyeing my cart with concern. “But take it easy with that thing! I want you to make it to your dinner alive—and in one piece!”

I jog as fast as my tattered cart will allow, without its wheels spinning off into oncoming traffic. Although they’re the least efficient way back home, cozy side streets lined with brownstones are my preferred medium of travel, as the shade from the overhead trees breaks up the late-afternoon sunshine, and you’ll likely see more dogs being walked by their humans that way. But there’s no time for befriending strangers’ pets when you’re racing against the clock, so I veer right onto congested Milwaukee Avenue and pick up the pace, daring my aging cart to rebel.

I can’t be late tonight. Not for the date night of all date nights.

This dinner could very well be one of the highlights of my high school experience, after all, the one-year anniversary of—

“Agh!” I hear the terror in my victim’s voice before I see their face.

My guess is, someone turned the sidewalk corner a half second after I zoomed by going the perpendicular direction. And that suspicion is confirmed another half second later, when I feel something slam into the side of my cart behind me.

I turn around just in time to witness several paint cans fall over, and a human body, roughly my size, stumble toward the ground, dropping their plant. The plant pot slams into the sidewalk and shatters into a million pieces. Fresh, dark soil and shards of ceramic scatter everywhere.

“Oh no!” I yell, reaching down to help the victim up. To my horror, I realize that I know this very unlucky person. “Danny?”

Danny Nguyen ignores my outstretched hand. “Oof,” he huffs, popping up from the concrete on his own and glancing around to see if passersby witnessed our crash. “Maybe you should slow down with that thing, Blaine.”

“You’re right,” I say, lifting my paint cans back into their upright positions. Fortunately, none of the lids popped off in the crash. Acrylic crisis averted.

He sighs, eyes narrowed on me as he folds his arms against the front of his indigo puffer vest. I smile guiltily, unsure how to steer this painfully awkward interaction to a better place.

Danny falls (literally) into the category of acquaintance that makes a shameful disaster like this as bad as can be. He’s not a friend of mine—someone who could immediately laugh this off and agree to hang out soon—nor is he one of the three million strangers in this city who’d go on their way as I go mine, both of us eager to put the embarrassment behind us. Nope, Danny is smack-dab in the middle—a fellow junior at Wicker West High School who’s just vaguely aware enough of my existence to make this peak cringeworthy.

“Damn,” he says, suddenly aware of what happened to his little cactus plant thing (which I assume is now on its deathbed). “My aloe vera.”

“Your al-uh-what?”

“My aloe vera plant,” he says, bending at the knees to assess the damage. “I just bought it.”

“When?”

“Five minutes ago.”

I gulp. “Oh. Dang. Well, Danny… I’m—”

“Sorry,” he sighs, irritated. “Yeah, I bet you are.”

“Really, though! I am.”

With no remaining pot for the plant to call home, Danny carefully holds it in the palms of his hands like he’s cradling a newborn chick. He looks up at me, expressionless, hoping I’ll say or do something that will help make this unbearable moment a little less nails-on-a-chalkboard terrible.

I check my phone, grimacing. It’s 6:20. I’m going to be so late. So, so late. “I’ve got to go!” I say, snagging the handle of my cart and darting off.

“Really?” he calls after me. “That’s it?”

“I’ll get you a new aloha plant, I promise!”

“Aloe vera!”

“What?”

“Never mind.”

Welp, add “buy new al-uh-whatever plant for Danny Nguyen” to my running list of things to do, right after “finish Ms. Ritewood’s mural.” Alternatively, I could avoid him like the plague through graduation day, a year and some odd months from now, which—at a school as large as Wicker West—isn’t entirely out of the question.

I finally make it home—a boring brick town house not unlike the sea of forgettable apartments near Susan’s Stationery. (Maybe my next mural should be on my own block—a magenta Jupiter, floating in a turquoise solar system, surrounded by golden stars.) I drop the handle of my cart in front of the stone steps, race up, and blast through the front door.

My aunt Starr, standing a few feet away in her plush, lavender bathrobe, looks just as frazzled as I am. I open my mouth to explain how I lost track of time and then crashed my cart into a classmate, but—

“It doesn’t matter,” she cuts in, holding up a finger. “We’ve got fifteen minutes to make you sparkle. Let’s go.”

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B09842NRNQ
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers (April 12, 2022)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ April 12, 2022
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 2205 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 333 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #899,536 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #484 in LGBTQ+ Romance for Teens & Young Adults eBooks
- #760 in Teen & Young Adult LGBTQ+ Fiction (Kindle Store)
- #838 in Teen & Young Adult Romantic Comedy

Customer Reviews:
4.5 160 ratings

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Robbie Couch

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Robbie Couch writes contemporary and speculative young-adult fiction. He is the author of If I See You Again Tomorrow, Blaine for the Win, and The Sky Blues, which was a 2022 Barnes & Noble Young-Adult Book of the Year finalist and Library Guild Selection. Robbie is originally from small town Michigan and lives in Los Angeles.

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160 global ratings

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Amazon Customer

Love this book

Reviewed in the United States on April 29, 2023

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Okay I finished this book last night and I can't recommend it enough. This is a YA read that I think is so important. This is a teenage queer legally blonde. I love that the gay lesbian and bi characters aren't walking stereotypes. These are just teens living their lives and they are all full charming characters.i also love the easy conversation about mental health; especially in regards to young queer mental health. This book is well written charming and insightful. In my opinion it's a book that everyone should read. I also loved the loving supportive families in the book. They support these kids in who they are and in the dreams they have and it's beautiful. I also love the easy non humor based multicultural representation that are again not stereotypical and I haven't even touched on the amazing plot and fantastic writing. Trust me if you read this you will root for the characters and fall in love with all that this book has to offer. I can't praise it enough this read is a huge 10 out of 10 for me.

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Russ

Lovable characters in a great Chicago setting! Fun read!

Reviewed in the United States on June 7, 2023

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I really enjoyed this book, and really love Robbie’s writing style.
Although Blaine annoyed me on occasion with his choices and how he acted, I think it just made him more believable and genuine.
I also think the other characters were done amazingly, and likable. Who wouldn’t want a best friend like Trish? And don’t even get me started on Aunt Starr. I even really liked Joey.
Another thing about this book I loved that it was Chicago based, and there were so many great locations and Chicago places mentioned. Living in Chicago it was such a treat to read and be like “oh I’ve been there!”
All in all a really great fun read, with some really lovable characters!

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Kevin Co

A charming queer take on Legally Blonde

Reviewed in the United States on October 6, 2022

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Blaine for the Win is the gay teen version of Legally Blonde and I was all for it. On their first anniversary, high school junior Blaine’s senior boyfriend breaks up with him because he isn’t “serious” enough. So Blaine decides to win him back by running for senior class president to show just how serious he can be. Unfortunately, his ex-boyfriend is now hooking up with the frontrunner while Blaine has no idea what he’s up for.

The parallels with Legally Blonde is obvious and sprinkle some parts of another Reese Witherspoon movie Election, and you’ve got Blaine for the Win. I loved both of those movies, so this one was right up my alley and carried over plenty of goodwill. I thoroughly enjoyed the book, but I just wish Blaine was a bit more likable. His flaws are very obvious so the conflicts were predictable when they did come. I do think that the message about being true to yourself came through albeit not very straightforward.

Blaine for the Win is a charming queer take on Legally Blonde.

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J. George

A very cute and fun YA novel

Reviewed in the United States on October 22, 2022

Verified Purchase

This book is one of the most fun and joyful books to come along in a while. It's a gay YA novel with an instantly-likable protagonist. The storyline is interesting and never falls into tired cliches. Perhaps what I like best about it is the supporting characters all feel real and multidimensional, too, which is not always the case in books like this. They really add to the story rather than just presenting obstacles for the protagonist to overcome. I definitely hope to read more by Robbie Couch!

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Guy Venturi

Elections, Paint, Plants, Classes, Dreams, Dates, Debates, Love

Reviewed in the United States on July 25, 2023

Verified Purchase

Blaine is an average good student in high school with too many dreams and not enough friends to keep from being lonely and introverted. He gets too excited about many things and too worried about everything else. But his dog Fudge understands him and loves him.

His family is like most kids. Not enough time or money to do what is most needed...spend time together as a family. But with his mother's sister, Aunt Starr, currently living with his family after loosing her job and place to live, he realizes he is less lonely with someone to share with at home instead of just by himself.

Blaine's love of painting murals on neighborhood businesses to cover some of the deterioration in older parts of Chicago provides mutual art appreciation and chances to improve his artistry while making some money.

His boyfriend Joey comes from a high powered family that expects perfection from their kids and the two older ones set a high standard for Joey. But on Blaine and Joey's first anniversary date at a very expensive highly rated restaurant where Blaine expects to be invited to go with Joey's family on a Spring Break trip to Cabo, nothing goes right. Soon the break up is affecting everything at school.

Soon murals are ignored, friends are argue, emotions are exploding, school activities and events are disappointing, and everyone has gone mental over dreams. Somehow Blaine decides to run for Senior Class President for the next school year to win back Joey who was Senior Class President this year when Blaine was a Junior. Joey predicts his new boyfriend Zack who has been Class President of Blaine's class for three years will be the new Senior Class President.

As the election process quickly builds, Blaine is overwhelmed but gets great support from old and new friends. Yet nothing goes the way it is expected. Hang on for an exciting adventure as everything plots to educate and change the students lives in real life.

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DS Family

Loved it.

Reviewed in the United States on January 2, 2023

Verified Purchase

I loved this so much I made my 15 y.o. read it. I felt like the focus on mental health was messaging that he could really use. We had some solid discussions when he was done & I really am glad I was able to open the door by having him read this fun and interesting story.

One person found this helpful

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J To

Cute and sweet second Book from Robbie Couch

Reviewed in Canada on April 17, 2022

Verified Purchase

A very cute gay take on Legally Blonde set around a high school president election. Relatable characters, clever writing and a quick pace. This should be on your summer beach read list.

Zaza - Forum Boulevard des Passions

Un beau roman initiatique au message très positif

Reviewed in France on July 12, 2023

Verified Purchase

Déjà avant de commencer, j'aurais juste envie de dire à Robbie Couch que je l'aime, que je le remercie et qu'il devrait y avoir plus d'auteurs comme lui ! Quel plaisir et quel bonheur de pouvoir lire de YA queer avec des représentations positives, et aussi de les trouver en VF !

Pour moi, cet auteur fait un boulot formidable en donnant à lire des histoires qui mettent en scène des ados queer sans que tout ne tourne au drame ou à l'angoisse car trop souvent, ce type de roman met l'accent sur le mal-être des ados, le rejet et les tourments qu'ils peuvent connaître. Avec lui, les ados LGBTQ ont une vie normale (ou presque) et ça fait du bien de voir ça, et j'espère que ces romans pourront avoir une place de choix dans les CDI car les ados d'aujourd'hui ont désormais la chance d'avoir ce genre de représentation.

Avec Robbie Couch, on est sur une ambiance très positive, et je trouve ça vraiment parfait, ce petit côté feel-good et très vie normale d'ado, avec tous les mélos, les émois et les imperfections que cela entraîne. Car oui, Blaine est loin d'être parfait, il ne fait pas toujours les bons choix, il peut se montrer égocentrique et égoïste, blessant, mais c'est un ado de 16 ans ! J'ai aimé suivre son cheminement, avec cette atmosphère très teen movie, c'est très américain, mais ça fonctionne super bien ! Blaine se montre un digne héritier de Elle Woods, le personnage campé par Reese Witherspoon dans La revanche d'une blonde il y a ... très longtemps ^^', et d'ailleurs, j'adore le clin d'oeil de la maison d'éditions quant au choix du titre en VF (qui peut paraître très c*nc*n si on a pas la réf).

Alors oui c'est assez convenu, mais j'ai vraiment accroché dès les premières pages et je me suis régalée à suivre les tribulations de Blaine et sa bande d'amis dans cette aventure électorale (l'élection des délégués chez nous, c'est de la gnognotte à côté de de ça, croyez-moi). C'est une belle bande d'amis qui apporte un vrai plus au récit, et qui va aider Blaine à grandir. J'aime aussi que comme dans The Sky blues, les adultes soient des figures positives, je pense notamment à la tante qui est un super personnage.

En conclusion, voilà donc un beau roman initiatique au message très positif, porté par la plume pleine de tendresse d'un auteur que j'aime décidément vraiment beaucoup !

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