This was my very first on my Abby Jimenez journey. Her debut novel. Absolutely amazing read!
Josh and Kristen character/relationship development was second to none. I adored these too. You will laugh, end up a blubbering mess and just want to live in a world created by Abby Jimenez and her pups!

Abby Jimenez has quickly become one of my favorite romance authors and I absolutely adored THE FRIEND ZONE! Her characters are wonderful, as are their stories, and I love the variety of plot devices and tropes she utilizes in each of her novels. Highly recommend all of her work!

I loved the writing, the characters, and I definitely loved all of the banter and the chemistry between Josh and Kristen! I did feel like this book was already fairly "heavy" though, so when some additional things were added to the plot a little over halfway through the book, it kind of bogged down the story. It was just a bit too much for one book for me, but I did love the romance and I absolutely looooooved Josh, and Stuntman Mike is now my little dream dog. ;)

While this story wasn't exactly what I was hoping for it to be, I did thoroughly enjoy it, and I would still recommend it to my fellow romance lovers. ;) I feel like this might be one that I appreciate more after a reread...one that I don't do on the bus since I was fighting tears the first time I read this during my morning commute. Definitely be prepared with tissues if you're an emotional reader like me!

This book gives it all— laughter, tears and everything in between. The Friend Zone showcases that hardships of being a woman and the complexities of romantic relationships when you just know you’re not right the right one.

I really enjoyed this one by Abby Jimenez. The main characters, Kristen and Josh, had a great chemistry that really had me rooting for them. However, I thought the story dragged on a bit in the middle. Once I finished, I read that this was written AFTER book two, which explained a lot. I think this would've been even better if it had been edited down by 20-25 pages. Still, the characters were fleshed out and the ending surprised me in a good way (the author's note really explained this). I can't wait to read the next one!

To be honest, I was not a huge fan of this book. The plot just did not work for me and I was not impressed with the character development. I have read and seen so much hype about this book and know that it must just not be for me.

I read this book without really looking at the synopsis at all - and when I tell you that an unexpected plot twist had me sitting poolside with my mouth hanging open in shock, and then a while later, trying to discreetly wipe my tears and keep my sniffling to a minimum, I wish I was lying. This book was great. I definitely got frustrated with Kristen multiple times because she had a tendency to leave things unsaid, but that’s fiction, right? Without spoilers, I would also like to add that I wish the ending had turned out differently, with Kristen realizing she can find true happiness with the cards she’s been dealt.

Kristen, about to move in with her long-time boyfriend who is currently deployed overseas, encounters Josh at the fire station where her best friend's fiance also works. Josh, new to town, ends up helping Kristen with her business in his spare time. The two hit it off incredibly well, but they both know they need to stay in the "friend zone" for various reasons. As they get to know each other better though and Kristen's boyfriend decides to re-enlist keeping him overseas, Kristen has choices to make not only in the romance department, but with her future. This story isn't a "chick lit" romance; it digs deeper at life's bumps in the road and what true love really is.

There were things I really liked about this book. Kristen in particular is very witty, and she has great, bantery chemistry with Josh. Their respective best friendships feel very solid and real. Adorably tiny Stuntman Mike the dog is my favorite character.

But. Kristen is 100% a Cool Girl. She hangs with the guys and eats cheeseburgers and doesn’t care if you see her without makeup and loves Tarantino movies. Josh is quite taken with her for all of these reasons, but it felt a little too much like a male fantasy of the mythical low-maintenance woman, who can also transform herself into a knockout with very little effort.

And Jimenez uses a major tragedy as a plot device to help our main couple. No spoilers, but it’s not related to Kristen’s infertility issues that she stubbornly refuses to discuss with Josh. I will continue to the next book, but I was a bit disappointed here.

Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for the ARC to review. All opinions are my own.

This was a light read, I found myself frustrated at times but overall enjoyed it. Books where the main character is holding onto a secret give me anxiety but their Good chemistry won me over.

I enjoyed The Friend Zone! It made me laugh; it made me cry. But it also made me incredibly frustrated. A large portion of the conflict is the couple just not communicating. At all. (And, in my opinion, not even for good reasons) I find lack of communication/misunderstandings as the driving source of conflict annoying. Other than that, I would recommend it!

My Thoughts:

The Friend Zone was such an enjoyable contemporary romance with memorable characters that I fell in love with from page one. Kristen is spunky, passionate about her work, fiercely loyal and hilarious. I swear to God, I could live in her head and enjoy her internal dialogue forever. Her bouts of hanger were strangely reminiscent of my own so those incidences made me chuckle all the more.

She meets Josh in a truly great meet cute when she accidentally rear ends him and later finds out he's the best man in her best friend's wedding. I really loved Josh so, so much. He's this incredibly caring, funny person, fellow firefighter with Sloane's (Kristen's best friend) fiance, Brandon. He has the best banter with Kristen right off the bat and it had me grinning because banter is my favorite. They match so well together, like puzzle pieces that were meant to be but took a little longer before they got put together.

Kristen has infertility issues and she keeps that from Josh as he wants a big family. This is one of the major hurdles that prevents Kristen from pursuing Josh and is definitely something a little extra communication could solve. However, it was written well enough that it didn't fall into the frustration inducing lack of communication trope. I do want to mention that I commend Abby Jimenez for bringing an issue that isn't often discussed into this story. Kristen's health issues with infertility were a prominent part of the book and while handled well for the most part, I did take slight issue with the resolution. I won't say more than that for spoiler's sake. However, Kristen's feelings and emotions during her struggles were very raw and honest and I think it's important to see on the page. While this gives a more serious tone to the story, it is balanced out with the humor and banter between Kristen and Josh.

There is one thing that blindsided me toward the end of the book and if I had read the synopsis to the next companion book, I would've been more prepared. It devastated me and while I know this had to happen for book 2...I still didn't have to like it! It seriously rocked me. I pretty much dropped my kindle and yelped out loud, no joke. That incident aside though...I enjoyed this one so much. Kristen and Josh will hold a special place in my heart, that's for sure!

In Short...

If you're looking for a fantastic contemporary romance with real characters who have the best snarky back and forth, this one's for you! Josh will make you swoon (I'm pretty much in love with him) and Kristen will have you laughing. Serious issues give this story depth and I won't be surprised if you shed a tear or two. So well written - I highly recommend!

One of my all time favorite books! I’ve already read it twice and will continue to read and recommend this to everyone!

This was amazing! One of the best debuts I've read in a while. It's emotional, steamy, and hilarious as all get out!

Josh Copeland is looking for a new start. After realizing that his long-time girlfriend was not changing her mind about having children anytime soon, he has ended that three-year relationship and moved across the country to work in the same firehouse as his best-friend. He has an empty apartment full of boxes, bills for appliances he no longer owns, and guilt and frustration over the relationship in equal measure. The last thing he should be doing is falling in love with a unavailable woman like Kristen, but the more time he spends with her the more he is convinced she is his “unicorn”.

Kristen Petersen is bossy, driven and completely uncompromising, and it is with narrowed eyes and a scowl that she hires Josh. She desperately needs a part-time carpenter - without him, the doggie stairs that are central to her online business would have to go on back order. She knows it's a mistake from the start to find Josh as attractive as she does, especially with her long-distance boyfriend Tyler just weeks away from finally moving in with her. Kristen does all she can to make herself Josh-proof, hiding nothing of her moods, or demanding nature, dressing to un-impress at every opportunity. But instead of being repelled, Josh’s caretaking nature kicks in, handing her Motrins for her painful cramps, and buying her all the menstrual products she needs for her heavy painful periods.

Soon they are hanging together and she is ignoring her boyfriend’s calls, but they keep things platonic, till the night she breaks up with her boyfriend. To Josh’s shock, all Kristen is willing to offer is no-strings just sex, not the relationship he craves. What Josh doesn’t know is that while he has been sharing his dreams of having a large family, Kristen has been cringing, as her severe fibroids and upcoming partial hysterectomy will make it a near impossibility for her to share that with him. It is Kristen’s conviction that this makes her the wrong woman for Josh and her unwillingness to hear otherwise at the heart of their emotional conflict.

The best thing about The Friend Zone is the genuineness of the friendships, the humor, the banter and the heart-to-heart conversations. The whole novel is structured around the dynamic intersections between friends and lovers. While Kristen does very intentionally “friendzone” Josh and it is their rocky romance the novel is centered on, the story is just as much about two sets of best friends and how their lives change as a result of a series of collisions. Each set of friends has each been in each other’s lives for more than decade. Kristen and Sloan have been inseparable since their teens, Brandon and Josh bonded as young Marines. The first collision is that between Kristen and Josh, their mini-fender bender shortly before being formally introduced to each other by their best-friends, sets the tone for their relationship, combative, flirty and complicated. The second collision, late in the novel shatters all their expectations of what their lives are going to look like. Grief, anger and all the frustrations bubble out and make it impossible to go on as before.

It is a rare thing for me to read an ARC in just one day. But a combination of Jimenez’s voice, which was both funny & angsty and the pacing of the novel kept me glued to my ereader. There is a lot to love in this debut novel, from its uncompromising heroine, Kristen, to the depth and the centrality of friendships that ground the story. There are however some narrative choices that according to the author’s note are based on the specific experience of the author’s best-friend that are likely to give some readers who have faced infertility pause. There is also some questionable OCD rep, where the OCD manifests exclusively as stress cleaning. Yet despite these issues, I greatly enjoyed this novel, even as I cried buckets at points. I look forward to reading more from Ms. Jimenez.



Content Warnings: infertility, medical procedures, fatphobia, ableism, OCD, traumatic death of secondary character)

Kristen Peterson is an opinionated, strong-willed woman who loves fiercely and laughs quickly. She meets Josh Copeland when he rear-ends her one day. She then finds out that he is the best man to her maid of honor in her best friend, Sloane's, wedding. They soon find themselves thrown together in situation after situation. And then Josh offers to help Kristen with her company and he is around a lot. And she is shocked to realize that she doesn't hate it. He is funny, smart, and great with his hands. And he makes her forget that she has a boyfriend who is currently deployed. Kristen knows that Tyler will be coming home soon and she believes that as soon as Tyler gets home she will forget how handsome Josh is. But then Tyler breaks up with her and she is free to date Josh. But will she be willing to spill all of her secrets for a relationship with the perfect man?

The Friend Zone and Abby Jimenez have gained a lot of fans over the last year. And now I understand why. The Friend Zone is a smart romance novel with interesting characters. At first, I didn't really care for Kristen Peterson. She seemed to be overdemanding and inconsiderate of everybody but Sloane. And then I got irritated with her "poor me" schtick and the games she played with Josh. And make no mistake, she was playing games with him. I kept having to remind myself that she and Sloane were both twenty-four-years-old. I am old enough to be her mother. Sigh. Anyway, the further into the book you get, the more you realize why Kristen behaves the way she does. And by the end of the book, my eyes were leaking. - CLICK HERE FOR SPOILERS

Bottom Line - I really have enjoyed getting to know Sloane and Kristen over the last two books. Abby Jimenez has a talent for writing smart and funny books and I can't wait to read more.

Details:

The Friend Zone by Abby Jimenez
On Facebook
Pages: 384
Publisher: Forever
Publication Date: 6/11/2019
Buy it Here!
Thank you to NetGalley for the book in exchange for a review.

This was such a fantastic debut from new author Abbi Jimenez! From character development, hilarious dialogue and all the feels, The Friend Zone had me hooked from start to finish! I immediately fell in love with leads Kristen & Josh’s chemistry and connection. Even though they are attracted to each other the build to their HEA is addictive in the best rom-com way! And who doesn’t want a stuntman Mike of their own! Crazy little pooch!

Without giving too much away I’ll say that if you love witty banter between instantly likable characters, a slight bit of angst and a writing style that reads like a movie then this is for you!

I can’t wait to see what more is to come from Abbi Jimenez, my new one-click buy author!

*Arc generously provided for honest review

Kristen and Josh’s story absolutely consumed me👏🏼! The Friend Zone follows Kristen and Josh as they become best friends after spending so much time together as the maid of honor and the best man for her best friend’s upcoming wedding. As their friendship grows, so does their attraction, but Kristen is keeping a secret: she’s getting a necessary surgery that would make it impossible to have kids. And josh wants a big family of his own someday. But as they spend more time together it gets harder and harder for her to keep him at arms length.

It’s almost impossible to go into why I love this book so much without spoilers, so I’ll just say this: Their banter was great, the chemistry is off the charts, and it’s guaranteed to make you cry at least once (got me three times!). My advice? Wait until you have a full day to read it otherwise you’ll end up like me and stay up until 3am reading under the covers because you don’t want to wake up your significant other and you’ll walk into work the next day with bags under your eyes.

I Loved this book and have recommended it to everyone I know. I will even buy the audiobook when it comes out. This was such a cute story that was definitely adult, and had hot-hot-hot themes, but also had real heart as well. You will find yourself laughing, shocked, and even have a little sad/heartwarming tear or two. I loved the chemistry the characters had, and was even more surprised at the ending. There is a definite twist that no one will ever see coming, I know I didn't. This book really had it all. I want to thank the author, the publisher, and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Loved this book from beginning to end! I loved both characters so much that you feel like you are a part of their conversations!! Abby’s debut is by far one of the best books of this year! Looking forward to what her next book will be!