Friends to lovers is such a great trope when done well. And, in this case, it was mostly done well. The author added in a marriage of convenience trope and a forced proximity trope but I felt they were underutilized.
I really liked Theo and Evie’s friendship. I think the author gave them a great backstory for WHY they are so close.
I just had a hard time with the will they/wont they aspect. Evie’s reasons for not wanting to be with Theo just seemed so weak. I think there will be a lot of readers just rolling their eyes wishing they had a super hot, thoughtful, sweet best friend who was in love with them and not understanding why Evie is pushing him away so hard.
Overall, I enjoyed this a lot. Loved the dual POV and dual timeline.

Thank you to NetGalley for this advanced reader copy.
This was a really fun and quick read and I love the friends to marriage of convenience to lovers trope!

I absolutely flew through this book. Evie and Theo were a heartbreakingly compelling couple. Between the traumas they both harbor from fraught parental relationships, the grief of losing his mother, and their health struggles (mental and physical), there was so much keeping them apart. Kanter wrote their journey to finally choosing each other with such raw, honest emotion. I was absolutely hooked.

I loved the flashbacks to earlier events in their lives, giving devastating context to their current hesitations with each other. And I enjoyed getting to know their friends and family as well. It was so funny to watch each and every person in their lives be unsurprised by their sudden marriage. This was a heartbreaking at times but ultimately satisfying, emotional read.

Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this title.

Honestly, I struggled to stay invested in this story. I started it several times, trying to get through it. I was fascinated by the idea of Evie being a Foley artist, this is not something I had run across in other books, so it caught my interest. I love a good rom-com, and I honestly thought the idea of friends marrying for convenience, then realizing they were in love, would be an easy read. I don't know if it was the character development, or if the author struggled to make the change from YA to adult books, but something seemed stilted.

A charming premise with endearing characters and timely themes around healthcare and financial strain, but it didn’t quite hit the emotional depth I was hoping for. The chemistry between Evie and Theo is sweet, and the fake marriage trope is always fun, but some plot points felt a bit too convenient and the pacing dragged in parts. Enjoyable, just not unforgettable.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Celadon Books for providing me with an eARC of Friends with Benefits in exchange for my honest review!

This rom-com uses the trope foundation of friends-to-lovers and marriage-of-convenience to create a sincerely charming ride that gets me invested in the relationship between Evie and Theo. There's a real sweetness to them that gets me convinced they've been companions for years and years, that helps me believe their bond is strong enough for them to fully cross over into romantic territory (though that romantic love, as it turns out, has been simmering underneath the surface for a long time), that makes me root for them to stay together once they run into obstacles. I've seen some criticisms from reviewers in regard to this book apparently feeling odd because Marisa Kanter is a YA author who's releasing her adult debut novel, so there's the perspective that this rom-com suffers from a tonal clash that makes some of it seem like it's aimed at adults and other parts come off like they're designed for the YA audience. Personally, I think it handles things pretty smoothly and is able to give Theo and Evie's dynamic the heartfelt meat that it needs to thrive. Plus, this book manages to carve out space to give a thoughtfully crafted portrayal of chronic illness via Evie's Crohn's disease, which the narrative then uses to shine a spotlight on how horribly our healthcare system treats the disabled community and how it forces them to jump through a ton of hoops to get the care that they so desperately need.

This tale wraps things up on a positive note and leaves me endeared towards its self-aware deployment of a classic rom-com cliche towards the end. With that in hand, I'm ready to give Friends with Benefits four out of five stars. I'd recommend adding this to your TBR pile, and I'll look out for more of Kanter's writing.

I liked the idea of friends marrying for the financial benefits. I also loved that Evie was a Foley artist, which is a super unique and interesting profession and the representation of chronic illness and the American healthcare system felt both relevant and high stakes.

While I generally enjoyed this book, I had a tough time with Evie. Evie was too caught up in her own issues for too long and didn't make efforts towards change until very late in the book. I couldn't sink into the romance like I wanted because Evie often treated Theo poorly, yet he kept coming back to her. That made their dynamic more frustrating than romantic.

I do think there's a lot to love in this book and others should give it a try. It was well-written and the characters were complex--it just didn't sweep me off my feet.

This book is told in a dual timeline about childhood friends Evie and Theo. When both of them are in need of a roommate (and health insurance), they decide to get married to help with their needs. As the story goes back and forth between timelines, you figure out that maybe there’s more than just friendship between the two of them.

I liked this story. It was very easy to read and follow. There were some minor things that bugged me; but overall I like how they communicated with each other while navigating their relationship.

Check TW as there’s talk of grief, abandonment, and health/disability rep.

3.5 stars but rounding up to 4⭐️

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Evie Bloom is an aspiring Foley artist who has an opportunity to take a dream fellowship, but with her health issues, she can’t afford to be without health insurance. Theo Bloom, Evie’s best friend since childhood, can’t afford his apartment on his own once his roommates move out, due to its income threshold rule with an exception only for married people. If Theo marries Evie, they can live in his rent-controlled L.A. apartment, and she can have access to his excellent health insurance while she pursues her dream fellowship. The only problems? Evie is staunchly anti-marriage, and just maybe, there are some unrequited romantic feelings between them.

Best friends to lovers is my favorite romantic trope, so I jumped on this book as soon as I saw it! Evie and Theo, even before their marriage, had a closeness that I suspect most people never experience in real life, between being best friends since childhood and dance partners for years. I really appreciated the chronic illness rep with Evie’s Crohn’s diagnosis adding a layer of reality to the story. I thought the time jumps between their present relationship and key moments from their friendship in years past were well placed. Evie’s constant denials of a possibility of a real relationship with Theo did start to irritate me before the end of the book.

Many thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book.

This was okay. The FMC read a little young to me. She was all over the place when it came to her sense of self. I found it hard to root for such an immature character.

Best friends are both in need of some help so they decide to become each other's safety nets. Evie gets the opportunity of a lifetime and she is torn. She desperately wants to take it, but would have to give up her much needed health insurance. Theo is in a pinch when his roommates move out of his rent controlled apartment. If married, they will meet the financial requirements for the apartment and she can get onto his insurance. What could possibly go wrong? It’s a cute'ish story of miscommunication, hidden feelings, their separate and shared history, some immaturity (mostly her) that eventually lead to them finding each other forever. Predictable, but an easy read.

I can’t wait to discuss this cute and easy read with the author for my book club next month. I truly enjoyed this one.

Friends with Benefits didn't really work for me, unfortunately. I liked the friends-to-lovers premise, though being a non-American I didn't really follow all of the health insurance pieces, but having both characters be already in love with each other and just constantly having miscommunications got so frustrating, so I quit at the halfway mark.

This book would appeal to anyone interested in the “inside baseball” of movie making, who lives for Hollywood and wants to read about the lives of young people in liberal pockets of modern America. Romance, ambition & the realities of life in Hollywood.

1.5 ★

This was exhausting. I need a full day retreat just to recover from trying to finish this book. A marriage of convenience between two childhood best friends so he (Theo) doesn't lose the apartment he can't afford with his teacher salary, and she (Evie) can access his health insurance and apply to her dream fellowship that doesn't come with one, shouldn't be this tiring and frustrating. And it's interesting because it didn't take me long to read, but I wanted to get inside this book and strangle these characters.

“These kids are terrifying.”
“I know.”
“I'm kind of obsessed with them?”
“I know.”

As fun as it is to write rant reviews and hate-read books, I hate doing that with ARCs. I hate not having anything nice to say about an ARC, so let me start with the only aspects of this book I enjoyed: the kids, Evie's job as a Foley artist, and the chronic illness rep. (1) Theo's fourth graders were adorable and had me laughing over their antics. They were so witty and well-spoken, and you can tell they owe that to him. (2) It was so interesting to learn a bit more about Foley work since I only got introduced to it late last year. It's such a cool and underrated career path, and I love characters with unique jobs. (3) I appreciate some good chronic illness representation, and Evie has Crohn's disease. There's a lot of talk about the special care she needs, how difficult it was for her to get a diagnosis since women's pain isn't taken seriously, and all the pain she had to endure before it. Some people in the reviews have complained about these thoughts and her call-outs on the healthcare system, and I need to distance myself from these people, so let me make something clear:

‼️‼️ DNF-ing this book because you found it "too political" when the only thing it does is call out the healthcare system in America and the dismissal of women's pain worldwide, doesn't make you valid or above the rest of us. A book that highlights inequality in the workforce and healthcare is just a book about our reality. Is it valid to want to "escape" when you read a book? Sure, but hate to break it to you: it's not possible. Every book out there is political, yes, including romance books. The way people write characters is political, the background they give them and the way that influences their actions is political, the descriptions characters give their love interests are political. Everything, absolutely everything (again, including the "silly romance book" you're reading) is political. So uhm, no. You don't get to abandon something because it had a character talking about her health struggles and her need for free (as possible) healthcare. That's not a valid reason. Complain about the characters' actions or other aspects of the writing, not because it's "too political"(whatever that means 😒) ‼️‼️

Now, back to Evie and Theo's relationship. I know they've been friends for decades, but telling me they've known each other since they were kids isn't enough for me to believe in them as a couple. It doesn't do anything for their romantic or sexual chemistry if you don't show me moments that build up to that change between platonic and romantic love. I believe they're friends, but I don't feel anything for them as lovers.

“(...) she loved him.
She's always loved him.
Really, it's an exhausting amount of work to <i>not</i> love him.”

Not even Evie thinking this can make me believe her because she spends the whole book pushing him away, downplaying her and his feelings, bringing up whatever excuse she can to let things stay the way they are, cutting off conversations, pretending to know more about his feelings than he does, and being okay with the insane amount of miscomunication they've been dealing with since forever 🙄. I simply don't believe she loves this man, and not even her maturing a bit towards the end can change my mind. I know she didn't have the best childhood and is still dealing with the consequences, but at one point, you're grown enough to have to deal with it and stop hurting people. There's this moment where she asks herself if she's the problem, and I wanted to get inside this book to scream "YES" at her face.

“His whole life, Evelyn Bloom has dictated the terms of their relationship, and it was always enough for him, to just be in her life.”

But here's the worst: while she's the main problem, he doesn't stay as far behind as I first thought. He might be super considerate, sweet, understanding, and pretty obvious with his feelings for her, but he's also a doormat. He lets her treat him the way she wants (and not in a 🫦 way, but a 😬 way) and doesn't fight to be heard until the very end. They were such a frustrating pair that I was pushing myself to keep reading just to see if they could redeem themselves... and they slightly did, but not enough.

Aside from my aforementioned problems with Evie and Theo, I also struggled with the writing. There were pop culture mentions, rants, lots of overdescriptions of food, drinks, and activities, and thoughts going on. It felt like the author was trying to include as many things as she could, but it only ended up feeling overwhelming, unnecessary, and underdeveloped. My head still hurts while thinking about everything that this book had going on, so yeah, not the story I was expecting.

Thank you to Celadon Books and Netgalley for the ARC ♡

This book started off a little slow, but once it started going I was hooked. I think she really handled the disability rep in this book with care. There was also some other tough subjects but they also were written so well. This was my first book by Marisa Kanter and I will definitely read more.

I was so excited about the synopsis of this book, but it the end it was lack luster for me. I felt zero chemistry between the two main characters. I felt like I would really love Evie Bloom! But even the flashbacks couldn't pull me to be invested in this story. I am not sure if it was the writing or what. Now Theo was great, he felt genuine and kind.

In the end this had solid potential, it just wasn't for me.

3.5 stars. I had high hopes for Friends With Benefits and it didn’t quite reach the mark for me. It is a good story but the third act breakup was annoying because of miscommunication. The end does make up for it a little.

4.5 stars!

This is literally about a friends with benefits situation: to get health insurance while she pursues an internship in Foley (sound design), former dancer Evie marries Theo for his health plan. They were childhood best friends who met in dance class, and a fall during a duet where Theo missed getting Evie the support she needed still hangs like a dark shadow over their friendship. The mishap was the start of the long-time coming chronic illness diagnosis that had been swept under the rug, so while it meant Evie had to find a new passion, it helped sort out some health stuff. All the more reason for a marriage of convenience: she needs stable health care, and Theo’s teaching job provides great benefits. Of course, Evie also needs a place to stay, because her grandparents are selling the property they’ve been allowing her to live in, and of course Theo’s roommate is moving out, so Evie can just more in, and in such close proximity, it’s hard to keep ignoring the attributes and assets of person you’ve been in love with half your life, so eventually, one thing leads to another. They still have a lot of processing to do, ranging from the fall to the death of Theo’s mom to his sending in her internship application on Evie’s behalf. And Evie needs to sort through her shit and not sabotage the relationship, once she realizes she’s actually happy.

I loved the deep friendship, the Jewish touchstones from matzoh ball soup to attending a bar mitzvah to Theo articulating his practice. In addition to the Jewish rep, Evie is bisexual and disabled, and Theo takes Lexapro, and it’s all normalized. I love the relatability of stopping at Trader Joe’s for three things and coming home with 2 kinds of goat cheese, and the many cultural references that make up their : Survivor, Billy Joel’s “Vienna,” videogaming (shout out to The Sims!). I love learning something new when I read, and all the details of what goes into sound design, from a dancer matching the on-screen choreography to the tricks of the trade to produce a sound-alike to Evie’s love for spending 40 hours in front of computer, editing and composing, to her desk set up, all lend an authenticity to her story.

More than just a romance, or a book about Crohn’s disease, the novel is also a takedown of the US healthcare system, as the characters rail against insurances and doctors who delayed a colonoscopy as not medically necessary due to young age of Theo’s mother, whose symptoms went ignored until her coleo-rectal cancer spread to her lymph nodes. Librarians will appreciate the support for graphic novels in the classroom. Oh, and the intimacy is excellent, from checking in to make sure the other is okay, to their communication, to the incorporation of a fun box of sex toys that Evie’s grandmother helpfully sent as a wedding gift.

Overall, this romance has a perfect blend of sweet, spice, and issues. The pacing is a tad slow, perhaps due to the flashbacks, dual point of view, and slow burn. For another book about a Jewish teacher with anxiety, check out M.A. Wardell’s Teacher of the Year; for another dance romance, try Take The Lead by Alexis Daria.

I received a free advance reader’s review copy of #FriendsWithBenefits via #NetGalley, courtesy of #Celadon in exchange for a fair and honest review.

The start of this book was a little slow for me, but by about 40% in, I was hooked. I thought the disability rep in this book (the main character has Crohn's disease) was done very well. The book also explored different kind of grief, death of a parent, parental abandonment, and what it means to choose to stay. I would definitely read another romance novel from Marisa Kanter.