ARC REVIEW!!
3.75⭐️

Normally i’m not too big of a fan of the miscommunication trope but I actually really loved it in this book. The angst was hitting so hard my heart was hurting for almost the entire book but in such a good way. I read this entire book in just a few hours there was something about it that made me not able to put it down I was so invested! Also loved loved loved how much survivor was mentioned that is simply the most me coded thing ever!!!!

I felt the characters were very relateable and likeable overall, though I did not feel the chemistry between them and felt everything moved a bit quickly. It wasn't for me, but it was a cute story.

Thank you to NetGalley Celadon for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!


I really liked this book. Theo and Evie have been childhood friends, and as they are in their adult lives, both characters are going through some issues. Theo's roommates are moving out and he's not allowed to stay in the apartment solo while Evie needs health insurance due to her Crohn's disease but is offered a dream fellowship that lacks it (enter Theo). Both decide to get married (out of convenience) and we know the rest of the trope.

Theo is all green flags while Evie is great, but it causes some issues where there weren't any, leading to the third act. Additionally, I loved the banter and the deep foundation of Evie and Theo's friendship, and this book made me think about it days later.

Read if you like:
- Friends to lovers
- Banter
- Jewish MC's
- Marriage of convenience
- Chronic illness rep

This book got me cause it mentioned that fans of Emily Henry would love it. I am, if not one of the biggest Emily Henry fans out there. And I’m happy to report that this book did not disappoint. It was sweet and tender and pulled on your heartstrings, while still supplying the comfortable, found family aspect that I love so much. The POV wasn’t my favorite, but the storyline and the characters made up for it. Would highly recommend to anyone wanting something that has the weight of a romcom but needing something a little deeper to get them in their feels!

I received this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I love myself a good marriage of convenience for benefits specifically trope. This one semi reminded me of another one I read a year or so ago. It was cute and light with enough tension to show something was at stake.

I absolutely adored this book! Theo? He is perfect. I fell in love with his thoughtful, considerate nature. You can tell from the way that he cares about Evie, and even his students.

The slow burn romance, packed with so much tension, was EVERYTHING. I love when a story has great buildup, especially with friends to lovers.

Beyond the romance, all the characters had so much depth. They felt multifaceted, making the world of the book feel real and immersive. It struck the perfect balance between being laugh-out-loud funny and deeply emotional. I found myself both chuckling at the banter and wiping away tears at the more heartfelt moments. Friends with Benefits is a playful, engaging read that also carries real emotional weight. Highly recommend!

I LOVED this execution of friends to lovers. This marriage of convenience romance lets you watch Evelyn and Theo grow up before your eyes, between flashbacks to childhood and now. The shared memories were really, really special to read. I loved all of the Survivor mentions. This was a love letter to dance, to chronic illness, to friendship, and family. I can't wait for everyone to read this story - the two main characters know each other down to their core.

This book was so sweet. Childhood friends marry for actual insurance benefits and a roommate situation and have to finally admit that they’ve been in love with each other the whole time.

There are time jumps that give more background to why Evie and Theo are the way that they are and why they’ve concealed their feeling for so long.

I really enjoyed my time with this book and would recommend Friends with Benefits to any of my romance reader friends who love a friends to lovers trope.

Beware emotional damage!!

I loved this book with every fibre of my soul.

Evie and Theo are so in love with each other, but they’re best friends and never want to fully cross that line. Once they both realize their feelings, it takes them time, and I want to strangle them both for being so stubborn. But once they embrace their love, it’s truly inspiring to watch their relationship unfold. Something every person in their lives have always seen.

My only “criticism” is that I wish the spicy parts were a little more detailed!

I love a friends to lovers moment and I found myself racing to find out what happened with these two long time best friends. I didn't love the conflict between the two and how they handled things.

Evie Bloom dreams of being a foley artist. She is accepted into a foley artist fellowship that should be a dream come true, but she is ready to turn it down because the pay is low and there are no health benefits, an essential for some with a chronic illness like Evie. On top of that, Evie is about to lose the home she has lived in for years.

Enter Theo, Evie's best friend since childhood and former dance partner. Theo is a teacher with great healthcare who is also about to lose his home when his roommates suddenly move out of the apartment they share and he doesn't meet the minimum income requirement.

The obvious solution? Evie and Theo enter into a marriage of convenience. What could possibly go wrong?

I have to admit it, I'm a fan of the marriage of convenience trope. I like putting characters into situations they may not have entered into otherwise. For instance, a legally binding relationship with the person you've secretly been in love with for years. I'm less a fan of the friends to lovers trope, but I obviously knew what I was getting into here.

I loved that Evie was a a foley artist. It's a career that we don't really hear talked about and I definitely think they deserve more credit. It was fun hearing about her job.

I liked learning about the characters' history bit by bit and seeing them grow together as the story went on. The author did a good job of showing how people can perceive the same situation differently.

I liked these characters together than their relationship really did feel inevitable. I was less enchanted by Evie's insistence on never getting married and the back and forth conflict in the end. I've noticed a trend lately of the third act conflict in a book actually being the exact same conflict that's happened two times in the book already. I don't want to keep seeing the same issue.

This was another book with a bisexual female lead, where her sexuality wasn't turned into an issue (Love this! Keep them coming!) Also appreciated seeing Jewish leads and chronic illness rep.

A fun read overall, but a little dramatic for my taste. Thank you to NetGalley and Celadon books for the ARC!

4 Stars

So frustratingly good. This book is proof that characters can be lovable and adorable, while also being the biggest pain-in-the-asses to exist.

I was almost tired of their antics by the end of it, but one thing(s) I will always relate to is the complexity that comes with trauma, chronic pain, and misunderstandings. Because even if you can’t understand the first two, everyone suffers from the latter. It causes real pain.

So whilst misunderstanding tropes may be frustrating, they are so close to reality — particularly the way it was executed in this book. Romance isn’t perfect, and perhaps romance books shouldn’t be either. Fairytales are nice, but it’s also great to see yourself in a complicated character & get reinvested in love based on a HEA that’s not a complete fantasy.

Just when the world has pried almost every reason to be happy from your grasp, love slips in to give you some semblance of control.

Thank you #NetGalley for this digital ARC.

This was a nice romance with chronic illness and coping with loss.
We get flashbacks to see how much pain Evie was in as a teenager and how so many doctors missed her Chron's disease.
Theo lost his mother to cancer as an early twenty something and is still struggling with that loss.
I love how supportive Theo was. His character had such a kind nature it was very easy to love him!

When I started this book, I knew it would be friends to lovers, but OMG, I did NOT expect to be screaming the entire time! The chemistry is everything you hope for. The story and unfolding drama are absolutely relatable. You truly root for them to figure it out the entire time because it seems nothing outside of perfect. If you love a good romcom and love a friend to lovers trope, then this book is for you!

Best friends to lovers is one of my favorite tropes and this is no exception. Theo and Evie have been friends for so many years and they’ve been in love for so long. Felt like a slow burn but it was worth the wait to see Theo and Evie together. Thank you Netgalley for an arc of this book, I really appreciate it!

Thank you NetGalley and Celadon Books for the ARC. I adored the characters in Friend with Benefits. Evelyn and Theo are childhood friends. She meets Theo when she is young at her first dance class and remain the best of friends into adulthood. Evelyn is still learning the limitations of living with the autoimmune condition Crohn's and figuring out the hard way that if you listen to your body when it whispers you won't have to hear it scream. This is very relatable to anyone who has an autoimmune condition that can impact your every day life. Any chance at a professional dancing career shatters when she suffers a devastating ankle injury at a competition which Theo will never forgive himself for. Theo loses his mom to cancer which is a devastating loss. As adults, Theo and Evelyn are sorting through their feelings for each other not wanting to jeopardize what they have. I enjoyed the flow of this story though I know other readers may have not been a fan. I enjoyed how you didn't know as much as the characters when a situation was occurring then later found out more of the backstory. Everything moves in a continuous flow. When strong emotions start coming to ahead, Evelyn and Theo are quickly realizing they both don't know everything about each other. headed towards going apart or closer. More intimate. Evelyn wants to shutdown and run scared afraid of being rejected again. Theo is afraid to screw things up by both saying nothing and everything about how he feels. They both have to sort out the past in order to move forward to build the lives they want, including if that means being more than just friends.

Thanks to Celadon Books and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Anyone who knows me, knows #friendstolovers is my favorite trope. I just LOVE it!

Stefan and Caroline happen to be one of my favorite examples of this, after #mondler (Monica and Chandler) in #Friends.

Well, move over, Steroline and Mondler! Because we've got Thevelyn or...Eveo!

Point is, this book had me ALL IN MY FEELS, FOR REAL. And if Theo were real, whew! He was *the* love interest.

Theo and Evelyn (Evie, pronounced Eh-vee) have been best friends since childhood, facing dual crises in their lives.

Theo's roommates announce their moving out, and because of certain rent stipulations, he is ineligible to stay in the apartment solo.

Evelyn is a Foley artist (the magicians behind the sounds in movies and TV shows), who is presented with an opportunity to do a prestigious fellowship and finally get some legit experience and possible recognition for her passion. However, Evie, has Crohn's disease, and needs health insurance to literally live and function.

Does she stick with her current full-time job with bennies, continue to feel drained, under-appreciated, and stuck?

Well, after Evie is suddenly faced with her own housing crisis, the besties realize that two heads are better than one- marriage-style.

Theo and Evie get married to solve their problems--- score the apartment, pursue the fellowship, while not losing benefits since being married to Theo, she's on in his insurance.

Easy-peasy, right?

NOPE.

Turns out, good health insurance is not the only benefit.

This book has EVERYTHING:
*witty banter
*chronic illness rep
*gut-wrenching romance
*great supporting characters
*a great premise, with great execution
*an HEA

5-star rating, for sure. I absolutely fell in love with Eveo and their journey. How deep their friendship was, how solid the foundation they built, their support of each other, how in sync they were. JUST AMAZING! Go get it!

3.5 / 5 Stars

Oh, boy, oh boy. This was a real emotional rollercoaster of a ride for me. In “Friends with Benefits,” we meet best friends, Evie and Theo. Evie and Theo have been friends since they were in elementary school having met in dance class. Now, Evie is an aspiring Foley artist with Crohn's Disease who needs good health insurance and Theo, an elementary school teacher, needs to be married to stay within a certain income threshold to keep his rent-controlled apartment. And so here is the convenience part of their marriage of convenience. What is not so convenient is that Evie and Theo have each had feelings for each other for a long time. These feelings spring up and they each push those feelings deep, deep down. Many years of miscommunications, missed opportunities, misunderstandings, trauma-responses, push, pull, all of it. So what happens now that they are married?

I think this book was incredibly well written. Marisa Kanter has an amazing ability to not only thoroughly and meticulously paint a scene (like Theo’s classroom and his students, a Foley studio, an apartment, an old gas station turned ice cream shop), but she thoroughly and meticulously writes, analyzes, and digests characters’ emotions. The psychology major in me LOOOOOVED it. I want to understand how abandonment issues present themselves in every part of a character’s life. I want to understand how that intersects with having a chronic illness. I wanted it all and I got it all. It was so clear that the author understood and thought about every aspect of her characters (major and minor) and because of that I felt really well taken care of. I understood every one of their actions, of their relationships with others, of their internal thoughts, and there were no missing pieces.

And yet, I still wanted to shake both of the main characters out of frustration sometimes. I understood their actions and why they wouldn’t act differently and wanted them to act differently so badly. For me, when I read about the characters struggling and refusing their feelings for too much of the book, my heart just craves to see them happy and I wanted a tad bit more happy. The intellectual part of my brain was scratched in such a satisfying way that I wanted that for my heart as well. That is such a personal preference and I know there are people out there that will love the angst and yearning, but I highly recommend this book if you want to really understand the human psyche in a really powerful and meaningful way.

Thank you to Celadon Books and NetGalley for providing this eARC! All opinions are my own.

This book doesn’t quite work for me. The writing style feels a little chaotic. Things happen very fast at the beginning without the sufficient context. It feels like we are only told about something so that it can be immediately used to cause an issue or move the plot forward. This leads to things feeling a little surface level for me.
I also found the many specific references to brands very off putting. It immediately took me out of the reading experience to hear about the Talenti ice cream for example.
I do appreciate getting two atypical main characters - one dealing with a chronic, hidden illness and one more beta romantic interest.
But ultimately, this just isn’t quite right for me.

I just couldn't get into this one. Now, this may just be a me issue, but I find it really hard to get connected and stay connected to the characters when it's written in the third person POV. I ended up having to back track and see who I was reading about quite a bit.

If you're okay with a third person POV, I would still say give this one a go because the plot line itself has potential but I just couldn't enjoy it like I wish I could have.