📚 Book Review 📚
Friends With Benefits | Marisa Kanter
⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 | 🌶️🌶️🌶️️
Publication Date: 5/6/2025
Genre: Romance

Themes:
- Friends to Lovers
- Fake Dating/ Marriage
- Roommates
- Chronic Illness

Overall: 3.5/5
An emotional, slow-burning friends-to-lovers romance involving a marriage of convenience.

Plot: 4/5
While the main plot was straightforward, the side plot about the characters' careers, health, and family helped keep the storyline more original and unique.

Characters: 4.5/5
Theo is everything you would want in a best friend or lover, and Evie is an extremely driven and caring person. Although I feel that Evie took Theo for granted in this book, that didn't sit right with me.

Spice: 3/5
MF/ Open door scenes. While they opened a box full of kink toys, they never used them. Bummer.

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#FriendstoLovers #Marriageofconvenience #ChronicIllness #RoomatestoLovers #ForcedProximity #FriendswithBenefits #Spice #HEA
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I really wanted to love Friends with Benefits, but it was just ok. Although Evie’s career as a Foley artist added a unique element to this book, Evie was not a likable character. I adored Theo though! I also liked the flashbacks, but something was missing from Evie and Theo’s romantic relationship.

I really enjoyed this story. The friends to lovers trope was beautifully done. Evelyn and Theo’s relationship is so special and rare. It was a great read. Thank you to NetGalley and Celadon books for the ARC. (I am leaving this review voluntarily and all opinions are my own.)

Thank you to Netgalley and Celadon Books for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I loved this book so much that I read it in one sitting. I loved the storyline and the characters in this book. I thought the characters had great growth. I would definitely recommend this book.

I'm not a romance reader generally, but I've been trying to branch out into the genre and have read a few in the last year I quite enjoyed. I like the premise of this one, and loved the inclusion of the Foley artist aspect as well as the fact that Theo is a teacher.

Evie, however, was really obnoxious. Based on her career and the chronic illness, it should have made a well-rounded and interesting character. But she was so self-involved that her inner dialogue was painful to be stuck in. And her flaws didn't feel like they were there to make her feel well rounded because she didn't grow from them in a way that would have made it worthwhile.

The pacing of this one was also really, really slow. That combined with not finding Evie compelling made this read drag on for me. There were moments of decent chemistry, but it wasn't strong enough to support the story. Things were also written to be massively over-detailed and repetitive, especially surrounding feelings and why they felt the way they did. It got to the point where you could have skimmed chapters and not missed anything. Then there were many instances when the author showed the same scene but from a different POV, adding to the unnecessary repetition.

While I'm not generally a romance reader, it wasn't the romance that made me dislike this one. If you're looking for a romance with an unlikable FMC and a saintly MMC, then you may enjoy this one. My thanks to NetGallery and Celadon Books for allowing me to read this work. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Perfect summer read!!

This is one of my favorite types of romance books is one with lots of feels, but with great depth... This book serves all that and more!

This is one you'll want to add to your TBR if you're a fan of Abby Jimenez and Emily Henry!

I adored Friends with Benefits.

This book has the sweet elements of a friends to lovers story but addresses some more serious topics like chronic illness. It is done so well and respectfully. Anyone dealing with a chronic illness should have a friend like Theo Cohen in their lives. ❤️

Absolutely add this book to your summer reading list. It’s sweet and heartwarming and who doesn’t want that?

This was a 5 star read for me up until the third act break up that didn't make a lot of sense for the characters. However, if you enjoy Third Act Break ups I can see this definitely being a 5 star read for you.

Things I loved/liked
- Realistic modern reason for a marriage of convenience.
- The relationship between the main characters felt genuine (though I feel like they should've communicated better than they did)
- Chronic illness rep
- The overall tone being more serious and heavy than most romance novels, but not overly so.
- Theodore has been added to my ever growing list of Book Boyfriends.

Thank you to NetGalley for the Advance Reader Copy of Friends with Benefits by Marisa Kanter.

This is another book I really wanted to love but couldn’t quite get there. The author takes a swing at a lot of issues - health care and health insurance inadequacies in the US, chronic/Invisible illnesses, sexism in business, mental health, anxiety, abandonment, and I’m probably missing some. While these are all worthy and interesting issues to explore, these topics really overshadow the storyline and ultimately detract from character development. Focus on just a couple issues, woven really well into the plot, would have made the story much more enjoyable, and probably also addressed the issues in a more productive format.

Meh. I found Evie (ehh vee not eee vee ugh) a little too selfish for my tastes. Being around her must be absolutely exhausting. Because of that I found it hard to enjoy the rest of the story. Theo just seemed to want to do whatever for her all the time instead of taking his own feelings into account. This includes her blaming him for well…most everything. Just not a dynamic I found enjoyable. The ending felt forced and strange.

This book had some good parts and some not so great parts for me. There was just SO much miscommunication and that drives me crazy. I also found Evie to be frustrating most of the time. I had high hopes that I’d love her in the beginning because her career choice was so interesting to me but I found her chapters the least enjoyable. She just kind of seemed self involved to me and didn’t take Theo’s reasonings or emotions into consideration.

I appreciate the chronic illness rep though. I liked Theo and his chapters for the most part but overall I didn’t love this book.

Friends with Benefits by Marisa Kanter is a sweet story about a young woman named Evie Bloom who is an aspiring Foley artist but is dealing with a chronic illness. Because of her illness she cannot take an internship with no health insurance to further her dreams. Her best friend Theo is a teacher who offers to marry her so she can pursue her dreams while on his healthcare plan. However, when he’s had a secret crush on her for years, what will happen when they’re in such close proximity?

This was a sloooowwww burn but worth it. I wish they communicated better but they figured it out. Side characters were helpful and really appreciated the Jewish representation.

I received an arc from netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Evie Bloom suffers from Crohn’s disease which can be quite debilitating at times. However, she was able to be a Foley artist for a new movie about Ginger Rogers where showing just her feet, she tap-danced to the music. At the premiere, she learns that some jerk has taken the credit for it. She is so disappointed and angry because she needed to be part of the actor’s union where she could get health benefits which she so desperately needs.

Theo Cohen is an elementary teacher and loves his job. He is very popular with his students and has a way of interacting with them that keeps their attention.

Theo and Evie have been friends since they were little. They get together often. When Evie learns that the home that she is staying in will be sold, she needs to find a place to live. At the same time, Theo’s roommates say they are moving out and if he wants to keep the rent-controlled apartment they are in, he will need a roommate. The obvious solution is for Evie to move in.

I was so disappointed in this book. While Theo is a total teddy bear of a man, Evie is an irritating woman. Yes, I understand that she has a chronic illness that can bring her lots of problems, I found her to be just an unlikeable person in general. These two people aren’t a good match and to see them hook up just made me shake my head. Sorry. This book was just not for me.

Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I just finished Friends with Benefits by Marisa Kanter and here are my thoughts!

Evie has dreamt of this kind of fellowship.. With her medical issues, she needs insurance. Her friend Theo needs a new roommate that hits a certain wage threshold… They can fix each other's issues with a simple marriage of convenience.. What can go wrong?

It’s cute! Warm and really emotional with a serious undertone of heat. This is my kind of friends to lovers read because the needs they have aren’t silly. These are real problems real people have and I am here all day long for it.

I like how understated the romance is. That it isn’t all flashy. It was sweet. Cute inside jokes and quiet moments that really took the intimacy to a whole other level. I will say it was slow and I wish the story had moved a little quicker in spots but it was a really solid book.

I did struggle connecting with Evie and Theo… They weren’t as robustly portrayed as I usually like in these kinds of books but… it actually worked quite well. I liked the disability rep and how well it was done.

Read if you like:

•Forced Proximity
•Friends to Lovers
•Marriage of Convenience
•Childhood Friends

It was almost a 4 stars but the pace was not great!

3.75 stars

Thank you @netgalley and @celadonbooks for my gifted copy

I dove into Friends with Benefits expecting a breezy rom-com, and it mostly delivered—with a few unexpected emotional depth twists that caught me pleasantly off guard. Kanter’s witty banter and the slow-burning chemistry between the leads made for an engaging, relatable read. Sometimes it leaned a bit too cute, but overall, I found myself rooting for them in all the right ways.

I’d definitely recommend it if you enjoy modern romance with both laughs and heart.
Rating: ★★★★☆ (4/5)

This book is everything I want in a friends-to-lovers romance. It’s warm, funny, deeply emotional, and brimming with intimacy. The chronic illness rep is tender and nuanced, the friendship is rich and real, and the slow unraveling of feelings is just so satisfying. The writing captures those quiet, intimate beats, shared glances, inside jokes, the unspoken ache of wanting more so perfectly. It’s cozy, clever, and full of heart. I adored it.

From the moment I saw that this book featured a marriage of convenience for health insurance, I was in.

The friends-to-lovers trope can be hit or miss for me, but Theo and Evie were adorable. Their shared obsession with Survivor and the glimpses into their childhood friendship added a great deal of warmth and authenticity to their relationship. It was clear how deeply they knew and understood each other.

I also appreciated the representation of chronic illness. Both characters' experiences navigating the U.S. healthcare system added depth and realism to the story. Since the book is told in dual POV, I do wish we’d gotten a bit more insight into what Theo was dealing with internally. There were strong hints of health-related anxiety, and while it was subtly woven in, I would have loved to see it explored more directly, especially given how much it shaped his reactions and decisions.

Overall, I adored this book. The balance of heartfelt romance, emotional nuance, and thoughtful exploration of mental health and chronic illness was everything I was looking for. These are the kind of romances I desperately search for on the shelves of bookstores!

I've been WAITING for a books like this to hit the market (marriage of convenience based on our wacky, dum-dum economic system) and I'm SO GLAD Kanter was on this train because I'm such a fan, and she did NOT disappoint. Add in the foley artist angle and some slow-burn love action and I'm SAT.

3⭐️ Marriage of convenience meets friends to lovers. Evie has a dream opportunity when she is selected for a fellowship. But with her medical issues, she needs insurance. She knows the medical bills have piled up and her grandparents don’t complain. However, she’s ready to take on the burden. She just needs to figure out how to have insurance and pay the bills. Theo needs a new roommate but had to meet a certain wage. So, they get married. Theo had the loophole for his apartment and Evie will have insurance. But will this break their long-term friendship in a good way or a bad way.

Thank you @netgalley and Celadon Books for the advanced reader copy.