Friends with Benefits written by Marisa Kanter and narrated by Gail Shalan & GM Hakim was a relatable romance with fake marriage and lots of yearning. Friends with Benefits honestly demonstrates the struggles of chronic illness/pain, grief, loss of a parent due to both neglect and death. I did a dual listen/read and equally enjoyed both. The narrators were lovely.

This is a book full of representation and being able to see yourself in the characters - I love that!
Childhood friends to lovers and miscommunication are the strongest tropes. We get alternate POVs with Evelyn and Theo as well as flashbacks to core memories from their past. I personally didn't love Evelyn as the book went on. She pushed people away but wanted them to really stay. I think Theo was my favorite because of how he was as a teacher with his class and his dedication to Survivor (the show). The ending was good when they all got their heads out of their butts to realize what they were missing out on. Thanks to netgalley and Celadon Books for the early copy!

2.5! cutesy friends to lovers romance. easy read
it was very well done!

Thank you NetGalley for this arc!

Friends with Benefits by Marisa Kanter is a deeply emotional, sometimes frustrating, but ultimately touching story about love, friendship, chronic illness, and the ways we show up for the people we care about.

Let’s start with what worked: the representation of chronic illness in this book was both realistic and impactful. Evie’s struggles with her health were portrayed with honesty and sensitivity, adding a weighty, real world urgency to what might otherwise be a lighthearted rom com premise. I really appreciated how the author didn’t shy away from showing the complexities of navigating a broken healthcare system. I have navigated said system and it can truly be awful, so I appreciated her highlighting this.

Theo was easily the best part of this book for me. His quiet yearning for Evie, the way he supported her, his kind, grounded energy; yes to all of it. We love men who yearn, and Theo delivered. He was the emotional anchor of the story, even when I wanted to shake both characters and scream “JUST TALK TO EACH OTHER!” The miscommunication trope was strong in this one, and it wore on me a bit too much. I love slow burns, but this veered into maddening territory at times.

Evie, on the other hand, was a mixed bag. I wanted to root for her, and I did at times, but her inner monologue often felt chaotic, self-absorbed, and exhausting. She had potential, as her her job as a Foley artist was a fresh, unique angle, but her choices and lack of growth made her tough to connect with emotionally.

The Disneyland setting was a total win for me though! The little references (even if they flubbed the Gatorade vs. Powerade and Mickey’s actual height 😅) added a layer of nostalgia and charm. I especially loved how the park became a symbol of tradition and comfort for Theo and Evie.

That said, the religious themes caught me off guard. As someone who is agnostic, I wasn’t personally bothered, but I do wish there had been some kind of heads up about how much religion would be woven into the narrative. It’s an element that could really impact someone’s reading experience, especially if they’re not expecting it.

Ultimately, this book had a great premise of friends to lovers, marriage of convenience, childhood dance partners turned adults who clearly love each other, but it was weighed down by too many subplots, a heavy dose of miscommunication, and a main character I struggled to root for. I wanted to love it more than I did.

Thank you to NetGalley, Marisa Kanter, and Celadon Books for the eARC of this book.

This book was a pretty realistic look at chronic illness. The story draws you in from the beginning and it is an enjoyable ride.

I rounded up for this one because omg the main characters’ miscommunication/incessant need to NOT talk to one another was SO annoying.

That being said, I did love how much the MMC yearned for the FMC. We love men who yearn.

What I don’t love, though, is the amount of religion that was woven throughout the book. Though I’m not religious, I wish we, the readers, would have been given a heads up of how much it would be discussed in the book. I’m agnostic, so I didn’t mind, but I have a feeling it could others won’t feel the same.

On the very un-religious side of things, this was unexpectedly spicy!! Definitely didn’t think we get so much 3-3.5/5 🌶️🌶️🌶️

(Thank you, Celadon Books, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley, for the ARC and audiobook ARC in exchange for my honest review.)

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5, rounded up.

I’ll admit, this book took me a bit to get into, though now that I finished it, I’m not really sure why. I loved the protagonist’s occupations and how well they fit them both. I loved the love story and how it progressed, even though the lack of communication had me about to tear my hair out. I loved that the story went back and forth, telling the same big moments from both perspectives, really building the characters. There were a few moments where the backstory and world building felt overwhelming — so many names to keep track of! — but it all leveled out and let the story be told.

There are a couple of little things that probably only Disney adults would pick up on (the Disney parks sell Powerade, not Gatorade, and Mickey is 5ft tall, not 6 :)), but I loved the scenes that took place in Disneyland, seeing how the park became a tradition for Evelyn and Imogen. The references to “upcoming movies” also had me cackling.

Overall this book was a fantastic rom com, and I had a blast reading it! Thank you to NetGalley for sending it my way!

Friends with Benefits is a fun, flirty, and heartfelt romance that blends friendship, fake dating, and all the messy emotions in between. Marisa Kanter does a great job capturing the complexities of feelings that grow beyond friendship.
The chemistry between the main characters is sweet and believable, and the dialogue is full of wit and charm. It’s also refreshing to see a Jewish main character and authentic cultural representation seamlessly woven into the story.
This book is perfect for fans of slow-burn romance and friends-to-lovers tropes. It’s light but layered, with just enough emotional depth to make it more than just a typical rom-com.
Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC—I really enjoyed this read!

Thank you for this ARC read! I think this book will have its crowd but I don’t think I’m in it. Ended up having to DNF.

I love a friends to lovers trope but there was just too many plots to enjoy it for me. I really struggled with the MFC and her inner dialogue and tangents.

I love that the author was trying to represent a lot of underrepresented things but in all it was just too much to feel the story happening.

This book! Half of it I wanted to scream "JUST TALK TO EACH OTHER" and the other half I just wanted to give the characters a giant hug. Friends since their young childhoods, through being dance partners and coming close to dating but backing off to maintain their friendship, Theo and Evie suddenly marry so that she can have insurance and still take a new job. No one is surprised because they were always inevitable. However, told in their current time and their flashbacks the reader sees their brokenness and how their parallel grief, growth and refusal to let each other go has hurt each other and their relationship.

thank you netgalley & celadon books for the arc in exchange for an honest review!

a huge reason for my dislike of this book has to be that i did not vibe with the writing style, and that’s okay because even though it did not work for me, it might work for others. it was not the third pov that bothered me though (just to clear that up).

the premise of this book is good. i love marriage-of-convenience and friends-to-loves! however, evie’s inner monologues are another aspect of this book that felt unbearable and exhausting for me to read. as always, i recommend people to try this book because you may end up liking it even if i didn’t.

3.5 Stars

Friends With Benefits is a thoughtful, slow-burn romance about two lifelong best friends who enter a marriage of convenience, and slowly realize it might not be so convenient for their hearts.

Evie is an aspiring Foley artist with a chronic illness and no health insurance. Theo is a public school teacher about to lose his rent-controlled apartment. Their solution? Get married. It’s practical, logical… and more emotional than either of them expected.

This was a charming, character driven romance with heart and depth. Thanks to NetGalley and Celadon Books for the ARC!

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for the eARC of Friends with Benefits in exchange for an honest review!

I am deciding to DNF this one at this time and that is not a reflection on the writing or even necessarily this story itself. Since requesting this arc, I’ve learned that friends-to-lovers is not a trope I enjoy very often. This story also has quite a bit of heavier topics and I am not currently in the mental space for a heavier read. .Again, this reflects on me as a reader and not this author.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. A forced marriage between long time best friends and throw in some stomach problems, I was immediately hooked by the storyline. Unfortunately, I DNF’ed this book. I found the FMC unbearable, making something out of nothings, unhappy, and I couldn’t find myself rooting for her. Theo and the kids in his classroom were very entertaining though!

I was so invested in this book as a devoted lover of binge romance reading. I also read the previous works of Marisa Kanter and enjoyed them, which made me extra enthusiastic about this book. But... yes, a big but coming up...

I made the mistake of requesting this one without reading the plot first—rookie move, I know—only to realize it shares a strikingly similar premise with Would You Rather by Allison Ashley, a book I absolutely adored and rated five stars. In both stories, we have lifelong friends entering a marriage of convenience: one needs health insurance, the other needs to keep a roof over their head. When plots echo each other this closely, it’s hard not to compare, and unfortunately, Friends with Benefits didn’t shine as brightly in that comparison.

The biggest hurdle for me was the protagonist, Evie Bloom. I wanted to like her. Her job as a Foley artist (seriously cool!) had the potential to bring something really fresh and quirky to the story, but her personality came off as too chaotic and self-centered for me to emotionally connect. Her inner monologue often felt more exhausting than endearing, and some of her choices made it hard to root for her. It’s not that she had flaws—I like flawed characters—but she didn’t seem to grow in a way that made those flaws feel purposeful or redemptive.

On the flip side, Theo was an absolute sweetheart. As an elementary school teacher facing eviction, he felt grounded, kind, and genuine. His soft-spoken, supportive nature was exactly what Evie needed—but sometimes it felt like he got lost in the whirlwind of her drama. I would have loved to see more of his perspective, more fire from him, and a better balance between their emotional journeys.

I do want to acknowledge one of the book’s strengths: the honest and much-needed representation of chronic illness and the broken healthcare system. Evie’s health struggles gave the story a real-world urgency, and I appreciated how the author didn’t shy away from showing the messy, stressful realities of living with a chronic condition. That layer added substance to the otherwise rom-com-style plot.

The friends-to-lovers dynamic had sweet moments, and some flashbacks were lovely, but overall, the pacing dragged for me, and the chemistry just didn’t feel strong enough to carry the story. I found myself wanting more connection and less over-explaining of every detail (seriously, I didn’t need to know every character’s drink order!).

In the end, this was a solid three-star read. It had potential, and there were moments that hit the right notes, but as a whole, it didn’t sweep me off my feet. Still, I know many romance readers will find charm and warmth in these pages—and I’ll absolutely keep an eye out for what Marisa Kanter writes next.

A very huge thanks to NetGalley and Celadon Books for sharing this romance's digital reviewer copy with me in exchange for my honest thoughts.

As I read this book all I could think was,”Too much!” There were too many subplots, too many misunderstandings, too many dramatic pauses. Also, Evie might just be the most toxic person in the history of the romantic universe. Toxic to the point that I was actively rooting against her for at least half of this book. 2 1/2 stars.

I loved the concept of this book. As someone who reads a lot of romance, Friends with Benefits had a new, fresh vibe about it. The story itself rang true in many ways, providing an injection of reality in amongst the many emotional moments.

3 stars and my thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for the eARC.

If there was ever a book that I had the highest of hopes for, it was this one. Fake marriage of convenience, best friends to lovers, hot girls with tummy troubles; it had all the ingredients for a book I would be obsessed with. But God Evie was insufferable. They both, honestly, deserved better than each other. We're supposed to believe that they both were in love with each other this whole time but made it all that way to close to 30 before even internally thinking about it? Ok. Their friendship was so believable, that it seemed impossible for them to actually be in love. And it sends a weird message that no matter how long a man and woman are friends, eventually they will be in love for real.

This is my first book by Kantor and it might be my last. We'll see.

Best friends who marry for the convenience for temporary financial and health benefits and promise it’ll change nothing! Yes, we know where this is going but it there were so many unique aspects to this story that it was fresh and romantic. The author tackles both chronic physical illness and mental anxiety in a realistic manner and interweaves it throughout the story with humor, friendship, support and love. The friendship aspects were some of the most tender and heartwarming moments in the book, and demonstrated the genuine love that Evie and Theo had for each other.
Charming side characters including family and friends round out the story, and of course my favorite being Theo’s fourth grade class! They added the right amount of humor! And I found the information in regards to Evie’s career as a Foley artist very interesting! There was just the right amount of time spent on the topic to teach me something new without overtaking the story.
The one thing that cost a star for me was the miscommunication lasted a tad bit too long – which it wasn’t even true miscommunication but if you follow me, you know how I feel – just say it! But some of you love that trope so I know this will be a hit with you!

All it takes is for one thing to go wrong before everything begins to crumble after it. Eva, betrayed by her boss and forced out of her home in one fell swoop, is left struggling both for a place to live and to advance her career. Her best friend, Theo, is suddenly left without an apartment, and needs to find a way to keep his quickly before his landlord sells it off to another tenant. Two friends are faced with a seemingly easy decision. Get married and reap the financial AND medical benefits, or remain friends and brave the terrifying landscape of medical insurance and apartment hunting in Los Angeles.

I will preface this by saying I am mostly a fantasy reader. There's something about another realm and the dive into its historical lore and characters that feeds my need for escapism but this? This book? Singlehandedly sent me on a five-book romance binge that I still haven't wrung myself free from.

The plot was wonderfully understandable and moved fluidly between both characters. I truly enjoyed how in each significant moment, you were able to see the innermost thoughts and desires of both main characters. You really got a chance to know Eva and Theo, not just through their interactions with each-other but with the other characters in the book. The snippets that we got into their pasts made their actions and motivations so much more believable - at each plot point, I found myself wondering, "How are they possibly going to justify this one?" only to be answered in the next chapter.

The yearning, especially on Theo's part, fulfilled something in me that I didn't know I was searching for until this book. For him to be so desperately in love with her and to have every significant moment foiled, by either divine intervention or his own stupidity, was amazing painful. For her to be so clearly in love with him but deny it turn after turn... I fear I may never read another book this amazing again.