The side characters are so good. Theo is my fave. Evie was okay but sometimes dense with not realizing how in love he was with her.
The romance was believable.
The pacing was quick and the plot did have twists.

Read if you like:
Forced proximity
He falls first
Perfect if you love:
Why are you broke? OH, it's LA.
Slowburn Friends to Lovers
Besties to Bae
"F*ck it Let's Get Hitched" Moments
Consent is sexy

Thank you so much to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for this arc!

This was such a charming and enjoyable friends-to-lovers rom-com! Friends With Benefits tells the story of two best friends who decide to legally marry for practical reasons – health insurance and rent benefits. I enjoyed the flashback scenes that allowed backwards glance at the evolution of their friendship throughout the different phases of life. What made this book stand out was its ability to balance a lighthearted, quirky romance with some seriously emotionally deep topics.

I’m not a huge fan of third-person present tense stories, so that was something I had to overcome. If you’re looking for a fast-paced read, this probably isn’t the right book for you, but if you want a heartwarming story with deep roots, I’d definitely recommend!

"Friends with Benefits" delivers a refreshingly practical take on the marriage of convenience trope that immediately caught my attention. When Evie, an aspiring Foley artist with Crohn's disease, loses her health insurance just as she lands a prestigious fellowship, her lifelong best friend Theo offers a simple solution: marriage. His teacher's insurance plan would cover her medical needs, and their new marital status conveniently solves his housing issues too. It's a win-win—until their long-suppressed feelings start complicating their arrangement.

What makes this novel stand out is its grounding in real-world problems. Rather than relying on inheritance clauses or billionaire scenarios, Kanter builds her romance around relatable struggles: healthcare gaps, rental agreements, and living with chronic illness. The representation of Evie's Crohn's disease feels particularly authentic and nuanced. Some of the most touching moments come from Theo's understanding of her condition—like how he cooks meals she can safely eat, showing a level of care that feels deeply intimate. Their shared obsession with Survivor and the glimpses we get of their childhood memories showcase a friendship with genuine history and depth.

While the premise and characters shine, the pacing stumbles in the second half. The story begins to drag as Evie and Theo cycle through the same emotional conflicts without significant growth until very late in the book. Evie's avoidant attachment style and Theo's anxiety create realistic obstacles, but watching them repeat the same patterns becomes frustrating after a while. Both characters are dealing with significant trauma—she with abandonment and health issues, he with anxiety and family problems—but their healing journey sometimes overshadows the romance. I found myself wishing for more progression in their relationship sooner, or at least more variation in how their conflicts played out.

Despite these pacing issues, "Friends with Benefits" ultimately succeeds as a sweet friends-to-lovers story with emotional depth. Kanter balances the romance with thoughtful exploration of mental health and chronic illness, creating characters who feel fully developed in their imperfections. For readers who appreciate slow-burn romances that don't shy away from complex emotions and real-world challenges, this book offers a satisfying, if occasionally frustrating, journey to happily ever after.

4.5 ⭐️

From the second I saw that this book had a marriage of convenience for health benefits, I was absolutely hooked.

Friends to lovers is a really hit-or-miss trope for me, but Theo and Evie were a HIT. I loved their Survivor obsession and all of the memories we got to see of them growing up. It was so clear how deeply they knew each other – especially how much Theo understood what Evie was going through just from a single look – and I was rooting for them every step of the way.

I really enjoyed the chronic illness representation and both of their experiences with the US healthcare system brought so much to their characters. Since this was dual POV, I do wish that there had been a little more about what exactly Theo was going through. He seemed to have some kind of anxiety, especially related to his health, and I just wish it had been touched on a little more directly since we saw it impact his character several times.

Overall I adored this book and the balance of sweet romance with emotional depth and the exploration of mental health and chronic illness reminded me of some of Hannah Bonam-Young’s books (some of my favs), so if you like any of hers you should give this one a try.

*Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.75 ⭐️ Evie is an aspiring Foley artist who was diagnosed and in steady remission with Chrohns, an autoimmune disease, in need to very good health insurance. Theo is a teacher and Evie’s childhood best friend who has very good health insurance. They decide to get married so Evie can take a fellowship that allows her to become a Foley and eventually get into a union that has great benefits. However, they both have never disclosed to the other that they have been in love with each other since they were kids!
I loved the premise of this book that’s why I gave it over 3 stars. The reason it was not a 4 for me was that most of the book was a journey through both Evie and Theo healing from past trauma. It was a lot of healing….
I loved how the author brought up back in time to specific moments that resulted in both characters feeling the way they do. Evie has a pretty bad avoidant attachment and mom issues, Theo has pretty bad anxiety and dad issues. Both dealing with different types of grief.
The writing style of the author is not for everyone!!!! I actually sort of liked it, it was different and there was a lot of story detail and character development. I feel like I knew both Evie and Theo inside and out.
However, cliche premise and tropes of friends to lovers and happily ever after ending. I wanted it to be 4 super badly, I was very entertained and loved Evie and Theo’s story, but the story was essentially us watching them work through trauma so they can be together so I would love a bit more of a love story besides what the ending was.
Thank you NetGalley and Celadon Books for the eARC for an honest review!
TikTok: rayelsreading

Overall this was not my favorite-

The characters felt so forced to me (SORRY!) and it had so much language to the point it was distracting made the characters unrelatable and the story not one I wanted to pick up and read.

I will not be posting about this one to my audience because I want others to read it for themselves to decide.

I wanted to like this book, I really did and it showed promise. I like the plot: .Best friends marrying to help each other and then one for a place to live and one for health benefits, then they start "benefitting" in other ways. Until feelings get in the way. I really liked Thei he was a stand up guy. However, to be honest I did not like Evie's character. She seemed really self absorbed. I understand that her character was dealt a rough hand with her chronic illness and her mom and some of the situations she had gone through but she still did not treat others very fairly, she pushed others away way more then needed. She kept saying that Theo broke her heart and turned her down multiple times when that really was not the case At All . Personally I don't think they were a good fit together. I think he deserved more. I am very thankful to be given an opportunity to have read an ARC and I would still love to read more from the author but id give the book 2.75 stars

Friends with Benefits was a sweet and realistic take on the marriage of convenience trope, with a clever title to match. Evelyn is an aspiring Foley artist living with Crohn’s disease, and when she loses access to decent health insurance, her longtime best friend Theo steps in with an unexpected but practical solution: marriage. What starts as a fix for insurance and housing issues slowly unearths feelings that have been building for years.

I really appreciated how grounded this story was—no billionaire inheritance loopholes here. The challenges the characters face (insurance gaps, rental agreements, chronic illness) are everyday struggles, and I thought they were portrayed with care. Evelyn’s health journey felt particularly honest, and as someone with dietary restrictions myself, I loved how Theo supports her by cooking meals she can safely eat. That kind of thoughtfulness felt so intimate and real.

Theo and Evelyn are both messy in believable ways—he struggles with anxiety and avoids confrontation, while she’s carrying health and abandonment trauma. Their imperfections made them feel fully formed, and I liked that their friendship had so much depth and history.

That said, the pacing dragged a bit in the second half. The same fight seemed to repeat itself without much growth until the very end, and it got a little frustrating. I would’ve liked to see more progress in their relationship sooner or a shift in how the tension was handled—just something to break the cycle

This was fine, but a bit rough at times. The writing jumped around a bit and wasn’t my favorite, but loved the chronic illness rep, especially in a romance!

I thought this book started out very slow. It then shares the authors political views which I don’t care for in my rom com book. I found the main character so utterly annoying, the story obvious and not that different from many other books.
I did however appreciate that it talks about a character with an invisible illness, struggle to be diagnosed and the frustration getting decent insurance that will cover everything.
While the synopsis of the story said the book is like Katherine Center’s books that could not be further from the truth.

I ended up DNF ing at 16% because I just couldn’t keep going.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: the best friends to lovers trope is always going to reign supreme and this book is just further proof of this phenomenon. I got it as an ARC through NetGalley from Celadon Books, so thank you!

Friends with Benefits is a fun spin on the phrase, as well as a great use of the marriage of convenience trope. It starts with Evelyn, an aspiring Foley artist with Crohn’s who just finished up an internship and lost her only chance at joining a union for Foley artists that will give her adequate health insurance. She’s just gotten accepted for a prestigious fellowship, but with no health insurance benefits, it would be impossible to take. We then meet Theo, her very best friend since they were toddlers (who’s only been in love with her, like, the whole time). Theo is also in a predicament. His roommates are moving out, and he and Evelyn do not make enough money to meet the income clause. However, a solution to their problems is clear: get married. Evelyn would be on Theo’s wonderful insurance plan, and their marital status is a loophole in the lease agreement. Naturally, they run straight to the courthouse and get married, which digs up some long-buried feelings.

One thing I really appreciated was the realistic approach to this trope. Usually, this trope is powered by a “you need to be married to access your inheritance” clause, which is perfectly fine, but how often does that problem occur nowadays? Needing a better health insurance plan and having rental/roommate issues, however, is extremely common. I also loved that none of the characters were perfect and felt very developed. Theo struggles a lot with anxiety, particularly around Evie’s safety/health, and has trouble saying no or saying what he really thinks sometimes. Evelyn has a lot of abandonment and health trauma, which really affects her relationships. These traits felt very natural considering their pasts, and I thought were written really well. I also appreciated the way that Evie’s health trauma and experience with Crohn’s was handled. I don’t have it myself, but I do have Celiac disease, which results in not being able to eat gluten, so I completely understood her struggles with trying to find foods that taste good, are easy to make, and that she could actually eat. One of the most romantic things is how Theo knows exactly what she can eat and cooks really good meals for her, because it really is a big deal with food restrictions like that. There are a lot of other subtler but super romantic themes or patterns between them, and it really helped show their history and comfortability with each other without screaming at you about it which was wonderfully written.


I will say, though, that the book did have a couple of issues. It felt a little long despite its 384-page length, especially in the middle/back half. I love me a slow burn, but this was more like the couple kept having the same fight over and over with neither truly seeming to learn from it or change until the very end. This made sense in the story but was frustrating to read after a while and even made me quite annoyed with both characters, to the point where I was almost rooting against them because it seemed quite unhealthy. This made the book drag, so a different plot obstacle, maybe a flashback, or even just getting more time to sit in their new romantic relationship would’ve been better than just repeating the same arguments. Or, what may have been more interesting, would be seeing how the arguments affect their actions slowly.

The book doesn’t see them change until the very end, but it would have helped the pacing if we saw them making more of an effort to fix the error of their ways.
Other than that and the slight pacing issue, this book was really good and I’m excited to see what she does next!!

This was a sweet read and the history of friendship between Evie and Theo was the standout part of the story. This book did a great job of highlighting the challenges of living with chronic illness and how broken the American healthcare system can be, while maintaining the overall levity of the romance plot. Overall, I liked this book and would recommend it.

I thought I knew what to expect in reading FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS by Marisa Kanter, but was delighted to find that the story of what happens when friends Evie and Theo agree on what seems like a perfectly reasonable and rational plan and mayhem ensues with repercussions far greater and unpredictable than they ever could have imagined. Yes to love, yes to unpredictable, and yes to a really fun, truly escapist read! I received a copy of this book and these thoughts are my own, unbiased opinions.

This is one of my favorite romance tropes, but unfortunately the plot was too slow for me. I really enjoyed the characters and their complexity.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book.

Two things made me really not enjoy this book was:

1. The included political views- I don’t want those in my books I’m reading for enjoyment and relaxation.

2- the blurb from the publisher said this was for readers like enjoyed Katherine Center. She is a must read for me, I love all her books. I feel like this was misleading- this was not like a Katherine Center book.

“Friends With Benefits” by Marisa Kanter delivers exactly what I’m always hoping for in a romance: tension, tenderness, and two best friends who are clearly the last to realize they’re in love.

Evie and Theo have been inseparable since forever. So when Evie needs health insurance to take her dream sound-editing fellowship (while managing Crohn’s disease), and Theo needs to stay in his rent-controlled apartment after his roommates couple up, a quick trip to the courthouse seems like the logical fix. Marriage? No big deal. Except, of course, it is.
This story serves up two standout tropes—friends-to-lovers and marriage of convenience—but what really grabbed me was the emotional honesty. Evie’s invisible illness is portrayed with care, and Theo is the golden retriever teacher you’ll want to hug. Their history, revealed through flashbacks, makes their romantic hesitations feel earned. It’s thoughtful, funny, and real, especially in how it tackles chronic illness, grief, and the cracks in our systems.

Marisa Kanter’s first adult novel lands strong. If you’re into heartfelt slow burns with layers beneath the swoon, this one’s for you.

This book wasn't for me. I felt confused at times and didn't vibe with the characters. I did appreciate learning about someone navigating a chronic illness. Thank you, Netgalley.

An interesting look at the film industry from a little known occupation. Good character development and a odd but interesting romance. Was an enjoyable read.

This book was actually written really well and kept my interest but it was just too unoriginal. I feel like I’ve read this exact book 40 times and I was getting so bored of the “I don’t know what I want” POV. Skip it. Thank you to @celadonbooks and @netgalley for my copy!

4 stars – A marriage of convenience with maximum heart!
Friends with Benefits by Marisa Kanter delivers a thoughtful, funny, and heartfelt take on the fake marriage trope—with a much-needed dose of chronic illness representation, emotional vulnerability, and slow-burn pining.
Evie Bloom, a talented foley artist with IBD, has always felt like people leave—her parents, unreliable doctors, and her own body. Her rock? Childhood bestie Theo, now a cinnamon roll 4th grade teacher with a heart the size of California. When Evie gets offered a career-changing fellowship but no health insurance, Theo proposes—literally. Their fake marriage means she can chase her dreams and stay healthy.
What follows is a story full of warmth, snarky banter, tender moments, and plenty of friends to lovers energy. Evie’s growth, Theo’s loyalty, and their undeniable chemistry make this more than just a rom-com—it’s about trust, healing, and what it really means to show up for someone.
💗 Come for:
⦁ Childhood best friends to lovers
⦁ Forced proximity (hello, rent-controlled apartment)
⦁ Chronic illness rep (Evie’s IBD storyline is powerful and real)
⦁ A dreamy, soft hero who teaches elementary school and wears his heart on his sleeve
⦁ Big feelings, small gestures, and lots of emotional healing
Thank you to @NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!