I received this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. ARC provided by Macmillan Audio.

Evie Bloom pays attention to the details. Her very job depends on it as an aspiring Foley artist, she is responsible for every crisp footstep, smacking kiss, and distinct sound in film and television. So when she is selected for a fellowship opportunity that would make all her career dreams come true, she is quick to spot the catch: there are no health benefits, and for someone with a chronic illness, that is a non-starter.

Theo Cohen is an elementary school teacher who can not afford to live on his own in LA, and is facing eviction after his roommates couple up and move out of their rent-controlled apartment. But there is one loophole in his lease: each tenant must meet an income threshold, unless the tenants are married.

For Theo, the answer is obvious. Marry Evie, his best friend since forever. It is not as if they do not spend all their free time together anyways. Not only will Theo be able to keep his apartment, but Evie can be added to his insurance plan so she can accept her dream fellowship. It is such a logical, practical solution. Never mind that Evie does not really want to be married—not to Theo, not to anyone ever. Or the small, complicating fact that Theo has always been a little bit in love with Evie.

But it does not have to be a big deal. Marriage. It will just give them space to breathe, and much-needed relief from the daily financial stress. It would not change anything. But it is going to change everything.

The title of this one pretty much sums up what this book is about. But it was a struggle to finish. It was so slow for the majority of the book. The execution just did not work for me, and it did not read like a romcom at all. Evie and Theo's character lacked depth, which it hard for me to connect with them. I found Evie to be kind of insufferable and selfish at times, which made it really hard to enjoy her inner dialogue. I really wanted to root for her, but her behavior made her feel more like a villain than a romantic lead. And her character came off as younger for her age. Theo, unquestionably, deserved better. In fact, I can not understand why he liked her as much as he did and put up with her. There were moments of decent chemistry, but it was not strong enough to support the story. Also, why was Kanter's political views included in this book. I would prefer no politics in a romcom. I really wanted to love it because of the concept. And I am still a huge fan of friends to lovers books, but this one just did not work for me.

This was such a cute and charming read! If you like friends-to-lovers stories with a bit of awkwardness, heart, and pop culture banter, this one delivers. The main characters have great chemistry, and I appreciated how their friendship felt genuine before anything romantic even started happening.

The writing style is easy and conversational—perfect for a weekend escape or a beach read. It has some real moments about vulnerability and figuring out feelings, but it never gets too heavy. Overall, it’s sweet, funny, and just a little messy in the best way.

This was cute, if predictable. Evie and Theo are likable characters that actually grow over the course of the novel. While you can see the ending coming from a mile away it is still a satisfying conclusion. It was a quick read with the perfect amount of spice.

I received an ALC from MacMillan Audio on Net Galley and this is my review.

I really enjoyed this sweet, thoughtful, and quietly emotional friends-to-lovers story. Evie and Theo have been best friends forever, and when life throws them both curveballs—Evie’s dream fellowship doesn’t come with health insurance and Theo’s rent-controlled apartment suddenly requires a spouse—they decide to get married for the benefits. What starts as a very practical solution slowly turns into something way more complicated, tender, and real.

This book really shines when it leans into the emotional intimacy between Evie and Theo. Their shared history, Sunday breakfasts, Survivor marathons, and everyday routines made their bond feel so natural. I loved the slow burn, the mutual care, and how soft their relationship felt as it evolved.

Evie’s journey navigating chronic illness felt honest and tender, and the way the story addressed the realities of healthcare without turning it into a lecture was really well done. I also really appreciated Theo’s backstory and the depth of his grief, it added a quiet weight to the sweetness.

If you love friends-to-lovers, marriage-of-convenience, and slow burns with lots of heart, this one’s worth picking up—especially on audio!

Tropes

💞 Friends to lovers
💍 Marriage of convenience
🏠 Forced proximity
🧡 Chronic illness rep (Evie has Crohn’s)
🎙️ Dual POV on audio with solid narration

I didn’t have any great expectations of Kanter’s first adult romance, maybe because, as a teacher, I’ve tired of the first-person teen narrator, which are Kanter’s previous titles, and thought I’d get more of the same tone. I was pleasantly surprised at the depth of her characters and how engaging her narrative. Friends With Benefits could have used a more rigorous editing hand, especially in an excess of explicit love scenes that didn’t advance the relationship, but overall, I was pleased to discover how good Kanter is. Before we get into the deets, here are the publisher’s:

Evie Bloom pays attention to the details. Her very job depends on it—as an aspiring Foley artist, she’s responsible for every crisp footstep, smacking kiss, and distinct sound in film and television. So when she’s selected for a fellowship opportunity that would make all her career dreams come true, she’s quick to spot the catch: there are no health benefits, and for someone with a chronic illness, that’s a non-starter.

Theo Cohen is an elementary school teacher who can’t afford to live on his own in LA, and is facing eviction after his roommates couple up and move out of their rent-controlled apartment. But there is one loophole in his lease: each tenant must meet an income threshold, unless the tenants are married.

For Theo, the answer is obvious. Marry Evie, his best friend since forever. It’s not as if they don’t spend all their free time together anyways. Not only will Theo be able to keep his apartment, but Evie can be added to his insurance plan so she can accept her dream fellowship. It’s such a logical, practical solution. Never mind that Evie doesn’t really want to be married—not to Theo, not to anyone—ever. Or the small, complicating fact that Theo has always been a little bit in love with Evie.

But it doesn’t have to be a big deal. Marriage. It will just give them space to breathe, and much-needed relief from the daily financial stress. It won’t change anything.

It’s . . . going to change everything.

As Kanter’s narrative rather than the blurb suggests, “marriage” per se doesn’t “change” anything, but it does put Evie and Theo in a place where proximity allows them to confront long-buried feelings. Part of the narrative’s fun is seeing those emotions, whether Evie and Theo consciously want them to, bubbling to the surface, helped along by physical attraction. Also at the mercy of proximity. A nod to Kanter because she also does something clever with her narrative: adds depth to Theo and Evie by alternating their present complications with the near-misses of their feelings for each other in the past. And because Evie and Theo were child dance partners, are now in their late twenties, there are plenty of opportunities to show how their relationship transpired over the years, as well as offer compelling family-dynamic backstory and how it formed their attitudes to commitment.

While on a superficial level, one could argue Kanter’s Evie and Theo are “opposites attract”, citing, for example, their opposing views of marriage, one thing linking them is their tendency to “overthink”, makinh them neurotically adorable, but in turn thoughtful people who want to figure things out about themselves, each other, and their new relationship. In the meanwhile, their years-long friendship sees shared memories of happiness, accomplishment, and grief and how easy it is for them to enjoy each other’s company. There are lovely scenes of ice cream cones, conversation, and watching films and shows. But the road, when a friendship is long-standing and “set,” to commitment is fraught with uncertainty and complicated feelings, especially because neither wants to lose the friendship. I liked that Kanter’s characters, though they have emotional obstacles and questions about what their new relationship is, are also honest with themselves about their feelings. As for being honest with each other, that’s a bumpier road, but an interesting to travel with Kanter and her Evie and Theo.

Lastly, a word about the narrators who, as far as narrators go, sounded younger than how I imagined the characters. Nevertheless, their tone and expression wasn’t as overwrought as romance narrators are wont to be…especially in narrating love scenes. Of which, there were too many, not to my taste. On a more successful note, Kanter’s alternating Evie-Theo POVs allow for a double-narration with lovely little ironic twists as revelations come for the characters or emotional obstacles delay their love-declarations.

Marisa Kanter’s Friends With Benefits is produced by Macmillan Audio and features Gail Shalan and GM Hakim. It released on May 6, 2025. I received an audio-file from Macmillan Audio via Netgalley and listened on the Netgalley app. Please note the above is my honest, AI-free opinion.

this books was a lot of fun! loved the narration! I thought the chronic illness representation was excellent! this was a fun friends to lovers book with a bunch of whitty banter! highly recommend!

Friends with Benefits by Marisa Kanter is a fun, low-drama listen that leans into the “modern love is confusing” vibe without getting too heavy. Narrators Gail Shalan and GM Hakim are spot on. Shalan captures Evie’s dry wit perfectly, and Hakim gives Theo just the right mix of charm and emotional deer-in-headlights energy. Together, they make the situations feel so real, I had secondhand awkwardness. In a good way.

Theo and Evie’s relationship is a slow-moving train of bad timing, miscommunication, and chemistry they’re both pretending isn’t a thing. It’s relatable, it’s funny, and it might make you question your own “totally platonic” friendships.

Tropes you’ll enjoy along the way:
📱 Friends-to-lovers
🙈 Awkward misunderstandings
💬 Witty banter
🔥 Slow-burn chemistry
🚫 Avoidant communication as a lifestyle choice

A great pick if you like your romance with realistic stakes, smart writing, and characters who are trying their best (even if their best is… questionable).

Thanks to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for an ALC in exchange for an honest review.

I tried to get into this one but the writing and humor just wasn't for me. It seemed like the author was trying to hard so it was a DNF.

i was really wanting to like this book. I was excited to start it and realize the lead character was Jewish as I am, and there are not enough Jewish books out there. I also in a major way related slightly with the lead as I also live with Crohnes, however I have never been in remission but was glad that the author wrote a character that not only had the disease but didn’t struggle so much with it- gives you hope that one day you might !!!

I guess I shouldn’t say I didn’t like it, there was plenty to like. I am just not sure if it was the narrator or the story that did not catch my attention and made it hard to not wander as I was listening.

Loved the jewish element! I appreciate the careful handling of IBD and cancer. Love the will they/ won't they throughout their childhood into adulthood.

⭐️⭐️💫2.5 rounded up. This had a fun premise—a marriage of convenience between longtime friends who (surprise!) have been harboring feelings for each other for years. I appreciated the slow shift from friendship to romance once they finally decided to communicate. That said, it didn’t fully click for me. The pacing dragged a bit, and the emotional payoff wasn’t as strong as I hoped. Cute moments, but overall just okay. It did have good representation of invisible disabilities.

🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ Explicit Open Door: At least two intimate scenes, explicit language with a variety of sexual acts.

Read if you like:
•Forced Proximity
•Friends to Lovers
•Marriage of Convenience
•Childhood Friends

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.

An excellent friends to lovers showcase with a special case of “bad timing” in the past. Theo is so sweet and pure with both Evie and his students, while showing the struggles he has with his anxiety and his relationship with his father. I love me a not-afraid-to-show-vulnerability MMC. The things I liked best about Evie’s side of things were he family (grandparents and sweet/sassy sister) and the showcasing of how hard this country is on people with any kind of chronic condition, but especially for women. I liked Evie as a character overall but some of her hang ups seemed like they were affecting her a bit too heavily still at this point in her life considering the therapy and medical progress she’s shown to have in the past. I just thought she was a bit behind the eight ball maturity wise.

Specifically to the audio book, overall good narration, one nitpicky piece is that the two narrators for the dual POV seemed like they had never heard the other party speak. So when they were speaking in the other’s “voice” it was a tad jarring since Theo’s narrator wasn’t as raspy as Evie’s made him out to be and Evie’s wasn’t as peppy.

Thank you Macmillan Audio for providing this audiobook for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Friends with Benefits came out earlier this month, and I finished it a few days after publication, doing a mix of the ebook and the audio. Many thanks to Celadon Books, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for early access. This is a really nice mix of a bunch of tropes (friends to lovers is the main one, of course!), and I enjoyed it more than I expected. This is my first book by the author, and I believe she has only published YA before this adult romance debut.
Evie and Theo have been best friends, growing up dancing together and remaining friends through college on opposite coasts. They both live in LA, and they spend their Wednesday nights watching Survivor together. Each has harbored secret feelings for the other and, occasionally, shown those feelings at specific instances in their history. When Evie has the possibility to pursue an amazing internship but needs health insurance, which is not provided, Theo offers a marriage of convenience to share his great health insurance through his teaching job. (Sidenote: This teacher wishes the health insurance plan described at the cost stated was available for her!)
I don’t read a lot of marriage of convenience books, but I thought that trope worked well for this one. And I thought the author did a good job explaining Theo and Evie’s history through alternate chapters from the past every once in a while. I thought both narrators were great, too. The audiobook was a bit long, considering the physical book is under 300 pages, and it felt like the plot could have been condensed and feel less drawn-out. There are some steamy scenes, with some kink discovery, but if you prefer a closed door romance, I think you could skip those scenes without missing any plot points.
If you’re looking for a fun romance, I recommend it - I enjoyed my time spent with this book!

this had a lot of potential but in the end I wasn't engaged as much as I thought I would be honestly the two were better as friends

Loved!! My husband has crohns disease and it was nice seeing it mentioned in the book and how much it affects daily life! The MMC was precious and sooooo understanding. I don’t usually reach for friends to lovers but this was a hit! & the healthcare woes, totally relatable.

I thought this book would be wonderful, based on the synopsis but it was disappointing in every was possible.

I loved this book! it felt so immersive and i really couldnt stop listening. i thought the voices were clear even at 2.25x speed!

What a delightful romance! I loved that this book didn't shy away from the realities of healthcare in America, especially as it pertains to the lives of chronically ill people. The friends to lovers romance was executed fantastically!

I first want to thank Macmillan Audio for allowing me to listen to this ALC in exchange for a review. I was first drawn to story by the title and concept of two friends getting married for the benefits and potentially falling in love. However, I did not finish this ALC. while I understand the FMC has a disability and it’s a big part of the story, I felt that the parts talking about health insurance was too much. I wanted there to be more about the relationship between the two characters and less paperwork.