I loved the idea of this book and was so excited to receive the ARC but it just fell flat.

I’m not a fan of unlikable main characters and that’s exactly what Evie was.
Theo deserved better.

I LOVE audiobooks with dual narrations, especially in romance novels, but I just did not like the narrators chosen for this story. I really struggled through it.

Thank you MacMillan Audio and NetGalley for this advanced audiobook in exchange for an honest review ♥️

Friends with Benefits

When the “benefits” in friends with benefits is actually about health insurance 🤣 but ends up being a sweet friends to lovers story arc.

Happy Pub week to Friends with Benefits! This is Marisa Kanter’s adult romance debut and it was a really cute and sweet read.

The premise was really interesting - boy with longtime crush on best friend offers to marry her so she can take her dream job and still get the health insurance needed for her chronic illness. What could go wrong?!

I thought the author did a good job exploring the layers of the characters while they dealt with heavier aspects of life - living with a chronic illness, failures of the US healthcare system, grief after loss of parent, abandonment, anxiety and mental health, etc.

Theo was such a lovable character all the way through. I loved his banter with his students and how he’d go out of his way to take care of Evie. I struggled with Evie throughout the book and while I recognized the internal battles she was facing, more often it felt frustrating rather than relatable and left me wondering if maybe they really should just be friends?

One of my struggles was the 3rd person perspective made me feel less engaged in the story and so it felt slow at times and overall less romantic than I wanted. But it was still a sweet story that I’m glad I took the time to listen to.

Worth the read if you like:
- Friends to lovers
- Teenage crushes
- Marriage of convenience
- Shared apartment
- Bisexual FMC
- Chronic Illness & Mental Health Reps
- Dual POV & Narration

Overall, 3.5 stars rounded up
Thanks to Macmillan Audio for the NetGalley ARC. :)

Macmillan Audio ALC
This was such a fresh take on this beloved trope, and I liked the realistic view, but I am also so sad that this is so realistic - getting married for financial and health benefits. I liked how both Evie and Theo had experienced some hardships in life, but they always relied on each other to help them through it all, so of course when he needed a roommate and she needed health insurance they worked together to make a pretend marriage work. Their friendship was my favorite thing about this story. It was so unconditionally supportive. There was such an easy intimacy and camaraderie that made the eventual relationship feel so easy. I also liked the glimpse into Evie's life with a chronic illness. I think the author balanced this part of the story and their backstory so well. She also balanced all of this with a thread of grief from Theo losing his mom too early in life. This book was so fun, even though it had such seriousness in it. I think the author just nailed pacing and balance here.
I love a dual narration for a romance, and these two here really captured the deep emotions expressed between these two characters in their past and present timelines. Both were excellent.

ALC Review: Friends with Benefits by Marisa Kanter
Pub date: May 6, 2025
Narrators: Gail Shalan; GM Hakim

Thank you to Macmillan Audio for the ALC. All thoughts and opinions are my own and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I really enjoyed this contemporary marriage of convenience! Both characters have a lot of growth to do throughout the book and a lot of trauma to unpack but ultimately they both know and care for each other so well that their love really shines through. I loved Evie and Theo together.

Evie did frustrate me just a tad during the third act conflict but I knew that her reactions were just due to her past and the growth that she needed to go through.

I loved the narration by Gail Shalan! She really brought Evie to life for me. The male narrator didn’t quite fit the character of Theo for me though.

I enjoyed this book but didn’t love it. I loved Theo and I loved the angst and depth of this book. It tackles tough topics and conversations in a mindful way. The weak link in this book was Evie. She started being so unlikable. The only reason I didn’t completely dislike her and the romance was because of their ages. I would normally say she needed therapy but she was in therapy.

Thank you Macmillan Audio and Netgalley for the #gifted ALC.

What to Expect:
-Friends to Lovers
-Marriage of Convenience
-It’s always been you
-Teacher humor
-Sound Tech in Hollywood Behind the Scenes
-Chronic illness (Crohn’s) & authentic grief representation (parent loss to cancer)
-Open Door (moderately descriptive)

The best way I can describe this book is the heartfelt coziness of Would you Rather by Alison Ashley (marriage of convenience for health coverage) meets the yearning and emotions of People We Meet on Vacation (my OG fave by EmHen, hence the background for the picture - forever friends to lovers with all the ups and downs that come with it). I really, really loved this book – so much so that I broke my own rules and listened to the audiobook during my normal “eye reading” time because I had to know how the story would unfold. Was Evie messy? Yep. Did Theo need to have his internal wake up call about putting himself first years earlier than he did? You betcha. But I fell in love with these flawed characters despite their shortcomings and their rocky, super relatable friendship roller coaster.

Friends with Benefits is out today and seriously, do yourself a favor and listen on audio - Gail Shalam and GM Hakin were incredible narrators. Gail reminded me a bit of Julia Whelan in her performance (which probably also accounts for the EmHem comparison), and GM Hakin really brought all of Theo’s quirky loveable self to life.

3.75 Stars

This was an unexpectedly sweet romance, which I really enjoyed. I've never read anything else by this author but I'm looking forward to digging into her backlist for more comfort reads.

This story tells the story of two lifelong friends who get married for logistical reasons and fall in love/realize they've always been in love etc. They met through dance as kids. The FMC had to stop dancing due to a chronic disease and has discovered her love of foley sound recording, which was a side plot I thought was very fun. Kanter tells their backstory through flashbacks, which are sweet, though they do include some misunderstandings which I know can be controversial.

Overall this story was sweet and quirky I really rooted for the characters. I listened to it on audio and enjoyed the way the narration switched between male and female narrators depending whose chapter it was.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio for an advance review copy for an unbiased review.

So much thrown at you without anything really happening. This book’s pacing is way off and it was difficult to get into it because the FMC was so unlikeable and so immature. I wanted to enjoy this but eventually gave up about halfway through when it just failed to hold my interest. This one was not for me.

Narration was well done, no issues

"I know it’s invisible, so sometimes it’s easy to forget that I’m sick..."

"Loving Evelyn Bloom has always been as effortless, as necessary, as breathing. But if he loses her...How will Theo breathe?"

“I never said don’t follow your dreams...” “But, Theo...Is she not a part of that dream?”

I was in tears by the 3rd paragraph of the very real, emotional Friends With Benefits, by the thought-provoking and tender hearted writing of debut adult romance author, Marisa Kanter.

If you follow my page you may know I have Crohn's Disease. Opening with Evie, missing part of an important event to rush to the bathroom, had my life passing in front of me.

Fortunately, for Evie, she has had her best friend since childhood, Theo, understanding she often has to cancel when her Crohn's flares up. Theo doesn't mind. He's quietly loved Evie forever.

When he might lose his condo, and she needs health insurance, they get married to help each other. It's just best friends watching Survivor and rooming together...until it's not.

Voice actress Gail Shalan deserves awards.
The breaks in her voice during Evie's pain, physical and emotional, broke me. I was blown away by the voice actor GM Hakim and his ability to convey so much hurt just with the tenderness in his voice.

It's a slow burn friends to lovers romance balancing on the pain of lost dreams and grief. It's a reality check on how the chronically ill can't afford to be sick. It's also a beam of hope in redirecting your path and overcoming your fears. Thank you Marisa for showing that we are not our disease. It's a part of us; but not the most important part, that would be our heart and the benefits of the friends we love.

I received a free copy of this book/audiobook from Celadon Books and Macmillan Audio via #netgalley for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

Evie and Theo. Their romance left me wanting more. I wanted to love this book so much, unfortunately it left me a little disappointed. I am all for romance with some substance, but this felt a lot like real life which is not the reason I read. Dead parents, neglectful parents, medical and emotional problems, medical insurance fights and not being able to get over past traumas; make it feel too much like real life that I forgot at times I was reading a romance. There is so much going on in their lives that the romance gets lost. It is also an extremely slow burn and when they do get together it’s short lived by everything going on in their lives. The ending I would say is what can qualify it as a romance, as it’s as expected cute and sappy. Overall Its a well written story that can speak to a certain audience.

As far as the audio part of it, both narrators do a great job. If it had not been in an audiobook I think I would have just stopped reading it. I did like the double POV and also the chapters that had flashbacks. There is a lot of repetition though and I think it could have been shorter. For a hopeless romantic such as me, there was just not enough of the romance part. However, If you want your romance to be entangled with a touch of real life and real problems then this is the read for you.

I really enjoyed this book. I tend to really enjoy the friends to lovers trope and this was a really fun story. I listened to the whole book in one sitting and overall I really enjoyed evie and theo’s story.

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

When Evie’s dream career comes without health insurance and Theo’s about to lose his apartment, these lifelong best friends decide a marriage of convenience is the practical solution. But as logistics turn into late-night heart-to-hearts and hidden feelings surface, their plan might just change everything.

I loved the thoughtful chronic illness rep and commentary on the U.S. healthcare system—it felt timely and honest. The friends-to-lovers arc had some warm, nostalgic moments (especially in the flashbacks), but the pacing dragged in places, and the political elements sometimes overshadowed the romance. I listened via audiobook and enjoyed the multi-cast narration!

Friends with Benefits does a good job of balancing romance and real life—including both legitimate trials and silly, tropey angst.

In terms of the legitimate life trials, the author's opening note lists content warnings including medical gaslighting, health anxiety, illness and death of a parent, parental neglect, and the realities of living with chronic pain. These were all critical to the storyline. Crohn's disease and colorectal cancer, along with commentary on the American employer-based healthcare system, also contribute to the heavy framework of the book.

As for the romance, in my opinion, Evie needed to get there faster! I suppose that wouldn't allow all of the storylines enough time to play out. Familial and platonic love are represented in spades, which is delightful. Evie's paternal grandparents, Theo's mom (via flashbacks), Evie's younger sister (to a lesser degree), and a couple of Evie's mentors are main sources of affection and/or support outside of Evie and Theo's friendship. Evie has multiple professional female role models, which is always refreshing, especially in roles that are historically considered nontraditional for women. [I learned interesting things about some of the items Foley artists use to create believable sound effects.]

Humor peppers the book, giving us comic relief from the health and housing anxiety. Humor came from a broad range of characters, including Theo's fourth-grade students, one of whom is named Milo—bonus points!

Theo absolutely comes across as the hero of the book. He shows amazing thoughtfulness, generosity, and patience, starting from young childhood. This goes beyond his relationship with Evie, right through how much he cares about his students. We read about the field trips he tries to secure for his class, his curated classroom library, how he inspires his students through music, and how hard he works to reach students where they are/in ways they find approachable.

I liked both narrators: Gail Shalan and GM Hakim. In the relatively short amount of time since I added narrators to my personal reading spreadsheet, I've only had one other experience with Shalan . . . as part of a full cast. This was my first experience with Hakim's rich, deep voice.

3.5⭐

Thank you Marisa Kent and Macmillan Audio for an audiobook ARC of Friends with Benefits.

Friends with Benefits is your typical friends to lovers romance. The story was fairly engaging but I felt like it wasn’t very different from most friends to lovers where everyone seems to see their feelings besides them. Since I’ve read several similar stories I’m giving this a 3 stars.

I did really enjoy the fact that the author did bring up topics that aren’t usually discussed especially within the romance word. As someone who lives with a chronic medical condition, it was refreshing to be able to relate to a character feeling hopeless sometimes even if they already realize chronic means forever. Having a chronic illness in a relationship is a giant make or break factor to some people.

As for the narration, I wasn’t a huge fan. The female and male leads were okay when it came to saying their own part but when they had to change their voice, as if the other person was talking, it was so cringy it almost ruined the book for me at times. The female lead more so than the male, but that is just a personal opinion. I would definitely recommend this book to someone new to the romance world and wants a cute easy read!

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for an ARC of this book!
 
I’m a big fan of the friends to lovers trope. This one came with a side of forced proximity/marriage of convenience, which made the premise really interesting. However, I didn’t like the FMC, Evie, from the get-go. I could understand her medical problems and sympathized about her family situation growing up, but didn’t think her trauma validated her treatment of Theo. He, on the other hand, was a delight so I’m sad to say that I didn’t care for the male narrator for this audiobook.
 
I appreciate the chance to read and review this book and wish I could give it a higher rating but I’m going with a 2.75. It’s not one I would recommend.

This was my first book by Marisa and I enjoyed it! Did I need a big glass of wine around 80%, yes, yes I did. This book is angsty, I don’t think it’s just me but if you like fake marriage, friends to lovers and a grand gesture then you will enjoy this book!

Evie and Theo have been friends since they met in dance class as children. There has always been something there but they ignored it and focused on their friendship. Especially as their family lives started to crumble.

When Evie needs health insurance and Theo needs a roommate they decide to get married until Evie can get a job with health benefits. But once married things start to change and those feelings they always had but pushed away start to come back. Now they need to decide how they want to move forward.

The narrators were really great! Loved them!

Thank you so much NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the ALC in exchange for an honest review!

Evie and Theo's story was so fun! I think my favorite part of this book was the premise, the fact that 'benefits' in 'Friends with Benefits' means health benefits. That's sooo good!

I really enjoyed the beginning of this story Theo and Evie were so cute and I adored Evie's love of foley. Though, as the story went on I think Evie started to get on my nerves a little...

Evie does have character development at the very end of the book, but until then she isn't always the nicest to Theo. She can also be very controlling of others, and a fight between her and Theo really brought the worst out of her. It’s a shame that she ended up being this way since I really loved her in the first chapter.

I listened to the audiobook version of this book and the narration was really good! I think they really brought the story to life

Wow, I went into this one blind and loved it! It was much deeper than I expected and I now realize the play on the title. I really enjoyed the characters and learning about the main characters chronic illness.

𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄: 𝗙𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗕𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗳𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗯𝘆 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗮 𝗞𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿
🛋️💍🎧

𝗔𝗟𝗖
𝗽𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲: 𝗺𝗮𝘆 𝟲/𝟮𝟱 (𝘁𝗺𝗿!)

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Rapid fire backstory: Evie + Theo = besties. Evie has chronic illness and sees doctors, needs insurance. Theo is a teacher and has insurance. I think we see where this is going considering the very clever title 👌🏼

This is a trope packed romcom but leans more “serious political health care issues” and less “com”.

🛏️ one bed
💕 friends to lovers
💍 marriage of convenience
🏳️‍🌈 LGBTQ + rep
🏥 chronic/ invisible illness rep

My thoughts:
It has everything to make a great book that I would love, and it was good. I clung to the idea this book would hit me in my feels and I would see myself in the FMC suffering from chronic illness - and I did. It was all super accurate and relatable, and highlighted the ways that it affects all aspects of your life which is great education for those who don’t have to deal with it themselves.
However, it was presented in a way that just felt forced and extremely repetitive. It often felt like an “info dump education session” vs just being authentically part of the FMCs life and woven into the story as such. I feel like I’m personally trying so hard to stay positive, and I feel like it just reminded me of every part of it that sucks. But! I love seeing people chase their dreams regardless of their situations and that did bring me hope!

I do have to say it includes 2 tropes I don’t like and make sure you check your trigger warnings as it touches very serious topics!

In terms of audio - I think the narrators did a good job, and I hate to be nit picky but the male voice just wasn’t my fav.

I’m also not sure if it was the voices lacking emotion, or just the character development, but I didn’t connect with the characters which made it harder to really care about what was happening to them. Theo seemed sweet but Evie just seemed negative and hard to connect with.

There are definitely people who I think will love this book! For me, it had some issues but was good enough to finish.

Thank you @macmillan.audio for the ALC 🤍🎧

Audiobook Review 📖🎧🛋️
Thank you so much partner @celadonbooks @macmillan.audio for the gifted arc and audiobook!

Friends with Benefits
by Marisa Kanter
Narrated by Gail Shalan; GM Hakim

About the book 👇🏽

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.


🛋️ My thoughts:

This was 100% an audiobook listen and I flew through it! I love a good marriage of convenience storyline especially when they’re already besties! The narrators did a great job telling this story, and it felt smooth throughout the listen for the most part. My favorite parts of this book were the character development and the representation in this book. For me it wasn’t a light read, as it does touch on some very real and heavy topics but still a good read with the right expectations. My only gripe is that the pacing felt off but that could definitely just be a me problem! I’d read and listen to another Marisa Kanter book in the future! Friends with Benefits is out tomorrow 5/6/25!

Happy reading 📖🛋️🎧