I absolutely adored this book! Mia and Noah are best friends since childhood that must fake a marriage for health insurance benefits while Mia waits for a liver transplant. They both have real feelings for one another but are both too afraid to admit them. Noah is dealing with grief and guilt over his brother's death and Mia doesn't want to be a burden because of her health issues. This is such a sweet and sexy friends to lovers romance!

Really sweet friends to lovers story.

Best friends Noah and Mia are both working at his dad's architecture firm (him as an architect, her as an administrative assistant) when she wins a scholarship to go back to college to finish her degree, which would allow her to follow her dream of becoming a pediatric dietician. There's just one snag: She has a rare kidney disease, and so can't lose her health insurance. Enter Noah, with a (fake) marriage proposal. Except Noah wants to be with Mia for real. And she might just have feelings for him too?

These types of somewhat angsty stories are hit or miss for me -- sometimes I can struggle with wanting characters to get out of their own way and just be happy in love already. But between the very real need for health insurance, the challenge of letting your walls down, and the great characterization of both the main and side characters, I enjoyed WOULD YOU RATHER from beginning to end. It also felt like a fairly tight book which I always appreciate.

Friends since childhood, Noah and Mia are about to enter into a marriage of convenience. They are best friends and they always look after each other, and this time Noah will do whatever he can to help Mia. As an architect reaching for promotion, Noah's future is secure. For Mia, her future is up in the air, and for several reasons.

For starters, Mia has a rare disease and depends on weekly infusion treatments. These treatments will continue until she is able to receive a kidney transplant. Also, Mia never finished college due to her health issues and she has just learned that she won a fabulous scholarship. She needs sixty hours to complete her degree. This means going to college full time. She knows that she can't continue to work full time and go to school full time. However, her full time job means that she has health insurance that meets her needs. Should she leave her job, or even work part time, she will lose her benefits.

Noah's solution? Marry and he can put her on his insurance. She can work towards earning her degree and continue with her medical treatment. Mia immediately says no. More than the ethical issue that would present, Mia does not want anything to fragment their close relationship as best friends. But, she agrees. Next thing they have to consider is who will they tell the truth to and how will they appear as happily married newlyweds to others. Meanwhile, each of them had their baggage to deal with while trying to navigate the boundaries of their changing relationship.

What an endearing story. What really makes this work is that this friends to lovers story has such a strong emotional edge. Watching a platonic love change into romantic love was just so sweet. Both Mia and Noah were wonderful characters, and it was so easy to warm up to both of them, especially when they had to fight their growing attraction, all while not upsetting their deep bond of friendship.

Many thanks to MIRA/Harper Collins and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.

Please enjoy my YouTube video review - https://youtu.be/AthnFfPe1KM

The United States is the ONLY wealthy, industrialized nation on this planet that does not provide universal health care. And that is what honestly makes the U.S. health insurance industry the big, scary, and all too real villain in this romance.

Noah and Mia have been the bestest of best friends since they were seven years old. They absolutely do love each other, whatever form that love might take – and whatever feelings about the form that love might take they are hiding from each other and the rest of the world. Especially from themselves.

But Mia has a life-threatening chronic illness. Her kidneys are slowly but inexorably failing. Her condition is currently managed by expensive medications and occasional hospital admissions for flare-ups, but it’s manageable. At least so far.

She does need a kidney transplant, and her life has in many ways been on hold since she was diagnosed. Two of the specific things that she has put on hold are her career aspirations and any possibility of romance.

Mia does not want to kill anyone else’s hopes and dreams the way she did her parents’. Not that they see it that way. At all. But when she was diagnosed in her late teens, their savings were pretty much completely wiped out by the cost of her care that wasn’t covered by insurance. She just isn’t willing to do that to any potential romantic partner.

She dropped out of college when she was diagnosed – not surprisingly as it was a LOT to deal with. She’s stuck in a dead-end job because she needs the excellent health insurance the company provides. Without it, she will, quite literally, die.

The job has several good points and one really bad one. She is the administrative assistant at the architectural firm owned by Noah’s dad where Noah himself works. BUUUUT, one of the other architects is a douche who seems determined to make her miserable and puts her down at every turn. (There’s a bubbling vat of acid waiting in the wings for him, I swear.)

So, when she gets a scholarship for mid-career learners to return to college and finish the degrees they abandoned, she wants to take it. But she can’t. Because (insert evil villain music here) she needs the insurance from her job.

And that’s where this story both kicks off and goes just a teensy bit off the rails.

Noah offers to marry her so she can stay on his insurance and chase her dream of becoming a pediatric nutritionist, a job that will also pay at least twice what she’s making now and undoubtedly come with its own excellent insurance. Or, she’ll get a transplant which will automatically qualify her for Medicare – again solving the insurance problem. (The real crime in this story is that SO MUCH is caused by the evil insurance companies!)

What they are planning is a marriage of convenience, 21st century American style. Or so it seems. What they actually get turns out to be anything but.

Escape Rating B-: There’s so much of this book that is so good. It’s a terrific friends-into-lovers and fake relationship romance rolled into a lovely story, and those tropes are classics for a reason.

Noah and Mia have been besties for-literally-ever. Their deep friendship is the foundation on which both of their lives are built. They are each other’s person in some seriously profound ways. That they both want more but are too afraid to admit it because of the consequences if it doesn’t work out feels real. They know they belong together, but they have both made the decision that being together as friends is enough – or at least that it’s not worth the risk of trying for more because neither of them can face the thought of ending up with less.

Where the story sent me into a ranting internal monologue was in the nature of the “fake” of their fake relationship. They’re not the first or the last people, undoubtedly in real life as much as in fiction, to have married out of something other than romantic love. The problem in the story is that it conflates the issues involved in faking a Green Card marriage with marrying to get insurance.

Their marriage isn’t fake or a con. It’s a real marriage, with real legal documentation. They share a real house and a real life. Whether or not they ever plan to have sex or romance is not the insurance company’s problem and they are NOT committing fraud. They ARE married with all the legal consequences and legal responsibilities thereunto.

The real, true issue in the story is the lies they tell to their friends, their families and most importantly, Noah’s employer. Who is also his dad and they do have a good relationship which means that Noah could have been upfront about this mess from the beginning. But the story treats the reason for their marriage and their intention to dissolve it after Mia completes her education as the big bad sin, when it isn’t. It’s the lying that is both the sin and the thing that’s going to trip them up over and over until it’s dealt with.

So the blurb and at least the first third of the story make it seem as if their so-called “fake” marriage is the problem when the real, true problem is that they lied about it. And that they’ve been doing a whole metric ton of lying about a whole lot of very real issues – to themselves and each other most of all.

Where the story gets both very, very good and in many ways very, very sad is that once the first lie gets exposed, all the cats claw their way out of all the bags and they both have to deal with all the issues they’ve been hiding from themselves. And papering over by being so invested in their friendship that they let each other bury some real and serious shit that is painful to deal with and is only going to be more painful for being hidden.

So there’s a LOT to unpack in this story. It’s not nearly as bright and breezy as the blurb might lead you to believe. It is seriously NOT a rom-com. And it would have been a lot better – and a lot less frustrating (and this review would be a lot less ranty) if it had started out by focusing on the real culprits in the mess.

Once it finally gets on the path it should have been on in the first place, the story of two people who have loved each other nearly all their lives who have been living a pretense that suddenly becomes real, the story has a whole lot of charm along with a marvelously cathartic resolution and a solidly earned HEA.

I was super excited to read this one after seeing a bunch of really glowing reviews from people I usually have similar opinions to, but unfortunately this really did not work for me :( I typically LOVE marriage of convenience stories, but I felt like every interaction between Mia and Noah felt forced at best and cheesy at worst and I just.... did not vibe at all with this story. With that being said, I do want to point out that I am definitely the odd man out on this one! It clearly wasn't the new favorite that I was hoping it would be, but this book has tons and tons of stellar reviews so if the premise interests you I definitely recommend you still give it a go! I hope that it works out better for you than it did for me lol

CW: organ transplant, death of a loved one, adoption, grief

3.5 Stars

My first read from Allison Ashley - friends to lovers & fake dating were the tropes in play here. Noah and Mia have always been best friends and when Mia is in need of health insurance, Noah offers to marry her to save the day. It's clear that these two have been harboring feelings for one another for quite some time too.

I just read another book where organ donation was a key part of the story, so maybe it was poor timing to pick this one up right after, but I never truly "fell in love" with Noah and Mia - but I did enjoy this one.

Thank you to Mira for an advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

4.5/5 - I loved Noah and Mia’s story in Would You Rather by Allison Ashley, a friends-to-lovers and fake relationship that was a heartwarming, feel-good romance. Noah and Mia have been best friends since they were seven. Each is deeply attracted to the other, but neither has ever acted on those feelings. When Mia gets the opportunity to go back to school to pursue the career of her dreams but needs her job's medical insurance, because of kidney disease, Noah proposes that the two get married. As Mia and Noah spend more time together, live under the same roof and display public signs of affection, they have a harder time hiding their feelings and start to see what was there all along.

Ms Ashley wrote a wonderful childhood best friends to lovers romance filled with sizzling chemistry, practical jokes, humorous banter, all the “would you rather: games, and an understanding of one another that comes from a familiarity. Their marriage of convenience was used for medical reasons and their history and backgrounds made it all the more believable. There was a large emotional side to the story that pulled at my heartstrings: the worry of being a burden because of an illness, the weight carried after a family tragedy, the emotions you feel when a friend just gets you and the opportunity to have a second chance to do what you love. I highly recommend Would You Rather to other readers.

I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book.

*Sigh* I loved this book SO much! I read it in a matter of a couple of hours because I was hooked from the very beginning. I love a good friends to lovers trope, and let's just talk about how Noah is, like, the sweetest guy in the entire world. The way he was in love with Mia was so romantic. He was willing to do literally anything for her. I loved their fun banter back and forth, and the level of steam was perfect. There were moments where they were so vulnerable with each other, and that level of intimacy is my favorite to read about. There's something amazing about another person knowing literally everything about you, including all of the "bad", and loving you anyways. For me, it doesn't get any more romantic than that, and there was plenty of that in this book. Noah was dealing with the loss of his brother, and Mia was dealing with a chronic illness and a family secret that left her estranged from her parents. I loved the way Noah cared for Mia, and the way she cared for him. I loved loved loved this one, and I'm putting it on my favorites shelf.

This is a cute and sweet story but it's also a story that deals with a great issue like the cost of medical care and the need for an insurance.
I loved this story but I think there's a tragic layer under the fun and sweet story and maybe I feel it because I grew up in a country where the healthcare was paid by the state.
The characters are lovely and i liked the plot.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Wanna know how to get me to read any and every book? Have the male MC love the girl from the jump. I’m talking page 1 kind of love. Years of pinning is always welcomed. There’s nothing I love losing myself in more than a story where the guy will do anything — even ILLEGAL things — to win over the girl. Tell me the boy loves the girl before the story ever starts and I will read it EVERY SINGLE TIME.

“Would You Rather” is perfection. I loved the chemistry, the endless support and friendships, the invisible illness representation, the slow burn. This one has it all. Plus a little birdie told me we are going to see another set of characters from this book again in 2023 and well, thank goodness because Allison Ashley nails romance.

https://www.tiktok.com/@bettysbooklist/video/7131887664340405546?is_copy_url=1&is_from_webapp=v1&lang=en

I like it when the breaks in books (because it's never truly a breakup and we stand a HEA over here) are about self-growth rather than something trivial or exaggerated because the characters can't communicate.
Would You Rather is about two lifelong best friends, Mia and Noah. Mia is living with chronic kidney disease and needs help to pay her medical bills after taking the chance to pursue her dreams. Noah is all for helping out a friend in need and offers her marriage in name only so she can study full time and use his insurance.
From the get-go, you can tell by all the little signs and flashbacks that Noah and Mia care deeply for each other but are each dealing with their own personal struggles. Mia knows the hardships that being chronically sick can cause and doesn’t want to burden anyone with her sickness, while Noah is still working through the grief of losing someone close to him. Both issues cause tension for the characters because Mia wouldn’t let Noah be there for her for fear of ruining his life, and Noah refuses to go anywhere where he can’t be close to his loved ones, especially Mia. I liked that they both recognized and were honest with each other about those issues. I didn’t agree with the sort of ultimatum she gave him, but I do agree that they both needed the space and time to deal with their emotional hang-ups before really diving into their relationship.
I would definitely recommend it to anyone who likes:
Childhood friends-to-lovers
Marriage of convenience
Forced proximity
Dual POVs
Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for this eARC.

Friends to lovers? Fake marriage? What’s not to love?? I loved Mia and Noah! This was such a cute and easy read. I’m really hoping for a sequel, maybe with Graham and Claire getting together! It was so beautiful seeing Noah get the closure he needed. My only issue was that so much time seemed to pass from beginning to end. It felt like we were missing vital information.

I read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to NetGalley, Harlequin Trade Publishing, and Allison Ashley for the ARC!

Mia and Noah have been best friends since they were 7. Mia has a rare kidney disease and stays at her job (where she works with Noah) mostly for the health insurance. When she has an opportunity to go back to college, Noah convinces her to marry him for the two years she’ll be in school to keep insurance so she can go. (And I realize how big of a thing insurance fraud is in America vs most other countries that have universal healthcare.)

Mia is worried that by being tied down, Noah won’t be able to find his own happiness during the temporary marriage. Noah has been in love with Mia since they were 18. His thoughts and actions when seeing Mia are beyond adorable. Mia, on the other hand, was frustrating to read at times because she was denying any help from anyone. She kept martyring her own happiness because she was sick.

Noah and Mia’s chemistry throughout the book was great. The anticipation of them being together was high and I enjoyed most of the book. This book is out now and perfect for friends to lovers fans.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for this eARC.

𝘈𝘥𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦, 𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘵, 𝘧𝘶𝘯, 𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭, 𝘩𝘶𝘨𝘨𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦…should I go on?
I think you get the point that I really enjoyed this friends-to-lovers story.

Mia and Noah have been best friends since they were neighbors as kids. Now Mia is working as an assistant at Noah’s family business, but she gets the chance to go back to school to pursue her dream.

Slight hiccup - Mia has kidney disease. This means she will eventually need a kidney transplant, which means she will have medical bills and needs good insurance. Noah, being the sweetheart that he is, offers to marry Mia. Of course, this is purely a marriage of convenience so that Mia can get insurance and not have to work. But what’s in it for Noah? Maybe the fact that he’s truly in love with Mia.

Mia and Noah have been there for each other as friends through sickness and loss, but does their relationship have what it takes to make it at the next level?
If you love watching two friends figure out that they belong together, pick this one up!

Thank you @harpercollins and @_mira_books_ for a spot on tour and a gifted ebook.

Noah and Mia have been best friends. Noah is up for a promotion at work and Mia is ready to go back to school to pursue her dream while she awaits a kidney transplant. They have always cared deeply for the other but have never acted on their feelings. I loved their foundation, the fun and joy they bring out in the other, and loved that their history and backgrounds made the marriage of convenience seem quite plausible. As a fellow baking enthusiast, I also loved Mia's dedication to trying out new allergy friendly baking treats!

Recommend if you enjoy:
◻️ Fun, easy, and sweet reads
◻️ Childhood best friends to lovers story
◻️ Marriage of convenience
◻️ Great banter and instant chemistry
◻️ Moving on after emotional grief and tragedy
◻️ Dual POVs from very endearing characters

I really, really enjoyed this friends to lovers, fake marriage of convenience romance that sees best friends Noah and Mia getting married so that Mia can use Noah's benefits while going back to school to pursue her dream of becoming a Dietician.

There have been a few really great books about chronic illness lately and this is definitely one of the best! Mia has had a chronic kidney condition from a young age and is waiting for a transplant. She has never wanted to be a burden to loved ones and especially never wants to fall in love and end up dependent on her partner.

Noah also is dealing with some heaving feelings of grief and guilt over his brother's death, which has been preventing him from fully living his life. When the opportunity to help Mia through a fake marriage comes up he insists - it doesn't hurt that he's been secretly pining for years!

The forced proximity of living together works its magic and these two finally give in to their feelings but a happily ever after requires a more in depth examination of feelings and coming to terms with the past and what Mia's future might mean.

Great on audio, this was a pure delight. I love reading more about the complexities of living with a chronic illness (how it affects work, the financial burdens and the challenges for caregivers to name just a few factors)!

Recommended for fans of books like Yours truly by Abby Jimenez and Unlikely match by Laura Bradbury (two other books that deal with organ transplant love stories). Much thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!!

Steam level: closed door with some great steamy chemistry

I love marriage of convenience romances, especially when I can understand or believe the reasoning behind it. This was well done and I appreciated Noah being willing to marry Mia so that she can have his medical insurance. It's something I could see the necessity for at times. I did think that there were weird jumps in time and I wanted a little bit more depth to them coming together.

When I first saw the original cover of Would You Rather I was completely obsessed with this book. I needed to have it for the cover alone (The cover has since been changed and I will forever be sad about this). But after reading it I am so happy that original cover exists because this book was so good! It was beautiful and lovely and balanced friends to more along with a fake marriage to perfection. Noah and Mia were just so good together! Noah is ready to give up whatever he has to for Mia because all he wants is her to be healthy and in his life. I seriously loved everything about this book and I can’t tell you enough how mush you need it in your life. Be warned though, Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol will get stuck in your head and you will want chicken wings. 100% a must to your TBR. Watch the blog for a giveaway in a couple of days.

With the theme of friends to lovers, this is a romance book that has an original twist to it. Mia needs a kidney transplant so has to keep a job that she doesn’t really like but she is willing to continue to sacrifice her own happiness in order to have medical insurance. Her best friend Noah, an ever-present boy since her childhood, is the boss’s son who wants Mia to be happy. In his quest to help her, he offers to marry her (fake it) so she can go back to school and finish the degree that she has been longing for. The story itself is almost magical in Noah’s unselfishness as he is willing to lose status in his dad’s company rather than have Mia give up her dream. Both characters are well-developed and relatable, and I especially enjoyed the office pranks they played on each other. There is even an unlikable (on purpose) guy named David who wants to usurp Noah’s role in the company and expose his marriage as fake, so it becomes very important that the new couple convince others of their true love for each other. The real romance starts over halfway through the book even though I kept anticipating it as Noah was already committed to Mia and she was stubbornly resisting. Her reasons for resistance are almost altruistic as she doesn’t want anyone saddled with her health issues and costs. The plot moved along well with a lot of humor and a few clever twists. This book presents a compelling dilemma at the same time that it gives insight into the challenges of leaving the past behind and reaching for a new future together. The dialogue between Mia and Noah was flirty and fun while that between David and the other characters was terse and demanding. In other words, the characters fit their roles perfectly. Fans of light romance with some steam building will enjoy this story from beginning to end because getting to know the couple involved is entertaining as well as thought-provoking at times.
Disclaimer
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255, “Guidelines Concerning the Use of Testimonials and Endorsements in Advertising.”